What might cause a really dirty chamber?

[autopilotmp]

My question is a result of shooting about 170 rounds of boolits that I cast, I noticed that the load was dirty but this month it was really dirty. The load started to cause stoppages w/ the round not wanting to feed all the way into the chamber (about 1/4" of the case sticking out of the chamber). Below I will list the specs on the load, any input would be helpful.

Gun is a 1911
.452 200 grain SWC from COWW water dropped (I've shot a couple thousand of these w/ no feed issues.)
@4.4 gn bullseye
Felix Lube
CCI primers
mixed cases

Also does it hurt anything to have a small amount of lube on the base of the bullets or should I be cleaning that off (i pan lube)? The rest of the barrel seems to be pretty clean and doesn't appear to be any leading. The concern I have is the build up of crud in the chamber area just before the rifleing.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

generally speaking, the load does not generate enough, or quickly enough, pressure to seal the chamber before the boolet moves into the throat. That is not much Bullseye. Lube on the base will generally "kill" the powder granules that stick to it.

Rich

[crabo]

Are you cleaning the lube off of the cases and nose of the boolit after you load them?

[Larry Gibson]

the build up of crud in the chamber area just before the rifleing

That can be a common problem with the 45 ACP with light loads. They used to make a scraper to clean that out. It can be excess lube, lead or a combination of both.

Suggest you cut back on the amount of lube.
try a medium coat of LLA.
Or;
Up the powder charge to 5 gr bullseye.

You say .452 bullet but are they actually sized to that or are they as cast?

Larry Gibson

[autopilotmp]

Boolits are sized to .452 after being pan lubed.

If there is a large amount of lube on the bullet or any on the casing I do wipe it off.

Was thinking of switching to 6 grn Unique but I will try bumping up to 5grn bullseye.

So I DO need to wipe off the base of the boolits after lubing to ensure no powder gets caught up in it.

I will do all this and report back my findings. Thanks guys.

[Larry Gibson]

So I DO need to wipe off the base of the boolits after lubing to ensure no powder gets caught up in it.

I do, I lay a rag over my leg/knee and wipe the base before setting it into the box or case after sizing/lubing.

Larry Gibson

[autopilotmp]

I added some pariffan to my felix lube, just enough that when cutting the bullet out it breaks free of the lube. Now if I cut just below the lube groove and rock the bullet a little it leaves the lube that normaly sticks to the bevel on the base. Now I'll just have to clean off the edge of the SWC after loading.

[parisite]

Carry a brush or a patch to the range with you and run it through the barrel occasionally. Problem solved.
4.4gr is not overly light for Bullseye. Bullseye will leave about the same residue in a charge not being able to lock the slide back or a max charge.

[Char-Gar]

My thoughts on the issue...

1. I have wiped the base free of lube on every cast bullet I have ever loaded and that is a considerable number. I also wipe the outside of the finished round free from all lube, oil or whatever.

2. BB bullets are the dickens to clean, and that is the principal reason I will not use them.

3. Bullseye is very good powder for the 45 ACP round.

4. 4.4/BE/200 grain bullet is a light load, but not light enough to cause the problems you are experiencing.

5. A proper crimp is needed to get good combustion of the powder and function of the pistol.

6. I would also want to consider there might be a recoil spring in that pistol that is not proper for the light load. Proper function of a 1911 pistol depends on a number of things happening at the right time, for the right length of time and in the proper sequence. When folks start jacking with the springs, sometimes this gets messed up.

7. I would also want to consider that the case might not be properly sized toward the base.

8. I would want to consider the possibility that "this time" I did not load 4.4 grains but a lesser amount.

9. I would also want to consider the stoppages might be a combination of causes.

The 1911 pistol and the cast bullet loaded 45 ACP round is a match made in handgun heaven. There really are few issues IF the basics are followed. When there are problems, most likely the reason is simple to find and comes from wandering away from basic reloading 101.