45 ACP lead bullets

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oldbear1950

New member
This is the first time I loaded for 45 acp. loaded some round nose flat top, cast bullets, and some fed and worked ok, some failed to feed, and some failed to lock into battery. I would reload into same or another mag and they worked, sometimes. All but four fired with no pierced primers, no bulged cases, so would leave me to believe no pressure signs. But is it possible a factory crimp die would have solved these problems? Had four cartridges failed to feed, case rims messed up, all other fired, two full boxes. I load for 38 special and 45 colt both revolvers, and no problem. This problem persisted in two different 1911s. When I fired factory ammo, no problem either gun. Was just my reloads. Is the first time I loaded for an autoloader.
 
oldbear1950 said:
This is the first time I loaded for 45 acp. loaded some round nose flat top, cast bullets, and some fed and worked ok, some failed to feed, and some failed to lock into battery. I would reload into same or another mag and they worked, sometimes. All but four fired with no pierced primers, no bulged cases, so would leave me to believe no pressure signs. But is it possible a factory crimp die would have solved these problems? Had four cartridges failed to feed, case rims messed up, all other fired, two full boxes. I load for 38 special and 45 colt both revolvers, and no problem. This problem persisted in two different 1911s. When I fired factory ammo, no problem either gun. Was just my reloads. Is the first time I loaded for an autoloader.
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oldbear, does your 1911 have a polished feed ramp? I ask because my SA Range officer doesn’t and it hates cast lead, same ammo in my series 80 colt gold cup that does have polished ramp no issues whatsoever

It really does help to have the feed ramp polished for cast lead IMHO
 
Failed to lock into battery? Is the overall length too long? I have four M1911 pistols and one of them has a short chamber that requires an overall length 0.030 shorter than the other three. If I forget and try to shoot the longer stuff, I get all kinds of failures.
 
Mike,

Its been my experience if the OAL is too long they usually wont fit correctly in the magazine,

Also if the feed ramp is catching an edge it can slow down the slide from chambering a rd into battery, hence why most 1911s that want to reliably feed anything than ball ammo that ramp needs to be polished.

The next thing I would check is drop test a rd in the barrel too see if they chamber correctly.

Old bear what are your cast bullets sized too?
 
Looks like you found most of the answers-I load to an OAL of 1.210, and all of my 45's will accept them in SWC, FMJ or HP. The crimp is a taper crimp, not a roll crimp, and Akinswi is correct about the plunk and spin test- you can buy a nice die to check your diameters, but the main thing is the OAL, since the 45 seats on the brass, not on the bullet, (I'm 90% sure of that)
 
oldbear1950, two problems I found with failure to feed or lock up properly are cases may be too long or too short. If too long they just won't fit. The same is true if the bullet isn't seated deeply enough. If too short, even if you use a taper crimp it may not crimp at all, leaving the mouth too large to chamber.

I have not had this problem with 45 ACP in my 1911, but I did experience in both 9mm and .380 Auto, and the .380 is a 1911 model.

You are no doubt using a roll crimp in the .38 and .45 Colt, but are you using a taper crimp in the .45 ACP? If, so, maybe you need to adjust the die to make a tighter taper.
 
Contrary to popular belief you can headspace on a bullet. Maybe you're not seating them deep enough. When I reload for .45 ACP I take the barrel out and check every 5 rounds or so by dropping them in the chamber. The rim needs to be just below flush with jacketed bullets or flush with a lead bullet.

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Simple tips for feeding…..

First, your ammo needs to fit into a case gauge or chamber.

It should also pass the plunk test….YouTube has many videos by this name. With this you are confirming that the case stops on the headspacing ridge on the chamber before the bullet sticks in the rifling.

Next, confirm your extractor holds a loaded round, but just barely. There is a fine line between too tight and too loose. Related to that, you need to understand why case rims are being damaged.

Next, make sure your neck tension/crimp will hold a bullet for 5 feedings. Less than 0.005” movement allowed total.

Also, start testing feeding with the longest oal that fits in mags and passes plunk test. Shorten to speed up feeding until reliability is achieved. Typically, this is about the oal of factory ammo.

Lee FCD dies are not used on my bench anymore because they hide other reloading issues and generally hurt accuracy. I do use an extra Lee taper crimp die to minimize crimping im my seater. I crimp to iron out the bell in my seater. Then I crimp just a bit more in a separate taper crimp die.
 
Oldbear is loading flat-point bullets, most of which (that I have encountered) are shaped like a standard round-nose but the tip is chopped off. You can't use the C.O.A.L. for round-nose bullets, or the shoulder/ogive of the bullet will be too far out of the case and will engage the rifling before the case mouth reaches the headspacing shoulder in the chamber.
 
all I know is sometimes I will get three or four to work , sometimes the whole magazine, then the next magazine full will get 2 or 3, sometimes 4, then hangup, or not lock into battery. when that happens I clear the gun, load the magazine again and it works, same magazine, same cartridges, then hangups again. Is confusing why some work and some do not. They were all loaded in he same session, same crimp, same powder .charge, same oal, same everything
 
and happens to 2 different 1911s, different companies manufactured them. But switching to factory ammo, both work fine with the same magazines that I had the problem with. Since I last had a range session, I cleaned, Micked , changed springs and followers in all my 45 magazines to shooting stars. No problem with any of them in factory ammo
 
I would like to thank you all for the info , and I remember my deceased brother had a springfield armory 1911 9 mm, he could not get to work at all with cast bullets, he had been casting his own bullets for about 30 years with no problem. He did everything he could think of, changed to new and different magazines, changed the springs and followers, even talked springfield armory to exchanging barrels, still it did not work, he finally bought three new molds, and found one that worked. So yeah, I know just takes time.
 
Aguila Blanca said:
Oldbear is loading flat-point bullets, most of which (that I have encountered) are shaped like a standard round-nose but the tip is chopped off. You can't use the C.O.A.L. for round-nose bullets, or the shoulder/ogive of the bullet will be too far out of the case and will engage the rifling before the case mouth reaches the headspacing shoulder in the chamber.
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But is the "standard round-nose" that of a revolver round or the profile of an FMJ bullet.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the profile is just enough wider at some point than the FMJ that a marginal fit might be an issue. The ogive would not have been sized so minor variations from casting, either different molds, chambers of mold or just temperature differences when you were casting the bullets might mean those minor differences happen intermittently.

Perhaps the plunk test of a few rounds will indicate the bullet just contacting the lands? Maybe smoke a few rounds to see if that shows.
 
oldbear1950 said:
and I guess some guns do not like cast bullets
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I don't know about that. I have a dozen+ 9mm and about just as many 45's. Some guns might have a shorter throat, tighter chamber, goofy feed ramp, weird magazine lips that require you to modify your reloading practices but I have always got my cast bullets to work.

For 1911's I have probably at least of dozen different types of magazines and I think I have 2 that are junk and would probably choke on RN FMJ. Any of the other ones will work unmodified with any bullet I have tried and I use anything from 155 grain SWC to 250 grain WFN. The 250 grain WFN needs to be seated deep and use nothing but a light charge of powder but it can work.
 
and I guess some guns do not like cast bullets
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I have shot plenty of lead bullets.
First off what is you OAL (overall length) of your finished round. Sounds like your ammo is too long and the bullet is hitting the rifling in the barrel
 
There are two flat nosed .45 bullets that I have seen.
One is the cast version of the Hornady USAF design, a truncated cone. It loads shorter than roundnose.
The other is meant for revolvers and lever actions with a very flat nose and a crimp groove. It loads even shorter.

I have loaded both of those, two or three different semiwadcutters; and while a "throated" gun will do pretty well, none are as reliable as plain old roundnose. I have quit trying anything else. I have found brands of 200 grain roundnose that feed well and give me the ballistics I want. Coated, of course.
 
Jim Watson said:
There are two flat nosed .45 bullets that I have seen.
One is the cast version of the Hornady USAF design, a truncated cone. It loads shorter than roundnose.
The other is meant for revolvers and lever actions with a very flat nose and a crimp groove. It loads even shorter.

I have loaded both of those, two or three different semiwadcutters; and while a "throated" gun will do pretty well, none are as reliable as plain old roundnose. I have quit trying anything else. I have found brands of 200 grain roundnose that feed well and give me the ballistics I want. Coated, of course.
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Jim,

The 1911 is remarkably reliable with Round nose rds, I just load 230 grain plated bullets now.
 
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