Gardner bullets – The ExhaustNotes Blog

My Rock Island Armory Compact 1911 is a favorite. I carry with factory ammo (Winchester’s 230-grain hardball, like I had in the Army). But that’s not what I shoot on the range; there, I shoot reloads exclusively. This blog answers a question keeping all of us awake at night: Where do different loads shoot compared to factory ammunition?

What you’re going to see aren’t tiny target groups. The Rock Compact 1911 is a concealed carry handgun. I know Facebook trolls can shoot dime-sized 1911 groups at 100 yards with both eyes closed. What you see below are my groups.

I have three favorite loads for my .45. The first is one I’ve been shooting for 50 years. That is a 230-grain cast roundnose bullet (I like Missouri bullets, although I’ve had good luck with just about any cast 230-grain roundnose), 5.6 grains of Unique, whatever primers I can find, and whatever brass I have on hand. I use the Lee .45 ACP factory crimp die on all my ammo; overall length is 1.262 inches. This load is a bit lighter than factory ammo, but not by much. The good news is it feeds in any 1911 (it doesn’t need a polished ramp and chamber) and wow, it’s accurate.

From left to right: 185-grain Gardner powder-coated cast semi-wadcutter, 200-grain Missouri cast semi-wadcutter, 230-grain Missouri cast roundnose, and Winchester 230-grain full metal jacket hardball .45 ACP ammunition.

The next load is a 200-grain cast semi-wadcutter bullet (I use Missouri or Speer), 4.2 grains of Bullseye, anybody’s primers, and mixed brass. Cartridge overall length on this one is 1. 255 inches. The semi-wadcutter profile usually needs a polished feed ramp and chamber.

The third load is a 185-grain cast semi-wadcutter bullet and 4.6 grains of Bullseye. For this test, I had CCI 350 primers. My usual 185-grain cast load uses 5.0 grains of Bullseye and a CCI 300 primer, but primers are tough to find these days so I dropped the powder down to 4.6 grains. Lately I’ve been using Gardner powder-coated bullets. They look cool and they’re accurate. Cartridge overall length is 1.260 inches. Like the load above, this one needs a polished ramp and chamber, too.

And then there’s factory ammo. I use 230-grain hardball from Winchester. Just for grins I measured its overall length; it is 1.262 inches. Factory hardball typically runs between 1.260 and 1.270 inches.

Good buddy TJ over at TJ’s Custom Gunworks polished my Compact’s ramp and chamber (it feeds anything), he recut the ejector (no more stovepiping) and fitted a better extractor, he polished the barrel and the guide rod, he engine-turned the chamber exterior, and he installed red ramp/white outline Millett sights. The Compact didn’t need a trigger job; it was super-crisp from the factory. I added the Pachmayr grips. You can read more about the Rock here.

All shooting was at 50 feet, all groups (except with factory ammo) were 5-shot groups, I used a two-hand hold, and my point of aim was 6:00 on the bullseye.

I shot my first set of four groups with the 185-grain cast semi-wadcutter load. As you can see on the target below, the groups move around a bit. That notwithstanding, the center of the groups seems to be pretty much right on the point of aim.

185-grain Gardner bullets and 4.6 grains of Bullseye.

About that 4.6 grains of Bullseye with the CCI magnum primers: The standard load (5.0 grains of Bullseye and regular primers) is a much more accurate load.

The next four groups were with the 200-grain cast semi-wadcutter. The center of these groups is maybe just below the point of aim. Maybe. It’s very close to the point of aim.

200-grain semi-wadcutter Missouri cast bullets.

Next up was the 230-grain cast roundnose load. The groups are about 2 inches below the point of aim and maybe slighly biased to the left, but they’re still pretty close.

230-grain cast roundnose Missouri bullets.

My last shots were with the Winchester 230-grain roundnose factory ammo. I used a full-sized silhouette target (not the four-targets-per-sheet targets you see above) and again, I held at 6:00. The point of impact is just about at point of aim (maybe a scosh lower).

On target with 230-grain Winchester hardball ammo.

The bottom line? The Compact shoots different loads to different points of impact, but the difference isn’t significant. Predictably, the 230-grain loads shoot a little lower than the 200-grain loads, and the 200-grain loads are a bit lower than the 185-grain loads. Factory ammo shoots essentially to point of aim. The differences wouldn’t matter on a real target. For a fixed sight combat handgun all are close enough for government work.

One last comment: Every load tested fed and functioned perfectly with my TJ-modified Compact Rock. If you want world class custom gun work, TJ’s Custom Gunworks is the best.

What’s next? I’m going to repeat this test, but with a Turnbull-finished Smith and Wesson 1917 revolver. That’s going to be fun.

A 1917 Smith and Wesson with Turnbull color case hardening. It, too, shoots the .45 ACP cartridge.

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A couple of weeks ago I tested three .45 ACP loads in a Model 625 Smith and Wesson and my Rock Island Armory Compact 1911 using Winchester’s 231 powder and Jim Gardner’s 230-grain cast roundnose bullets. We’ve done a bunch of accuracy testing in both .45 ACP revolvers and autos with other loads (and you can find those stories here). This blog focuses specifically on Jim’s 230-grain roundnose bullets with Winchester 231 propellant.

Reloaded .45 ACP ammo with Gardner 230-grain cast roundnose bullets. The 230 cast roundnose bullets replicate GI hardball ammo and this bullet feeds in just about any .45 auto.

To get to the point quickly, the Gardner 230-grain cast roundnose bullets did well (as you’ll see below). My testing consisted of three .45 loads with 4.5, 5.0, and 5.6 grains of WW 231 powder:

I was checking for accuracy and functionality in both guns. Here’s what I found:

- The Compact 1911 likes 5.0 grains of 231, and that load functioned best with this powder in the automatic. The slide locked back after the last round the way it is supposed to; it would not do so with 5.6 grains of 231. Getting a short-barreled 1911 to function well is a bit tougher than a full-sized 1911. With 5.0 grains of 231 and the 230-grain cast bullets, my Compact 1911 functions reliably. Your mileage may vary.
- 4.5 grains of 231 functioned okay in the 1911, too, but it is the least accurate load in both the 1911 and the Model 625 (of the three loads that I tested).
- The Model 625 likes both 5.0 and 5.6 grains of 231, with a slight accuracy edge going to the 5.0-grain load (although what you see here is probably more a result of my skills than anything else). The 625 is not as accurate with the lighter 4.5-grain 231 load.

Lyman’s reloading manual has 5.8 grains of 231 as the accuracy load with this bullet, but I didn’t go that high (it was a max load). Like I said, it doesn’t function reliably in the Compact 1911, and my testing showed 5.0 grains to be the Model 625’s sweet spot from an accuracy perspective.

All shots were at 50 feet, and all loads used the Lee factory crimp die (which assures easy chambering in 1917-style revolvers). The loads would do better from a machine rest or a steadier shooter. It was hot out on the range the morning I fired these targets and that probably adversely affected accuracy, too.

Here are the Compact 1911 targets that I shot using the 5.0-grain 231 load:

Compact 1911 results: Close enough for government work. I use Alco targets for this kind of testing; these have four silhouettes per sheet.

The Compact 1911 is not a target gun, but it is accurate enough for its intended purpose. The Rock Compact 1911 is very concealable and it’s the handgun I carry most often. They are surprisingly inexpensive and surprisingly accurate with the right loads.

These are the targets with the Model 625 and 5.6 grains of 231:

The big Smith and Wesson Model 625 worked well with 231 and Jim’s 230-grain roundnose bullets. This is the 5.6-grain target; 5.0 grains of 231 were even more accurate for me.

The Model 625 Smith and Wesson is more accurate than the Compact 1911 (hey, no surprises there). They are both fun guns to shoot.

I usually load .45 ACP ammo with either Unique or Bullseye powder, but I thought I would try 231 just because I had some on hand and I wanted to see how it would do. I have an accuracy load for the Compact 1911 with Bullseye and a 185-grain bullet that we wrote about earlier. Other guys tell me 231 is their preferred .45 ACP propellant and I still had a can of it that I had purchased for the 9mm cast bullet comparo some time ago, so I thought I would give it a try in the two guns featured here. With the sketchy availability of reloading components during these uncertain times, it’s good to know that this powder works well in .45 ACP. But after this test, I’m going to stick with the other two propellants (Unique and Bullseye), assuming I can get them. What I didn’t like about 231 is that it is a sooty powder…I found it to be significantly worse in that regard than Unique.

WW 231 propellant is accurate, but it sure is a dirty powder. My left hand was covered in powder soot after just a few rounds.

I’ve been real happy with Gardner’s bullets. They are less expensive than other cast bullets, the accuracy is good, and I observed no leading in either handgun. I’ll be purchasing Gardner bullets again. If you haven’t tried Jim’s bullets, you might give them a try.

More Tales of the Gun, 1911, 1917, bolt action sporter, milsurp, load data, and other good shooting and reloading posts are here!

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