Trail boss load in .45 LC not sealing the chamber, Uberti 1866

K

ketland

New member
Just shot some of my new 45 LC loads out of my Uberti 1866, and am getting some serious sooting on the casing and in the action. My load is 5.5 gr Trail Boss, 200 gr Lead RNFP crimped using a lee factory crimper, Win brass, and cci Large magnum primer. I loaded up a few 240gr plated bullets, and the sooting seemed less. Perhaps I should try some 300 grainers and see if that helps increase pressures enough to create a better seal, Or, go back to using Unique. Anybody had a similar issue, and how did you resolve it? This was my first experience using Trail boss.
 
Try "neck sizing" the cases. (Assuming you have a way to deprime them w/o sizing) adjust the sizing die way up in the press so it only sizes the top half inch of the case. Leave the rest as fired.

If you have a Lee "Factory Crimp" die, you can use that instead of the sizing die to full-length size them a little oversized. This might not give you enough bullet tension, but it's worth a try.
 
Crimp a little more or up your powder charge. I think you are on the verge of sealing pressure.

I shoot .45colt 210gn cast with 5.6gn Trailboss and mine seal just fine. I think your are very close.

I shoot CAS so am trying to stay light. I stopped at 5.6 because I got the seal.

Good luck.
 
Thank you for the responses, I think I will try a few things then. First I am going to try upping the powder charge a bit, second I like the idea of only sizing the case back to the depth the bullet seats leaving the back 2/3 of the case in its "expanded" state and another thing I am going to try is annealing the first 1/4" of the cases. I know that annealing will loosen up the neck tension, but using the lee factory crimp die should make up for that in regards to providing consistent neck tension, yet allow the brass to expand into the chamber with less difficulty. I am thinking that the straight walled case might always be a bit dirtier than my necked cases like the 44-40, which I have no problems with at the light end of the loading spectrum but I would like to see if I can get the sooting problem down to a minimum.

Regards, B
 
That is probably the reason Winchester didn't chamber for .45.
Yes my .45 loads smoke up the brass, but all I will shoot .45s in is my Colt and would like to trade the .45 for a.44-40 , if the 2nd gen. Colt wasn't such a good gun.
 
I went ahead and annealed the case mouths yesterday, and altered the powder charge by increments to see what powder charge will give the desired seal. Hopefully I'll have some time later today to do some testing, and I'll post my results. Also I only sized the cases back about 1/2" so as to leave the rest of the case expanded. I tried all the finished rounds in a gauge to make sure they will fit in and out of the '66 chamber without any difficulty, and a few of the cases were right there on the gauge wall with very slight drag,yet they still drop in without having to push them.
Salvadore is right, that is a meager rim on the 45 colt. Anybody know why?
 
Salvadore is right, that is a meager rim on the 45 colt. Anybody know why?
Click to expand...

Not sure, but I think it was so small so Sam Colt could fit 6 rounds in the cylinder of a SAA revolver. The rim was only used for headspacing, not for extraction, so size didn't matter.
 
Ive been loading for my brand new blackhawk convertible 4-5/8. Current load is 6.0gn trailboss, 200gn lead swc, CCI300, magtech or rem brass with a roll crimp. It runs pretty clean. Chronos around 750fps. Plated bullets use lead loading data. If your worried about recoil I couldn't tell much difference with the hotter 6.5gn loads I made. Even at the 6.5gn max loading pressures are below 13k which is safe for the older guns. As always work your way up slowly and methodically.
 
Here is some of the tests I ran in a Ruger BH. Never use (or plan to either) the 200g bullets in my .45s. I guess I didn't notice a sealing problem ... but then it never bothers me anyway to have dirty cartridges! Mention my testing below, because I did some regular/magnum testing back to back. YMMV. These were safe in my guns. Use your own judgement for the guns you will be using. Have no experience with Uberti revolvers ....

Trail Boss 250g RNFP .45 Colt

Trail Boss 255g SWC .45 Colt
 
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I always thought the meager rim was why the '73 was never chamberd for the 45.
Click to expand...

The original 45 Colt rim was even smaller than they are today plus the early cases were made out of copper. After just a few rounds the extractor would have just torn through the case rim, provided it could get a grip on it in the first place.
 
I just did a quick web search for pictures of old 45 colt cases and sure enough there is no extractor groove. Interesting point though was that the UMC loading had a hollow base bullet. Interesting.

I was unable to test yesterday, but today I should have some time to test my newly annealed brass loads.
 
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