Leading on 1911 with Missouri Bullet 45acp bullets

[bdpeterson]

I've tried using the Bullseye #1 (45acp, brinell 12, 200gr SWC) and IDP#1 (45acp, brinell 18, 200gr SWC) from Missouri Bullet and both lead my new Colt 1911 using 5.2gr Bullseye. Any ideas how to prevent the leading?

 

[steve4102]

You may try and drop the powder down to lead safe levels. According Alliant, 200gr LSWC has a MAX of 4.6gr of Bullseye. Hot loads will cause leading.

 

[jim147]

I think your load is a bit lite.

And if it is a new pistol. It might take a little to smooth out the barrel.

jim

That's why it's always good to double and triple check. One of mine shows 4.6 as max and the other shows 6.3 as max.

 

[Canuck-IL]

All 200 gr LSWC are not created equal - quite different nose lengths and widths give rise to very different lengths of the driving band - and different overall lengths and hence, pressures.

For example, Lyman's #48 lists 2 200 gr heads - one at an OAL of 1.161 (!!) and one at 1.235. The former lists 5.6 of BE at 869 fps as max while the latter lists 6.0 at 909.

The classic 200 LSWC is the H&G #68 - a fairly tall bullet, not a "button nose." These are usually loaded to about .930 from the case base to the shoulder - should give around 1.240 - 1.250 OAL.

So, a little more powder is unlikely to blow anything up ... you might want to check the bore size also - too fast OR too slow can cause leading ... depends on the fit of the bullet to the bore and the Brinell.
/Bryan

 

[jim147]

I guess we should ask where is it leading before we throw too many ideas out there.
And do you know for sure which load is leading? The harder bullet or the softer?

jim

 

[bdpeterson]

jim147
With the same load, the softer bullet showed slightly more leading. The OAL was set at 1.250 for both. The leading was more prominent at the top of the barrel for the first 1".

 

[ljnowell]

Leading at the chamber like that says to me you may want to bump up the charge a little bit and see where it goes. Any unburned powder?

 

[bdpeterson]

ljnowell,
It's a little sooty in the frame load ramp area but very little at the muzzle

 

[243winxb]

Any ideas how to prevent the leading?

The first thing i would try is lower the powder charge. Lees info on leading>

Cast bullet leading

A clue to what is causing the leading is where the leading first begins to appear. If it appears near the chamber, chances are that bullet diameter or hardness are the cause.

A diameter too small and/or too hard an alloy will allow high pressure gas to leak past the bullet, which erodes the bullet and leaves leading near the chamber.

If the leading first appears on the leading edge of the rifling (if you imagine the bullet being pushed through the barrel, you will note that one edge of the rifling does most of the work of imparting a spin to the bullet. This is the edge you see when you look through the barrel from the breech end) the bullet might be too soft, and/or the velocity too high.

If the leading appears in the second half of the barrel, the bullet is running out of lube. You should see a star shaped pattern of lube accumulate on the muzzle. This is an indication that there is a little excess lube.

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/faq/index.cgi

 

[ljnowell]

A clue to what is causing the leading is where the leading first begins to appear. If it appears near the chamber, chances are that bullet diameter or hardness are the cause.

The answer to that is to push a little harder to expand the base of the bullet. Many times when you do not have enough pressure you will not get the base of the bullet to seal to the bore, causing leading in the first part of the barrel. I had the exact same problem seveal times with different powders in the past and cured it by going up a little in powder. As long as you are below published max, I would try that. Its not like you cant make some a little higher and a little lower and try both though.

 

[orrwdd]

This is interesting. The OP is getting advice to raise the charge and to lower the charge. To complicate matters, I think we may be dealing with two sets of loading data. Alliant changed both the Unique and Bullseye formulas a while back which caused a reduction of charge weight in the loading data.

I am using some old Bullseye at 5.0gr for the same bullet and am getting no leading from it. This BTW was the standard 230gr Ball load for 45ACP for years. Now if my Bullseye was newly pruchased I would reduce the new max load by 10 % and work back up slowly 1-2% at a time, checking for pressure and leading to establish my new load.

Hope this helps to clear up some of the conclusion.

Bill

 

[frankge]

I loaded the 230 softball with AA#2 4.5 g and shoots clean in my springfield 1911 gi

 

[rduckwor]

I load the IDPA Brinnel 18, 200 LSWC from MO Bullets as well. 5.6Gr W231 and 1.255 OAL. I get a small bit of leading in the first 1 inch past the chamber, but I make power for IDPA matches. This is my SIG 1911, DW Valor, And Para P.14. I don't worry about it. Most of it comes out when I clean and then it comes right back when I shoot.

RMD

 

[Jeff H]

I stand behind my assertion that a properly sized bullet is more important than hardness or powder charge when it comes to leading. Make sure the bullets are .452 at least and the barrel is .451. Slug your bore if you get a lot of leading with .452 bullets, maybe your bore is larger than normal.

A little leading in the 1st inch is normal in a couple of my guns and others show no leading at all after 100+ rounds.

 

[P-32]

Try belling the mouth of the case a little more.......

 

[WARDER]

i had the same problem with my new colt government ,polish the barrel with a coil of 4x2 lapped tightly around the cleaning rod with a little sol auto sol crome polish applied ,this will smooth out the barrel and leave it shining ,it does work well ,also use liquid lube alox on your already lubed lead rounds the result will amaze you .let me know how you get on .