45 ACP Reloading Issue

[Unlucky1]

I am new to reloading and casting so bear with me. Before I reload my cast boolits I thought I would try 230 grain FMJ RN bulets to make sure I was using my lee equipment properly before adding my cast boolits into the picture. So, I loaded 5 230 grain FMJ bulets into my cleaned once fired brass with 4 grains of Hodgdon TiteGroup powder and test fired and everything appeared to be fine. (I am using a lee press and using all the dies including the factory crimp die.) So, I loaded about 150 more bulets using the same 230 grain FMJ with 4 grains of Hogdon TiteGroup which is the minimum load spec per their website for 230 grain bulets.
I went to the range today and fired about 50 of my reloads and had a few misloads. I do understand that I may need to go up a little on the powder. My bigger concern was that the end of my 45 ACP Semi Auto pistol is now coated with powder residue and the shell casings have black powder resadue about 1/2 way down on the casing and about 1/4 of the way around the casing. So it's more or less a striped down the casing 1/2 the casings length.
Any thoughts would sure be appreciated. I am ready to try out my 230 grain lead boolits from my lee 6 cavity 230 Grain RN TL die. Thanks in advance. And if you want you can call me John but now you can see why I go by unlucky1. hehe

Thanks,
John AKA Unlucky1:killingpc

[GT27]

I would up my powder charge by .3 with Titegroup to start,I'm at 5.0 grains using a 230 grain cast. Make sure your seating depth is correct for the boolit you are using(overall length).Sounds like the case isnt getting enough of a charge to seal the gases correctly in the chamber,dont overcrimp,just a light taper, and in turn you are getting some gas blow-by,easy fix!Don't exceed the info max on this powder,it is very fast burning!BTW,some soot is normal,take a pic of the empty shell and post it here! What 45? GT27

[Jammer Six]

I have two thoughts.

One is that the charge is too light, soot on the outside of empty brass means that it isn't charged heavily enough to expand the brass sufficiently to seal the brass against the chamber.

The other is that Titegroup is one of just a couple powders that Precision Bullets recommends against, because Titegroup burns so hot.

I'm a Titegroup guy, and that led me to change from Precision (which are lead) to jacketed.

I bring this up simply because you were thinking of using Titegroup with lead, not to shed light on your current load.

I would suggest increasing your load by small steps. (I usually go up a tenth of a grain at a time with Titegroup.)

Sometimes, with Titegroup in particular, a load that isn't heavy enough will make it through the five-to-ten round function test, and won't show it's ornery true colors until I've loaded fifty of them.

[jblee10]

Upping the powder charge from the minimum should help the case "swell" and seal against the chamber preventing the smugged cases. It will probably help the powder burn cleaner also.

[Unlucky1]

I did size all casings with the lee case trimmer and seated and measured and adjusted the antire length and adjusted to meet spec. I will try upping my charge. I am at the minimum right now. I wish I would have noticed this on my first 5 I tested. LOL. I am so excited to try out my cast boolits but I do not want to have 3 problems at one time. I have already found that a couple of my shell casings were thicker than the others and has a hard time fitting in my case length sizer. I set those aside and will probably toss them to keep from having issues with that as well.

[Jammer Six]

It's not a matter of sizing.

The case expands when fired.

Have you read The ABCs of Reloading?

[Unlucky1]

I appreciate the info from all of you. I will probably be shooting 99% lead very soon as well. I have cast about 150 boolits and just need to do some cooking of LLA and Johnsons Paste wax and size them and go for it. This has certainly been a learning expierence and I love it. Just don't tell my wife or she will make me stop!!! LOL

[boltons75]

I shoot 4.5 graines behind berrys and rainier played bullets in my 40. Shots great, very accurate, but I also get some black on the outside edge of my cases, and the end of the gun. Since I have zero performance issues, I haven't worried about it.

Always carry, never tell.

[Unlucky1]

I have several reloading books. Lots of info and lots of variables. I am very logically minded and trying to put it all together right now. I am sure some of this if not this exact thing has been discussed before but I did some searching and dug through a bunch of unrelated articles as well. thanks for all the input it sounds like everyone is pointing in the same direction. You all have a good weekend and go to the range. I went today and was the only one there because its 30 here. It was actually nice but a little cold.

[Bulltipper]

I just finished my annual run of 45 Auto through my RL550. I loaded Miha's 200gr HP on top of 5 gr 700x as I have done for a few annual runs now. I am having excellent results with this load when seating to 1.175" Lube is my own mix of beeswax, white lithium grease, and auto trans fluid. I get virtually no leading whatsoever in my Kimber gov't.

[JohnnyFlake]

Seating depth is very important. You should have an over cartridge length of 1.275

Also be sure your not over expanding the case, only expand it enough so that it will just grab the bullet enough to hold it in place.

[Jammer Six]

I have several reloading books.
The reason I asked about books is because you seemed to think that brass expansion is a function your sizing operation, and it occurred to me that perhaps you weren't aware of what happens to brass during ignition.

[ole 5 hole group]

Seating depth is very important. You should have an over cartridge length of 1.275

Also be sure your not over expanding the case, only expand it enough so that it will just grab the bullet enough to hold it in place.


You don’t really want to write that OAL in stone – just use the “plunk test” and if it fits correctly it’s good to go. Bullet shape has a lot to do with it.

On cast bullets you will probably want to expand your case large enough so you can easily start the bullet by hand and have it stay upright in the case as it goes into the seating die. This will eliminate most of your lead shaving. If possible seat and taper crimp in different operations. After taper crimping, the case mouth should measure from 0.468 to 0.471 – I like 0.469/0.470 as it might go from 0.470 to 0.469/0.4695 with the buildup of lube in your crimp die. Some shooters don’t taper crimp at all, so it’s your call.

If you’re shooting a Sig P220 you might have to experiment a little with the expander die, as just a slight bit of lead shaving at the mouth will raise hell with you after 20-40 rounds, as it might fail to fully return to battery. You can take a short cut and just send a jacketed bullet down range every 20 rounds and you won’t have the problem, if indeed you have a Sig and it’s a little finicky.

I also think you need to go up with your powder to get a decent seal. I really like VV N310, N320 or N350 depending on bullet weight, Bullseye or WW231 for all weights relative to a 1911. If you’re looking for one powder and one powder setting, you might want to look at 5.2 to 5.5 grains of WW231 to fill the bill from 185 to 230 grain shooting a 1911 to good accuracy on the cheap – meaning VV powders are a little expensive compared to WW231.

[runfiverun]

the powder you are using is fine.
just work the loads up slowly.
keep those other cases, you'll figure out what to do with them as you gain a little more experience.
i used a grain more titegroup than you are now, before i switched powders.
your expander might be a little small but keep on doing what you are doing now [working up your load] and then experiment a little as you go.
learning how to measure things is part of the learning.