.45 ACP Questions.

EvilDezel

EvilDezel

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Hey,

I am new to the .45ACP cartridge. I just finished loading a few different recipies. The trouble I am having is the cartridge gets fed into the chamber but has one hell of a time getting out. I am set all my dies as normal, as well as a Lee Factory Crimp die, I set this up as the instructions. And I am still having a hell of a time getting it to eject from the chamber.

The projectiles are 230 Grain BDX FMJ, and the OAL is around 1.260" as per my Lee manual.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks for the help.
 
Make sure your sizer is set properly. If it is, seat the bullet deeper (in increments) and see if that solves your problem. I've heard of people loading to spec OAL, butthe bullet is hitting the lands and sticking.
 
Thanks lister, I do have it set right. I set an empty case on an extended ram and lower the die untill it touches the case mouth, raise the seater up a bunch of turns, insert bullet and then go from there, to find the proper OAL.

OH, It can feed and extract American Eagle 230 grains with ease. Which mics out at 1.65". And width wise my ammo and the American Eagle measure the same
 
Make sure your cases are the correct lenght, since the Auto cases headspace on the case mouth, and then, use a slight crimp.
 
Your OAL is too long. Decrease it until a loaded round can be dropped into the chamber of the barrel and it will go all the way in. This will keep the bullet from being jammed into the rifling.

Reloading manual OALs should be considered guidelines rather than something that is written in stone.
 
When you say you have trouble getting it out, do you mean ejecting a live round? Some 1911's do not like to live eject. Oh, and make sure you've removed all your crimp, but if that was the issue, i suspect you'd have trouble chambering as well.
 
It is either seating depth is too long or your factory crimp needs to be tightened down, but if the drop into the barrel freely you are good. You need to remove the barrel from the gun and make sure the bullets are falling into the barrel freely and can be removed freely.
 
Cocked&Locked made some good points.

Was this problems WRT unloading a live round or ejecting fired empties?

If it fires normally, then it's safe to assume that the round was not overly long because the slide would not have closed enough for it to fire. Ditto over-crimping; it it was that, the rounds would most likely drop too far into the chamber and the firing pin wouldn't be able to reach the primers and they wouldn't fire reliably. (Both are important things to check when reloading, but they don't sound like your problem.)

If it goes into the chamber easily, then it's unlikely that your loads are too fat or something. So...

If the round goes BANG and the case just doesn't eject, then consider:

- is your load strong enough? You say you aren't having the same problem with factory ammo. Depending on your load, adding a touch more propellant might do the trick. Obviously you don't want to overcharge, but light loads can sometimes do that.

- is your slide/frame interface lubricated? Not dripping oil, obviously, but have you oiled it properly?

- is your ejector solid and undamaged?

- ditto your extractor. Is it as it should be?

- consider your grip. Particularly with light loads, a loose grip can sometimes result in misfeeds.

Just some possibilities.
 
EvilDezel said:
OH, It can feed and extract American Eagle 230 grains with ease. Which mics out at 1.65". And width wise my ammo and the American Eagle measure the same
Click to expand...

Assuming this FTE involves live rounds and not fired casings;

When you mic them do you check the diameter just forward of the head as well as the neck? How do they compare with the AE at this point?

Try backing off your crimp die just a tad.
 
It shouldn't be an OAL issue, just measured recently bought factory ammo - OAL is 1.2625; yours are shorter. Unless it's not ball/round nose bullet...

You didn't buy .452 bullets by any chance?
Take barrel out from the gun, make a dummy (no powder, no primer) and make sure you crimp the bullet right. The completed dummy (or round) should freely drop in and fall out of the barrel.
 
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