45 Reload 2

Mr. Lobo

In my last post I was told I had a "limp wrist" what does this mean. I had 3 malfunctions during today's shoot. Two misdeeds ended up with the slide not closing the last 1/2-inch. The other was during loading the first round and the ball slipped into the case. Obviously I am having crimping problems and now I think it may be because of a worn out crimping die. I bought a used set of RCBS standard dies so I am not sure of how may rounds had been put through them. Do any of you check your bullets with a Case Gage? My goal is to produce a round that is as or more reliable than a factory round. The good news is that I had no "stove pipes". Thanks in advance for your help.

Jim


Edited by - Mr. Lobo on 07/13/2002 14:03:00

Tailgunner1954

"Limp wrist" is the total opposite of a "locked wrist". The frame should move as little as possiable, relitive to the frame. I don't load auto pistol anymore so I can't help you with the rest.

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Some guys like a mag full of lead, I still prefer one round to the head.

Piadea

Lobo, see my reply to your original post. Also is the gun clean and lubricated. Have you replaced springs lately. How does the gun perform with factory ammo? I know the frustration you're feeling and it can make you crazy. One More thing about your Dillon 550B. It is really worth investing in Dillon dies, especially for volume reloaders. You might want to try 231 for your load, it burns much cleaner than Unique. Good luck and good shooting.

Mr. Lobo

Piadea, I just ordered $150 worth of Dillon stuff including the case gage, Dillon crimp die, and also the stuff to upgrade from my old 550 to the new 550B. I tear down clean and lube my pistol after every shooting. I made that mistake once already thinking that it would be OK seeing that I only went through 100 rounds...wrong answer with the Kimber. I have just fired the first 500 rounds to complete the break in. Do I already need to replace the spring? I will pick up some Winchester 231 next time I am at the local gun shop. Thank to all of you for your advice.

Jim

woodsrunner

Lobo,
Just wondering, have you measured any of those cast bullets? I'm wondering if they were sized a little small. My pet load is 5.2 grains of 231 and a Remington 230gr fmj bullet. You can get the Remington bullets pretty cheap in bulk at gunshows.

Woods

Woods

rogerreloader

I shoot competition with a Kimber Eclipse. I use 4.0gr of Clays behind a 230 rainier 230gr tcj. Felt recoil is lighter and so is muzzle report. Acc is good.

aby80

I think you have your crimp die set wrong. Screw it in a 1/4 turn at a time until the case tightens against the bullet correctly. Limp wrist shooting will also cause your action not to close completely.

If you don't care where you are going, you can't get lost.

Der Gebirgsjager

I have to agree with all these fellows that your die probably just needs to be adjusted down a little more. Sometimes it's best to unscrew the thing completely, read the directions, and start over. It seems unlikely that you're overcrimping if you're using a taper crimp, and more likely that you're not crimping quite enough. How does the pistol work with factory ammo? If good, that isolates the problem to your reloads. If the results are the same, then perhaps you need a new, stronger recoil spring. Also, sometimes the lube from reloads will build up on the shoulder of the chamber to the point that the round will not fully chamber; so your barrel might benefit from a good chamber cleaning. 231 is good, and a Glock shooter recommended a 6 gr. loading of Clays (which I haven't tried yet), but my all time favorite load is a hard cast 225 gr. lead round nose over 6.5 gr. of Unique.

Mr. Lobo

woodsrunner, I have not measured the lead bullet, but I will today. They are "Hardcast" brand that I picked up at Turners. Several of the guys at the shoot yesterday were using the exact load as you described.

aby80, I have started at with the die just touching the case and gone 1/4 turn until it was screwed all the way down. It didn't seem to make much difference. Right now the best I found was about 1/2 turn.

Der Gebirgsjager, that sounds like a stiff load. I was trying to put together a real light load to cut down on recoil so I could acquire the next target quicker.

When I spoke to Dillon we figured out one of the things I was doing wrong and that was I separated my brass but I did not adjust the dies when using different brands of brass. I was trying to use up all the odd balls before I started doing any production. Wrong answer, per Dillon. They suggested taking the brand and adjusting the die to that brand. I think this explains why I was getting some tight and some loose. The new parts will be here on Thursday so I will try again then. Thanks to all that responded you have been a great help!

Jim

jokor3

hard to beat International Clays for accuracy and cleanliness.