Anyone ever reload the Winchester Service Grade Ammo - SG45W Brass

[Rustynails]

Thanks for all who helped. Sorry I took so long to respond. It is Valentines Day and I was doing what I had to do today: Attend a Pesticide Re-certification class from Penn State. It seemed appropriate to attend such an event for today.

[Rustynails]

Finally solved my reloading/sizing problem with the Springfield XD 45. After all the help here and elsewhere I have found that my head space problem was that some range brass had bulging by the head. Sizing it wouldn't help because the die would not reach that area. My gun would never reach full battery because of this problem. Also I realized that the seating die may have been starting a crimp on the bullet when I was seating it. I backed it off and after seating, used a Lee Factory crimp die to reach a case mouth crimp of .468-.469.
With those diameters plus the OAL of 1.227 the pistol worked perfect.

I ended up with the following load for my XD 45:

RCBS 45-230 RN # 734 Mold using Wheel weights which produced a 234 grain bullet. (about 14 bhn)
Sized to .451 after slugging my XD. I may try .452, but right now I'm not getting any leading.
Lubed with Emmerts.
CCI Large Pistol Primers
4.3 grains of Bullseye powder
OAL: 1.227
Crimp using Lee Factory Crimp die to .468 to .469, anything over seemed to create a bullet that would not twist easy in the plunk test.
Assorted Head Stamp 45 acp range brass.

I did save the brass with the bulge and ordered a Lee bulge buster to see if I can save them.

It was a longer process than I expected, (developing my first load ever), but it was worth it in the end. The target was at 21 feet and the average chronograph FPS was: 758.8 (4.4; 4.5;4.3 grains of Bullseye tested 5 shots each, one flyer on the 4.3 grain target not pictured)

Attachment 236427

[tja6435]

No, That is for new fully loaded 45 acp ammo. I think it is more like $245.00... I think I look at an older backorder listing. Sorry.

Not too bad of a deal then

[Der Gebirgsjager]

You've been given lots of good advice, so I'll just make a few generalized observations without going through all of the details:

I've purchased several lots of 1,000 .45 ACP empties for right around $100 shipped.

I've been shooting for many years with .45 ACP as a favorite, and have never trimmed the cases. They just don't seem to grow past functionality.

First I de-prime, clean, then resize. When I flare them it is enough that I can insert the base of the bullet with my fingers and it will stand upright.

The Lee Factory Crimp Die is the best thing since sliced bread. If your loaded round will enter (you can expect resistance upon entry as the case is still flared somewhat), crimp and then exit through the built-in carbide ring, the round has to fit in a standard chamber. If it won't, then something almost has to be wrong with the chamber.

For me, .452" works in all of my ACPs (about a dozen) and has never been a problem.

Looking at your photo, your loaded round looks like it has a ridge around the location of the base of the bullet. It may well be that the case was not flared enough, but it probably should have been ironed out enough to work by the Lee Factory Crimp Die. It may have been that the brand of brass contributed to the problem, as I used to get similar results using American Brand brass, and would get a bad result on perhaps one out of ten cases, but that was before the LFCD. I no longer use American Brand, don't know if they're still around, don't see much of it anymore. It could very well be that some of the cheaper brands of brass are inferior and should be avoided, but I've had no problems with most of it. CCI Blazer could be called an inexpensive brand, but their brass reloads just fine.

The photo of the bullet itself shows no lube? Cast bullets must be lubed and sized before loading. Lee says you can shoot theirs straight from the mold, and sometimes you can, but not always in all chambers. So I size them also. Yours, I see, is an RCBS, but the necessity to lube and size remains. Lee's Tumble Lube works on all cast bullets, and would work on your RCBS bullet, but it's kind of ugly. I've used it, it works well, but I prefer lube in the groove.

All in all, the .45 ACP is one of the easiest cartridges to load for. Just de-prime them, clean them, flare them enough for the bullet's base to enter, size and lube the bullets, use the LFCD and you should meet with success.

[samari46]

i load the 45acp for two 45's. One a Springfield armory (new one not the old) and the other is a 1943 Ithaca 1911A1. I use regular store bought hard cast 230 gr round nosed bullets. 5grs WST,wlp primer and just about any 45 case I have on hand. Regardless of brand of case both 34's have never failed to function. Only brass I do not reload is A-merc and MFS which I believe is made in Hungary. I did the plunk test with both barrels and adjusted the over all length with dummy loaded cases no powder or primer. Made up a few dummies with the correct the dies (Dillon) and so far haven't had to readjust the dies. Even though a lot of folks say that the Sellier & Bellot Czech cases are no good I've found that as long as I make a few passes with a case neck chamfering tool on the primer pockets they seat normally and have had no problems with the chamfered primer pockets. Frank

[scattershot]

FYI: The RCBS Bullet that is giving me some headache with seating.Attachment 236007

Here is one of my failed dummy loads using a .452 cast bullet. The other picture is the "same" bullet sized to .451 which is what my XD slugged out at.

Attachment 236008

According to your description, you are loading 250 grain bullets,(post #7) and that may be your problem. Standard bullet weight for 45 ACP is 230 grains, and 250 is for 45 Colt. The ogive of your bullet (the curve of the nose) may be keeping your loads from chambering. Try a different bullet and see if that doesn’t solve your problem.

EDIT: I see you have fixed your problem. Congrats. Sounds like you are doing everythig right, enjoy yourself, and be safe. Good shooting!

[SvenLindquist]

Buy a Lee FOUR die set for any handgun cartridge you can and you will have no problems. (I load 38 spec, 357 mag, 10mm, 44 spec, 44 mag, 45 ACP, 45 Colt and 460 S&W)

[Rustynails]

According to your description, you are loading 250 grain bullets,(post #7) and that may be your problem. Standard bullet weight for 45 ACP is 230 grains, and 250 is for 45 Colt. The ogive of your bullet (the curve of the nose) may be keeping your loads from chambering. Try a different bullet and see if that doesn’t solve your problem.

EDIT: I see you have fixed your problem. Congrats. Sounds like you are doing everythig right, enjoy yourself, and be safe. Good shooting!

Darn! You are good. I missed that error several times reading over it. Maybe that's why I had eye surgery. It was supposed to be 45-230 #374 bullet mold. Thanks for the sharp eyes.

[45-70 Chevroner]

According to your description, you are loading 250 grain bullets,(post #7) and that may be your problem. Standard bullet weight for 45 ACP is 230 grains, and 250 is for 45 Colt. The ogive of your bullet (the curve of the nose) may be keeping your loads from chambering. Try a different bullet and see if that doesn’t solve your problem.

EDIT: I see you have fixed your problem. Congrats. Sounds like you are doing everythig right, enjoy yourself, and be safe. Good shooting!

That was my answer also, I think the boolit is to long.

[David2011]

I second the opinions regarding case prep. I always tumble brass before loading so I stay cleaner and the dies aren’t exposed to grit. No need to trim .45 ACP ever. I’ve never seen one that even met the SAAMI maximum length. Taper crimps don’t require the brass to all be the same length like roll crimps. No need to prep primer pockets or flash holes. The boolits you’re using are more blunt than 1911 ball ammo bullets so only a minimum amount of the front band should be exposed beyond the case mouth.

At the low pressures of your loads your brass will have essentially an unlimited life. I shoot 200 grain SWCs at 650 FPS. Some of the head stamps are unreadable from the slide pounding on them so many times. I don’t shoot full power loads in .45 ACP so I’ve never seen a case split.

You mentioned a headspace gauge many times. A headspace gauge goes inside the chamber to test the chamber dimensions. Are you dropping the cartridges into the gauge? If so that would be a case gauge.