Leading in my 1911

[Fugowii]

I shot a number of cast boolits recently and (all around 9.5 BNH) had, to some degree, leading in all that I shot. A particular disaster was my 1911. That had a lot of leading so I thought I would slug the barrel. I cleaned up the leading and I slugged it twice just to be sure of my reading and was surprised to find out that the barrel is a good deal larger than the boolit I am sizing to. I size to .452 and the 1911 comes in at .4525 to .453. No problem, I will just call Lathesmith and get a bigger die. .454 sounds good but what if my boolit doesn't drop something that can be sized down to .454? Can I increase the size of the boolit being dropped? The reason I ask is that two other firearms all measure .451 or a skoosh more, but less than .452, so my existing die and drop is good for them.

Instead of getting a new die, maybe a new barrel might be the ticket? Anyone know who makes a good barrel for a GC that the diameter of the barrel is documented? I hate to have to make two different sizes of the same boolit just for one firearm. :groner:

TIA,

F

[462]

Fugowii,

Before you order a new barrel or mould, "beagle" the mould. Since it is a reversible process, it will allow you to cast fat boolits for the 1911 and skinny boolits for the other guns. Do a "beagle" search.

[Bula]

From what mould and what lube? Also give us the info on your load.

[fredj338]

How are you crimping? If you are using the near useless LFCD, stop! That is liekly your problem, as it resizes the case, it sizes the bullet smaller. So regardless of what bullet size you start w/ it is now smaller. Smaller, harder bullets will lead badly in most 1911s, especially in the first 1"-2". If you are slugging correctly, that sounds pretty out of spec for most 1911 bbls.

[HORNET]

You got leading in ALL of them that you shot? I smell a generic problem. What's the as cast diameter and what's the actual after-sizing diameter?? Sounds like your sizing die could be a touch undersized. Not unusual at all in some makes and with some alloys. Softer alloys won't 'spring back' as much as hard alloys. What lube?

[DLCTEX]

Since you have other 45's I'd change out the barrel. 45 ACP barrels are supposed to be .451 with some running .452. But if you are getting leading in all guns you need a better lube. If you go with a bigger (454) boolit you may have problems with it in the other guns.

[Fugowii]

Fugowii,

Before you order a new barrel or mould, "beagle" the mould. Since it is a reversible process, it will allow you to cast fat boolits for the 1911 and skinny boolits for the other guns. Do a "beagle" search.

Thanks, I will give that a look.


From what mould and what lube? Also give us the info on your load.

From Lyman moulds 452374 (225gr LRN) and 452460 (200gr SWC)
Magma Hard Lube
5.0gr 231


How are you crimping? If you are using the near useless LFCD, stop! That is liekly your problem, as it resizes the case, it sizes the bullet smaller. So regardless of what bullet size you start w/ it is now smaller. Smaller, harder bullets will lead badly in most 1911s, especially in the first 1"-2". If you are slugging correctly, that sounds pretty out of spec for most 1911 bbls.

Taper crimp to spec (.473) using Dillon dies. I measured the brass walls and that is running around .010 so I don't think I am shrinking the boolit. I was shooting the exact same loads in both a 625 and a OM and got a speck of leading but nothing compared to the GC. The 625 is .451 and the OM is slightly over that. I had a bear of a time getting this round to feed in the GC. Wouldn't feed worth a damn. I suspect it was due to the softness of the boolit (9.5BNH). Worked fine in the OM. The 625 was using AR brass.


You got leading in ALL of them that you shot? I smell a generic problem. What's the as cast diameter and what's the actual after-sizing diameter?? Sounds like your sizing die could be a touch undersized. Not unusual at all in some makes and with some alloys. Softer alloys won't 'spring back' as much as hard alloys. What lube?

As cast diameter is .453 to .4535. Sizing diameter is .452 and the boolits measure exactly that. I am using the Magma lube.


Since you have other 45's I'd change out the barrel. 45 ACP barrels are supposed to be .451 with some running .452. But if you are getting leading in all guns you need a better lube. If you go with a bigger (454) boolit you may have problems with it in the other guns.

I am using the Magma lube. I wouldn't use the bigger boolit in the other guns. If I went that route I would get a new die and size for the different barrels (if the boolit will cast big enough).

[AviatorTroy]

:killingpc:killingpc:killingpc:killingpc

Well I love this forum, I just figured out what my problem was.

Ive had the same problem in my Star PD, I've shot hundreds of rounds of Lee 230RNTL through it and just in the last batch I got, I mean, HORRIBLE leading which was totally nonexistant before. Well guess what, this was the first time I ever tried the Lee FCD. I suspect it sized my boolets down a little in the case.

Gee I'm glad i just loaded up about 300 rounds with it....

:Fire: