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lead slugs in 45 acp

tomcat_blackknights
A few years back i accuired 2 five gallon buckets full of 45 acp mixed brass, and probably like 3000 rounds of 45 slugs. all types but mainly lead swc's. i never done anything with it. until last weekend i bought a springfield 1911 at a local gunshow. this is my first 45 i bought some factory ammo not a lot, but now i wanna reload. ive had some guys tell me that shooting lead is bad since it will lead up the barrel. specifically with my glock 27 (.40) they say its bad because of the rifling in the glock. could this be a problem with a springfield armory 1911?
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Comments

7 comments

Date Votes
  • rufe-snow
    SA has different type of rifling, then the Glock factory barrels. Nothing to worry about. Millions of lead slugs have been fired through 1911 barrels in the last 99 years, your good to go.
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  • RCrosby
    Tomcat
    Should be no problem. I shoot swc in my 1911 all the time. No leading problems at ACP velocities. Might have some feeding difficulties. If so, polishing the feed ramp might be all it needs. If not, you'll want to take it to a good smith who's familiar with the platform and has done this sort of thing successfully.
    Enjoy.
    p.s. All this talk has me looking forward to your follow-up, Tomcat.
    Were the bullets already lubed and sized and will your sidearm feed the swc's without modification???
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  • nmyers
    You may need to size & lube the bullets before loading them.

    Neal
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  • dcs shooters
    Your SA 1911 will do lead swc's just fine. I've shot 1,000's through my 1911's with no leading problems. The 1911 has cut rifling. Have fun blasting away [:D]
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  • perry shooter
    Lead slugs are great but as NMYERS stated they must have bullet lube on them from sizing and lubing BEFORE you shoot them. if you shoot with no lube you will have trouble.
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  • jonk
    If you are setting up to reload, if they haven't been lubed, a cheap easy method is Lee reloading's alox tumble lube. A bit smokey but works well at .45 ACP velocities.

    Regarding leading, to help with any issues you may run into, try to keep the loads on the mild side. Ideally you should slug your bore and measure your bullets to verify they are 1/1000 OVER bore diameter to get a good seal. It's gas blow-by that really causes leading in guns.

    Failing that, try loading up a batch of 50 or so first, fire them off, then run a tight fitting wet patch down the barrel. Then a dry patch. Then examine in a strong light. If you see streaks in the barrel you are getting leading. You may or may not see a few slivers of lead on your patch. This may or may not indicate leading. Sometimes I get a few slivers knocked off from the feed ramp and chambering, but if it comes out of the bore, then the question is is it just debris (still not ideal) or is it being stuck to the bore?

    If you can figure this out then you are good to go.

    Personally I haven't had luck with my .45 with lead but I have a rough bore in mine so I wouldn't think that's the norm. In most everything else it's all I shoot.
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  • beantownshootah
    To reiterate what has already been said:

    -Lead bullets are bad in GLOCKS because Glocks use a special polygonal rifling in the barrel that tends to lead up quickly.

    Its perfectly fine to use lead in Glock guns *IF* you swap out the stock factory barrel with a relatively inexpensive drop-in aftermarket one with standard cut rifling.

    -Lead bullets are find in ordinary 1911 pistols, and lots of competitive shooters will fire TENS OF THOUSANDS of them through their guns.

    Only things to be careful about are to make sure the bullets are of the correct size, lubed, and not shot too fast. All three of those things (too big or small bullets, lack of lube, and high velocity) promote leading.

    Fortunately. 45ACP velocities are slow, and this caliber actually lends itself well to lead bullets.
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