Problems with reloading my first .45 ACP rounds

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k2man

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I reloaded my first .45 ACP rounds this week after trying to read up on all the info here on TFL I could find. Thought I had everything covered.

Took these to the range and tried to feed them to my Springfield XDS. Got a really bad jam on the first round. Ended up not firing a shot, just repeatedly jamming rounds in the chamber, with the slide unable to completely close.

Got home, pulled the barrel out, tried to drop a round into the chamber - found it was at least .050" from seating properly - that is, the case's forward edge is .050" away from the edge of the chamber, resulting in the rear of the bullet sticking out preventing the slide from closing.

Using 7.4 gn. of Accurate #5 powder (slightly over Lyman manual recommended 7.1 gn. starting load).

Had checked my brass - some range pickup, sorted by headstamp (no, I don't think this was really necessary, but best thing for my first reloads). All just under the SAAMI max. length of .898". (-.007 +0)

Used some 230 grain RN powder coated lead bullets from Bayou Bullets - they measure .680".

Checked the chamber and an empty brass at .898" drops fully into the chamber, so not a brass problem.

Seated the bullets deeper - pushed them down from a COL= 1.280" (as recommended in the sticky here in the H,R&BC forum of TFL) to a COL = 1.240" - deeper seating by .040".

If I did my plusses, minuses and gazintas correctly, by seating .040" deeper, I've decreased the "powder space" (does it have a proper name?) inside the case by 9.3%. That is, with a COL of 1.280" and a bullet length of .680", a brass length of .898 outside and .725" inside (measured a few of my cases), that gives me .040/(1.280-.680-(.898-.725)) = .093 or 9.3% less space for the powder.

How much will this affect peak pressure in the cartridge? I want to go shoot a few of these over a chrono to find out, but not if they are dangerous.:confused:
 
Tagged to follow . I know the answer but have not been loading 45 long enough to be the first to post . FWIW 1.240 is what I load my Lead RN bullets . You have a big case with mid range powder burn rate. So I'd say ----------;)
 
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To check your reloads, get a case gage. If it fits the gage it will chamber in your gun. Both posts before mine gave you good info.
 
The problem is that you did not do a proper plunk test. If you had you would have caught that your cartridges were to long. A bullet is the projectile. Be specific in the terms that you use.

Some here use a gage. I do not .....I plunk test and use calipers to measure OAL of the cartridge to make sure it conforms to not only the standard but what is the standard for that brand of gun. I roll crimp or Factory crimp everything but then I have a few deckades of reloading on you. The main thing is to crimp the minimum amount that will do the job.

AS to your charge weight....cant tell you as I do not use Accurate *5.
 
I think they'll shoot okay, but . . .

It might be a good idea to evaluate your approach in general. For instance, the correct OAL measurement should have been determined with a dummy round (no primer, no powder) before any powder ever touched the load bench. Take your time. Go slow. Handloading isn't a craft for the careless.

AA#5, being an intermediate burn rate propellant will buy you some forgiveness. Wish I had actual load data for you. But I just checked and I don't. I have AA#5; and I load a lot of 45 ACP. But it would seem I've never loaded 45 ACP w/ AA#5 - go figure. 45 actually does quite well with powders normally thought of as "fast," so that explains a lot of it. I only use intermediate speed powders for 45 ACP when I wanna go upper end velocity; otherwise, the faster stuff works quite well. And when I do go hot, I use Power Pistol for lighter bullets, and HS-6 for the heavies.
 
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I'm with nick you should be fine with that powder and new seating depth . I looked at five different sources including Accurate powders and I get a COAL from 1.200 to 1.272 for the 230gr lead RN . just to be safe how about loading a few extra at .3gr less and run those first .

You should always do a plunk test before you load anything . I think that would have saved you quite a bit of time and frustration . I also agree you may want to think about slowing down . I always start at minimum and work my way up . When loading for hand guns its really not costing anything to do so , Its not like your loading 40 or 50 grains of powder at a pop . I'll start at minimum and work all the way up to max charge . In this case it would look something like this.

This would be 5 to 10 shots each

7.1gr
7.3
7.5
7.7
7.8
7.9
8.0
8.1
8.2

Sometimes i never make it to max because I find a good load , gun gets a little to snappy or I see pressure signs . This let's you check multiple charges and see what your gun likes . I live 45min each way from my main range . I don't just take one load with me and hope its the perfect one . I take many loads of different components to effectively use my time .
 
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SAMMI max for 45 ACP is 1.275, so 1.280 is, well, long.

I suspect that were you to measure a few factory 230 hardball loads, you'd find them to be in the 1.250 to 1.260 range, and I suspect you'll find that length to feed reliably.
 
IMO, 45 auto gets a lot of write up on the forums about 1.275" OAL rounds....

In my actual experience, 45 auto with 230gr rn bullets, cast, plated or jacketed.....factory or reload....1.220 - 1.260 is the OAL range that will pass the plunk test.

Frankly, you want an OAL from the max OAL that will drop free to about 0.02" shorter. Exact length will depend on what feeds best. Again IME, longer is better as long as it passes plunk test.

Develop your powder charge second. Again, IME, that range will be safe with published data, but you must decide.
 
For my purposes, a COL of 1.240" to 1.250" seems to work well in 45 ACP. These pass the plunk test as well as fitting properly in a Dillon case gage for this caliber. They cycle well in real time also.

For the crimp, I use a Lee Factory Crimp Die adjusted to apply a crimp of 0.470" at the case mouth.

Hope this helps.......

Bayou
 
Thanks everyone. Yes, my big mistake was forgetting the plunk test - I know better, but hopefully I'll never forget it now.

I did crimp using my Hornady Custom crimp die - just enough to remove the flare - no more. These projectiles are .452" diameter and have a groove that is seated about .100" into the case, so not crimping into that at all. The cases are visibly bulging from the bullet - I'm measuring .4730" OD on the brass over the bullet, and .4700" just behind the bullet. This seems like quite a bit of stretch for the brass.

I will load a dummy round and check the tension on the bullet, pushing it down onto a scale. What lbs. on the scale should the bullet slip further in at?
 
I had a problem seating and crimping in one step where the cases were bulging just enough so some bullets were not chambering all the way and I had a heck of a time getting them back out of the chamber. I have since started belling the mouth a little less and resetting the seating/crimp die. No more bulge. This problem first showed up hen I started loading Bayou bullets coated 225 tc bullets.
So check your loads for proper case diameter as well.
 
A reloader informed me I did not know how to load for the 45ACP, basically I built all three, I did not have a problem with the accuracy, but it seemed all three liked new ammo, factory, over the counter, new in the box flew thought all three pistols.

The problem started when I tried to fire reloads; not all reloads but there was a problem with reloads that had cases that had the appearance of having swallowed a bullet. SO; I measured and compared new factory over the counter ammo with my reloads. Then there was a problem. I solved the problem by sizing my reloads with a RCBS carbide sizing die. I sized enough of the case to remove the bullet line.

After ‘half length sizing’ the cases my pistols could not tell the difference between new factory ammo and my reloads.

The other reloader loaded enough 45 ACP for his 4 45s and my 3. My pistols did not like his reloads. I went home and ‘half length’ sized his ammo and then returned to the range. Again, my 45 ACPs could not distinguish the difference between his reloads and new, factory over the counter ammo. And then someone asked why I put up with that kind of behavior from a pistol, I did not have a problem with accuracy.

F. Guffey
 
I'd like to recommend something . I've been finding my MAX COAL for every new bullet I use for all rifles I load for . Been doing that for years and that has transferred over to hand gun loading .

I make a note of every bullet I shoot and what It's MAX coal is for every firearm it would/could be used in . That test for pistols is a plunk test . I'll seat them long and plunk . If they don't pass I seat a little deeper .005 and plunk . I repeat this until I get a passing plunk test . You now have your Max COAL for that bullet and firearm combo so when data says to load longer you will know right away that length will not work in that firearm .

For pistol I'll often find what a bullets max coal is that will plunk every firearm I have in that caliber and load all to that COAL . This way I don't have firearm specific plinking loads for my pistols . I how ever make very firearm specific rifle rounds with a couple loads that can cross over to all firearms of the same caliber .

Remember all firearms are different so you may not want to assume a safe charge in one is a safe charge in all . When switching to another firearm of the same caliber and using the same cartridge . You should consider dropping the charge 5 or 10% and working back up .
 
- pushed them down from a COL= 1.280" (as recommended in the sticky here in the H,R&BC forum of TFL)
Click to expand...
Quoted below is what J.G. recommends in the TFL tutorial,OP needs to carefully read dimensions when reloading.1.280" is .005" over Max.and bound to cause
issues of the type he complains about.
Industry standard max overall length is 1.275". Most suggested loads show 1.270 for that shape bullet. A couple of thousandths less is not hazardous, but I'd go no shorter.
Click to expand...
 
Yep. 1.280" is too long despite the SAMMI tolerance. Been loading cast 230's for eons at 1.275" with a taper crimp and never have any issues.
And work up the load. Don't just pick one and hope.
 
k2man said:
I did crimp using my Hornady Custom crimp die - just enough to remove the flare - no more.
Click to expand...

I would bet that is close.

I set my crimp by: Seat a bullet to the right OAL in the seater. Then adjust the internal taper crimp to remove all flare.

Then I set my taper crimp die to touch off on the case. Then in 1/4 turns I adjust until I get minimal setback when seating the round 5 times by dropping the slide. I drop the slide 5 times on each round measuring OAL each time. I find 1/2 turn crimp is the best condition. I also find that with Hornady's new die sets that the separate crimp die may become less valuable.
 
For the XDS, I have found its max col to be 1.255. I normally set my bullet seating die for 1.245". As for a crimp, I go 1 full turn.
 
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