First time .45LC reloads - not good, reduced power and hardly any kick

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stellartonslim

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Hi,

My recent batch of .45 LC reloads were disappointing. I used 7 grs Unique, Federal large pistol primers and Hornady .45 Cal (.452") 250 gr XTP. The brass was once fired and I seated the bullet up to the little dashed line on the bullet.

When I shot them at the range, a number of them had a very small 'pop', no recoil and I couldn't hit the paper at 10 yards. I thought I could see the bullet come out on a few. It was surprising. I used a set of Lee dies including the expander die.

Are there any suggestions? Was I supposed to crimp them? I'm not shooting cowboy or anything but I want my .45LC to fell like one and not a cap pistol.
 
7 gr of unique is more than enough for a med pressure load. I would look at how you are dispensing the powder, Unique likes to "bridge" and will give you varying weight drops.

Standard load for unique is 8 gr under a 250 cast semi wadcutter.
 
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Will need more info ......

What was your final OAL
Was the first pull ( round ) satisfactory
You are loading on the weak side at 7 grains for 250 gr bullets
History of the powder ( old , new etc.)

If first round was satisfactory , you may have experienced bullet creep on your subsequent rounds due to recoil, where you did not do a light roll crimp. The bullet could have crept forward changing the seeting depth.
 
brnolvr said:
7 gr of unique is more than enough for a med pressure load. I would look at how you are dispensing the powder, Unique likes to "bridge" and will give you varying weight drops.

Standard load for unique is 8 gr under a 250 cast semi wadcutter.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Scale out 12 or 18 rounds and I bet the problem will be gone. I use just under 9 grains of either Herco or Unique (in a Blackhawk/with 250 cast bullet), and they shoot well, and are nowhere near cap gun loads! I use a slight crimp as well.
 
I shoot 8.5 grains of Unique under a 255 or 260 grain cast bullet which gives about standard velocity for the caliber. A cartridge like the .45 loves cast bullets if sized correctly for the throats and bore and give up nothing to the more expensive jacketed versions. Ensure you are getting good neck tension and a decent crimp and Unique will work well in the .45.

8.5 grains will not beat up an saa or Smith revolver of modern vintage and certainly will not feel like a pop gun!
 
Here is a follow up gents:
I went to the range and loaded a single round and squeezed the trigger. There was very little pop at all. When I checked the revolver there was a bullet 'stuck' at the very end of the barrel. It was just poking out and the cylendar wouldn't turn when the pistol was on half ####. There is either a piece of brass or a bullet stuck between the cylendar and the troat of the barrel. I took it to a gun smith and he pointed out to me that there was a bulge in the barrel about two inches back from the barrel so I suspect there is more then one bullet in here.

I was shooting semi-jacket hollow points and not lead casts. The first 200 rounds I had shot were factory lead ball shots, then about 25 of my jacketed rounds. I'm embarassed to say that I hadn't cleaned the barrel after shooting so I suspect now that there was some leading happening in the barrel switching to the jacketed bullets made for a very tight fit.

Has anybody heard of something like this happening before? I suspect that this barrel is ruined now and I will look for a replacement.
 
stellartonslim said:
Here is a follow up gents:
I went to the range and loaded a single round and squeezed the trigger. There was very little pop at all. When I checked the revolver there was a bullet 'stuck' at the very end of the barrel. It was just poking out and the cylendar wouldn't turn when the pistol was on half ####. There is either a piece of brass or a bullet stuck between the cylendar and the troat of the barrel. I took it to a gun smith and he pointed out to me that there was a bulge in the barrel about two inches back from the barrel so I suspect there is more then one bullet in here.

I was shooting semi-jacket hollow points and not lead casts. The first 200 rounds I had shot were factory lead ball shots, then about 25 of my jacketed rounds. I'm embarassed to say that I hadn't cleaned the barrel after shooting so I suspect now that there was some leading happening in the barrel switching to the jacketed bullets made for a very tight fit.

Has anybody heard of something like this happening before? I suspect that this barrel is ruined now and I will look for a replacement.
Click to expand...

well that sucks and i know the feeling all to well, i bulged the barrel on my 1911, luckily only $100 to replace it.

your scale, or powder drop is off by a decent amount. look into it
 
I remember years ago loading for a buddies 45 Grizzly .Indoor range 40 yards ,a small pop and then you could hear the bullets hit the back stop.Wow that was weird.

Then roll crimped into the cannelure the next nite and then all was good. The powder just needed that little hold back to get a good burn going. (the way it was explained to me)
 
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