[cfl1911]

Hey does anyone know of a reloader or someone who can walk me through reloading some 45 acp ammo in Illinois? I have brass, bullets ect. but need someone to reload it or show me what I am doing wrong. I have a match barrel on my 1911 and it feeds factory ammo or factory reloads fine but when I try reloads I have loaded it does not want to feed them. I have checked size, lenth ect. and I am stumped. I know I am new to reloading but I just cannot get this. O by the way I have 400 rounds to load.

[dmftoy1]

Where are you at?

I'm down here in Lexington (or up here in Lexington if you're not from Chicago).

[Deanimator]

I'm FROM Illinois. Does that help? :)

What kind of seat/crimp die do you have? I HIGHLY recommend taper crimp dies for .45acp.

Are you seating and crimping in separate operations? If not, I highly recommend that you do.

Do you have a dial caliper? If so, have you measured the diameter of your case mouths after crimping? What does your reloading manual say about crimp diameter?

Do you have a good reloading manual, such as the Hornady or Sierra? If not, invest in one. It has virtually all the information you need in order to load good ammunition.

Can you tell us the SPECIFIC nature of the malfunction? Do the rounds chamber? Do you get misfeeds in between shots?

To see if you're having crimp or OAL problems do this:

CLEAR and disassemble your 1911. Take the barrel, and holding it muzzle down, drop one of your loaded rounds into the chamber. It should drop right in, with the base of the cartridge about even with the top of the barrel hood. If it's much shorter or longer, or it doesn't drop in without appreciable resistance, you have problems with crimp or OAL.

It would also be a big help if you could tell us what kind of bullets and brass you're using. If the brass says "Amerc", see if you can return it and get your money back. If not, just throw it away. It's despicable garbage and will only cause you headaches.

[Anotherguy]

I am in the nw suburbs near Schaumburg. PM me if that works for you. I'd be glad to help.

[cfl1911]

I am going to use 230 grain round nose bullx bullets and once fired winchester brass. I tried the drop bullet in barrel and it will not go all the way in but when I use the caliper it is same lenth and size in all locations as factory. I am using RCBS cabine dies and if I read right when you seat the bullet it crimps at the same time. Have thought about a crimp die but am not sure this is my problem. I live down state ( Champaign area)

[Anotherguy]

I am using RCBS cabine dies

Do you mean carbide dies?
This might sound overly simplistic but are you resizing your brass? Are you sure you have the resizing die adjusted down far enough so you are getting a full length resize?

[cfl1911]

You are right on spelling of dies fingers work faster than brain sometimes and I am sizing cases just not real sure if I am doing it right dmftoy1 shot me a email and I hope to get togather with him and work out the bugs in my reloading thank guys I knew I could get feedback on this I am sure it is just something I am over looking when doing rounds.

[Deanimator]

I am going to use 230 grain round nose bullx bullets and once fired winchester brass. I tried the drop bullet in barrel and it will not go all the way in but when I use the caliper it is same lenth and size in all locations as factory. I am using RCBS cabine dies and if I read right when you seat the bullet it crimps at the same time. Have thought about a crimp die but am not sure this is my problem. I live down state ( Champaign area)
As someone else noted, it sounds like you're not properly resizing the cases.

The RCBS dies come with a fairly written manual. Re-read the section on the size die. It sounds to me as though you do not have it turned down sufficiently.

Regarding seating and crimping separately, you get MUCH better ammunition that way, with no shaving of lead in cast or swaged bullets.

[jfh]

Use a max cart gauge. With older dies, I have had the odd sizing issues--that is, some used brass has a bell shape, due to max loads or an undersized sizing die that does not really do the entire length.

Use of a 4th die--that Lee FCD die--is reported to solve the problem. I'm just starting to use it, and it definitiely is "fixing" the fit problem.

Midway--and others, like Graf's--has the max cart gauge. Get one and tweak your die settings until the round drops in ALL the way in a "buttery-smooth" motion, or even free-falls to length.

Jim H.

[Texastbird]

+1 on the Lee Factory Crimp die. Sizes the case all the way down. I was having the same problem on one of my Colts and the FCD fixed the problem.

[gaudio5]

im in naperville i can help you out just let me know.