[ldyates]

First.. I am relatively new at this hobby, but I have succesfully made hundreds of .40 and .45 with the same dies, press and recipe.

For some reason, my latest batch of .45 will not feed into my 1911's. Plural.. both Colts will not go into full battery. It seems that there is a slight deformity/bubble near the bottom of the case which is causing the problem. I fired some new Hornady's as well and the Colt's functioned flawlessly, so this is a case issue.

I did everything right, but this is frustrating as heck and I am not sure what to do. Any input is appreciated.

PS.. I picked up the cases in a trade and I do not know how many times they have been reloaded which may be part of the problem.

Thanks

Larry

[NCsmitty]

I would guess that maybe you are buckling the case with your crimp. Just back off the seating die a bit in the press, and check to maintain the proper COL with the bullet height adjuster.
The other reason could be that you are not totally sizing the case properly. Is this occurring (bubble) at any specific point in the loading process? Is the brass normal after firing and before loading?

NCsmitty

[ldyates]

Smitty.... I will have to make a few more to test your theory because I did not notice the problem at any particular stage of reloading.

I use a Hornandy L-N-L and the dies were never changed from my last batch, but that could be the problem. I will test tonight.

[243winxb]

a slight deformity/bubble near the bottom of the case Do you mean at the head/web area?? Load to hot. Case budge where its unsupported. The sizing dies do not size in the web area of the brass near the head.

[rcmodel]

Adjust the sizing die all the way down until it contacts the shell holder tightly at full ram travel.

Then size a few cases.

Take the barrel out of your gun and drop the sized cases in the chamber.

Do they drop in & out freely?

If so, go ahead and expand & bell them, load them, then do the chamber-check with the barrel again.

Do they still fit?

If not, it is either crimp or OAL related.

rc

[243winxb]

Adjust the sizing die all the way down until it contacts the shell holder tightly at full ram travel.
Not Tungsten carbide sizing dies, you can crack or break it. Keep a few .001" 's between the shell holder and die. IMO and RCBS instructions

[janobles14]

1st gen glock empties? i know some people say they have never had a problem with it but if the dies arent capable of sizing ALL the way down to the last micrometer then it would cause this issue.

[Black Dime]

Or run the loaded cases through a stripped sizing die. Pain.

[Tom S.]

Dollars to doughnuts that the cases were fired in a Glock, which is known to put a bulge in them. Many resizing dies have a bevel opening (to allow the case to enter easier) and thus will not remove the buldge entirely.

[ldyates]

I apologize for the photos. The camera will not focus, but you will get the idea.

Cleaned brass

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/ldyates/IMGP0902.jpg

Same brass... sized, decapped and fits. Freely falls from the chamber.

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/ldyates/IMGP0904.jpg

Final Product.... seems to be about .021 to long at the rim. COL is correct. The round is snug and does not freely fall out of the chamber, so I assume that when the barrel heats up this abnormality gets worse. Again.. factory ammo worked just fine on a full clip in rapid fire so heat was not the issue there.

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/ldyates/IMGP0906.jpg

[243winxb]

seat your bullet deeper, shorter COL or your crimp needs work

[rcmodel]

Or run the loaded cases through a stripped sizing die. PainNever, Ever run a loaded round back in a sizing die.

It not only will resize the case under-size, it will resize the bullet undersize too!
Way undersize!

ldyates
Color one of the rounds that won't chamber with a black marker, then press it in the chamber as far as you can get it to go.

When you take it back out, where the black rubbed off is your problem.

rc

[Mal H]

Coat the case of one of the tight rounds with a Magic Marker and push it into the barrel, not enough to get it stuck but enough to make a mark on the case. Then remove it and see if you can determine where it is hanging up.


[Edit]
Dang! Great minds and all that! rcmodel and I were simulposting.

[ldyates]

Thanks for the tips.

i did the marker on a cartridge and they are too snug for sure. I am also using KEAD bullets which is an alloy and the OAL may be different from the standard 230's that I loaded in the past.

What a waste of time and materials this turned out to be.

[rcmodel]

Did you measure the bullets to see what the actual diameter is?

What kind of cases are they?
Could be they have thicker necks then they should and that makes them expand too much when the bullet is seated?

rc

[cinteal]

One question added to RC's . . . is it a turret press? Based on how tough it is to seat the bullet, the turret will move a little giving you varying OAL. All RC's questions apply to seating.

This is the only place where Lee's factory crimp die is useful. It will take out the bullet bulge, though it will not be able to help on OAL.