Before I give up... .45 3 point jam

[jonk]

I have a Lee 200 gr SWC 6 cavity mold. Nice mold, nice bullets.

Problem: they jam my RIA .45 pretty well. At least one shot per clip gets in a 3 point jam- with the back end against the breech face, the side against the feed ramp, and the nose against the top of the chamber. The bullets have been sized to .452, and I've tried both with and without taper crimp. I've played with seating depths from as long as will feed through the mag to the top of the brass even with the front of the shank of the bullet, just below the tapered SWC part. Same problem. I've been told lots of guns do this with SWC bullets; any cures before I sell/trade the mold?

[45 2.1]

Try another magazine.

[jonk]

Well I've tried the Novaks that came with it and a USGI surplus mag. I don't want to buy 40 mags.

Feeds fine with 230 gr ball and (gasp) jacketed 200 gr swc....

[45 2.1]

I've got the same RIA, mine don't jam, but it does drag heavily on the feed ramp on the frame and barrel. I intend to polish it someday to cure that. I'm shooting a more radical SWC than you are too.

[GSM]

Follow 45 2.1 rec - try a different mag. Take a look at metalform, for SWC's I think the rounded follower is preferred over a flat follower for Ball.

Wilson's aren't bad, just a little pricey.

Back against the breech sounds like the release is too early - extractor hook is not getting the flange of the case. Might check to see if the extractor hook area is clean.

For more than you ever wanted to know:

http://how-i-did-it.org/magazines/index.html

[jonk]

Where does one find a metalform mag?

[GSM]

Gil Hebard carries them - no web sales though. Try (309) 289-2700 (hopefully a current phone number) and get a catalog from them.

Good people to deal with.

[richbug]

Where does one find a metalform mag?

brownells

[C.F.Plinker]

I had a similar problem. I had to seat the bullet out a half a hair further so that the shoulder would ride the feed ramp better and I also reworked the magazine feed lips so they reloased the bullet sooner. This let it come up to a horizontal position earlier so the slide could push it in to the chamber easier. I agree that the rounded followers are better and have installed Pachmayer followers in all of my magazines.

[scrapcan]

I am with GSM that you may want to look at the extraxtor configuration. You may want to break the edge where the case head slides up under the extractor hook. doesn't take much just break it at a 45 degree angle and polish. Maybe GSM has some thoughts on tuning the extractor. I had a new extractor do this in my auto ordinance after follwing extractor tuning tips on M1911.org, it has run well for quite some time. May also want to read about ejector tuning also, I was getting dented brass and after tuning the ejector that went away.

[scrapcan]

GSM thanks for the links. Lots of good info.

[Cloudpeak]

I had feeding problems in both my Springfield 1911's with both designs of the Lee 200 gr. SWC (tumble lube and non-tumble lube.) My final solution was to sell both molds and buy a Lyman 4 cavity 452630 mold.

If you compare the Lee bullets, especially the TL version, against a true H&G 58 bullet, you'll see some of the problems. Here's a picture of the Penns bullet on the left and a Lee on the right:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v620/WyoBob/Guns/DSCN1441.jpg

If you load a dummy round with the Lee bullet and hold it up to a factory 230 gr. round and try to match "ogives", I think you'll see the Lee bullet needs to be loaded longer to match up. When I loaded longer , the front of the drive band would jam into the rifling on my Springers. 1911's that have the rifling cut deeper (more leade) would probably chamber OK.

I did get the non-tumble lube Lee bullet to run most of the time by tuning and contouring and polishing the extractors on both my 1911's. The extractors were pretty rough and had too much tension. But, I'd still get a FTF about twice out of 50 rounds. No problem when practicing but a big problem when shooting plates:-D As I had 100% feeding with 2,000 of the Penns bullets, I finally changed over to the Lyman 200 SWC bullet as I think it's almost identical to the Penns and HG68. I have shot 1,000 plus rounds with the Lyman 200 SWC and they've been 100%.

Cloudpeak (Hi, J.M.)

[GSM]

Cloudspeak: That Lee would probably have worked in a Colt, but definitely not in a Springer (school of hard knocks on that one).

Couple of links for extractor info:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=30716 (quick & dirty)

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/NewsletterArchive.aspx?p=0&t=1&i=33

http://www.m1911.org/technic2.htm

[Dale53]

I would investigate having the pistol tuned by a good local .45 Gunsmith. We have been blessed in this area with a couple of VERY good smiths. I would rather have the pistol tuned so it would feed most anything.

I have two tuned pistols that will dern near feed empty cases. Of course, that presupposes that you HAVE a good local smith...

Dale53

[Sig shooter]

+ 1 for mag issues , the Wilson or Chip M. mags are worth the $$$.

[MtGun44]

You want to locate the front 'corner' of the boolit on the contour line
that a 230 RN FMJ will have. I hope that is clear. If you take a factory
230 ball and hold up your loaded round, adjust the LOA until the corner
is somewhere on the outline of the 230 ball. This doesn't guarentee feeding,
but increases your chances a lot. From the small meplat of the Lee, they
would have to be seated so the meplat is further out than the larger
meplat H&G68, which is the gold standard of feeding SWCs in 1911s.

Too long and you will run into the shoulder hitting the rifling and causing
a failure to close. Try some real H&G68s and if they work, get a mold.
Lee has some good designs, but they also have some stinkers, too. I
have no experience with this design, but it looks a good bit different than
the H&G68, which is not a plus.

Bill

[trickyasafox]

LOL I bought cloudpeak's mold. it casts great! I made up a pile of boolits and sized / lubed them, but haven't loaded them yet. I have a springer as well. I remain optimistic that they will run for me.

[redbear705]

Are you loading light loads or extra heavy loads?

Using the SWC timing is everything...try using a heavier return spring or a lighter return spring.

JR

[nicholst55]

Where does one find a metalform mag?

Brownells still carries them, I do believe. It's my understanding that the Marines used Metalform mags for their 'big' pistol team, which is a pretty good endorsement.