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45 ACP lead bullets
- Thread starter oldbear1950
- Start date
I just bought one of the Lyman Handgun bullet checkers which seems to prevent the need to remove the barrel from the pistol to do the plunk test. All rounds I tested fit into my .45 ACP, 9mm and .380 Auto.
https://www.lymanproducts.com/ammo-checkers
Has anyone else used this?
https://www.lymanproducts.com/ammo-checkers
Has anyone else used this?
oldbear1950
New member
am going to pull those loads, and start over with 4.2 grains of bullseye powder.
got the time, so here goes
got the time, so here goes
ammo.crafter
New member
ftf, etc.
Shooting a Colt Govt series 80.
Make certain reloaded ammo fits correctly in all of your magazines...are all of your magazines of the same manufacture?
Re FTF, what marks are you seeing on these rounds?
Are you crimping?
Are you separating and measuring and trimming all brass prior to reloading?
Follow advices from the members as stated.
What weapon are you discussing?
Shooting a Colt Govt series 80.
Make certain reloaded ammo fits correctly in all of your magazines...are all of your magazines of the same manufacture?
Re FTF, what marks are you seeing on these rounds?
Are you crimping?
Are you separating and measuring and trimming all brass prior to reloading?
Follow advices from the members as stated.
What weapon are you discussing?
oldbear1950
New member
pulled the bullets and started over. 200 grain round nose bullet, lead, 4.2 grains of bullseye powder, oal 1.200 those fed thru as dummy rounds no problem. will see what happens
Kevin Rohrer
New member
Lots of possibilities here:
1. Buy a good reloading manual that deals w/ loading pistol cartridges that headspace on the case mouth and read it.
2. Get a reloading manual that deals w/ the .45acp and a vernier caliper.
3. Get a separate taper crimp die (the Lee seems to work well, which I got from Amazon) and use it to crimp your reloaded ammo. My caliper says that case mouths crimped to .47" duplicates factory ammo.
1. Buy a good reloading manual that deals w/ loading pistol cartridges that headspace on the case mouth and read it.
2. Get a reloading manual that deals w/ the .45acp and a vernier caliper.
3. Get a separate taper crimp die (the Lee seems to work well, which I got from Amazon) and use it to crimp your reloaded ammo. My caliper says that case mouths crimped to .47" duplicates factory ammo.
Last edited:
Kevin Rohrer
New member
45 ACP case mouth spec is 0.467" to 0.473".
I guess I need to re-check my calipers. So case wall diameter for both walls are a total of .016" wide if the bullets are .451?
I guess I need to re-check my calipers. So case wall diameter for both walls are a total of .016" wide if the bullets are .451?
Yes, gotta remember to zero the calipers.
The cases do get that thin. Remington cases, in particular. Also, I have a box of hardball in Blazer Brass that are thin. They measure about 0.468' over the bullet. A box of Federal hardball Match ammo I have measures 0.471" over the case mouths, and that is more typical. I had a box of foreign hardball one time that measured at about the full 0.473", but the bullets were narrow at 0.449" (didn't shoot very well). That brass was so thick, that if I seated a 0.452" cast bullet in it, the round wouldn't chamber. You run into some oddball things in the shooting world.
The range of diameters provided is on page 56 of the SAAMI standard for handgun ammunition. The tolerance for diameters on the case default at minus 0.006", so it gives the case mouth as 0.473" maximum diameter, and you subtract that 0.006" to find the minimum. There is no plus tolerance because SAAMI drawings use an engineering practice called critical dimensioning, in which tolerances are unilateral to ensure reliable chambering. In this system, the dimensions of the cartridge given are maximums with a unilateral minus tolerance, and chamber dimensions are given as minimums with a unilateral plus tolerance. The bullets do not use the default tolerance. They are specified as 0.452" minus 0.003", so they can be 0.449" to 0.452". Most manufacturers use 0.451" pretty accurately, though.
The cases do get that thin. Remington cases, in particular. Also, I have a box of hardball in Blazer Brass that are thin. They measure about 0.468' over the bullet. A box of Federal hardball Match ammo I have measures 0.471" over the case mouths, and that is more typical. I had a box of foreign hardball one time that measured at about the full 0.473", but the bullets were narrow at 0.449" (didn't shoot very well). That brass was so thick, that if I seated a 0.452" cast bullet in it, the round wouldn't chamber. You run into some oddball things in the shooting world.
The range of diameters provided is on page 56 of the SAAMI standard for handgun ammunition. The tolerance for diameters on the case default at minus 0.006", so it gives the case mouth as 0.473" maximum diameter, and you subtract that 0.006" to find the minimum. There is no plus tolerance because SAAMI drawings use an engineering practice called critical dimensioning, in which tolerances are unilateral to ensure reliable chambering. In this system, the dimensions of the cartridge given are maximums with a unilateral minus tolerance, and chamber dimensions are given as minimums with a unilateral plus tolerance. The bullets do not use the default tolerance. They are specified as 0.452" minus 0.003", so they can be 0.449" to 0.452". Most manufacturers use 0.451" pretty accurately, though.
Kevin Rohrer
New member
Yes, gotta remember to zero the calipers.
Even better, I gotta remember that there is more than one scale to read on them. Doh. It was .47, not .7.
Even better, I gotta remember that there is more than one scale to read on them. Doh. It was .47, not .7.
Kevin Rohrer
New member
I have to pay attention to the roll crimp to get 200 Cast SWC to feed reliably.
If it's for .45LC, sure.
If it's for .45ACP, better not. It needs a taper crimp.
If it's for .45LC, sure.
If it's for .45ACP, better not. It needs a taper crimp.