The XD has a rep for short throating the bbls, sounds like the XDM is the same. The LFCD doesn't really fix this. It is a OAL issue, you don't want any part of the bullet hitting the lands. The sharp shoulder on a SWC only makes it more critical.
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The XD has a rep for short throating the bbls, sounds like the XDM is the same. The LFCD doesn't really fix this. It is a OAL issue, you don't want any part of the bullet hitting the lands. The sharp shoulder on a SWC only makes it more critical.
I have no experience reloading for any 45 ACP autoloader other than 1911s. I have had all sorts of barrels including various milsurp, Colt, Colt NM, milsurp NM, Bar-Sto and a few others. I have never had one that choked on .452 bullets and had some tight match chambers.
Of late, I have taken to doing a little work in front of the chamber on the edge of the barrel where the rifling starts. I use 600 grit lapping compound on a 30-06 case (for a lap) and lap that area. This removed any burrs and machine hickies, plus give about a .0005 short taper/throat into the rifling. This does not affect headspace in the least, but does make for a slick running pistol with all sorts of cast bullets.
I always use a taper crimp die in a separate operation from seating in my auto pistol rounds (.380 ACP, 9mm, .40 S&W, 10mm, and .45 ACP). If the gun does have a really short throat, you might need to seat the bullets a little deeper. A little lapping on the lead might help a lot. I have even improved some with firelapping (light loads seated deep with fine lapping compound on the part where it hits the lead, single load from magazine, maybe only 20 - 50 required).
After shooting and you have a round that doesn't go full battery take the round out of the chamber and look closely at the end of the chamber. Is there some lead shavings or a small ring of lead at the end of the chamber that is in that lube. This will keep a round from going all the way into the chamber and prevent the firearm from going full battery. Basically the throat is tight and short as well as has a sharper angle to it and the boolit can scrap off as it leaves the case and enters the throat leaving a little bit of lead each shot until there is a build up preventing the fire arm from fully chambering a round.
I have had this issue before with my own XD so I have experience here with what you may be experiencing. By the way Lee does make good dies and their taper 45 auto die (not the FCD) works just fine with .452 boolits however you should be fine with the Redding die too.
If you do find the end of the chamber with a bit of scraped off lead then simply seat the boolit so the brass is ever so slightly past the top drive band and starts in on the cone or ogive of the bullet. The COAL will be short but so is the boolit itself so simply work at the min. powder charge and work up. Your XD should cycle these rounds just fine and IIRC you will be around 1.20" COAL or so.
Ultimately I worked my XD barrel by taking a brass lap/300 grit lapping compound and smoothing and lengthening my barrels throat but I did for the longest time shoot the Lee 230 grain TC boolit by seating deep and taper crimping just past the front drive band; shot countless rounds that way.
The xd is supposed to havea match grade barrel and when friends of mine that have match grade barrels cannot use the same ammo that feeds andfunctions flawessflawless in my guns unless I run it thru lfcd unless they are loaded in Remington brass. I first would double check your c.o.l. then double check your crimp. I have had more problems with not enough crimp than too much crimp
I have put over 5,000 rounds thru my XDM 5.25 45 ACP. The only time I have any feeding problem (4 documented) is because the barrel chamber and feed ramp are crudded up with cast bullet residue, essentially lube residue. The load I use is midrange, hence more carbon, with either the Lee 200 SWC or the Lee 230 TC. I generally don't clean the gun until about 3-400 rounds have been fired. I have found the chamber to be a little short throated but an OAL of 1.245" for the 200 and 1.185" for the 230 works for me. I taper crimp at .470"
I got the Redding die in today. I ran a factory round all the way up. I then hand tightened the TCD on top of the round. I then ran a blank with a 200SWC seated. The final crimp measurement was .4735. Almost like the case bounced back to a larger diameter. Haven't done a test feed yet. I'll try the same procedure with the 230TC boolits tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to get to the range and run some loads downrange.
When you set die on a factory rounds, put as much muscle on it as you can without using tools. Tighten the ring while maintaining pressure on the die. There can be slop in the threads of the die and the press. 4735 sound a hair big to me. .470 - .471 would be a good number.
I shot the rounds that I loaded. I shot both the 200 SWCs and 230TC. The groupings seemed to tighten up a little. I shot 10 of each off bags, then two handed for the other 90. I had 2 FTFeed on the TCs. Same as before. There was a smear of melted lube on the outside of the case. I ran through all 100 SWCs with only 1 FTFeed. That was a round that wasn't seated quite as deep as the others. I think it was the first round that I seated. It ended up a little longer than the rest. I adjusted the seating stem a little deeper and the rest were solid.
Again, the TCs grouped a little better. I'm going to load up some more like Char-Gar said and crimp them a little tighter. I am just a little concerned with the amount of extra force needed to crimp them that tight. I'll take a couple of pics after I load them.
Todd:
Do yourself a favor and seat the TC boolit as others and I have suggested. I looked at my notes and I was seating at 1.19-1.20 and another fellow on here said 1.185. Then simply adjust the TC crimp die be at .471-.472 and if you have to .470. You are simply working at this too hard. Many have shot the Lee TC boolit in their XD's without problems once the COAL and crimp was taken care of; listen to a few people who have done it before and not reinvent the wheel.
DO NOT put your Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die in the land fill. Even if you hate it for its original intended purpose, it can be useful OFF LABEL. The taper crimp insert will fit a larger caliber CFCD or just about any spare Lee Powder Through die you may already and then you have a serviceable dedicated taper crimp die. The bottom section could also be used for this if you knock out the carbide ring, but that die is also useful if you have generous chambers and thus can use it as a push through size die (bulge buster style) that gives a very slightly larger finished sized case to fit our fat lead boolits. You will still need to use an internal sizer to open it a bit, but less work hardening of the case mouth. That larger caliber bottom section can also serve to hold the taper crimp fixture of a smaller caliber.
prs
My most oft used 45 ACP boolit is a Lee traditional lube groove 190 grain SWC. My most favorite 45 ACP boolit is Lee's 230 grain tumble lube TC. I tumble lube both with very good success. The reason the SWC is the most oft used is because it was the first six cavity Lee 45 mold I bought and I cast a few thousand of the little buggers. Our two KP90s favor .451" boolits so that's what I use.
My TC boolits seat such that a tiny bit of bearing surface is above the cartridge mouth. I have no idea how much, whatever it is it works so I stopped there. The pic is a slightly older loading; current boolits are seated a hair further out.
I taper crimp all semi auto cartridges and have no use for Lee's straight wall FCD. The version for bottle neck cartridges works very well for me though.
Attachment 72457
195gr, RCBS 45-201 converted hp, over 5.0gr of 231, sized to .452, lubed with Emmert's recipe, 1.216 OAL, roll crimp just enough to take out the bell from the expander.
Done on my RCBS Turret press. I am not one either to go quantity. I enjoy each boolit made :o
No leading. The barrel is if I have shot j words all day.
3" @ 30 feet all day long. 2" if I take my time. I love this gun!
I also load a 225gr RN version of this, but mostly the hp.
However..............I may consider A separate taper crimp per chargar's suggestion in post #14.
Attachment 72475 Attachment 72476
I suspect the seating deeper advice is right on for the Springfield and this boolit. I've recently started loading this boolit and even seated at 1.165 OAL and crimping in a separate station from seating I still have a few failures to return to battery in my XDS. This occurs while feeding flawlessly in at least 4 other 1911's, one being a Kimber with a match barrel. The rds. also appear to pass the plunk test better than some of the 1911's but they still hang up. Also, rds. that chamber will hang up still if you pull the slide back as if you were checking the chamber....it is a very tight chamber with virtually no throat it seems.
FWIW, in Lyman's 4th Ed. Cast Bullet Handbook, this is one of the boolits they give data for in .45 Auto. Their suggested COL is 1.170 so even some of the COL's passed to you previously in this thread are significantly over that. I'm debating rather I want to take mine down another .005" to 1.160" and see if I can get it 100% reliable in the XDS or not. [smilie=1:
+1 on TC as it's own operation. I have run TC as tight at .464 but nowdays I crimp
to .469-471 range.
This one of the most common problems with .45 ACP.
Bill