Officer 1911 doesn't like lead, why?

[Rabid Rabbit]

Is this a undocumented safety feature or am I making bad loads, what can I do to correct the problem. I've been working on some loads for a officer 1911. Jacketed, plated and lead bullets and no problems except I have a lot FTF issues with lead and only lead bullets. The plated and jacketed bullets have the same or very close profiles with the same OAL 1.220 - 1.265 and are the same weight 185gr. I've tried RN, FP, SWC with the same result, I can just stick with plated if necessary but I'd like to reduce the cost of reloading as much as possible and still make quality loads. My full size 1911 has no issues with the ammo.

 

[trickyasafox]

if im not mistaken dont lead usually require a slightly higher powder charge? maybe your getting case swells from teh slightly larger diameter. try schooching up the powder a touch, and try maybe a bit of post sizing

 

[Standing Wolf]

I'd be inclined to take a very close look at the feed ramp.

 

[SASS#23149]

My son had failure to feed with lead bullets n his ruger .45 auto,so we shortendd the oal about .005 and it helped immensely.Might work in your pistol tour bullets were very similar to the jacketed ones that fed well so no real idea why the problem,but shortening the oal fixed it.Still fed fine too.

 

[Rabid Rabbit]

I use the Lee factory crimp die, and there is a little bit of difference in diameter the plated are something like .0005 - .001 smaller than the lead, I'll have to check the chamber measurements.

Already checked the feed ramp, other than obvious issues like gouges or really bad fitting I have no idea what I'm looking for. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I was wondering about the OAL, given the powder charge of 5.5-6.0 of unique I'll give that a whirl maybe take it down to 1.190 if the ammo hand cycles ok.
Thanks

 

[Master Blaster]

I have an OACP and it feeds lead semiwadcutters very reliably, I would try increasing the OAL mine are 1.255.

When your gun throws the empties for the lead reloads how far do they fly? If the distance the case is thrown on ejection is much less for the lead bullets than for the plated and jacketed rounds I would up the powder charge about 2/10s.