.45 ACP leading

[bcr]

The first cast rounds I shot through my Fusion 1911 were from my Mihec H&G#68 clone, cast from 50/50 aircooled, which seem to run about .453 to .454. My Fusion slugged at .451. They chambered without a problem so I ran about 50 rounds through it with 3.6 gr. of Bullseye and had no misfeeds as far as I remember. I was using LLA lube, and probably too much of it from what I've read subsequently.

I got a little bit of leading, nothing dreadful, but it took me about 1/2 an hour to get it clean again. My next round will incorporate the following modifications:

1) Size to .452" in a Lee push-through sizer
2) Lube with 45/45/10 according to Recluse's specifications, before and after sizing.

I didn't know that oversized boolits would cause leading, is that the case? If they chamber and feed fine, do I really need to size them?

[Doby45]

Sounds like the brass sized your boolit. Where exactly was the leading? If it was near the chamber/throat end of the barrel I would say the boolit was sized down, if it was near the muzzle I would say your lube broke down. Either way, it is REALLY hard to screw up the 45ACP..

[bcr]

Ha! One of my great strengths is to be able to screw up things that should be impossible to screw up. I started with .45 ACP because it sounds like it should be one of the easiest.

When I looked through the barrel with a light I didn't see much more than some tiny smudges, but I had to go through quite a few cycles of copper brush/cotton patch before they came out clean. I didn't really notice if it was more toward the throat or the muzzle.

[bcr]

I probably also used the Lee FCD when I loaded these, but I recently picked up a Wilson .45 ACP gage, and I may try to abandon the FCD. In my experience if it will fit in a Wilson gage it will not cause problems in the gun, and then maybe I will not be sizing my bullets when I apply the crimp, if that is what happened.

I know that Lee FCDs are controversial.

[Doby45]

Yhea the FCD can most definently size your boolit down. Take one that you have sized with the FCD and pull it with a kinetic hammer or whatever other means you would like and mic the boolit. I betcha it is smaller than you think. :-)

[CPL Lou]

Don't forget to clean ALL the copper out of your bore before shooting cast !

[41 mag fan]

I started with .45 ACP because it sounds like it should be one of the easiest.




Do a search on here and you'll find the 45acp is one that causes alot of problems vs other calibers.

[Dale53]

I load for severall .45 ACP's on the 1911 platform and the revolver platform (S&W 625's and Ruger SS Bisley Convertible).

I size to .452" and get NO leading. My lube is Lars White Label Carnauba Red applied with my Star lube/sizer.

I have just recently started using Recluse's formula Tumble Lube on my .32 H&R magnum S&W 16-4 with the Lee 90 gr Wadcutter (no longer available, dern the luck). It is working really well for me. My barrel, after a couple hundred rounds is lead free and SHINY (must be that Johnson's Wax).

I would first try sizing at .452". THEN try Recluse's formula (the old rule to only change one thing at a time makes sense). Trying only one thing at a time will positively tell you what the problem REALLY was when you conquer the leading.

A while back I was shooting at my home club's indoor range with a couple of friends. We were both shooting .45 Colt revolvers. He was tumble lubing and was getting leading. I loaned him some loads with Carnauba Red conventionally lubed. He shot them without cleaning and my loads cleaned his barrel of all lead. He then went to pan lubing with Carnaua Red (he didn't want to buy a lube/sizer) before using the Lee size die and all was good.

I don't mean to suggest that it is a good idea to shoot through a heavy leaded barrel. In the above case the leading was obvious but not extremely heavy. It WAS affecting accuracy.

One thing you need to know if you have to go to pan lubing. Carnauba Red doesn't shrink to release the lube cake from the pan. You will need to pick up a silicone bake pan. The silicone pan is flexible and you can easily peel it off the lube cake. You will soon find the proper temperature to punch the bullets out of the CR. Basically, as soon as it is cool enough to handle (but still quite warm) the bullets will punch right out of the CR.

Back to tumble lubing. Recluse puts a light coat of TL on the bullets, sizes with a Lee sizer, then another light coat of lube, let dry and load. He reports excellent results. With a bit of luck, the sizing and switch to Recluse's method and formula should solve your problem.

FWIW
Dale53

[Gliden07]

The first cast rounds I shot through my Fusion 1911 were from my Mihec H&G#68 clone, cast from 50/50 aircooled, which seem to run about .453 to .454. My Fusion slugged at .451. They chambered without a problem so I ran about 50 rounds through it with 3.6 gr. of Bullseye and had no misfeeds as far as I remember. I was using LLA lube, and probably too much of it from what I've read subsequently.

I got a little bit of leading, nothing dreadful, but it took me about 1/2 an hour to get it clean again. My next round will incorporate the following modifications:

1) Size to .452" in a Lee push-through sizer
2) Lube with 45/45/10 according to Recluse's specifications, before and after sizing.

I didn't know that oversized boolits would cause leading, is that the case? If they chamber and feed fine, do I really need to size them?

Subscribed to this thread!

I loaded 25 rounds with 230gr Lee mold sized to .452 with Lee sizer kit and LLA, 4.7 grains of Winchester 231. No leading but the rounds were a bit smokie. I plan on using the 45-45-10 lube next time.

[Doby45]

LLA is smokie, period. Either thin it or blend it into 45-45-10 to cut down on the smoke.

[fecmech]

One other thing you might consider is how much you are taper crimping, that can swage your bullet down. You don't want your case mouth on loaded rounds any smaller than .471".

[MtGun44]

FCD is unnecessary with proper dies and proper setup.

.45 ACP is extremely forgiving. Load a AC WWt alloy boolit, sized .452, lubed with
NRA 50-50 with a moderate taper crimp, .473 to .471. Other variations may or may
not work, good luck.

Bill

[huntrick64]

Been there and fixed it!

I have pan lubed with various homemade brews, used LLA straight, and recluse 45/45/10. I settled on 45/45/10 for all of my needs (including almost burning my house down) and found good alloys to use with this lube for my 45 Colt (even hot hunting loads), my 41 Mag, 357 Mag, and 38 special. When I bought by 45 ACP it was easy to assume, I will just use the 45/45/10 because the 45 ACP is not very demanding on lube.

I was getting quite a bit of leading and after 50 rounds the accuracy would suffer. The lead was more prominant in the breech, but was present throughout the barrel. I went back to bullet hardness and sizing thinking this was surely the problem. That didn't fix anything! Finally tried pan-lubing with homemade lube and suprise, NO LEADING AT ALL! Even after 300 rounds. So, I bought a Star and some LBT Blue and haven't looked back yet.

I used the 45/45/10 for everything until my 45 ACP came along. It just didn't work for me in this gun, but worked perfectly in every other gun. Since I went to a progressive loader, pan lubing just didn't make much sense (big bottleneck to the process), hence the Star. Now, if 45/45/10 would have worked in my 45 ACP I would not have purchased the Star.

I tell you this because even though 45/45/10 is great, it does not work in every situation. You are looking at several variables that could be the culprit, just don't rule out the lube.

[runfiverun]

didn't the gun come with a chamber "guage" that determines the final say in what will and won't chamber?
i'd be more inclined to use that one.
you might have not seen lead streaks, you might have been seeing lube streaks in the bbl where the pressure dropped off.

[crawfobj]

I've been working on my bulk .45acp load too. I'm using straight ACWW in a Lee 230 TL boolit, lubed with 45/45/10. I shot them unsized in the early tests, with good accuracy and a fairly clean barrel. Only issue was that I had a few that did not chamber, despite using the FCD in the last station. Guessing a few boolits were oversized.

I've been reading a number of threads on the topic, and based on what I've read, the next steps for me are to switch to sizing them all .452, reducing the amount of lube to reduce the smoke a bit, and checking the FCD to make sure I'm only minimally touching the cases.

My goal is to develop an easy to load high volume plinking load for punching paper and banging away at steel. Can't wait to have an ammo can of these loaded and ready to shoot!

[MtGun44]

You are getting close.

Eliminate the FCD. Use a separate taper crimp die.

Bill

[dbarnhart]

Here's my high volume plinking roud. My mold is a 4-cav bass mold from tom at Accurate. Sized to .452, lubed with RandyRat's TAC#1, 5.6 gr Unique, shot from a Colt Combat Commander.

I've got about 5000 of them ready to be lubed and sized and loaded just as soon as the weather cools down here inPhoenix

[tomf52]

bcr - To remove any amount of leading, wrap a bore brush with a tuft of copper pot scrubber so it's a snug fit. Several passes through the bore and it will be clean. Be sure to buy a pure copper pot scrubber though as some claim the copper plated steel pads will scratch your bore. I, however, doubt that they will. I have also found an initial polishing of the bore with someething like Flitz or Simichrome polish will do wonders to prevent leading. Slicker surface, less drag.

[blikseme300]

You are getting close.

Eliminate the FCD. Use a separate taper crimp die.

Bill

As Bill says. A taper die is the only way to go for cast in pistol reloading. 4 stages works best for all cast reloading, in my opinion. YMMV


Bliksem
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Mike Hughes]

First of all, I am a new member but have been lurking around here gathering information for several months. This seems to be a great forum for any boolit addict. I recently started loading the 45 acp and like the op, I am getting quite a bit of leading. After searching through this forum, I think my lube may be to hard. I have been useing thompson blue angel (great results with gas checks in rifle loads up to 1800 fps and 44 mag) I have placed a order for some carnauba red and bac from white lable lube. Hopefully this will help-seems to be a good lube and great price

[crawfobj]

I tried blue angel for my first lube too. I found it to be crayon hard and it took quite a but if heat to get it to flow right.

I've had much better results with both BAC and CR, but have settled on CR to reduce tackiness. I live in texas and think the slightly higher melt temp of CR is a good thing for the heat here.

[cisco05154]

I use 58% Lead, 40% Wheel Weights and 2% tin sized to .452 with Felix lube which is pretty soft, and taper crimp to .468-.469 in a separate station and really get no leading. the Felix lube leaves a dark residue which wipes right out with a dry patch. My most accurate load is 4.1 gr of WST behind a 200gr H&G 68 cast or a 180gr Saeco 065 bullet. Either will shoot 1.5" at 50yds. The .45 is a low pressure load. Softer alloy, soft lube, size to .452 or .4525 and you should not get leading.

Cisco

[243winxb]

50/50 needs some tin.

[Bob Krack]

50/50 needs some tin.
Ya might be 110% correct, but not always. 2% is a number. Most all wheelweights contain some Tin. Sometimes, someplace, somehow, that is not always the case.

No yellow rain intended.

Bob

[Mike Hughes]

Hopefully my wheel weights have plenty of tin. I decided to try Ciscos combination of softer lube and softer lead. I brewed up my first batch of Felix lube and cast and loaded 100 of 230 grain round nose with 3.7 gr of clays. The boolits do seem to be fairly soft. I went from water dropped ww to 50/50 air cooled. Gonna shoot em today (chore boy and hoppes on standby) If still leading, thinking of maybe air cooled ww with the felix lube. I love to reload and shoot, but I hate cleaning out the lead.

[trixter]

The first cast rounds I shot through my Fusion 1911 were from my Mihec H&G#68 clone, cast from 50/50 aircooled, which seem to run about .453 to .454. My Fusion slugged at .451. They chambered without a problem so I ran about 50 rounds through it with 3.6 gr. of Bullseye and had no misfeeds as far as I remember. I was using LLA lube, and probably too much of it from what I've read subsequently.

I got a little bit of leading, nothing dreadful, but it took me about 1/2 an hour to get it clean again. My next round will incorporate the following modifications:

1) Size to .452" in a Lee push-through sizer
2) Lube with 45/45/10 according to Recluse's specifications, before and after sizing.

I didn't know that oversized boolits would cause leading, is that the case? If they chamber and feed fine, do I really need to size them?


I think that 3.6 gr of Bullseye is a little light, I have been using 4.7 gr and found the leading to not be a problem. So, if I may, start bumping up the grains until it goes away. Also I use the Lee FCD and love it. Best thing to happen to a 45ACP, and I or should I say my gun loves .469, and a little deeper seating of 230gr RN.

[pmer]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=160772

Go to this thread and read about the basics on cast with the 45 ACP. It really helped me. I think it would be a better sticky than the sticky that is there already.

I thought 1911s weren't too fussy on lube or alloy.

[AlabamaEd]

I cast and load for my Ruger 1911. I use COWW +1% tin air cooled. Mold is Accurate 45-200H or NOE 454-230 RN. The accurate mold drops at 205gr and the NOE drops at 227 gr. Boolits are sized .452 and lubed with Lyman 4500 using Lyman Lube. I load with 5gr of Bullseye and taper crimp to .471. I have experienced no leading at all. I have chronographed both loads and they are getting 960fps. Groups at 25yds are 2-3" which is as good as I can shoot.

[MtGun44]

"I thought 1911 weren't too fussy on lube or alloy."

They aren't. Keep the diam .451 to .452 and most will put up with some
really crummy lubes and way too hard alloys - like commercial boolits.

Bill