Help wih leading 45 acp

[sigep749]

I'm loading 200gr LSWC in 45 ap with 5.4 grains of Accurate #2. The bullets are from Missouri Bullet Co. Accuracy is good, but they lead pretty bad, rifling appears full after 50 rounds. Any suggestions?

[handyman25]

The problem is not the Missouri Bullet but you, lots and lots of learning needed. You are smart enought to come to the right place with your questions, lots of people here will know the answer to your questions. First you need to provide more information. What is the grove size of your barrel?, what is the bore size of your barrel?, what is the throat diamenter of your barrel? do you have freebore and if so how much? what is the diamenter of your bullet? what is the hardness of your bullet? what kind of lube? are you crimping the bullet in the case? are you sizing the case to get neck tension? how are you doing this? the questions go on and on. With out the necessary information I would be guessing. So my guess is too small a bullet and to hard a bullet. In my opinion bullet size is #1, hardness #2 and lube is #3, but all three are very important. Read, read, read and read some more.

[Grandpas50AE]

I'm sure others will come on here soon, but one of the first things many will ask is if you have slugged the bore to determine bore size. The .45ACP is one of the easier cartridges to load cast boolits for, but boolit size is #1 like stated above. Another question he didn't ask is how much you are "belling" the case mouth. If not belling enough, you are shaving lead off the boolit during seating, and that is a quick way to lead the barrel and one of the easiest to check.

[Ben]

I'm loading 200gr LSWC in 45 ap with 5.4 grains of Accurate #2. The bullets are from Missouri Bullet Co. Accuracy is good, but they lead pretty bad, rifling appears full after 50 rounds. Any suggestions?

Do you own a mike and have you miked the bullets that you are attempting to reload ?

[Threepersons]

When you get your bullet and barrel size worked out. Try
a slow powder like Unique. Worked for me.

[462]

Are you using a Lee carbide factory crimp die? If so, have you pulled a loaded boolit and measured it with a micrometer, to see if it's the same diameter as it was before loading?

Do you have and read any reloading manuals?

Without you providing more information, all we can do is ask questions and/or make wild guesses. Perhaps, you may need to describe your reloading process.

[gofastman]

rifling appears full after 50 rounds

I'm not scolding you, but that is far beyond "pretty bad"! :holysheep

lets get a little more info from you and then we can fix you problem.
Welcome aboard!!! :drinks:

[sigep749]

Okay, my barrel slugs at 0.450, the bullets mic at 0.452. I am flaring the cases so the bullets start easily, no shaving. Just enough crimp to get rid of the flare(see pic). 64235
What other info do I need to gather?

[sigep749]

A little more about my setup: I'm using a Lee Pro 1000 with standard 3 die set, no factory crimp. The bullets are Missouri Bullet Co, .452 200gr LSWC, factory lubed( blue). According to MBC, hardness is around 12 Brinell. The loads crony around 900-950 ft/sec.

[pmer]

Okay, my barrel slugs at 0.450, the bullets mic at 0.452. I am flaring the cases so the bullets start easily, no shaving. Just enough crimp to get rid of the flare(see pic). 64235
What other info do I need to gather?

That cartridge OAL looks like it would be too long for my 1911. Makes me wonder if the front driving band is hitting the rifling when being chambered. What I would do is take the barrel out and slide that cartridge in and see if the rim sticks out past the hood of the chamber. Then seat a little deeper till it is flush with the hood. A good taper crimp should measure about .472'' at the case mouth and will help with chambering too.

When it was my turn to figure this out, I had such a build up of lead in the end of chamber at the origin of the rifling I had to dig it out.

[sigep749]

You are right, definitely a little long. Would that cause leading?

[bcp477]

All good advice, by those answering before me, so I have nothing to add to their suggestions. Bullet alloy (hardness) might be something to consider. But, I will add the other obvious, but admittedly remote, possibility. 5.4 grains of #2, though certainly not a hot load by the book, MAY simply be too hot for these particular boolits, in YOUR barrel.

I'm sure that you worked up to that load, so this may be moot, but you might try stepping down the load, to see where that gets you. If nothing (of the possibilities suggested by all) helps....then your only recourse (and the obvious solution) would be a switch to another powder. IF that does come to pass, I'd suggest a slower powder, such as HP38, Green Dot, Unique, etc.

[pmer]

You are right, definitely a little long. Would that cause leading?

I would think so, the leading should go way down. It made my PT1911 run terrible.

I've been having trouble explaining the issue to myself but I think I got it now. If the front edge of the first driving sticks out too far the gun isn't properly head spacing on the case mouth. It might've been shearing off a bit of lead and leaving it in the chamber. Much like those round shavings you might see if the case mouth isn't flared enough during the seating operation.

As you continue to shoot the ammo that way the shaving may or may not exit the barrel with the bullet forming a contsriction - reduces the size of the boolit resulting in gas cutting on the sides as it moves down the barrel. And bad leading begets worse leading if you keep shooting.

Once your ammo is properly dimensioned and you get all of that lead out the barrel (search chore boy) you should be back on track. Or at least get past this hurdle and can tackle other issues if they pop up.

[sigep749]

Well, got my COL straightened out and dropped my powder charge to 5.1 gr, leading has stopped! Now the only complaint I have is the rounds burn awfully dirty, the AA doesn't like light loads, and I'm limited on adjustment due to my powder drop, only choice. Have is 5.1 or 5.4, so lead in the barrel or smoke and grit. AA#2 is definitely not the ideal powder for shooting 200gr LSWC, but, it's what I've got! It'll work. Thanks

[handyman25]

I would suggest you pull a couple of your loaded rounds, use a hammer type puller, and measure the bullet diamenter to make sure that your bullets are not being sized down when you seat the bullet. This way you will know where you are at and have elimated one more possiable problem. A friend of mine had this problem with his Lee die set, was putting too much pressure on the bullet. I adjusted the bullet seater die and everything worked fine.

Sorry cannot address the dirty powder. I use bullseye in my 45 acp.

[rond]

I use Red Dot in my 45 ACPs.