Brass and cast.

[hickfu]

Are the bullets the Lee 200gr RNFP? I can get them to fit my 1911 but nothing else, no matter what case I use..
I switched to the Lee 230gr TC design and everything passes the plunk test and fires flawlessly.

[samari46]

I like to keep my pistol and revolver brass in lots. Mt one lot of 45acp shot in two 45'a numbers about 1200 cases. For years in shooting steel plate matches it was common to shoot 300 rounds on saturday then approximately another 300 for the match. Recently was looking at that perticular lot and in most cases you cannot even read the headstamp. Thats how many times that lot of ammo has been fired. Sure does not owe me any money. next time around will just dump them in the scrap bucket and start lot #2. Funny thing is in all the years I've been shooting that lot,I have never had a case neck split. Frank

[Walks]

This is why I keep all headstamps separate. They all go into 50 or 100rd boxes, shoot 'em and back into the box they came out of.
Way I was taught 60yrs ago. If I lose one, well then I have 49 or 99rds in that box. Helps to keep track of how many times a case has been reloaded.

For Auto-loaders, no more crimp then is necessary. Plunk test in OLD Colt Pre-War GOLD CUP bbl. Hasn't failed yet.

Can't really help. Load 3 bullets, have 3 seat dies. Don't think they have been adjusted in this century.

[mdi]

Bottom line I read you are having problems stemming from fat bullets and a tight chambered gun. I have 3, 45 ACP guns an none have "tight" chambers (bordering on SAAMI minimum specs). If there is just a few thousandths difference in finished cartridge OD, it's not a problem.

You have identified cases that have a slightly thicker wall, bullets on the large side, and a tight chamber. In the machining world this is called "tolerance stacking", a little too much here, plus a little too much there, equals a unusable part. You know what is wrong so the chosen remedy is up to you. You could even hide the problem with a post crimping sizing die (an FCD *barf*). Or you could separate the R-P brass to be used only in your Witness...

[kmw1954]

Bottom line I read you are having problems stemming from fat bullets and a tight chambered gun.

You have identified cases that have a slightly thicker wall, bullets on the large side, and a tight chamber. In the machining world this is called "tolerance stacking", a little too much here, plus a little too much there, equals a unusable part. You know what is wrong so the chosen remedy is up to you. You could even hide the problem with a post crimping sizing die (an FCD *barf*). Or you could separate the R-P brass to be used only in your Witness...

Yes, tight chamber, very tight. Slightly oversize or even just a smite out-of-round and they will not chamber. All empty sized cases will pass the plunk test. With a cast bullet sized to .452" it will not pass the plunk test in any brand of brass other than Remington Peters. I will not use a Lee FCD on any cast lead loading and I have not tried sizing to .451... So yes tolerance stacking works against me very badly.

So I see only a small number of options to a problem that in my mind as already been resolved and with a solution that works perfectly and didn't cost me a dime! Options; Alter the chamber on a 28 year old gun that shoot perfectly with factory load. Not going to happen... Quit reloading for this gun and only shoot factory ammunition. Also not going to happen... Spend the money on a number of different reloading dies until I might find one that works for this. Not... Buy a sizing die to resize to .451". Very viable option... Just use brass that I found already works with cast bullets. I get this stuff for Free.

Now that I just got home from working at the 100yd range today and am finally hydrated and cooled off. I'm going off to sort 45acp brass by headstamp and primer size. you all have fun, I'm going to!

[kmw1954]

Sorted through all my 45acp brass and come up with about 300+ pcs in all that bucket. Guess the R*P isn't that popular in these parts. Though I did just order a new .451" Lee bullet Lube/sizer die and with give that a go and see what happens.

[tazman]

Sounds like a plan to me. Good luck with it.

[kmw1954]

Now we will have to see how good a plan it is. Dies is only costing me about $23.00

[Ozark mike]

Im sorry but if i have 2 or more guns of the same cal and one wont eat good ammo that the others will i would make a change either to the ammo the wepon in question or my collection cause it would drive me up the wall eventually

[lbrowning]

I had the same issue with the Lee .452 200 grain bullet. I found by trial and error that I needed to seat it just the barest fraction more and it would plunk perfectly. Apparently, that profile is just a bit fatter than the commercial ammo I was using. Good luck.

[Ozark mike]

The Ogive could be a problem thats probably why holidays 230 grn worked but not the 200

[kmw1954]

I had the same issue with the Lee .452 200 grain bullet. I found by trial and error that I needed to seat it just the barest fraction more and it would plunk perfectly. Apparently, that profile is just a bit fatter than the commercial ammo I was using. Good luck.

Nice thought and I wish it were that simple but this same issue occurs with 3 different bullets from three different mold and designs. From a Lyman 452374, Lee 200gr SWC and the Lee 200gr RNFP. The case sticks well before it is reaching the rifling.

[samari46]

Regarding ammo fits in various 45 autos. One is a 1943 Ithaca 1911A1 and the other is a custom Springfield Armory (the one in Illinois) with a Knowlin barrel. All ammo is loaded on a Dillon 550B using their dies and store bought 230 grain hard cast round nosed bullets. So basically the seating depth of the .452 diameter bullet is the same. While one my argue that the Ithaca has a wartime or military chamber neither pistol has never had a problem digesting that loading. Made up a few extra dummies of this load, no powder nor primer just to do the initial plunk test and set up the dies if they ever became mis adjusted. Been using Winchesters WST for years and have no desire to try out another powder. Frank

[Burnt Fingers]

Im sorry but if i have 2 or more guns of the same cal and one wont eat good ammo that the others will i would make a change either to the ammo the wepon in question or my collection cause it would drive me up the wall eventually

I've got over a dozen each of 45 ACP and 9mm firearms. I don't make special loads for a particular firearm.

Either it eats what I load or it goes. I will send barrels out to be throated since many manufacturers aren't cutting chambers and leades to SAMMI spec.

[edp2k]

I will send barrels out to be throated since many manufacturers aren't cutting chambers and leades to SAMMI spec.

This.

Every time a manufacturer uses a chambering reamer it incurs a certain amount or wear.
Of course that wear makes the chamber it cuts slightly smaller with each use.

At a certain point, after a certain number of chambers are cut with the same reamer,
the chamber that is cut is under the SAMMI spec for the minimum sized chamber dimension.
Some manufacturers, and sometimes at different times at a given manufacturer,
the reamer gets replaced before or when it first cuts an out of spec chamber.
At other times or other manufactures, they keep on using the worn reamer even thought it is now cutting out-of-spec chambers.
Thus may be due to a mistake or not checking the size of the cut chambers frequently enough,
or it may be due to an overt policy of "deferred maintenance" due to trying to cut costs and pinch pennies.

Thus in this case a "tight chamber" is not a chamber specifically cut to tight match specifications
(which would still be withing SAMMI specs), in this case it's a chamber cut by a worn-out reamer
because the manufacturer wasn't paying attention or the manufacturer knew darn well that the tooling was worn but
thought it was OK to ship product to a customer that didn't meet spec as long as the manufacturer was "saving money".

[edp2k]

I am curious, why did the OP post about this issue if they were NOT seeking assistance in fixing the actual root cause of the problem?
They posted just to vent?
Based on OP's reaction to people offering advice on how to fix the root cause, I guess so.

[Ozark mike]

People just like to talk sometimes i guess kinda hard to talk to your wife when about halfway thru she asks "now hun whats acp stand for again" so he came to talk the talk with gun people or he's secretly writing everything down like mad sayin "this is some really good stuff why didn't i think of this" or who knows i don't.

[kmw1954]

I am curious, why did the OP post about this issue if they were NOT seeking assistance in fixing the actual root cause of the problem?
They posted just to vent?
Based on OP's reaction to people offering advice on how to fix the root cause, I guess so.

Or maybe there is only an issue for those looking to give advice?

Seems every forum has a "What have you done today?" thread that has no issue. You know like a normal conversation or don't people talk to one another anymore? Nowhere in that first post did I ask for assistance or suggest that I had a problem. The whole problem was I ran out of clean brass and now have to clean some more. Why is that so hard to understand?

[onelight]

There is usually more than one way to make things work , if the method works for you , the tools you use and your guns it's all your choice.
I like threads like this to hear different solutions to a problem it's only when a people insist they have the ONLY solution that works, that egos take the thread from informative to irritating .

[toallmy]

I used RP brass in my wife's 9 mm simply because it shot better groups - until I realized I was actually squeezing my boolits to much with a little thicker brass . After experimenting with my alloy I found a little harder alloy solved my case swaggering issue . Although this has nothing to do with chambering a round issues - the idea of trying a few things paid off in the end .
Hopefully your .451 will work out .