I have a M&p 45 that has a problem chambering loads from my lee press. I have the FCD from lee my oal seems fine. When i drop a round into the barrel it stops before seating all the way in then I have to press it slightly to seat fully. With factory ammo the bullets slip right in. I used a caliber and and the factory ammo was at .469 at the bottom of the case and out of the resizing die i am getting .472-.474. Any ideas would be great i am ready to pull what little hair i have out.
Lee turret press 45acp not chambering in M&P
- Thread starter vacajar
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RealGun
Member
Go back to your sizing die and recheck the setup.
Then make sure the seating die is removing most or all of the flare without crimping.
Then make sure the seating die is removing most or all of the flare without crimping.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
Either the sizing die is out-of-spec & over-size, or your expander / powder drop tube is expanding the case way too much.
Or your sizing die is not adjusted properly.
Or you don't have it screwed down far enough to just kiss the shell holder.
The .45 ACP has .003" case taper, and if the sizing die is not all the way down barely touching the shell holder, it isn't fully sizing the case taper out and reducing the neck sufficiently.
rc
Or your sizing die is not adjusted properly.
Then you have an out-of-spec sizing die.
Or you don't have it screwed down far enough to just kiss the shell holder.
The .45 ACP has .003" case taper, and if the sizing die is not all the way down barely touching the shell holder, it isn't fully sizing the case taper out and reducing the neck sufficiently.
rc
LiveLife
Member
vacajar, with the barrel out of the pistol, can you drop your resized case (no bullet) in the chamber?
- If you cannot, like RealGun and rcmodel posted, you may have a problem with the sizer. Double check to make sure you are "full-length" sizing your cases.
- If you can, you need to adjust the flare/taper crimp of the case.
- If you cannot, like RealGun and rcmodel posted, you may have a problem with the sizer. Double check to make sure you are "full-length" sizing your cases.
- If you can, you need to adjust the flare/taper crimp of the case.
I think the commentary in this thread covers the topic very well, and the link with all the pics explaining these relationships among the case, bullet, dies, and chamber is excellent. This is a fairly complex set of mechanical relationships, probably as much as the ordinary reloader will ever encounter.
1. The empty cartridge case must be suitable for reloading, in most cases this means it can't be too long....not much of an issue with a low pressure round like .45 ACP.
2. All the dies must be set correctly, not just the crimp die. This has been well covered in previous posts. The OP states he is using the FCD, so that means a 4-die set, which removes some of the complexity, but I will re-emphasize that the seat die must still be set correctly.
3. Too much flare on the case is a problem that seems to crop up in every forum I visit. Apply just enough flare so that the bullet can sit on the case after flaring without falling off. If the case starts looking like the bell on a trumpet, you have gone too far, and will end up ruining your cases.
Good luck!
1. The empty cartridge case must be suitable for reloading, in most cases this means it can't be too long....not much of an issue with a low pressure round like .45 ACP.
2. All the dies must be set correctly, not just the crimp die. This has been well covered in previous posts. The OP states he is using the FCD, so that means a 4-die set, which removes some of the complexity, but I will re-emphasize that the seat die must still be set correctly.
3. Too much flare on the case is a problem that seems to crop up in every forum I visit. Apply just enough flare so that the bullet can sit on the case after flaring without falling off. If the case starts looking like the bell on a trumpet, you have gone too far, and will end up ruining your cases.
Good luck!
Thank you for the reply’s everyone. my OAL is at 1.215 i am using nossler 185g Jhp. With the sizing die the shell will drop right into the barrel. The size of the brass after sizing was .468 top and .472 bottom. I did this with a few cases and they were all the same. I adjusted powder/ expander as far as i felt comfortable without worry of the bullet tipping. I think the problem is with the crimp or seating die. once the bullet is threw the seating die i can drop the bullet in the barrel and push lightly on it and it will seat, however it is kinda hard to remove after. That was at .472 bottom and .473 top. The crimp die did not seem to help i tried with the adjuster all the way up and slowly brought it down and it only made things worse. all of my brass is below max case length by .002. Once again thank you for the help. This is something that i have been trying to fight for almost a year.
rfwobbly
Member
You want to do the MINIMUM belling it takes to get your bullet into the case. Sometimes that means the bullets won't balance on the expanded mouth. No more than +.010", or for the 45ACP ~.482".
Then you want to follow that up by adjusting the body of the seating die in a 3-die set (or the taper crimp die in a 4-die set) downward in 1/8 turn increments until the cartridges will drop cleanly and completely into the barrel (full removed from the gun). At that point the case mouth will measure roughly .470". Do not go further than the absolute MINIMUM crimp it takes. More crimp is NOT better.
Then you want to follow that up by adjusting the body of the seating die in a 3-die set (or the taper crimp die in a 4-die set) downward in 1/8 turn increments until the cartridges will drop cleanly and completely into the barrel (full removed from the gun). At that point the case mouth will measure roughly .470". Do not go further than the absolute MINIMUM crimp it takes. More crimp is NOT better.
rfwobbly
Member
Well brother, IMHO therein lies part of your problem. The pretty picture in your reloading manual showing the .472 dimension is the SAAMI absolute maximum dimension. You need to get .001 to .002" smaller than that so that the cartridges are able to fall into the naked barrel (removed from the pistol) using only their own weight.
When you reach that point, the cartridges will jump into the chamber.
You can quickly verify this information by simply measuring some factory loads. They'll all be smaller than .472".
All the best.
LiveLife
Member
Great! I love happy endings.
rfwobbly
Member
OK
Hey, great news!
Now just so you understand, the measurement we're discussing is just on the last 1/32", right at the mouth of the case. Under a magnifying glass you'll see just the slightest shiny ring on the mouth. That's where we measure.
You can lock your last die in that position. Unlike the roll crimp used on revolvers, you'll hardly ever need to change that taper crimp adjustment. And it is not nearly as case height sensitive.
Hey, great news!
Now just so you understand, the measurement we're discussing is just on the last 1/32", right at the mouth of the case. Under a magnifying glass you'll see just the slightest shiny ring on the mouth. That's where we measure.
You can lock your last die in that position. Unlike the roll crimp used on revolvers, you'll hardly ever need to change that taper crimp adjustment. And it is not nearly as case height sensitive.
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