Function Issue with PC

[Wolftracker]

I am experiencing an issue when I shoot PC'd bullets in my Taurus PT 1911. After 30 rounds or so, it frequently fails to fully chamber and I notice powder residue heavily coating the chamber. This occurs with both fairly hard alloyed PC bullets and pure lead PC'd bullets that are at .4525 in diameter over 4.3 gr. of Bullseye. Any ideas? I'm thinking possible under cured PC or the gunpowder I'm using. These are also extreme hollow base bullets, as in reformed in a swage die with a hollow point punch in the rear. Accurate as heck. I've been cooking them at 400 for ten minutes but I think I'll go up to 15. Anyone experience this problem with PC?[smilie=b:

[OS OK]

Are you using some variance of the round nose profile? At the size you are using combined with heavy residue in chamber I should think that makes a pretty snug fit when the chamber is clean.
I think I've heard this discussed before, can't remember the post. I think the fella went to a conical profile.
Personally one of the boolits I use is a 200 grain Lee RNF, PC'd and sized after PC at .451". I scoot them at 900 and 950 FPS using 700X which is a dirty powder but it is not a granular coarse dirty, it's more like fine grey smut after 100 rounds or so. Still it doesn't stop the rounds from going into battery though.

[Smoke4320]

3 issues could be causing your problems ..
Bullet size
Cure time or Temp
or inconsistent temp in oven (hot/cold spots )


Are your bullets sized .002 or .003 over actual MEASURED barrel dia . That would be #1 .. Seem to remember several posters here having issues with Taurus 9's and going to .358 dia to clear up issues ..
My son had a Taurus 1911 in 45 and we had to use .453 (his barrel measured .451) but please check YOUR barrels Dia First .

Then most powders are 400 degrees for 10 minutes After coat turns shiny .. I use 15 minutes after sliding in a perheated oven ..

Have you measured your Actual oven temp . A casting thermometer will not be accurate enough
do you have a fan in oven to eliminate hot/cold spots

hang in there we will get you going

PS after rereading your post I assume you mean you have the problem with naked/lubed bullets as well. If that's the case then its probably more of a slightly too long seating issue

[runfiverun]

I get this same thing occasionally with naked lead and soft lube.
the lube gets blown off in the throat a little here and a little there and a round will push it all up against the case mouth stopping the round from chambering all the way.
when I pop it out of the chamber the front of the case mouth will have scraped all the gunk up.
I'm slowly hardening the lube and the problem is slowly going away...
cooking your powder a little longer could fix the problem you could try seating a bit deeper too.

[Wolftracker]

Thanks for the suggestions! Yes, this is a 3/4 E round nose design and the groove diameter on the pistol is .451 so I will try seating them deeper. Also, I'm using a garage sale toaster oven and haven't tested it for accuracy on the temp. I will find a thermometer to do that. It might be worth my while to buy a new one at Walmart though, the wife would likely consider that to be some kind of sin to ruin a new food oven for cooking bullets!

[ipijohn]

Thanks for the suggestions! Yes, this is a 3/4 E round nose design and the groove diameter on the pistol is .451 so I will try seating them deeper. Also, I'm using a garage sale toaster oven and haven't tested it for accuracy on the temp. I will find a thermometer to do that. It might be worth my while to buy a new one at Walmart though, the wife would likely consider that to be some kind of sin to ruin a new food oven for cooking bullets!

give the wife the new one and take her old one like I did = win/win solution?

[DerekP Houston]

give the wife the new one and take her old one like I did = win/win solution?

That was my system as well for everything stolen from the kitchen for boolit supplies. Give mama the new one and ruin the old ****.

[bangerjim]

I bought a new convection ~$100 oven at Walmart when my other conv one died. Did NOT give the new one to the wife. If she wants a new oven, she can easily go out and by anything she wants!

Many that have PC problems are rapidly discovering that the $40 or so they saved by using a *** from a garage sale is costing lots more in frustration and barrel cleaning time. Do it right the 1st time. Forget the junk ovens. Buy a quality new convection oven. This IS your hobby right? Most do not even think twice spending much more on another gun or primers or powder. And verify the temp with a couple oven thermometers. They are about $6 at Walmart.......anyone can afford those!



banger

[OS OK]

Thanks for the suggestions! Yes, this is a 3/4 E round nose design and the groove diameter on the pistol is .451 so I will try seating them deeper. Also, I'm using a garage sale toaster oven and haven't tested it for accuracy on the temp. I will find a thermometer to do that. It might be worth my while to buy a new one at Walmart though, the wife would likely consider that to be some kind of sin to ruin a new food oven for cooking bullets!

170749

This thermometer has been recommended by a friend, says that it is the most accurate one he has found. Cheap also.

[fredj338]

Thanks for the suggestions! Yes, this is a 3/4 E round nose design and the groove diameter on the pistol is .451 so I will try seating them deeper. Also, I'm using a garage sale toaster oven and haven't tested it for accuracy on the temp. I will find a thermometer to do that. It might be worth my while to buy a new one at Walmart though, the wife would likely consider that to be some kind of sin to ruin a new food oven for cooking bullets!
This is probably your problem. I bought a new conv pizza oven, $50 @ Wally, two racks, 12" deep, lots of bullets at a time. The thermostat was about 25deg short of the setting, as checked with an oven therm. Bake them for 15m total in a preheated oven. No issues so far.

[bangerjim]

Remember - - - - -CONVECTION ovens run 25F cooler that normal. Both our kitchen ovens are digital and are that way. That is the $$ savings those ovens offer. My new digital Oster has to be set at 425F to maintain a solid 400F.

Normal ovens are totally different and should maintain the dial setting. If you are lucky!!!!!!!

[True.grit]

I pre heat to 400. Then i put them in cold and set the timer for 25 min. Seams to work perfect for me. I did get lucky and find a used one for 20 bucks.

[Walter Laich]

My $20 toaster oven works great but I am using a PID in it (cause I like building them).

I do cook 100+ bullets at a time which fits right in with my coating procedure; it takes me about 10-15 minutes to load a tray while the other one cooks. I'm always busy and the pace is one that I can maintain over several hours.

[Moonie]

I've got a fairly good quality convection toaster oven, when the dial is set to 350F it is 400F. At 400F I was melting some batches but others were very brittle and wouldn't pass the smash test. Check your temps in any oven you need to have at a specific temperature.

[DerekP Houston]

My $20 toaster oven works great but I am using a PID in it (cause I like building them).

I do cook 100+ bullets at a time which fits right in with my coating procedure; it takes me about 10-15 minutes to load a tray while the other one cooks. I'm always busy and the pace is one that I can maintain over several hours.

Heh, same here the PID really is a great tool for controlling temps. I just swap the plugs over and start baking away, the hitek coating comes out much more reliable with the temp control, PC didn't seem to matter near as much.

A larger convection oven may be in my future, I goofed up and let the last 2 up for sale on here and lost out.

[Wolftracker]

Thanks for all of the replies! Yes, the problem was a combination of poor curing and seating depth. I had experienced some slumping with this oven and lowered the temp setting too much. I'll head to Wally World and get a more reliable oven and a thermometer when I get the chance.

[jimb16]

I bought a cheap yardsale toaster oven for $5, and it works great. I uses a rehistatic control. I use my lead thermometer inserted through a hole in the top to set temp. I also cook the boolits for a full 20 minutes at what the thermometer says is slightly over 400. I have no problem with any of the PC colors not curing properly. I've shot a lot of them through my mauser lately and haven't even bothered to clean the barrel. It still looks spotless.

[fredj338]

Remember - - - - -CONVECTION ovens run 25F cooler that normal. Both our kitchen ovens are digital and are that way. That is the $$ savings those ovens offer. My new digital Oster has to be set at 425F to maintain a solid 400F.

Normal ovens are totally different and should maintain the dial setting. If you are lucky!!!!!!!
This is almost exactly the setting diff on my Wally pizza oven.

[Dogbear]

Glad your problems went away... I had a similar issue but it wasn't related to the oven. Ovens can be a pain...had to get three before I found one that worked. I had been sizing my very old Lyman 452374 mold to 452 for more years than I remember. When I started to PC I began having problems getting 45 ACP rounds to fully chamber. I finally traced the problem to the fact that lead bullets are more forgiving on chambering a slightly oversized round than PC. PC acted like a jacketed bullet in that it didn't give. Since jacketed bullets are .451 I resized my PC to that diameter and my issues went away. No loss in accuracy occurred. I also looked at seating the 452 bullet deeper but found that I had to seat too deep in my opinion to make it work.