Best: Factory-loaded, brass-cased 230gr FMJ ball. Pick your favorite manufacturer.

Worst: Reloads, craptastic steel-cased Russian ammo, and anything with an oddball bullet profile (like SWC).

 

WWB 45 is fine. Federal AE 45 is better (real good). Prvi Partizan is good. Browning ammo is supposedly made by Winchester as I have been told. Magtech is pretty dependable. Not particularly fond of Geco.

 

All of the stuff is OK to use. I do not remember anything being bad except maybe the old corrosive ammo from circa WWII or earlier. Now then some ammo is dirtier than other ammo though. So you might have to clean the gun more often if you got the dirty smoky stuff to use up.

 

While most commercial ammo is OK to use the whole idea of a break-in is to not only seat the parts, but also to test for basic function. For that reason you want to use the closest ammo to military hardball that you can find... which is what the 1911 was originally designed to use. That way if you have any reliability issues you can fault the gun or magazines and not the ammunition. If you use oddball, reloaded, dirty, or steel/alloy-cased ammo and the gun chokes you can't be entirely sure the ammo didn't cause it.

Like I said... factory-loaded, brass-cased 230gr ball. Once you know it runs with that you can then play with the other stuff.

 

^^^^^^

 

What’s the problem with steel cases?


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You don’t want to test fire a new gun with mediocre ammunition.

Walmart had a great price on Tula steel case 9mm. Since I know my BHP is good to go I bought a case. Some rounds went BANG or Bang or bang or pop or pfft. So I had good training clearing stovepipes, FTF and FTE.

So if you bought a handgun and you had problems, was it the gun or the cheap ammo?

 

After researching here and elsewhere I went with an order of 200 rounds of Federal American Eagle 230 FMJ for my new purchase SA Garrison last month. So far so good, no issues caused by the gun.

 

If the gun will not run on any factory ammo then it is most likely that the gun has a problem. It can be tuned to run on almost any ammo.

 

I use the same reloads I use daily on a new gun. If a problem ever occurs, I will switch to factory ammo and see if the problem continues. If it does, then the problem is the gun not the ammo.

 

With .45 Auto it shouldn't make much difference as almost everything chambered in the round has enough energy to drive the slide.

A 9mm 1911 can have problems since all 1911 slides weigh the same (ever note the difference between a G17 and G21 slide) and some of the cheap/lightweight/low powered 9mm ammo may not have enough energy to drive a 1911 slide designed for .45 Auto recoil impulses.

 

I quit utilizing remanufactured 9mm ammunition some time back. FreedomMunitions was awesome of the ones I attempted and it would just purchase in a crisis. I have seen a few nice costs on 200 rds of re man 45 cal for $88.00 and up... in any case, tracked down new Cooking (which I have never used)100 rds in stock for $44.99, however by and by, know nothing about Sautéing ammunition. I generally shoot S&B in my CZs as that is what the manufacturing plant involves in the test shoots. Overcoat metal ammunition in my others 9mm is my standard decision. Not genuine partial to Armscor or Remington 9mm either, WWB...hit and miss with 9mm. Have heard beneficial things about the WWB 45cal.

 

Well I ended up buying a couple of boxes of Blazer brass....it passes the plunk test just fine......did not do well for the wallet test though. Could have gotten Armscor for $4.00 a box less, but the 9mm Armscor is not a favorite of mine so... Well rain...then visit from the in laws put my range trip off till tomorrow. But that is alright gave me time to do some other things when they left. Manually cycled 10 mags of ammo thru the firearm...100%. I did notice the slid was really tight. Took the upper off and saw the rails were real dull and in need of some polishing...put some Flitz on the rails and slide then slid them back and forth Severalllllllll times. Nice and smooth now. Have no 45 acp snap caps...( do not mean to start a snaps yes or no war) so I used the old CZ trick of o rings. Did about 50 trigger pulls that way with slight pressure applied on the real of the hammer 20 of the times. Did a very light polishing of a few other parts....nothing to take any material off. My wife held the gun ...she was amazed how heavy it is compared to my other firearms and to her Charter Arms .32 mag revolver. She said..."I don't think I am going to shoot that thing"! I silently agreed.

 

How do you measure the difference and effectiveness of one over another other than it cycles the Slide?

 

It was not aimed at comparing ammo, just checking the feeding from the mags and the ability of the gun to eject the cartridge.

 

All I care about is that my POA equals POI.

 

Steel case ammo is not a problem. Theoretically the extractor might get worn down faster using steel case ammo. But you are looking at shooting 10,000 rounds or so before you might see wear on it.

 

i Agree. I have a good rotation that won’t have me hitting 10000 on any one pistol.

 

I never have seen 45acp in any grain other than 230gr in a store. Where would anyone one use the lighter grain?....well maybe competition. I imagine the 230gr is the best for breaking the firearm in for a few hundred rds.

 

I never have seen 45acp in any grain other than 230gr in a store. Where would anyone one use the lighter grain?.

Browning originally designed the .45 Auto round with a 200 gr bullet. The US Military asked him to make it 230 gr, and he did.

 

185 grain is commonly sold in stores as various hollowpoint bullets

 

I have a bit different take on the break-in of 1911 pistols. Just lube "em and shoot 'em. I prefer full power ball ammo when initially testing a new pistol ; factory or my handloads, doesn't matter. However, when it's available, free factory ball is the best.

 

If the pistol is set up well then it shoukd run pretty much any ammo, steel cased or brass cased. As long as the charge isn't too weak and can cycle the slide properly.

My SA Loaded .45 went 3500+ rounds without a single failure, and that included a bunch of steel case stuff.

 

I like Magtech, PMC and WWB 230gr ball in .45ACP.

 

I used to always use 230 gr American Eagle and then switch to my reloads. But the past few I have just used my own reloads. If I was to use factory again, it would still be American Eagle.

 

I haven't bought factory ammo in years. I only shoot my reloads.

 

That’s why it’s important to use factory stuff on sale that has good brass!! The only factory stuff I will buy is defense ammo anyway.

 

There are some that will never listen though. If the gun goes bang, they consider it good to go. They’ll save a couple bucks and suffer lack of performance, wear and tear and have no usable casings when it’s all done. Maybe blocking all the Russian junk wasn’t a bad idea…😆

 

I think that blocking all of the Chinese stuff back in the early nineties probably saved the US firearms industry. As for the Russian ammo, even if Bozo Joe had not decided to block it. It will likely dry up soon anyway as they will need it for the great Westward expansion. Either that or holding the line at Stalingrad.

 

Maybe it would be a good time to have another clean up day at the range then. We can rake up all that rusty crap and have even footing for once!!😆