.45 reloading question?

SUBMARINER

I just started reloading .45 acp.so far im having a problem with my reloads not seating into the chamber all the way.my o.b.l. is 1.25 im checking this with a dial caliper.maybe i got it wrong 1.025?its what wilson combat reccomends for overall lenth thats what i got.so i know the length is right.what could be causing this.im using a taper crimp.could i be reaming the cases to wide?but the taper crimp should take care of this shouldnt it?anyone reload these alot give me some pointers on how you do it??im using a 230gr lead round nose from national bullet company

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p3skyking

Been awhile since I loaded .45 but here goes. In a perfect world, all chambers are saami spec. How does factory ammo feed? Are the loading dies new or recycled? Sometimes, die makers DO screw up. Had a shell holder one time that was milled wrong, kept breaking until I compaired it with a picture. Had replaced it 3 times (11mm Mauser, not a real fast seller). Turns out the whole lot was bad! Mr. Huntington himself talked to me on the phone about it. One trick I used to do was take a factory round that worked and use it to set my bullet seating depth in my die. screw down the seater until it touches or just pushes the bullet. The bullet shape SHOULD be fine, but is it fighting the lands for space? It will work out. It always does!

Tailgunner1954

There is no need to chamfer (ream) the case mouth on a 45ACP.
One thing you might be doing is over flareing the case mouth before seating the bullet. Flare the mouth just enough to allow the bullet to start and no more.
Some brands of brass are thicker than others at the mouth, so running mixed brass can somtimes cause problems also (you set up on one thickness and the other dosn't work right, under flared or over crimped, depending)

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

jeanders

I load 45 ACP and never have trouble because I use the Lee factory
crimp die. One more stage in loading but well worth it. Its the
best ten bucks I have ever spent on loading equipment.

Pearyw

I run in this problem a lot with match barrels and cast lead bullets. I have several match barrels that I usually just use jacketed bullets in. A lot of the cast bullets are 452" in diameter and will stick in the throut of a match barrel. Try some 230 jacketed 451" diameter bullets with the same die setting. That will tell you if you have a case problem or a bullet problem. I also use some 230 rn lead bullets that have a shoulder that can interfer with chambering. I have one brand that I seat a little deeper than others so that I can crimp over the shoulder. As Tailgunner pointed out, some brass is thicker and that can also cause problems. I use a lot of Remington brass for lead loads because it seems to be thinner.

Der Gebirgsjager

The .45 ACP is a relatively easy cartridge to reload. There is no need to ream anything. It is even unlikely that you will ever have to trim the length of the brass after repeated firings. Clean the brass, lube the brass, run it into full length sizer, reprime, add powder, add bullet, seat bullet and taper crimp. The seating die, assuming it is not factory defective (which happens occassionally), and if adjusted properly, will squeeze the mouth of the case against the sides of the bullet sufficiently to eliminate your problem. Load your cast lead round nose bullets to exactly the same length as a factory loaded hardball. I did, once upon a time, encounter some cast bullets that had an ogive that was located farther forward than a hardball (FMJ) and would not chamber when loaded to standard length. Fortunately, owing a .45 ACP revolver or two allowed me to use the ammo anyway. Should this prove to be the case you'll have an excuse to buy another handgun.[:D]

mballai

I had all sorts of mischief reloading .45 ACP when I started. The one thing you really need is one of the quick check gauges from Midway or Dillon. These metal tubes let you drop in a cartridge to check its dimensions. Once I started using it along with a separate crimp die my problems went away. One thing you will notice is that if you expand the cartridge to make it easy to seat your lead bullets without any shavings is that the cartridge will probably be a bit too tight to drop fully into the gauge until you crimp it.

FWIW, 45 ACP doesn't need much of a crimp. Compare your loads to a factory hardball round as you work up your cartridge.

Three Precious Metals: Gold, silver and lead

shooter4

OD at the mouth of the case should be .473.

Check that and if its larger, tighten up on the crimp die.

I had this problem and this was the cure.

Sunray

Sounds like a sizing issue to me. Make sure your sizing die is seated properly and you're running the case all the way into it. The shell holder should just kiss the bottom of the die when it's all the way up.
The case mouth only needs to be belled enough to fit the bullet in and no more. Then set up the taper crimp die so it crimps just enough to allow the loaded round to drop into the chamber. Take out your barrel and use it as a guage. If the loaded round drops into the chamber stop adjusting the die and tighten it firmly.