HI Standard 45 acp tested with Wolf ammo

[rickt300]

I picked up my new Hi Standard 1911A1 saturday and two boxes of steel cased Wolf ammo.  I also bought four new magazines.  Well the pistol functioned perfectly and was generally accurate.  I was shooting standing up at a paper plate at 30 yards. Kept all but a few inside 4 inches.  Those few off the paper plate were hangfires due to the Wolf  ammo. I'd pull the trigger and it would be at least a half second before the round went off.  I like everything about the pistol though, the straight mainspring housing and nicely checkered grips fit me well and the trigger is just fine as it is.  It hit high about 3 inches and 2 inches to the right for me but my old eyes aren't that good with irons anyway.  The slide release is a bit stiff but if it doesn't slick up a bit with use I can easily stone it smoother.

[Mikey]

rickt:  hey, that's not too shabby considering the ammo quality.  Nothing like a hangfire to keep your sights on target for a minute or so.....I think your grouping may be ammo related.  Let us know how she slicks up after a few more boxes..

[rickt300]

I ordered a 22 pound spring from Midway and a friend gave me a truncated cone bullet mold LEE makes (230gr.). I think I'll load this bullet up till it reliably functions the gun and call it good.  My last decision is what powder to use, probably Unique but I would like something a bit cleaner burning.

[Savage]

Sounds like pretty good shooting to me Rick! Hangfires with Wolf ammo? New one on me! I haven't fired any Wolf ammo in .45acp in years, but the 4k or so I fired back when fired and functioned ok in the two pistols I ran them in. Ordered 15k Wolf primers late last year, just recently loaded some. Of the 700-800 or so I've had no misfires or hangfires. Maybe you got a bad lot of ammo. Anyway, good shooting!
Savage

[rickt300]

I also noticed the rounds that fired "late" left unburned powder in my gun and it looked like small pieces of burnt cornmeal. I have one more box of the Wolf ammo to shoot and I think I'll try reloading the steel cases but I think Wolf 45 acp ammo is good only for breaking in a pistol.

[Mikey]

rick - you cannot reload steel cases.  They will bust your resizing die.  Steel cases are cheap, that's why you turn them in for scrap.  Unless someone has come up with a steel case that is reloadable, they ain't.  And check your fired cases to see if they used corrosive primers. 

Oh yeah - be careful when shootin' up that last box of Wolf; make certain your boolets leave the barrel before you touch off another round.  Unburned powder or filler residue in the barrel indicates something isn't quite right with the ammo and if you add hangfires to the pot it makes me think you have old and crappy ammo.  I don't think we're talking about Cream of Wheat filler in 38 target loads, so be careful.

[rickt300]

I have a friend that says he loads steel cases. He uses a mixture of transmission fluid and Lucas oil treatment for case lube.  If they are not berden primed I may try to load a couple and see if it is worth the trouble.

[SHOOTALL]

there was an article that said it can be done once to a case . got to ask why ? the wolf ammo i have shot ( most was 7.62X39 )was junk , the store i got a couple cases from told me to expect some misfires .

[rickt300]

I heard the cases were stronger but your right, I have at least 500 brass cases.  I could make a powder dipper out of one of them though.

[Savage]

Yep, steel cases can be reloaded at least once in a pinch. Provided they're boxer primed. I would have to need ammo awfully bad to do it tho-------. And no, they wont "Bust" anything. Just make sure they are clean and well lubed.
Savage

[sirgknight]

I too shoot a HS 1911 and I truly love the way it handles and shoots.  I cast my own bullets using a Lyman 452374 4-cavity round nose mold which casts 220 grain bullets.  The bullets are loaded over Remington large pistol primers and 5.0 gr of Unique powder.  Wouldn't have any problem shooting Wolf ammo but I prefer to purchase ammo which has casings that can be reloaded several (many) times.  Hundreds of thousands of rounds of Wolf ammo has been fired through black rifles because of the lower cost of the ammo, but for reloaders the steel casings are a waste.  It hasn't that long ago when a thousand rounds of Wolf .223 ammo could be purchased for $170.

[rickt300]

I sometimes work as a trainer with a local police department.  A couple of years ago we bough 5000 rounds of Wolf 55 gr. steel cased 223.  Never have I seen so many failures or ammo as nasty as that stuff was. We sure got a lot of practice clearing jams and cleaning our weapons. Accuracy was at best 3 inches at 100 yards. Rarely did you get thru a 30 round magazine before you had to clear a jam, 2 magazines and you needed to clean your rifle.

[Savage]

rick,
Lacquer coated or polymer? The lacquer coating coupled with the direct impingement gas system of the AR platform can spell trouble. We have run a LOT of the polymer stuff thru our ARs with very few problems. The zinc coated steel case stuff runs as well as brass. The polymer is not far behind.
Savage

[rickt300]

It could have easily been the lacquer coated stuff. Powder fouling was flat awful and accuracy just wasn't there for our designated scoped rifles.  It was bought on sale at cheaper than dirt and it may have been old stock.

[NickSS]

The wolf steel cased 45 ammo that I have seen is boxer primed.  I occasionally pick up some of them in once fired condition.  I have never bought any but have reloaded the wolf cases with both lead and jacketed bullets.  They work about the same through my lee carbide dies as does brass cases.  I really do not notice any difference.  I have reloaded some of them several times.  I just loaded up a batch of them for the purpose of small game hunting with my 1911.  I figure that if I loose the empties in the grass I will not care. 

[1911crazy]

Congrats on your purchase.  I would lube it with moly right away.  I would go with the full length guide rod too with the stronger spring to eliminate the recoil spring bind.  With the stronger spring installed you will hear it bind when you run the slide by hand.

We been shooting off 500rds of wolf 45acp at the range on most trips without a problem. I found it to be accurate too.  Like i said before my norinco will shoot 1 cloverleaf per mag with it no matter who shoots it.