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Not a great day for the handloader....

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well then....

i figured if i'm gonna start shooting idpa then i need to work up a load for my 1911's... a para lda7.45s and sw1911, both in .45acp

shown here nice and dirty, i've shot about 400 rnds in the para and maybe 200 in the smith, both shoot poa with 230gr white box stuff, but not as tight as i'd like....

so i looked here and there and came up with some loads to try

200gr. xtp over 5.5gr WW231 and
200gr lswc over 5gr ww231
 

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i loaded up the xtp's on my single stage, because my shellplate hadn't come in yet....

i loaded up the lead a couple days later on my progressive...

all 50 xtp's went off great and grouped ok...

i was shooting, sitting with my arms supported on the sandbag, two hand grip at 20yds...

there was a slight breeze but i don't think it had any effect, although the fog on my glasses didn't help my sight picture, as it was 31 degrees this morning

here's a pic from the xtp's top two and bottom left were 10 shot strings from the para, the other 2 from the smith....
 

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so then i loaded the lead in the mags and put out some new dots ....

cover your eyes this is where it gets ugly....

first round, BLAM!, second round, poot....

poot, that's not what i wanted to hear, so i check the paper and there's a hole about a foot low, cleared the chamber and finished the mag to have it happen once more.... gggrr....

well why not carry on... next mag

BLAM! 10x's, so im thinking all is well...

thrid mag, first round pppfffttt.... uh oh....


:uhoh:

oh look at that... 200gr of lead jammed up in the barrel....

not to fear though!!! i popped the mag in the smith and emptied the mag and wouldn't you know it, last round..... ppppfffttt... :mad:

make that 400gr......
 

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by this time im ready to go so i grabbed the dots, and picked up my brass...

looks like this load is a keeper though... top two dots were with the para and 7 rnds in the bottom row from the smith....

now i've got to figure out what's going on with my powder measure, i've never had a problem with 231 before, i've loaded 1000 rnds of 38 & 357 with 231.... couple hundred 380's and 44's....

well on that note, it's time to get the lead out...:eek:
 

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That LSWC ... nearly made it then!!:p

Well .... have you decided what went wrong then? If using single stage approach ... what was your method (''discipline'') with charging the cases .... how were you weighing/measuring.?

Looks like the load is just fine when as meant to be!!:)
 
Well ...... that LSWC made it quite some way . suggesting more than a ''primer-only'' discharge ... OTOH ..... can't have been much powder!

My auto disk measures have (touches wood) been very reliable ... tho have to say that I do try and eyeball inside the case after a drop .. to see if it ''looks OK''

Something must be amiss tho that's for sure .. I guess a largish sequence of test throws might be in order .. and try and track down what happened.
 
Are you belling with a Lee powder-through-die or belling before the powder thrower? If you're belling before the powder thrower be sure that the Auto-disk fully moves and dispenses the whole charge. Actually, check this with both methods. After puting 6000 rounds or so through my used Lee 10/40 dies I had to shim the belling die with o-rings to give the brass enough bell. When I did that I also had to shim inside the belling/funnel component to make sure the Auto-Disk moved properly.

If it was mixed brass you might also check that the crimp was consistant. If you're not using a Lee FCD I recommend one. Also if it was a light load and brass was mixed variations in internal volume might have dropped the pressure enough for inconsistant ignition.

That's all I can think of for now, if I come up with anything else I'll post it.
 
well i always check that the auto disk moves the full way through, back and forth... im using the through die, and the factory crimp die.... both are 100 rnds old...

i have a square measure box for the auto disk maybe i'll try it, and see if that won't fix it, only bad part is it doesn't have the shut off....

i'll try it now....

got both bullets out, the smith, in the pic, had to have some amout of powder in it... it made it half way down the tube... the para barely made it out of the chamber....

smith is on the left para on the right...

btw i love this camera... so easy to use and the full size pics are great... kodak dx4350 ....
 
but then you have to remember to attach the pic the first time cause you can't do that in an edit.... what's up with that??
 

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How are you priming? Had a friend squib a bunch of fully charged rounds because he was fingering the primers, got contaminated. Case lube contamination?
 
same as always... flip the primers out of the tray into the lee tray, then flip the ones that didn't turn right.... the brass from the two squibbs are completely blackened on the outside...

i just deprimed one of them and the inside of the primer isn't burnt at all, the compound in the primer is gone, but it looks just like it's unfired...

with no powder to be burnt, maybe that would be normal...:confused:
 
Had a similar problem...

I somehow got some lint in the gunpowder. It bridged in the powder measure (Dillon) and effectively blocked all powder flow.

Getting the lint out was a pain in the yarmush. I about had to dismantle the measure and pluck the lint with a long tailed tweezer.

I went over to the kitchen gadget store and bought a fairly loose mesh filter. I filter pouring into the measure and filter going back into the can.

Just a thought.
 
Always have enough light to see if the case is charged or not.

On a single stage, I use loading blocks and I charge all 50/80/batch of cases, then use a small Maglight flashlight to make sure EVERY SINGLE ONE is charged. It makes it easy to spot uncharged cases when you have a whole batch. The brain zeroes in on the one that is different. I've even spotted some cases that were charged light. Any suspicious ones gets reweighed.

Then, its on to bullet seating.

As to progressive, make sure you have enough light, and sit around the press so that you can see if the case is charged. The 45ACP makes it easy since the case mouth is so wide.
 
i weighed the remainder of the 20 loaded rounds, and found 2 more squibbs... one had maybe 10 flakes of powder, the other maybe a grain....

i rechecked the powder measure and the spring/chain combo i have on the return arm wasn't as tight as it should have been, and every once in a while the arm wouldn't return all the way, so i assume this could have been the problem... i've checked it since with about 15 charges and everything looked fine...
 
Progressives have a lot of settings to check. I frequently miss something myself. Most recently it was an easy one even. Bullet seat depth. :rolleyes:

Glad you found the problem.
 
I've never had that problem with Win231 and Lee powder measure. Probably loaded close to 100lbs of it.

But, that is a frequent with larger flake powders particularly Clays, 700X, Unique, BlueDot,RedDot,GreenDot, ,,,,,,,,,,,, you get the picture.

You may have had some powder bridge under the disc between the Elastomer Wiper and the Disc. This will cause the problem you have described. I've had powder bridging with Titegroup due to "clumping" of the powder in the hopper.

Suggest you check the hopper and possible clean/degrease-dewax it by washing in dishwater detergent and letting it dry without rinseing or hand drying----- This will remove any grease and/or wax that can cause clumping or "static" cling to the measure surfaces.

Bullseye and Win231 have been amoung the most "reliable" powders I've used through these measures.

Be sure too, that the hopper is tightened snug with the measure base. BE Careful if using the small hoppers with the "wood screws" holding them to the base, they crack easily. I have converted all my disc measures to the larger hopper and use a nylon lok-tie straped over the bearing surface of the sleave where the pivot arm bears against it on the threaded release. This gives it a "plastic" bearing surface and also acts much as the "shim" procedure mentioned above, causing the expander to engage the case at a "shallower" insertion, increasing the range of adjustment after case mouth impingement. I also flare my cases more than some to ensure that the cases don't shave my lead bullets (approx. 95% of what I load for all pistol cartridges).

If using the "chain" return arm, I recommend you go to the closest Auto Parts store and get a "Throttle return spring" to attach to the powder measure. I've seen the other end connected to the mounting bolt/screw and others just hooked on a screw eye or just a bent nail driven into the bench and the end of the spring twisted around it. Stretch or shorten the spring to give adequate tension to return the powder measure to the "return" position positively. One friend used the spring off of a 69 Chevy Camaro he was restoring at the time- just a suggested starting point for a particular spring recommendation...................Worked for him, (and bent nail too!)

Also, check the spring tension if you're using the older measures with the spring on the actuator arms, I've had one that was/is weak. I like using it with some RIFLE carts. such as .22 Hornet and .32/20 that have thin case necks, so keep it on a separate powder measure for that use.

Hang in there, it only gets easier !!!!

Your "problems" are just part of the "Learning Curve"
 
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