Chamberings issues with .45ACP handloads...

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375supermag

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Hi...
Having some issues with chamberings .45ACP handloads in some of my handguns.
The issue only occurs with 230gr hard cast commercial coated bullets loaded on my Hornady LNL progressive press but only with a couple of handguns.
The handloads plunk just fine in Wilson gauges and several other handguns and function fine when shooting.
The only way I can get these bullets to function in all of my handguns is to run them through a Hornady taper crimp die on my RockChucker. If I run them through the Hornady taper crimp die on the LNL, they will not chamber in some of my handguns. If I run them through that die on my son's RockChucker Supreme they will not chamber in some of my guns.

This is very frustrating...does anybody have any ideas about why this might be?
 
Come out of the die, rotate the case 180^ and run it back up again...

it sounds like the tolerances on the shell plate are a little too loose.
 
375supermag said:
The only way I can get these bullets to function in all of my handguns is to run them through a Hornady taper crimp die on my RockChucker.
Click to expand...
Bullet diameter may be to large for some guns. At times .452" is to big. At times, 451" is needed.

The taper crimp needs to be set on the shortest brass. Mixed brass may be an issue. Just a tiny bit more taper crimp may help.
375supermag said:
230gr hard cast commercial coated bullets
Click to expand...
Fat bullets may need a shorter COL in some guns.
 
What are you loading COL at? I have to load mine at 1.20", for my cast, or my one Springfield Armory mi-spec 1911 won't chamber every round.
 
243winxb said:
Bullet diameter may be to large for some guns. At times .452" is to big. At times, 451" is needed.

The taper crimp needs to be set on the shortest brass. Mixed brass may be an issue. Just a tiny bit more taper crimp may help.

Fat bullets may need a shorter COL in some guns.
Click to expand...

The brass is mixed but that hasn't been a problem heretofore on the same press nor has the difference in plain hard cast, jacketed or plated bullets.
I also switched from a Hornady die set to an RCBS set and that didn't help.
 
Your final "crimp" should be .470 +/- .001 at the case mouth! You're really just removing the flare after bullet seating!

Smiles,
 
My S&W 645 would eat anything, mixed brass, & .451" bullets. The old series 70 Colt Gold Cup 45 has a much tighter chamber. It eats Starline brass & .452" diameter. Very sensitive to the amount of taper crimp.

When i used the mixed brass that was fired many time in the 645, had feeding problems in the *Colt. The rim had expanded and was to wide to slide up the *Colts bolt face.

Try a Lee Undersize Sizing die? Said to size brass smaller, if you think case diameter is an issue?
 
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375supermag said:
The handloads plunk just fine in Wilson gauges and several other handguns. .
Click to expand...
Illustrating yet again. . . that unless you're planning to shoot your handloads in the Wilson gauge, you shouldn't be relying on it. You should be gauging in the actual chamber(s) you're going to use.

Put that Wilson paperweight back on your desk, and plunk in the tightest/shortest barrel you own.
 
You must plunk test on every gun if you want to make sure they will feed and function in every gun! Plunking them into gauges does nothing for an actual gun. Every gun is different and just a little different than the next!
 
I think the OP’s rounds past the plunk test, he’s having an issue with feeding... as I have with one particular pistol. The uniformity of the crimp DOES have an effect, often, on how it feeds.
 
Most 45acp problems are feed ramp or magazine related. If the round planks its 99% one of those two things. If your using standard ball ojive bullets it's the mag. If your having feed problems with swc it most likely is the feed ramp.
 
I suggested to my son he have his ramp and throat polished on the handguns that won't chamber the rounds.
My Springfield Armory and Colt Combat Commander are feeding them just fine. 99% of the failures to feed are in his Springfield XDM.

We have an occasional failure to extract on his XDM as well.

The loaded rounds that don't chamber measure slightly larger than the ones that do...+.001". Just enough to be a problem...
They plunk in the case gauge and in most every pistol. Probably 97-100 will feed in every gun but 2-3 out off a hundred will only reliably feed in my two pistols. We haven't had a failure yet in my son's new to him Para Ordnance double stack 1911.
 
If I have the appropriate cartridge gauge, I check all the ammo off my progressive in a gauge. Using a gauge saves me from disassembling the gun and/or chambering live rounds in the gun. The gauges I use are typically machined to minimum SAAMI dimensions, so if the finished round passes the gauge it normally chambers fine in SAAMI spec guns. I guess some chambers might be tighter than SAAMI minimum, but I haven't had problems with rounds passing the gauge and failing to chamber.
 
AJC1 said:
Most 45acp problems are feed ramp or magazine related. If the round planks its 99% one of those two things. If your using standard ball ojive bullets it's the mag. If your having feed problems with swc it most likely is the feed ramp.
Click to expand...
Polishing with Flitz and the bullet shape polishing bit
 
243winxb said:
Bullet diameter may be to large for some guns. At times .452" is to big. At times, 451" is needed.

The taper crimp needs to be set on the shortest brass. Mixed brass may be an issue. Just a tiny bit more taper crimp may help.

Fat bullets may need a shorter COL in some guns.
Click to expand...
Yep my experience too. I counter that with using known thin brass for my cast .452 loads, TZZ and Rem headstamps to name a couple.
 
375supermag said:
I suggested to my son he have his ramp and throat polished on the handguns that won't chamber the rounds.
. . .
99% of the failures to feed are in his Springfield XDM.
Click to expand...
Polishing feedramps is the blinker fluid of the gunsmith world. . .

Every XD* I've opened has (excessively) beautifully polished ramp and chamber, and very near SAAMI-minimum chamber dimensions (both diameter and throat length). You need to load for the gun, and then it'll work.
 
edwardware said:
Polishing feedramps is the blinker fluid of the gunsmith world. . .

Every XD* I've opened has (excessively) beautifully polished ramp and chamber, and very near SAAMI-minimum chamber dimensions (both diameter and throat length). You need to load for the gun, and then it'll work.
Click to expand...
Polish a turd and you get a shiny version of what you started with. I havent dealt personally with feed ramp issues, but geometry is critical and that's beyond polishing imo.
 
375supermag said:
The only way I can get these bullets to function in all of my handguns is to run them through a Hornady taper crimp die on my RockChucker. If I run them through the Hornady taper crimp die on the LNL, they will not chamber in some of my handguns. If I run them through that die on my son's RockChucker Supreme they will not chamber in some of my guns.

This is very frustrating...does anybody have any ideas about why this might be?
Click to expand...
I’m not sure how you’re moving the Hornady taper crimp from press to press but when I’ve tried that on mine, there are always differences between the presses. Even when I went from a LNL to another LNL with the die in a bushing.
If the problem is truly just a chambering issue and you’re confident it’s not a COL problem, then I’d focus on the taper crimp. Setting that up, even with the same HS brass, you can fool yourself with a longer case. Just to clarify, by taper crimp, I’m just suggesting you adjust the die to remove the bell and allow the rounds to chamber. Good luck.
 
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