Lone Wolf replacement 45acp - reloading issues

[Skydivermn]

I recently purchased a Lone Wolf barrel for my .45ACP Glock 21 so I can shoot lead (yeah, I'm one of those Believers). What I've noticed is that my Glock barrel is very forgiving regarding case size compared to the new LW barrel. This might have something to do with the 1000s of rounds already put through the original, though I'm not sure. The Glock barrel will accept, without issue, a case at .471+, which is pretty close, if not the max, to the .45ACP specs. The Lone Wolf barrel seems to be ONLY happy only with .469, otherwise the action will not close completely. As the case mouth gets closer to .471 the action will be further and further out of battery and it will also be seriously difficult to remove the round from the chamber. Okay, so I'm sure that I simply need to increase the crimp a bit to make the diameter fit the new barrel, right? It shouldn't be a big of a deal to increase the crimp .002". I'm using a RCBS 3 die set that has the seater/crimper in one die, dial it down just a hair, change the seat depth just a hair.... When I adjust the die to increase the crimp the needed .002 I am getting wrinkled lead (Ranier PLATED 200gr FN), and sometimes there's separation between the plating and lead underneath (a gray concentric circle just above the case mouth). Having a round like this is wrong but I don't think I'm doing anything incorrect. Maybe I need to just use jacketed, but then that defeats the whole point of getting my LW barrel. So, am I doing something wrong here, or should I go with a separate seating and crimping die? Again, everything was perfect with the stock Glock barrel. Maybe lead is cheaper, but not worth the hassel? Maybe I'm belling the case too much, but I doubt it. I intend on getting a LNL Progressive, so the separate seat/crimp might be a good idea anyway.

:banghead:

Anyway, anyone have any ideas/suggestions?
Thanks for your time!

SkydiverMN

 

[the count]

Get yourself a Lee factory crimp die. This baby not only taper crimps but also post resizes getting rid of any bulges. Your bullets will drop with a bright 'click' into the Wolf barrel.

 

[LiveLife]

The FCD may allow the finished round to drop in freely into the Lone Wolf chamber, but will cause leading issues from post-sizing the bullet.

Lone Wolf barrels have just about the tightest chambers I know. I have used LW barrels in 9mm and 40S&W in the past with no issues (I do not use FCD for my semi-auto reloads), but when I bought a LW barrel for a friend's G27, it would not fully chamber the lead reloads I taper crimped to .422" (of course, they fell in freely into Glock chambers).

I called Lone Wolf and they said their chambers are made for jacketed bullets sized for "factory" ammunition. They said I could send the barrel in to have the chamber widened for a fee+shipping. I talked to the friend and he asked if I could widen the chamber for him. I told him it would only be about .001" and I used fine grit wet-dry sandpaper wrapped around a marker that fit the chamber tight to widened the chamber until the round dropped in with a clink (you could also use a right sized wooden dowel). It did not take much polishing with the sandpaper and I did not touch the ramp. G27 has been working very well with the modified LW barrel.

I outlined the work in this thread - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=561116

For 45ACP, I would widen the chamber until a .472" taper crimped round fell in freely for a .452" diameter lead bullet.

 

[1SOW]

Ranier PLATED 200gr FN

If the LW barrel has a short headspace, oal could also prevent chambering. The bullet may engage the cone/leade before it seats on the casemouth. My CZ won't chamber FN or HP bullets that fall into a Glock with room to spare.

 

[splithoof]

I too bought a Lone Wolf tube for a G-21 so I could use lead. I found that I had to seat the 200LSW a little bit deeper in the case. The machine I use is a Dillon Precision SDB, that has umpteen thousands of rounds through it. The Dillon crimp die is in it's own station, and can be easily adjusted. At first, it took some expirimentation to figure the LW out, but now it all works well. Groups from a sand bag rest have shown improvement in accuracy with plated bullets also as compared to the factory unit. Now that the overall length issue was good, I found that a number of 1911's, a few revolvers, and a couple of carbines all do very well with the same load. After you find what works for you, put at least several hundred rounds through it before keeping it in the night stand.

 

[Skydivermn]

Thanks.

I think I need to try a few things: OAL, possible case buldge issues, then perhaps breaking out the sand paper...

For me, I'd never use the LW as my primary defense barrel. The stock Glock barrel will accept anything and I only use factory defense ammo when it's in that role. Sure, you can debate all day long that my reloaded ammo is just as good, but the big ammo companies are FAR more consistent than me and that's worth the price of admission. Also, during my concealed carry class the officer leading the class recommended factory ammo so a lawyer couldn't accuse you of purposefully killing someone with your 'more powerful than they had to be' reloads.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Fishslayer]

The FCD may allow the finished round to drop in freely into the Lone Wolf chamber, but will cause leading issues from post-sizing the bullet.

AHA! I was just discussing this today. I use a lot of Bear Creek "black" bullets in .45ACP & 9mm. It seems some days I get no leading at all & others I spend a couple hours scrubbing barrels, all with the same bullet/powder combo. I sort by headstamp & go with a 1/2 turn on the LFCD. I'm guessing thicker brass will resize the bullet more and that is when I get my leading. I'll start keeping careful notes on headstamp/leading.

Threadjack over. Carry on.

 

[918v]

If .469" fits but .471" doesn't, then you need to have a correctly dimensioned reamer run through your chamber. They cut your chamber with a worn out reamer.

 

[rcmodel]

+1

.473" is SAAMI max.

GI issue hardball & National match ammo measures .4695 to .471".

If GI ammo wouldn't fit, you have an out of spec chamber.

Send it back and have them correct it.

rc