45 acp hand loads

[neald]

Gents , I am putting this here instead of the cast bullet forum because my question is about my 1911.
 If I need to put it in the other  forum I will, just thought that you guys here would have been in this boat since you shoot old slab side.
 I have loaded many different calibers before this but never the 45 acp.
 I had shot ball ammo in this gun and then bought some hand loads (200 gr SWC) and had to change the spring.
 I loaded some last week that was supposed to match the ones I had bought.(200gr)
 Now this gun is not reliable. I can shoot 1-3 and then it will not fully chamber one.

I have a couple of the ones I had bought and those are not a crimped to hold the bullet in. I should say, not a visiable rolled crimp. Could my problem be that I need a straight taper crimp?
 Any help you can give will be appreciated greatly.
Neal

[williamlayton]

I think this will get better answers down in the hand loading cubicle.
Blessings

[Lloyd Smale]

any 45acp die set ive seen has a taper crimp die not a roll crimp so the die set your using is most definately a taper crimp. The most critical part of loading acps in my opinion is bullet seating dept. Just about every bullet you try will need some experimenting as to seating dept to run and it will need to be changed to work in about every differnt gun you try it in. Biggest mistake new loaders to acps make is seating there bullets out to far. Most of the swcs i load will have only a very tiny ammount of shoulder showing when the bullet is seated to the proper overal legth.

[Maryland Hunter]

Neald,

I'm not sure that I have an answer to your question, directly, but here's what I do, and it's worked so far. I use a set of Lee dies for my .45ACP, and I use the crimp die that came with the set. It also post-sizes the case, to ensure proper loading. I don't put a major crimp on it, as the .45 headspaces on the case mouth, just setup per instructions. Not necessarily pushing that particular die set, but it's worked very well for me.

Hope this helps,

MH

[rbwillnj]

With auto cartridges, the most common cause for rounds not chambering completely is insufficient taper crimp.

For loading 45 ACP you should be using a 4 die set that has a taper crimp die as the last step.   The seating die typically has a roll crimp feature built in, but you should only seat in that station, and not crimp.  I use bullets that have been sized to .452, and when I finish taper crimping the case mouth measures .469 and there is a noticeable burnish on the case mouth.   

Oh, if you have any Amerc Brass in your pile get rid of it.  That could be the source of your problem too.

[neald]

I want to thank all who wrote, taper crimp die will ordered in a few minutes.

I thought that may have been the problem, but I have never reloaded for an auto before. 99% of my loading has been for my T/C stuff. I just started bullseye and wanted to get a bunch loaded .
   Thanks again.
    Neal
 Oh, and I hope I did not upset any one by posting here instead of in the reloading section, I just figured that the ones who shoot the 45 acp would be the ones who were most likely to know and not bother a whole bunch of people.
Thanks again

[neald]

I goofed. Forgot something.
 To Lloyd,
 I went and check my die, it is a roll crimp die. I can see the shoulder in side
 Thanks a bunch.
 Neal

[Savage]

neald,
If your sizing die is a roll crimp, you have a die for loading revolver rounds. The best thing you can do for yourself is to order the "Lee Factory Crimp Die". My 1911s are not picky about OAL.  I load 230gr RN and 200gr LSWC both to 1.240.  I have  seated from 1.20 to 1.25 with no feeding problems.  The LFCD is a must for me in every caliber I load.
Savage

[Lloyd Smale]

some taper crimp dies like the hornady will make a crimp that looks like a rolled crimp if you get carried away. Its a mistake alot of guys make with the acp. A proper taper crimp is hard to even see with the naked eye and it tends to make beginners over crimp. Like i said ive yet to see a set of dies for the acp that was a rolled crimp crimping die.

I goofed. Forgot something.
 To Lloyd,
 I went and check my die, it is a roll crimp die. I can see the shoulder in side
 Thanks a bunch.
 Neal

[Questor]

Neald:

I don't know what the reliability problem is, but chances are it is related to OAL. Try adjusting the OAL longer or shorter (probably longer), and see if you get reliable feeding.  Taper crimps should be very slight. Just enough to hold the bullet in the case reliably on recoil. What spring did you need to replace?

[Questor]

NeadD:

Also, if you post your load data, expected velocity, and details of the gun that are material to load reliability (like recoil spring weight), I think we'll have enough info to solve the problem.

[Mikey]

neald:  if the pistol chambers some of the rounds and there are no failure to feed or chamber (with some rounds) then you most likely have the overall cartridge length set properly and the problem sounds like some of your cartridges have too much of a roll crimp to chamber properly. 

Easy fix:  remove the decapping pin from your sizing die and run the loaded cartridge back up about half the length of the cartridge.  This will have the same effect as a factory taper crimp die and allow proper feeding and chambering of the round. 

If the pistol functions reliably without changing the recoil spring then you should be good to go when you straighten out some of those over-crimped rounds.  HTH.  Mikey.

[rbwillnj]

I wanted to make sure I had my facts straight before I posted on this subject again, so I called Lyman, Hornady, Lee, and RCBS today to ask about their 45 ACP dies.   Lyman and Hornady both said that the crimp in their seating die is a roll crimp, and if you want a taper crimp you have to use a separate taper crimp die.   Lee says there seating die is a "modified taper crimp" die which can give you either a roll or a taper depending on how deep you set the die.  ( I used to use Lee dies, and in my book, its a roll crimp.)  RCBS says they changed about 17 years ago to a taper crimp in their seating die.  They used to have a roll crimp in their seating die.   The "newer" dies with the taper crimp are marked TC Seating.    At this point I do everything on Star reloaders and the Star Seating die has a roll crimp.

It has been my experience that if its a true taper crimp die, it doesn't matter how much you crimp the case, it will still look like a taper crimp.   If you crimp it and it looks like a roll crimp, its a roll crimp.   You know, if quacks like a duck .......   If you don't flair your cased too much, you can use a roll crimp die to carefully remove the flair to the point that the case wall is almost straight, but IMO that's not the same thing as a taper crimp.

I reload and shoot 15,000 - 20,000 rounds for 45 ACP each year.

[Unter]

  There could be other issues but I agree with Savage. The Lee factory crimp die allowed my reloads to function in my sons "pickey" 1911 and also fixed issues on 9mm swc's that would not work well in a 1911 frame gun.

John O.

[neald]

To All,
 I have checked the OAL, it is right on. My dies are over 17 years old I am sure and they are RCBS's.
 I got a taper crimp and loaded  about 30 and had no failure to feed, I did have one primer fail to ignite, but I was using some really old stuff  just trying to get rid of them w/o throwing them away.
 Thanks to all who helped out.
 Neal

[Jim n Iowa]

I have a 1911 Colt mk7, it was tricked up by a Smith in SD. When I went to take my ccw permit I had jams with Wolf ammo, hard ball, swiched to some hand loads swc and had jams, (not feed). I finished with a M-9 with a good score. I took it to a smith in southern Iowa, who stated that the throat looked like they used a dremel tool on it. This gun now feeds all my reloads, ejects 100%, all for very little $$. My point is even factory may not have a decent crimp, I believe it head spaces on the neck. If so check the throat.
Thats what I would do.
Jim

[lonewolf5348]

I have a picky 1911 SA I load the SWC 200 grain in the 45 and the bullet seating dies is back out so there will be no roll crimp the die just seat the bullet.The Lee 4th die which is the factory taper crimp add the taper crimp.
My favorite load in winchester 231 5.1 grains and a OAL 1.232