45 acp help

[white eagle]

so whats the trick in loading these little fellas ?
I set up the dies like I would for any other round
charge them and seat the boolit and it doesn't chamber
won't go in all the way
what am I doing wrong ?????:killingpc

[mike in co]

little...you call 45 acp little ??
its got to be the easiest pistol round to load.

so tell us more.. what bullet,
what gun, what is the max coal for this bullet in your gun ? ( you made some dummies and tried different lengths..right ?)

are you crimping in a seperate step with a taper crimp...a very light taper crimp ?

what is the dia of the case of a loaded round at the bullet end ?


more info

[white eagle]

yes I called it little
it is little
I measured my loaded round against the factory one all dimensions
are the same
played with o/a length crimping while seating with a heavy crimp

[thegreatdane]

yes I called it little
it is little
I measured my loaded round against the factory one all dimensions
are the same
played with o/a length crimping while seating with a heavy crimp

and it still didn't chamber?

[Moonie]

Take your barrel off and use it for a case gauge. Seat the rounds deeper until they are flush with the end of the barrel hood or slightly below.

This is assuming you are sizing your boolits, if not then they may be a tad to big around, ask me how I know this...

[white eagle]

It was being crimped to much
must have been flaring the case a bit
all better now

[35remington]

You weren't removing the flare from the case mouth from the belling step after seating the bullet.

Usually the most common reason why rounds don't chamber, other than incorrect bullet seating depth.

Taper crimping is used to ensure the flare is removed. Any other benefit is secondary to this, as it is primarily a reliability aid for proper functioning of automatic pistols.

As long as case mouth diameter is .473" or less, the round should chamber as this is smaller than SAAMI specs for the 45 ACP chamber.

Most crimp to .471" or so to ensure cases receive enough crimp even if they are a little short. Most of us shoot mixed brass of varying length in our 45 ACP's and to ensure everything gets a taper crimp that turns in the flare sufficiently you might go a little bit below the .473" specification.

Taper crimp, as I said, is primarily an aid to proper feeding.

Do not taper crimp and seat the bullet in the same step when using lead bullets. Apply the taper crimp separately. Doing both at the same time is also a reason chambering may not be proper.

[Char-Gar]

I don't understand why folks seem to have so much trouble with the 45 ACP round. Folks have been loading it for almost a hundred years by the multi-million rounds and there are no secrets. All of the kinks have long ago been figured out.

If folks would do a search, they would be inundated with information.

[white eagle]

the same way I don't understand why its a big deal to give an answer
I have been loading a long time some new cartridges are separate unto themselves
each with their own set of rules way of doing things
sorry I took up such valuable space

[TomAM]

With the auto pistol cartridges that headspace on the case mouth (9mm, 40, 45, etc) , it's best to seat the boolit first, with the seater plug adjusted low and the die body raised enough so it doesn't crimp.
Then raise the boolit seater and lower the die body for just enough effect to remove the bell from the case mouth, or use a seperate crimp die. If you seat and "crimp" at the same time, lead can be sheered off the boolit and pushed forward with the case mouth, causing a new surface upon which the case headspaces. The slide won't close because it's as if the case is too long.

[white eagle]

these boolits are going in a revolver
but will try the crimp at a second op.

[MtGun44]

TomAM has it exactly right.

IME failure to TC was about 80+% of the failure to feed problems in 1911s in .45 ACP.

Seat, then TC in a separate die. Less important for revolvers, but to make a single seat+crimp
die really work you need a boolit design with a good crimp groove. Without a crimp groove
you'll pile up lead ahead of the edge of the case if you seat and crimp in the same die. This
can prevent the round from seating fully in a revolver chamber.

Bill

[klcarroll]

the same way I don't understand why its a big deal to give an answer
I have been loading a long time some new cartridges are separate unto themselves
each with their own set of rules way of doing things
sorry I took up such valuable space


Eagle............., First of all, switch to Decaf!

You opened this thread with only the barest possible information!! (....Caliber and "It don't chamber!") .....Why are you surprised and upset when you don't instantly get the answer you want???

How would you respond if I came to you and said: "My car won't start! ....What's wrong with it??" :kidding:

......And BTW: I load about 30K rounds of .45 ACP a year, .......and while that doesn't make me an expert, I would be pleased to help field any specific questions you might have.

Kent

[TomAM]

Actually, the same thing is true for revolver chambers that are cut for the ACP. Normal revolver chambers have a taper from case diameter to boolit diameter, but since the ACP must headspace on the case mouth, your chambers abruptly reduce to about .451. Cast boolit cartridges will fail to chamber if there is any significant amount of full boolit diameter body portion extending outside of the case mouth, just like an auto chamber.

[shotman]

no one has asked . Are they fired brass??? bet from a glock

[white eagle]

Thanks fellas
the advice worked and I am loading fine little acp rounds
sorry for the inconvenience

[Char-Gar]

White Eagle... I don't guess it is a big problem to give an answer. But, when my kids reached a certain age, I quit cutting up their food for them. I guess I could have cut up their food for them as long as I was alive. But, sooner or later, it is in their best interest to tell them to cut their own food.

[white eagle]

Chargar
must be hot down there in the sun
huh ????

[Larry Gibson]

white eagle

Don't mind the seemingly "attitude", it's really not that just the way a bunch of us "old guys" talk". Kind of like most of us would be yelling if we we talking in person. Not that we'd be yelling at you but just trying to hear ourselves:-)

Good you got it figured out and as said next to seating depth not removing the case mouth fliar is the common reason for chambering problems, even in revolvers. I've shot a lot of .45 ACP in revolvers (S&W & Colts) over the years and found that, even with hotter 1000+ fps loads) a crimp is not needed with 185 - 205 gr cast SWCs. With Thompson and Keith SWCs of 235 - 255 gr I do use a crimp but mostly load those in .45AR cases. If you're using the lighter 185 - 205 gr cast bullets I suggest the tapr crimp for best results. My favorite load is 5 gr Bullseye under most any 190 - 205 gr cast bullet. That is also my standard load for my M1911s

Larry Gibson

[Char-Gar]

White Eagle... Not too hot, in the 60 and 70s and that is what we call winter. The main irritant is we are inundated with so called "Winter Texas". They are a bunch of Canadian and Yankee Geezers who park their RVs for months and fill up the local eateries and stores. Quite a few of them are Wisconsin, but they are no more troublesome than the rest.

But, to tell the honest truth, many of them shoot in our Saturday pistol match and are real good folks in spite of their foreign ways. The money the bring and leave behind more than compensates for their oddness. There is nothing like a greenback poultice for it's healing effect.

I do hope you know I am just joshing with you. That doesn't mean I can't be a real cranky old coot if the circumstances call for it. It just means that persona is not needed in this case.

I have loaded about 1/4 million rounds of 45 ACP ammo over the past 50 years and fired the same in both autopistols and sixguns. I tend to just taper crimp everything in the ACP case, but like Larry use a roll crimp or AR cases and Keith style bullets. Once the few basics are nailed down, the 45 ACP/AR round is a snap to reload. I do scratch my head from time to time when I read of all the problems that folks seem to have with loading the round. I guess some folks have the need to reinvent the wheel, in a manner of speaking.

[Shooter6br]

First thing you do is get a Dillon or similar case gage. I run each loaded round thur it.............P.S i also use Lee crimp die. The round bulges with some cast bullets