45 ACP stovepiping on ejection with particular projectile

[davery25]

Hi team,

I have been up against some strange symptoms while reloading and shooting my 45 ACP.

The projectile shapes aren't important as the two that I'm using both feed perfectly fine. Both 200 grain and both loaded with 4.5 grains of AS50N/AP50N to make major power factor in IPSC.

One of them however has started stovepiping on extraction after the round is fired. They WERE fine and the only thing I've added is a slight crimp. I'm also noticing loads of unburnt powder in the chamber and barrel but only with this one problem projectile.

If i had to guess there isn't enough pressure being generated but given they both the same weight, powder charge and crimp i am perplexed by why this is happening or what can be done. Any ideas?

 

[higgite]

The projectile shapes aren't important.....

The projectile shapes can be important as the shape affects bullet length which affects COL which affects seating depth. Could it be that the problem bullet is shorter than the other one and seated to the same COL? If so, seating depth would be less for the shorter one and peak pressure could be lower for the same charge.

 

[totaldla]

"Crimp" is a misnomer for the 45acp. The taper crimp is really only to straighten out the flare used to seat the bullet. It is easy to overdue the taper crimp and actually reduce neck tension, which will reduce pressure, which will reduce velocity, which reduces momentum, which reduces recoil, which reduces slide velocity, which can cause a stove pipe.

 

[gwpercle]

If they have seen a lot of milage ... re-place your extractor and ejector and see if that is the problem . When they get worn , extraction / ejection gets wonky and stove pipes show up in loads that have proven reliable .
Some guns are just picky about what profile bullet they want to work with .
Sometimes a bullet change is the easy answer and usually the one I roll with !
Gary

 

[44 AMP]

They WERE fine and the only thing I've added is a slight crimp.

Generally speaking, when something was working fine, and you make a change and it stops working fine, the obvious suspect is the change you made.

In this case, what you describe as a "slight crimp".

I suggest you make some ammo exactly the same way you did before you added a slight crimp, and see if it still does what it used to.

Did you get a lot of unburnt powder before?? (I'm guessing you didn't...)
Does other ammo / all other ammo do the same thing?

From what you describe, something is interfering with your powder burn, but only with the load you are using with one specific type of bullet.

You are using the same load for the other type of bullet and it works fine, right??? Regular powder burn, no stovepipes ejecting?

I wouldn't do anything to your gun, other than clean it. Don't see a reason to go replacing parts just yet.

Undo your change, see if that undoes the problem. If yes, you're good. If no, come back and we'll talk...