Struggling with .45 ACP

This thread is great. Reduced my flare a bit while adjusting dies for a new bullet and now cartridge drops fully into the Wilson case gauge and most importantly feeds without flaw into my finicky LB TRS.

Thanks for the tips!

I am glad it worked.

I too am grateful for this thread. I just started reloading .45ACP again, and because I can remove my XD's barrel, I do the plunk test on every round now before it goes into the ammo box. As a result, the other day a few failed that test and were pulled. Autofeeders can be so much more temperamental than wheelguns that I am now much more vigilant in each step of the process.

Walkalong said:

None of them do, the taper "crimp" should be just enough to remove the bell on the shortest cases, which means the longest ones may get a hair of inward movement on the case mouth. No more is needed. Neck tension does all the work in auto calibers like 9MM, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP.

Berrys 230 Gr
View attachment 774820

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and to increase neck tension, reduce the diameter of your expander plug.

murf

jhansman said:

Autofeeders can be so much more temperamental than wheelguns that I am now much more vigilant in each step of the process.

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And that is why in my reloading class I teach to seat the autoloader bullets and crimp them in separate operations.

Don

Ever see someone on the range smacking the back of the slide? Or trying to get the round out of the chamber?

Most times, the brass is not being sized all the way down. Screw you sizing die down so no gap exits. Even a tad of pressure on the shell plate.

Red Cent said:

Ever see someone on the range smacking the back of the slide? Or trying to get the round out of the chamber?

Most times, the brass is not being sized all the way down. Screw you sizing die down so no gap exits. Even a tad of pressure on the shell plate.

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Be careful; you can crack the carbide sizing ring this way.

Regards,

Josh

Mic the bullets. Berry's and similar are plated and should measure 0.452" last I checked. They're also more easily deformed.

Plated should be treated as lead.

I know 1/1000" doesn't seem like much, but it's enough to make the case contact the sizing ring of a Lee Factory Crimp Die when jacketed bullets won't.

Incidentally, the LFCD will size plated and lead bullets too small. The difference this makes is often according to the individual gun.

Regards,

Josh

Joshua M. Smith said:

the LFCD will size plated and lead bullets too small.

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That's because FCD was mainly made for jacketed bullet diameter of .451".

And case walls are no longer .011" in thickness, especially middle to bottom of bullet base they are seated to. Using larger sized lead/plated bullets with thicker walled cases and FCD may definitely post-size the case neck/bullet diameter and reduce neck tension from brass spring back.

We examined case wall thickness, neck tension and bullet setback in a recent myth busting thread "Neck Tension and Bullet Setback" - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...nd-bullet-setback.830072/page-3#post-10715550

bds said:

That's because FCD was mainly made for jacketed bullet diameter of .451".

And case walls are no longer .011" in thickness, especially middle to bottom of bullet base they are seated to. Using larger sized lead/plated bullets with thicker walled cases and FCD may definitely post-size the case neck/bullet diameter and reduce neck tension from brass spring back.

We examined case wall thickness, neck tension and bullet setback in a recent myth busting thread "Neck Tension and Bullet Setback" - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...nd-bullet-setback.830072/page-3#post-10715550

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I have mixed cases, including some that are older than I am.

I agree it depends on the case wall thickness. *Most* today are thick enough to bump a 0.452" bullet a little, but not all. I seem to recall Blazer Brass as being a bit thinner.

Regards.

I'm shooting years-old mixed range brass in my XD45 Tactical with a 200 gr. lead (coated) bullet, and am experiencing the odd misfeed or FTE. Think it's time to chuck it and start over with new Starline or Win. Just started doing the "plunk test" and out of a hundred loads, I will get one or two that fail to seat.

The plunk test is fine for telling you that OAL/ogive/etc combination will work in a barrel but if there is a problem at the base of the case or rim you can have a case with a defect in this area that will pass the plunk (because no part of the barrel contacts the rim) but fail a case gauge, that does check this area.



So a ding left by an extractor goes unnoticed with the “plunk” up until it happens to get caught entering the breech face.



These are the “mystery malfunctions” you’ll see at the range because the shooter plunk tested every round making sure they dropped into and out of the barrel, then had a malfunction and lost the match by .38 seconds.

That guy was me and I now case gauge every round of timed shooting.

Sizing dies can’t reach this area no matter how far down you crank them because that part is in the shell plate/holder. A push through die or a roll sizer can get rid of them, or you can cull them after loading as you find them with the case gauge.

I use the roll sizing method as it also gets into the extractor groove.



I never have used any special dies that make cases smaller than they need to be. I just get them back to new condition and if the gun can’t shoot them at that point I fix the gun.

If you have a substantial amount of cases that pass the plunk test but fail the case gauge. You might make better use of them by “randomly” inserting them into your practice time on the range...I try to be vigilant in drawing and shooting from concealment. And there’s nothing better than working on your clearing of stoppages if something were to arise. You get pretty darn slick at clearing them (if you practice) thanks to our body’s amazing ability of muscle memory and cognitive skills.

Yes, defects at the rim are a nuisance. My XD is pretty gentle with extracting, but I have noticed some dings. That's why I just ordered 100 pieces of Starline last night; starting over with new brass should give me some notion of whether the issues I've had so far were pistol or brass related, or perhaps both.

Thanks to this thread and all the input my new 1911 is shooting cast 230's

CC

I have a Dillon 650. I have loaded thousands of Berry 230gr rn. I use the Dillon carbide sizing die. I have never experienced the problem you are having. I have always used the Lee Factory crimp die for crimping. I use Lee Factory on all 7 heads for all 7 calibers I reload. The collect crimping Lee Factory crimp dies aren't that expensive. I can't really claim that the Lee FCD's are better than any other crimp dies... because the Lee FCD's are all I have ever used for the past 25 years.

Always a lot of little things to watch in reloading. Especially 45ACP, but I also have a lot of bulging with my 44-40 due to thin neck brass.

I solved the bulge issue in one of your earlier photos by making sure your searing die has the correct shaped (rn or fp ) end facing down. The dillon is interchangeable. Second I found that increasing the flair so that you can place the bullet fairly straight on top of the case before seating has almost completely solved the bulge problem. I still check every loaded shell with case gauge.

I have used FCD but have gone back to standard roll crimp but only crimp just enough to bring flair back to case spec.

clearcut said:

Thanks to this thread and all the input my new 1911 is shooting cast 230's

CC

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Not sure of which powder you are using but an old Bulls eye load with 230 gr cast lead is 4.6 grs of Bullseye in front of a CCI standard large pistol primer.

I was loading 4.5 grs of Bullseye with the 230 gr cast round nose bullet and was happy with it. Then some years ago I read about the old B/E shooters load using 4.6 grs of Bullseye. The group shrank noticeably on the target.