Cast bullet feeding problem on 1911 45 acp sig

[84mmcarl-gustav]

Hi,new to reloading 45 acp,my firt attempt using a lee 452-228-1R mold(bullet radius to big),to making shoot I have to get OAL OF 1.185 that to low,am thinking to use those mold.

Sig Sauer 1911 45 ACP Tac Pack


LEE TL-452-200-SWC,feeding problem ?
LEE TL452-230-2R
LEE TL452-230-TC
LEE 452-200-SWC

Please let me know,witch one will feed no problem,pass drop test ,with oal in limit,thank for you help

[tja6435]

They may all not chamber if you don't have enough throat in your barrel

[Yodogsandman]

I'm fairly new to loading 45acp, too. I've learned that the taper crimp needs to be set between .465"-.470", whatever crimp provides flawless feeding. The overall length should be set so the boolit is not touching the lands so, the action locks up each and every time. Work up published loads slowly and approach maximum loads with caution. Trunicated cone and semi wad cutters seem to work better for me. The Lee 452-230 TC has worked well for me.

Using a lead alloy with less antimony will help reduce the cast size of your boolit slightly.

[reddog81]

I just googled that bullet mold and it looks like it should work fine. Are you sizing the bullets? I'm assuming you meant an OAL of 1.185 and not .185. 45 ACP is a large case and assuming you aren't near the maximum charger weight of powder I'd be fine using that OAL assuming that is what is needed to get the bullet to work.

if you can't get that bullet to work I'd be concerned about any cast bullet to work.

[84mmcarl-gustav]

Hi,the 228-1R round nose is too fat and touching land,i had to sit bullet untile chamber..so total length of the bullet around 1.185,sized to .451.bullet work but you increasing the pressure.

[runfiverun]

it's not the boolits fault it's a gun design issue.
most of the newer pistols being made today do not have a throat cut into the barrel as a cost cutting measure.
they are designed for shooting jacketed bullets and we either have to work around them in design or have a throat cut into the barrel.
if the 230 2-R isn't working then a switch to a swc type boolit so the nose fits in the barrel is gonna be your better option.

[telebasher]

it's not the boolits fault it's a gun design issue.
most of the newer pistols being made today do not have a throat cut into the barrel as a cost cutting measure.
they are designed for shooting jacketed bullets and we either have to work around them in design or have a throat cut into the barrel.
if the 230 2-R isn't working then a switch to a swc type boolit so the nose fits in the barrel is gonna be your better option.

Get in touch with Doug Guy he can throat your barrel for cast boolits and it will load and shoot any cast load you can come up with. He has done two for me [Rugers] and they shoot lights out.

[DougGuy]

He's in Canada. VERY prohibitive to get a barrel into the US for work.

This is what you need for shooting cast in a barrel. Left is before, right is afterwards. Once this is done you can seat out to your chosen COA without creating a second problem, which is seating deep as a workaround to the first problem, not enough throat.

Find a smith in your area that can do this for you.

[84mmcarl-gustav]

Hi,thank for the input Doug Guy

[gwpercle]

The Lee 452-200-SWC design works in the four 45 acps I have tried. AMT Hardballer, Colt Gold Cup , Star model PS and a tight chambered Taurus model 455 revolver.
Seat the boolit so the case mouth edge is just a hairs width below the top edge of the top driving band. All , or most , or the .451-.452 sized boolit will be inside the case and not require a long throated chamber. All the 45 semi-auto's can use .452 sized boolits ...but not the Taurus revolver !
The Taurus revolver has the tight chamber - tight throat syndrome , all boolits must be sized .451 or the case will not fully chamber. Not much of the .451 sized boolit can project out , maybe 1/32" max. just about where the chamber ends the rifling starts.
The 200 grain SWC solves this because it is a short boolit and is designed to be deep seated , so the lack of throat doesn't give a problem. Lyman #452460 , 200 gr. SWC , also works in this manner.
I try to solve problems by changing the boolit rather than changing the gun, if possible. Your problem can be solved with a different boolit . Might try the 200 gr. SWC first , if it works , great. You can always get the barrel worked if needed.
My first 45 acp mould was the Lee 230 RN also, but as soon as I tried the 200 grain SWC, the RN mould was given to a new reloader to get him started.
Gary

[6bg6ga]

I guess I have one of those missing posts again. Swore I posted on this the other day. My Tac Pack a 2011 model shoots anything so I guess I'll tear it down and look at the barrel.

[kungfustyle]

Try the col of 1.271 and restart your loading. Field strip the barrel and drop the loaded rounds in. If they plop in you are golden. If not you may have to crimp in a separate step. Our 45 is so picky that I've started trimming the brass to .888 now I don't have to worry about variations in the brass. It is a pain in the back side to have to feel to crimp each bullet. You may want to get a Lee factory crimp die and take out the crimping cylinder inside and use a push through sizer base to take out the bulge on range pickup brass. That's all the bulge buster does. I also have a egw.guns.com chamber checker that I use because I check every round. I did get the Lyman 452374 and a lot of worries went away. Our 45 didn't like semi-wad cutters either. Now that I do all these steps the gun is ok to reload for.

[6bg6ga]

I've never trimmed any 45acp brass in my life. The only crimping I ever do is just enough to straighten the case after belling it to accept a bullet. No crimp on mine.