1911 Keyholing Issues (.45)

I need to do some more homework before having complete absolute data, but I seem to be having some issues with my 1911 and keyholing with my handmade ammo.

When I first got the gun last year, I started with 2,000 rounds of factory ammo, and did not "notice" any issues. Then as I was testing some of my handloads later on, I noticed a couple of times at an indoor range (on paper) what appeared to be keyholing. At first I was concerned, but then I wrote it off as just the loose hanging paper moving and creating larger than normal holes.

I don't shoot indoors often, and this gun does not get shot as much as my other guns, so I sort of forgot about it, and when I did shoot it, it was outdoors at steel or other targets that don't show keyholing issues as well.

A few days ago, since it was cold as heck, I packed up my 1911 in my bag as I left to test some other .40 loads I am working up for another gun, and went to the local indoor range.

Keyholing. Dang. But only with the 1911 and .45 loads, the .40 loads had nice tight holes.

I shot both coated lead SWCs and plated SWCs (both at 200 gr.) and saw keyholing from both loads.

I now need to get some factory loads and test those, and I also want to bring some of my 230 gr. RN handloads to test those along with the two SWCs to see what the heck is happening.

What could be causing this? Is this a potential ammo issue or a potential weapon issue? The factory ammo and my 230 gr. ball ammo should help narrow this down, but I am a bit concerned.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

drband said:

Does your paper target have a backer? Foam board, cardboard?

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No, at this range, the paper just hangs loosely, which is why at first I was not too worried. I wish I would have taken some pictures of the target.

In my original message above I wrote:

At first I was concerned, but then I wrote it off as just the loose hanging paper moving and creating larger than normal holes.

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But when I was shooting at that same range a couple of days ago, the .45 holes where huge, and the .40 holes from my other gun were nice tight punctures.

ATLDave said:

Try shooting some cardboard before you go nuts. When shooting unbacked paper, both velocity* and bullet profile impact the kinds of holes you get. Those differences even show up on cardboard, but they're not as exaggerated as with paper, and you should be able to see true keyholing on cardboard pretty unequivocally.

* All else equal, faster bullets will generally cut cleaner holes in target material.

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Yeah, thanks, I will do that.

my .40 rounds are 180 gr. and are going just over 925 fps, whereas the .45 rounds are 200 gr. and are going about 850 fps. Do you think that difference in speed could be the difference?

ATLDave said:

Maybe, maybe not. It's a difference. The bullet diameter is a difference, too. I have seen paper that, without a backer, you just cannot punch holes through with bigger bullets without getting ragged tearing. Punch some cardboard, then you'll know whether you need to troubleshoot.

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Thanks, I will try that next.

drband said:

This^^^^
I’m betting the “keyholing” is tearing of unbanked paper. At least you’ll know after shooting a backed target!

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Thanks. It sounds like I need to do some more testing. I'll back the target next time and see what I get.

OK, I took the 1911 out to the indoor range again, and added TWO layers of cardboard backing to the paper targets, and fired 2 mags of 230 gr. RN, and 2 mags of 200 gr. SWC. And then the danged cardboard *AND* target fell off the holder when I was sending it back out again for another set of rounds, never to be touched again by me. (I hate indoor ranges for this kind of stuff...).

Anyway, the holes don't seem as bad, but they are certainly not the crisp holes I see with my .40 or my 9 mm. That may just be a function of the .45 round. I don't shoot a lot of paper, and I don't shoot a lot of .45, so I am not sure what to consider normal.

Here is what the target looked like after 16 rounds of 230 gr. RN at 15 yards (45 feet) with 2 layers of cardboard backer:




And then here is the target after 16 rounds of the 200 gr. SWCs at 15 yards with 2 layers of cardboard:




And finally, a close up from a flyer with the 200 gr. SWCs:




I do have to say that these do look *better*, but still not the nice hole punches that I am used to seeing, especially with SWCs. Some of the holes look great, and others look stretched for sure.

My plan before I lost the cardboard backers was to not shoot as many rounds in one area so I could see more of the individual holes rather than the larger hole from the grouping, but as I mentioned, after I took these pictures and was sending the target back down range, the whole danged thing fell off the clips. I was pretty ticked!!! (I had another target, but no more cardboard.)

So, not the nice neat hole punches like I am used to, but not the horrible sideways holes like I was getting last week.

Do these look "normal" to you guys, especially with 2 layers of cardboard?

bds said:

Doesn't matter how many layers of cardboard you use. What matters is distance to cardboard. If target is close to backing, less tear. If target is further from backing, more tear.

And that's not keyholing. I see tearing of paper similar to what I get without target backing (These 8.5"x11" copy paper targets were just hung from tree branches)



Cleaner holes with better backing at 50 yards (These 8.5"x11" copy paper targets were tightly taped to cardboard). If I had any tumbling, I should see elongated/sideways holes but these are all nice and round.



Round holes all the way out to 100 yards showing good rotational stability (And these stubby 100 gr RN bullets with short base were shot from slower 1:16 twist rate barrel instead of 1:10).

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Thanks, I see some tearing, especially in the first picture that I posted with the 230 gr RN bullets. Again, these were shot at 15 yards with thick backing, but they were not taped together, just clamped together at the top at two points, and stretched as tightly as I could get using the clamps.