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Posted: 7/4/2011 6:46:59 AM EDT
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I bought a bunch of 230 gr pulled plated bullets. I believe they're Rainier. This is the first time I am loading for .45 but have loaded 223, .40 and 9mm with success. I set my lee dies up just as I always have for the other calibers. I flared the case mouth just enough to accept the bullet. I followed the directions with the FCD and loaded 4 dummy rounds. I did a light crimp(half turn on the die) in 2 of them and a mid-heavy crimp(1 full turn on the die). I measured the OLA of each and loaded them into my 1911 magazine 1 by 1. Each time the light crimp moved back .005 inches or so and the mid-heavy crimp moved back .002 or so. I did this several times and each time they set further and further back.
Will this have to do with the fact they're plated bullets that have been pulled? I measured the bullets and measured .451 wheras I believe from the factory they are .452. I have never had to crimp any bullet over a light crimp before and want to make sure that I do not crimp it too much. Thanks |
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Neck tension is what grips the bullet so I'd say to have a look at your belling powder die. Is the beller streaked with brass? If so, you should clean it off as its expanding your cases too much resulting in low neck tension. If you can chuck it up in a large drill or drillpress, then I'd go at it with some emory cloth to take the dia. down a bit, say .001" so you'll get a better grip on the bullet. |
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The case mouth needs to be 0.469 to 0.470 inches diameter at the very end after crimping.
These bullets might have gotten distorted when pulled, causing neck tension to be compromised when reloaded. A reduction of a thousandth of an inch is enough to make a difference. About the only way to fix this is by either removing the expander ball from the sizer, or turning the expander ball down a thousandth or two. I would take the expander out and follow up with no more bell than required to seat the bullets. |
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Quoted:
The case mouth needs to be 0.469 to 0.470 inches diameter at the very end after crimping. These bullets might have gotten distorted when pulled, causing neck tension to be compromised when reloaded. A reduction of a thousandth of an inch is enough to make a difference. About the only way to fix this is by either removing the expander ball from the sizer, or turning the expander ball down a thousandth or two. I would take the expander out and follow up with no more bell than required to seat the bullets. I would determine if this pistol has setback issues with factory ammunition first. Then I would want to know if I had a workable OAL that might be my setback culprit. Then I would chase neck tension...... Of course that's my five cent opinion. What I see happening is a bunch of voices, all with valid points confusing what should be a direct line of diagnosis. |
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Awesome, now the challenge is to model a cartridge to what you know works. Say for instance Winchester white box 230 grain ball. Measure Winchester OAL and loaded case mouth diameter. It's a common debate too much crimp is a bad thing. Well, Ok. Setback is worse and it's dangerous. Period. Winchester Supreme Elite Self Defense ammunition is factory crimped to .469 in a nickel case. Don't hesitate to crimp to .469 or .468. I'm suspect lowering OAL .005 to .010 and crimping to .470 will be your fix.
Now let's talk about your pistol. There's three things I do to Springfields. One being a switch to Wilson or Tripp magazines. These two sit higher, more in line with barrel throat and are much more forgiving of oal, ogive issues. Your issue is a fiddle with it until it feeds scenario that can be fixed behind your press without modification to 1911. Do yourself a favor sometime. Take calipers with you to fun store sometime along with note pad and pen. Ask to see various brands of 45acp that you know feeds well. With calipers measure and record oal and loaded case mouth diamaters. Look forward to updates. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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I have had some setback in the past with CCI Blazer brass ammo. Not enough to worry about, but enough to notice and be aware of. Of course, I guess you should worry any time the bullet moves around before it is fired, but I don't often chamber a round more than once.
My pistol did not setback with another type of ammo, so I determined it was the CCI. I determined that the problem was actually the plated bullet. It was SOOOOO soft that it was actually deforming on the feed cycle. It would flatten against the feed ramp and actually stick if I let a carbon layer get hard, insufficent lube, and a loose grip. In the beginning, I thought it was a magazine issue, but once I did tests with other ammo, it became obvious that it was the CCI ammo, more specifically, a too soft plated bullet. The big ahah moment came when we went to a fun shot, and it would not knock over steel plates part of the time. The bullets were staying in one piece, but they were flattening out bigger than a silver dollar and were just not transfering energy quick enough. It was like throwing play dough. I doubt that is your problem, but it is always good to keep an open mind. Brett |
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