Ruger .45ACP VRS 1911 .45 Powder Coat problems

[Jon.Moore]

Hey Guys,, I am powder coating .45ACP's for my wife's Ruger Vaquero (pink- she loves it) and the problems I have with sizing I will write about here. My bullets drop from the mold at .453 to .454 and I'm re-sizing them to .452 before powder coating. With the .45 revolver the bullets need to be kept close to .452 because the .45 brass is so thin walled any irregularity in the side of the finished cartridge will not let it slip into the chambers of the cylinder. The slightest bulge from excess powder coat will not let the bullet head-space and the cylinder will not turn. With the 1911, it will slam shut so hard these slight bulges do not bother, and the gun will close and fire as normal. I am also taper crimping the finished round, this helps some what with smoothing out those slight bulges. For the time being, I am hand fitting each cartridge in the revolver finding those that fit and those that don't and keeping them separate for both guns I own. If I powder coat before sizing the bullets they will be way over size, and work very hard in the sizer-- and I still get the bulges in the case sides. So for now, I size the bullets to .452 and then powder coat. It's not perfect yet, but it works. I had NO idea there would be so much difference between the guns, shooting the same round! My only other choice would be to size them smaller, .450 to .451 then powder coat them. Jon

[Char-Gar]

Simple solution.....Don't powder coat. Just cast, lube and size, load and away you go.

[Beagle333]

Why wouldn't you size first, then powdercoat, then size again after coating? I do that often.

They really shouldn't size hard, even if sized down .003-.004 though. But if you size them after coating to .452, then .452 is .452, whether bare lead or coated lead. If you are getting some rebound out of the plastic coating and they are still .4525 out of the sizer, then perhaps size two or three times or maybe use a .4515 sizer. But if the finished boolit is a true .452 I think they would work.

[nagantguy]

what Begal333 said, my wifes 357 ruger don't like bulged cases either, size after powder coating or before and after, you won't believe how easy the pcd boolits go through the sizer die!

[pretzelxx]

I size before and after.. Haven't had a single issue (besides throat differences on guns)

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[Jon.Moore]

Yes... I may have to size after PC'ing also. I tried wiping the inside of the sizing die with a Q-tip with Hornady case lube paste.. that really helped keep the bullet moving through the size die. I had no idea the Ruger would be so picky!! I also have noticed a big difference in case length for the .45acp brand to brand of brass.. never dreamed I would have to trim pistol brass!

[RobS]

Always size after for consistency. Just the same as if as cast from a mold. I would not size before powder coating because the as cast surface takes the powder coat better (sticks better) than the slicker surface of the pre-sized boolit.

[Jon.Moore]

SO--- I made a bunch of .44 mag 240 grain's, sized the to .429, then powder coated them, then sized them to .431... Shooting them through my T.C. Contender with 2.5X scope, These shot amazing well, I had made a few that were sized before PC'ing, and then loaded in cases. These did not group nearly as well. Lesson learned! Jon

[jcren]

Some don't like them, but a Lee factory crimp die should fix the problem. I only size after pc, but the fcd will straighten up any thick walled cases. Yes, it swedges the bullet to do it, but that sounds like what you need.

[DougGuy]

Check the cylinder throats on the Vaquero. Typically those are .4505" to .451" throats and you won't be able to shove a .452" PC'd boolit into the throats from the front. This is typical, and usually the cylinder needs to be throated to .4525" so that it doesn't downsize your boolits as they are fired through the tight throats. This will take care of any issues as long as the largest part of any of the boolit does not exceed throat diameter they will all chamber.

The 1911, if it is slamming the boolits into the throat so hard, you could be on the very thin edge of a KB. If your PC'd boolit stops before it enters the throat, and the slide shoves the boolit back into the case, you could see an over pressure event that could blow the gun up in your hands. It has happened just like that. Called boolit setback and it can be disastrous.

If you take your barrel out, all your loaded rounds need to "plunk" freely into the chamber with the case flush or slightly below flush with the end of the barrel hood. Again, it is typical for modern 1911s to have very little throat in front of the chamber, and what throat they do have is often smaller than .452" and many handloads sized to .452" will not plunk in the chamber until the barrel is throated. This would put some freebore in front of the chamber ledge that is of sufficient diameter to seat a .452" boolit that sits proud of the case mouth, and this load will plunk til the cows come home.

From reading your posts, it sounds like you haven't really examined this boolit/throat diameter thing yet and I would urge you to do this. I get tons of cylinders and barrels in for throating which works wonders for shooting cast boolits sized .452" in both revolvers and auto pistols. It's an inexpensive fix, one-time deal and it works great.

[fredj338]

I cast then size. You didn't say what alloy or what mold but that is pretty large as cast, so I am betting near pure lead?? Just size after PC, it only adds about 0.002" dia, certainly within the range of your sizing die. If they feel sticky, spray with a light coat of Oneshot.