Help with .45 ACP JHP Titegroup- OAL problems

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abrasive

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Hey guys,
I'm having a hard time finding the info I need. I have a reloading manual, and am cross referencing with online manuals and sources.
I'm loading 230gr Hornady JHP, using titegroup powder.
My question concerns OAL.
My 1911 doesn't much like RNFP or JHP. I can get them to feed reliably, but I need to set them in to an OAL of about 1.9", which, from what I can gather, is about the minimum allowable OAL for .45.
From what I've gathered from my book and the intertubes, 4gr of titegroup with an OAL of 1.25" seems to be a good starting point for JHP.
However, I'm not sure how much to dial that down to accomodate the 1.9" OAL I need to feed reliably.
I certainly don't mind starting out low and slowly working my way up, but I don't want to end up with a bunch of squids because I didn't put enough powder in, nor, worse yet, the dreaded kb.
Based on what I can figure somewhere around 3.7gr of Titegroup is probably a good place to start, but what the heck do I know.

Maybe I'd be better off to polish the feed ramp on the frame with some jewelers rouge to see if I can get it to feed a longer round?

Any advice or experience would be greaty appreciated.

Thanks,
 
"...around 3.7gr of Titegroup..." That's way under minimum for any 230 grain bullet. Hodgdon's site has Titegroup data for 230 grain jacketed bullets(the actual shape doesn't matter). 1.9" OAL is far too long as well. Max OAL is 1.275". Use a taper crimp only too.
What you need to do is extend the feed ramp about half way up the sides of the chamber. Use jeweller's files(those wee sets) and be gentle.
 
It would appear that my typing goes to hell after a few beers. ;) I meant 1.19", not 1.9"
You're right that 3.7 is likely too low. Let me try to explain this a bit better.
Since these are jhp, they're a longer bullet than the factory fmj rounds I have (both are 230gr, one has a bunch of material cored out, that material has to be somewhere to get the same ewight). So by loading them to the same OAL, there's already less volume left in the case, which would increase prssures. Furthermore, I have to seat these in quite a bit deeper (1.19") to get them to feed, shrinking the case volume even more, and exacerbating the problem.
Wouldn't this be a significant enough change to have a potentially drastic impact on pressures? Or would it not matter?
 
I'm fairly new to the reloading, but 45acp, is a fairly low pressure round. I had some very stubborn 200gr tmj bullets that wouldn't feed unless I went all the way down to 1.19" Even with max loads on those (10.2 gr Blue dot), there were no signs of pressure. Cases ejectly nicely, into smaller piles than with factory ammunition, about 6 feet away. I know it's a different bullet and powder, but I'm putting a lot more powder into a barely larger space, and not getting any signs of excessive pressure. Try them slowly at first, load one, look at it, see how it feels, where the case lands.
 
"...my typing goes to hell after a few beers..." Imagine that. My key board moves the keys closer together and puts spaces where they shouldn't be. Usually after the first six. Gets worse after midnight on Fridays if I didn't get my nap. Been up since 0500 at that point.
JHP's tend to have a somewhat flat point too. That can cause them to jam. Extending the feed ramp will make it go away. They do tend to be loaded a bit shorter than max(there's a load on Handloads.com that is at 1.18". Most run around 1.23" though), but not enough to bother the pressures. The .45 is a pretty forgiving cartridge.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.
I did a little tweaking to the feed ramp and got the OAL bumped out a bit more and still feeding reliably. I know the pressure in a .45ACP aren't all that high, I just wanted to make sure reducing the case volume by ~0.05" wasn't going to have an exponential effect.
 
You'll probably find the OAL varies ~0.05 from round to round. I'd just load them up with the starting data in the book, no need for tweaking. You'd have to do something pretty extreme to get high pressure with starting data, especially with 45 auto.
 
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