.45 not cycling cuz of lead

[lunicy]

My 45 (auto) wont cycle. I shoot lead through it. After 5 or so rounds, it wont lock forward. If I remove the barrel, there is a ring of lead keeping the round from fully chambering. Remove the lead, and I'm good for 5 more rounds. I assume its my bullets. Tell me, what's the prob? BTW, I reload jacketed round sometimes, and it shoots fine, obviously no lead ring. Happens with both round nose and SWC bullets. What am I doing wrong.

[35remington]

The "ring of lead" is most likely caused by either shaving lead off the base of the bullet while seating due to not enough case mouth flare, or by taper crimping heavily while the bullet is being seated deeper in the case. This can cause lead to be plowed ahead of the case mouth by the case biting into the bullet as it is seated.

Try more flare, within reason.

Taper crimp in a separate step after the bullet is seated. There is really no reason to taper crimp more than about .471" or so.

[docone31]

It sounds like a sizing issue.
I size mine to .452 and get no leading, or loading issues.
I also do not crimp. I have yet to have a casting slide either in or out.
What are you sizing it to?

[9.3X62AL]

Look also at your sizing die and expander die--in particular, the expander spud diameter. My very-much-used RCBS tungsten carbide sizer reduces case diameter to .4665"-.467", depending on case make. WAY TOO MUCH size-down. Also, the expander stem's spud is .447", which might be all right for jacketed bullets--but a spud .002"-.003" (at most) smaller than boolit diameter will hold castings very securely and not size them down further.

I have swapped 45 Colt tools into the sizing and expanding role in 45 ACP. The combination of case size-down to .469" and expander spud at .4495" has paid off nicely in longer brass life and enhanced accuracy in Glock, S&W, Kimber, and Colt 45 ACP self-loading pistols for me.

Just about all die sets--other than RCBS Cowboy specialty dies--"assume" jacketed bullets in their dimensional profiles.

I'm also one of those total throwback types who believes that taper crimping should ONLY be done as a seperate step after seating the boolit. Seating and taper crimping might work fine with the redcoated bullets, but I won't do it with a casting. Period.

[lunicy]

I crimp separatly, but will try some without crimp to check. Do taper the case, not shaving the bullet during seating. Bullets are sized.

Seems like I may have a crimping issue. I'll try a few without a crimp at all.

[straight-shooter]

My cast bullets fit tight enough when entering the brass that all I do is "straight wall" the casing with the Lee Factory Crimp die. Making sure the brass does not go beyond straight walling so It doesn't gull the lead bullet. Feed has been fine so far.

I've actually removed the bullet from the brass afterwards to check the diameter of the bullet and it's still same before I loaded it. I was worried the Lee factory crimp die would reduce bullet diameter but such is not the case.

[hyoder]

Check your headspace:

- check case length - book max .898, trim .893

- insert an EMPTY case in chamber, case should be flush with barrel extension

- with case hand held in chamber, measure from muzzle to case head with depth gauge on caliper

- assemble pistol and insert same case in chamber and close slide, check same muzzle to head dimension

- The extractor will hold the case against the bolt face.

- if the dimension with the slide closed is longer than the hand held dimension, the head space is long, there is a gap between the case mouth and chamber mouth - the place where the lead is building up

Use longer cases and the headspace will be corrected.

[kamikaze1a]

Where's the ring of lead? On the bullet or in the barrel? If on the bullet, was the ring there before attempting to chamber? Or formed after chambering?

[tall grass]

Have you cleaned the copper fouling out before you let loose with lead. I've had mine leaded up good until I cleaned out the jacket fouling.

fwiw

Jim

[Echo]

+1 for 35Remington - sounds to me as though there is a ring of lead partially separated from the boolit, that gets fully separated on firing. IMNever-to-beHO)

[44man]

Try harder boolits too. Ones that will not be sized by the brass when seating.
Another thing to look for is lead shaved from the nose when chambering. Point the gun safe and work some rounds from the magazine fast, don't fire, then pick up the rounds and see if there is nose damage and lead in the chamber.

[HeavyMetal]

One more thought for your check list.
How deep is your chamber?

I've bought a couple of 1911 barrels lately and both of them have been chambered much shallower than barrels I've bought in years past.

Early barrels I would seat my cast boolits out just past the shoulder and adjust head space with OAL cartridge length ( and still do on several 45's I own)

Many 45 reloader still suggest this. However I found with the new barrels the brass would headspace correctly with case's I had trimmed to .891! By seating my boolits out to expose the shoulder of the SWC I would get both failures to close completely and some lead shaving as the boolit shoulder "hit" the sharp edge of the chamber mouth where the case is supposed to headspace!

I will suggest you may be having the same problem. So if your using enough case flare to not shave boolits as they seat and your not over crimping ( very easy to do with a taper crimp) take a good hard look at your seating depth and try a few adjustments in OAL and see if the problem goes away.

[76 WARLOCK]

I agree with heavymetal, I had the same trouble with a new Springfield TRP. When I set the boolit a little deeper and the problem went away.

[lunicy]

I want to thank all of you for the responses. I made some dummy rounds and it seems as if the seating depth and the crimp were the culprit. The true test will be when I get to the range.

[Lloyd Smale]

I tend to seat my cast bullets deaper then most. Ive seen many 1911s with very short chambers. Especially springfields.