451 or .452 bullets, crimping .45acp problems??

[Master Blaster]

451 or .452 bullets, crimping .45acp problems??

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Hi all I have an interesting situation that came to light as I started loading for my .45 acp taurus tracker. The tracker has very tight chambers and .45 acp ammo that drops to the bottom of my case gauge works perfectly as does all of the factory ammo I have tried, .475 or less near the web fits, but if the case is .just a hair oversize, .476 near the web, it will not chamber. I loaded up a bunch of rounds with ranier ballistics plated bullets sized .451, all drop to the bottom of the case guage. I also loaded up rounds with Russell cast bullets which run .4525 these rounds stop a rim width from the bottom of the case guage. i also have Penncast bullets that run .4515 when I load with these the rounds almost drop to the bottom of the case gauge, and chamber fine in the tracker. Now the slightly oversize ammo works fine in my 1911s and I have shot thousands of rounds of it. So noticing the problem with the Tracker has made me check all of my adjustments in my Dillon 550. I have it set for the optimum belling resizing seating and crimp as tested with the case guage (Increasing and decreasing settings for the best overall dimensions).

I just can't seem to get the .4525 bullets loaded so thay make SAAMI minimum chamber spec, and drop to the bottom of the case gauge without resistance.

So what gives???? I think the bullet size is the problem or am I missing something here?

And BTW I checked my resizing die settings, its screwed all the way down, and all of the cases will drop to the bottom of the case gauge when they come out of the resizing die. Its only after the cases are loaded and taper crimped that there is a problem.

I thought it was because I was overcrimping and hence putting a very small bulge in the case but I tested this theory out last night by gradually decreasing the crimp and it did not fix the problem!!!


So ist the only answer to use .451 sized bullets ?????

thanks

 

[rick_in_lb]

Crimpzzz

Well here is what I do now with a lot of help from this and other forums...
I crimp to .471-.469. The lead,.452, is more forgiving on the crimp,where the plated,.451,are not as forgiving. On the plated bullets, do not overcrimp because this will only cause problems. When you bell your case only do this slightly enough for the bullet to stay and not fall over. When you crimp. I use the Lee FCD, only crimp enough to remove your bell. I had many problems in the feed in my pistol and this helped me to resolve my problem. Not enough crimp will cause a problem as will overcrimping. Overbelling your case will cause problems when you crimp...trust me on that.

Good Luck...Load Safe...Shoot Straight
& may God take a liking to your reloads and you!

 

[JDGray]

I expand the case just enough to start bullets straight, I seat my bullets to 1.250 on 230 rn , and 1.220 on 200 swc. I than use a lee factory crimp die , and crimp to .469 I only use Rainier bullets. The crimp die also post sizes the case and bullet. Lee claims the FCD will even form a canuller groove in FMJ bullets. JDGray

 

[neoncowboy]

I just use the .451 bullets.

 

[antarti]

Jacketed and plated bullets should be .451, lead .452. Some of your measurements are far more than that. Are these lead bullets for .45 auto? Make sure you got the right ones.

Some things to try (all together):

1) The suggestions for minimal belling are spot on. I bell the brass to .473 OD. That makes the ID .453, or .002 over the bullet. No jacket material gets shaved at this setting with rainiers.

2) I set the bullet seater to take out the bell, and leave case mouth at .472.

3) I forego the FCD anymore, as crimping beyond the above has never seemed to increase bullet tension with the plated bullets for me. In fact, I have found the opposite to be true.

4) I drop them all in the firearms chamber to check them. I haven't needed to "fix" one yet. It's a tight Nowlin match barrel, on a 1911. My fired brass from that barrel will easily drop into a milspec 1911 chamber.

 

[JDGray]

I took factory winchester 230 gr ammo, and ran it through my lee fcd, just to compare the feel to my reloads, and it slid through very very easily. I think factory ammo is smaller, so it will fit any chamber out there. I would still use the fcd. just my opinion. JDGray

 

[The Bushmaster]

This is easy to answer. "When I hit myself in the face it hurts." "Then don't hit yourself in the face." Don't use the .4525 bullets...:banghead: