24-7 Dave
Member
Been a while since I have been to this forum, but I am finally getting time to reload again--and I can really use some advice from the experts in the group before I make a serious mistake. I have been reloading pistol (mostly 9mm, .38/357, 45 ACP and some .44 Mag.) for 32 years, but my job got in the way the last 10 years and seriously limited my reloading and range time, so I am taking it slow and re-learning as I go.
I am finally getting away from cast lead bullets that I stockpiled during the Obama scare, and working up loads for plated (Xtreme) and FMJ (RMR) bullets for my 45 ACPs. While I have been loading FMJ 9mm rounds for years, I only recently made the switch to jacketed bullets for my 1911. Long story short, I encountered suspected setback issues several weeks ago with some .45 ACP FMJ and jacketed HP reloads (with minimal/almost no crimp) to the point where I could detect a difference in the report and recoil from round to round, so I stopped, packed up and went home to figure it out. My cast lead reloads had behaved themselves when fired, but the jacketed rounds were acting erratically, so the only thing I could think was that the larger diameter cast bullets had enough case tension to stay in place while the jacketed reloads were setting back. I measured the OAL of my unfired cast and jacketed reloads, put them in a magazine, hit the slide release to run them against the clean feed ramp of a Rock Island 1911, then ejected them manually to see if the OAL changed. Little to no change on the cast bullets, but the jacketed rounds worried me. Some set back significantly, which I assume could account for increased pressure/increased recoil. After the shock wore off from that experiment, I made up some dummy 230 gr FMJ rounds (no cannelures) using fully processed brass (wet steel pin tumbled/sized) R-P and Starline cases (I only use those head stamps) and seated the bullets as usual with little to no crimp, then made up some with an added step using a Lee factory crimp die that I had bought previously to remove case bulges on range brass I'd picked up (while my 1911 eats everything, the Smith M&P Shield only chambers 'perfect' rounds or it won't go to battery...) I set the factory crimp die to apply some crimp, but not enough to affect head spacing on the case mouth. Found that the reloads made with minimal/no crimp were setting back from .025 to as much as .040 when the 230 gr FMJ bullets hit the ramp, while the ones using the factory crimp were still setting back, but only .010 on average. My questions to the experts in the forum:
1. What is an acceptable (safe) amount of setback to accept when reloading FMJ bullets, and am I missing something important in my experiments?
2. Should I find a different recipe that calls for a deeper seating depth for more contact with the case to start with? My current recipe calls for an OAL of 1.273 for the 230 gr bullets, which is close to max length, but it works fine every time with cast loads in my 1911.
As with everyone else, I am kind of limited to the powders I have on hand, so I am using Blue Dot although I did find a fresh pound of WIN 231 last month, and trying to minimize the amount of live fire experimentation to conserve my primer supply until the availability increases and the prices come back down.
Thank you for your advice!
I am finally getting away from cast lead bullets that I stockpiled during the Obama scare, and working up loads for plated (Xtreme) and FMJ (RMR) bullets for my 45 ACPs. While I have been loading FMJ 9mm rounds for years, I only recently made the switch to jacketed bullets for my 1911. Long story short, I encountered suspected setback issues several weeks ago with some .45 ACP FMJ and jacketed HP reloads (with minimal/almost no crimp) to the point where I could detect a difference in the report and recoil from round to round, so I stopped, packed up and went home to figure it out. My cast lead reloads had behaved themselves when fired, but the jacketed rounds were acting erratically, so the only thing I could think was that the larger diameter cast bullets had enough case tension to stay in place while the jacketed reloads were setting back. I measured the OAL of my unfired cast and jacketed reloads, put them in a magazine, hit the slide release to run them against the clean feed ramp of a Rock Island 1911, then ejected them manually to see if the OAL changed. Little to no change on the cast bullets, but the jacketed rounds worried me. Some set back significantly, which I assume could account for increased pressure/increased recoil. After the shock wore off from that experiment, I made up some dummy 230 gr FMJ rounds (no cannelures) using fully processed brass (wet steel pin tumbled/sized) R-P and Starline cases (I only use those head stamps) and seated the bullets as usual with little to no crimp, then made up some with an added step using a Lee factory crimp die that I had bought previously to remove case bulges on range brass I'd picked up (while my 1911 eats everything, the Smith M&P Shield only chambers 'perfect' rounds or it won't go to battery...) I set the factory crimp die to apply some crimp, but not enough to affect head spacing on the case mouth. Found that the reloads made with minimal/no crimp were setting back from .025 to as much as .040 when the 230 gr FMJ bullets hit the ramp, while the ones using the factory crimp were still setting back, but only .010 on average. My questions to the experts in the forum:
1. What is an acceptable (safe) amount of setback to accept when reloading FMJ bullets, and am I missing something important in my experiments?
2. Should I find a different recipe that calls for a deeper seating depth for more contact with the case to start with? My current recipe calls for an OAL of 1.273 for the 230 gr bullets, which is close to max length, but it works fine every time with cast loads in my 1911.
As with everyone else, I am kind of limited to the powders I have on hand, so I am using Blue Dot although I did find a fresh pound of WIN 231 last month, and trying to minimize the amount of live fire experimentation to conserve my primer supply until the availability increases and the prices come back down.
Thank you for your advice!
