.45 colt fouling

[weirdbeard]

Hey guys I recently reloaded some .45 long colt with remington brass, 4 grains of clays, winchester primers, and 225gr shooters supply bullets (LRN). This was my first attempt at reloading and everything went bang but I noticed that there was considerably more fouling around the mouth of the case than previously shot factory rounds. Is there something I did wrong or anything I can change. They were shot out of a Ruger New Vaquero. Also do I need to trim those cases again? Thanks for any help some might be able to lend.

 

[Jim Watson]

The fouling is probably a combination of inefficiently burnt powder from a sub-powderpuff load (the Hodgdon Cowboy starting load is 4.3 grains of Clays) and lube from the bulk cast bullets. On the outside of the case, it is due to incomplete obturation of the brass by the very low pressure of only 4 grains of that powder.

I see little point in trimming revolver cases except to get a uniform crimp in mixed brass.

 

[SASS#23149]

when shooting low powered loads in 45colt,smuded cases are a fact of life.I shoot wimp loads at matches,and just throw them in the tumbler with some NuFinish liquid car polish,cleans 'em up pretty good.

 

[rcmodel]

Wimp loads are not expanding the cases enough to seal the chambers.

Try 4.5 - 5.0 grains and see if it stops.

I'm thinking you are on your way to sticking a bullet in the barrel with the load you are using. It would appear you are getting less then 700 FPS and less then 7,000 PSI pressure with that load.

rc

 

[Randy1911]

Back when I shot CAS I used a load in 45 Colt of 5.8 grs. of W231 and a 200 gr. LRNFP. I got a MV of 650 and real black cases. I shot that load for over 10 years and never had any problems. You just need to up your powder charge.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

weirdbeard,
I see no reason to trim straight wall handgun brass so I would say no to your question about trimming the brass "again."

Where did you get that load data? Like said above a charge of only 4.0gr Clays with a 225gr LRN bullet is very low. On the Hodgdon Load Data Site they recommend a starting charge of 4.4gr with a Max charge of 5.4gr Clays.

Are you set on using Clays for the .45 Colt? If not there are better powders out there that are time tested and reliable. Unique is the classic .45 Colt powder. I use W231 and HS-6 for all my .45 Colt ammo. Trail Boss is a fairly new powder which was developed to fill the large cases of the older calibers which were originally designed for Black Powder. It delivers similar performance to Black Powder but with all the advantages of a smokeless powder. There are several other choices out there too.

Welcome to the forum...

 

[weirdbeard]

Thanks guys, it actually was 4.4 grs. But I was afraid of over loading with my first attempt at handloading. Thanks for the info I am going to step up the powder. Thanks again.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

How's your crimp and neck tension?

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Thanks guys, it actually was 4.4 grs. But I was afraid of over loading with my first attempt at handloading.

weirdbeard,
Charges that are too low can be almost as dangerous as those that are too high. Among some of the problems, you can cause a squib load. That's when a round fires the bullet but the bullet doesn't exit the barrel. That in itself isn't a problem if you notice the squib, it's when you don't notice the squib and fire the next round things become very interesting. Also, a light charge can cause the powder to detonate instead of burn. Powder detonation will spike the pressures quite high possibly damaging the gun and causing injuries. Granted, powder detonation is rare but so is double charging, both can go Kaboom!

One of the rules of reloading that should always be followed, stay within the published powder charge range. That holds true for minimum charges as well as maximum charges. The minimum charges that are available from published sources are very conservative these days. I wouldn't worry about the recommended minimum charge being too hot. That's the safe charge where you begin to "work up" slowly to the Max charge checking for pressure problems along the way.

 

[Walkalong]

how's your crimp and neck tension?

Yep. Real good neck tension with a healthy crimp will help with light charges in big cases.

I like AA #2 and 250/255 Gr bullets for 650 to 700 FPS in .45 Colt. Not much fouling compared to most light .45 Colt loads. Very position insensitive as well.

 

[halfded]

What's the barrel length on your New Vaquero? I started loading for one with a 4 5/8" barrel and have a couple loads I could share with you that worked really well for me. Even shooting loads that are within guidelines, I get sooty cases. I'm thinking unless your shooting over 1000fos or so it's just gonna be a fact of life.

Archangelcd:

Trail Boss is a fairly new powder which was developed to fill the large cases of the older calibers which were originally designed for Black Powder. It delivers similar performance to Black Powder but with all the advantages of a smokeless powder.

It is a good powder coming from my limited experience. About 60% case fill with a mid range charge. I don't think I would call it 'smokeless' though. I'd like to think the powder, being designed for CAS, throws a little smoke by design, not by flaw. Either way, cool powder that gives that old-timey feel.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Oh come on, even though it's "smokey" it's still a smokeless powder and not Black Powder. Synthetic powders produces after the turn of the last century are all referred to as smokeless powder even if they are a little "dirty"...