Need help with 45 ACP

[gray wolf]

Long shot is an excellent powder in that it will allow high velocity with lower pressure.
My finding are it does not like the low end of the scale if a clean burn and no soot on the cases is what you want.

That said your loads were to light, plain and simple, not unsafe, just not the best and that is evident from what you have seen. Hodgons list 6 grains as a start load and 6.8 as a max with 16,800 as a CUP.
and 875 for the speed, 875 is somewhat over standard military ball ammo.
I use 6.5 of long shot and it's a clean burn but a little snappy for extended shooting at close range for just paper targets. Tight group and bulls eye are much better if you just want a target load, I understand that powders are a little difficult to come by now.

As for crimp ? my finding are it depends a lot on neck tension, with crimp being about 10% of bullet hold.
Then again Alloy must be look at, a soft allow will suffer as to the bullet being reduced when seated with to small an expander, and a hard allow will not have enough hold with a big expander.
Enter the delicate balance. The crimp on a 45 ACP should not be much more that what is needed to remove the case flare, yes sometimes a little more is needed for rounds to function in certain pistols allowing for barrel and feed ramp tolerances.
Short answer: bump up your load, don't go over max and don't over do the crimp.

[ncfyrfyter]

I apologize for not giving enough info in the original post. I'll see if I can remember everything.
The bullets are sized .452 and are purchased from a local company that makes them. I have grabbed random handfuls and checked them, and all of them have been .452.
I do not know what mold they are made from. They are 230 gr LRN with a single lube ring. I don't know what lube is used on them, but it is green and waxy
The bullets have a brinnell hardness of 16 and are cast from recycled lead.
I have not slugged the barrel. I'm shooting them in a Sig C3 with the factory barrel.
Yes, Longshot is all that I could find.
I put a slight taper crimp on the bullets with the seater die. The owner of the company where I got the bullets from, cautioned me about over-crimping so I crimped them just enough to pass the plunk test. He told me that using the Lee factory crimp die wasn't a good idea because it would size the bullet down too far and cause leading issues. Which brings me to a question, is it safe to taper crimp it enough to where the bell is completely gone? So if I placed the calipers on it, they would touch the brass all the way down the length of the bullet.
The reason for starting with a reduced load was due to a question I asked at the store where I got the bullets. They said that i should reduce a starting load by 10% and work up.
The reasons that you all have given for the appearance of the cases make perfect sense! I'm going to load some up tomorrow starting a 6.0, and work up in .1 increments until I find a sweet spot. After I figure this one out, I will start on my 40 S&W. I have 180 gr. LRNFP for it

I appreciate all the info you all have posted on here. There is a wealth of knowledge here and I enjoy reading and learning. Loading cast boolits is all very new to me. I have loaded j-bullets and rifle ammo for 12 years, but I think that I am enjoying this endeavor more than I have any other! I don't know if I will ever venture down the road to casting my own boolits, but who knows!!!!

[tomme boy]

Longshot works, but it is really slow for the acp.

[Love Life]

Crimp .468-.470 and call it good.

[Pb2au]

^ Yup, same here. .468-.470 will put you right in the wheel house.
Just keep your ear to the ground and scout for powder locally, and or hit the interwebz.
I keep a cheat sheet I made up with me when I hit the gun shops. So for a given cartridge, I will make notes of the different powders that I know will play nicely and just scan the shelves.

[Love Life]

All of my pistol powers load all of my pistol rds. Some aren't optimal, but they get the bullet out of the barrel without exploding.

[MtGun44]

You are using a powder which is too slow for that cartridge. Try W231, Bullseye, Titegroup or
Unique. That slow a powder never develops enough pressure to burn
properly.

Bill

[Land Owner]

The reason for starting with a reduced load was due to a question I asked at the store where I got the bullets. They said that i should reduce a starting load by 10% and work up.

I am certain that your reloading reading will alert you that reducing a MAXIMUM load by 10% is one place to start.