I've had a problem with extremely dirty brass for years in my Pietta Rough Rider 45 Colt. The brass is blackened, not smoked, and takes a very long time to clean. I think the cylinder chambers are larger, .488 to .489. than the Lee sizing dies are cut for.
Not sure if it matters but the chambers measure .451 at the barrel end and the barrel slugs at .453. Doesn't sound right to me. Should I have it bored to .453?
Brass sized with the Lee .45 sizing die measure .469 to .470 at the mid-section and .477 over the base of the .454 sized boolet.
If I fire new unsized Starline brass (474 to .475 mid-section) they come out much cleaner, smoked (not blackened), and cleans in a small fraction of the time.
If I don't size fired brass (.480 to .482) the .454 boolet slides into the brass without resistance and can be twisted by hand after crimping. The brass will load in the .489 chamber just fine. I haven't test fired those yet but suspect an improvement in blowback if the .475 new brass showed improvement.
I load maximum loads of 6.0 grains of Trail Boss behind a 250 grain sized .454 LRNFP so I'm not using light loads. Some say I need a faster powder, such as Red Dot or AA #2. I saw only a small improvement when switching from Unique to the faster Trail Boss but haven't tried a faster powder yet. I have my doubts though. Some say it is not enough crimp but it is well into the groove. I have ordered a factory crimp die but doubt that is the solution.
Just read that the RCBS .45 Cowboy sizing dies are larger than the Lee .45.
Can someone provide the diameter of brass sized with RCBS Cowboy dies?
If they size to .474 or .475 then my problem will be solved.
Anyone else with a Rough Rider have this problem? If not, what brass sizing die are you using?