.45 ACP Bullet Seating Issue

[vmkeith]

I just started loading .45 ACP for my 1911, and ran across an issue. After seating the bullets on the first two rounds just fine, the next two rounds didn't seat into the casing properly...one edge of the bullet just pushed/scrunched the casing as I was trying to seat it, and the copper jacket was marred as well.

I'm using Winchester once fired by me brass and Sierra 230gr JHPs, and yes, all my brass was sized, decapped, trimmed (if necessary), and inspected prior to priming and loading, and each bullet was inspected for any blemishes prior to loading. As for my setup, I'm using the following: Lee single stage press, Lee Carbide Pistol Dies (These are new), and Lee shell holder. Any ideas what would cause something like this? Needless to say I stopped loading until I can figure out what's going on.

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[Wood Worker]

I would suggest using the lee powder thru die even if you don't need it to put your powder in your cases for single stage loading.
The powder thru die will flare the case mouth slightly to readily accept the bullet.

 

[vmkeith]

So what you are saying before using the bullet seating die, use the powder thru die to expand the case mouth slightly...correct?

 

[Dunerunner]

I've never had that happen with my RCBS. The die I have swedges (sp) the case slightly and seating the bullet is a piece of cake!

 

[tlfreek]

yes - you are crushing the case because the opening is not flared enough to accept a projectile. if you look at your powder funnel, I am guessing - my dillon is this way, the funnel is tapered. you should most likely adjust that station so that case seats up further.

easy problem to solve.

 

[vmkeith]

Thanks for the help.

 

[Don't Sue People Panda]

Wood worker is correct. I don't know how it works on straight wall dies but rifle dies actually expand the neck when depriming. The neck needs to be expanded, that'll solve your problem. . Best of luck. Just out of curiosity, what recipe are you using?

 

[vmkeith]

Wood worker is correct. I don't know how it works on straight wall dies but rifle dies actually expand the neck when depriming. The neck needs to be expanded, that'll solve your problem. . Best of luck. Just out of curiosity, what recipe are you using?

Yeah, gotta expand the case mouth using the Lee Powder Thru Die. Luckily nothing happened, and I only screwed up 2 bullets and 2 cases.

Since the wife got me the Sierra 230gr JHPs, I'm just gonna load up some plinking rounds...these aren't my first choice, I prefer Hornady bullets. So all I'm doing is loading them up with 4.7gr of HP38.

 

[JGRuby]

A step to reloading is to bell the case mouth on a straight cae ( pistol and some rifle ) - the bell needs to be adjusted so that the case will just hold the bullet when you manually put a bullet in the case with your hands. Too little bell you crush the case, too much and you have problems getting it into the opening of your seating die. If I have told you something you already know - I apologize. One other consideration I found very important in my kimbers is the COAL ( cartridge Over All Lenght ) - please ensure that the loaded ammunition is slightly shorter than this length. I beleive that for FMJ it is like less than 1.240 - please use the reloading the manual to be sure.

Respectfully

James Ruby

 

[MarkAd]

Replace the lock rings on the dies. I use RCBS lock rings once the die is right you lock the ring down and die chanigig is a lot easier.

 

[bballer182]

A step to reloading is to bell the case mouth on a straight cae ( pistol and some rifle ) - the bell needs to be adjusted so that the case will just hold the bullet when you manually put a bullet in the case with your hands. Too little bell you crush the case, too much and you have problems getting it into the opening of your seating die. If I have told you something you already know - I apologize. One other consideration I found very important in my kimbers is the COAL ( cartridge Over All Lenght ) - please ensure that the loaded ammunition is slightly shorter than this length. I beleive that for FMJ it is like less than 1.240 - please use the reloading the manual to be sure.

Respectfully

James Ruby

+1

 

[mortre]

I use 1.26" normally for 230 ball. With flat nose/truncated cone I've used down to 1.200".

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2

 

[HappyRoman]

Belling the case is important. Single stage or progressive...
belling is the key...
Taper crimping works well also..

 

[AMProducts]

2 things as far as reloading .45...

Whenever you're loading a bullet that is not a standard FMJ Ball bullet, be sure to make up 1 dummy round... put it in the mag, and then fill up the mag with regular ammo, then remove the ammo. What you are looking for is to see if the round is binding anywhere in the magazine on the way up.

The next test.. take the barrel out of your gun, take your dummy bullet, and see if it drops into the barrel and goes all the way down to normal depth... if it does, tilt it backwards and see if gravity is enough to make it drop out, if it isn't something is wrong, check your bell/seating/crimping length and make it work.

Quality testing on that first dummy bullet will save you a lot of headaches when you go to the range the first time and find out none of your ammo works.

Also, as to your original question: these rounds got smushed because of insufficient bell/case mouth flare, which can also be a problem if the bullet turns before it gets into the seating die. Personally, the lee powder-thru-die is a pile of junk and barely flares the case mouth, RCBS/Lyman/redding all make a better die/expanding tool for this purpose.

 

[Allfat]

2 things as far as reloading .45...

Whenever you're loading a bullet that is not a standard FMJ Ball bullet, be sure to make up 1 dummy round... put it in the mag, and then fill up the mag with regular ammo, then remove the ammo. What you are looking for is to see if the round is binding anywhere in the magazine on the way up.

The next test.. take the barrel out of your gun, take your dummy bullet, and see if it drops into the barrel and goes all the way down to normal depth... if it does, tilt it backwards and see if gravity is enough to make it drop out, if it isn't something is wrong, check your bell/seating/crimping length and make it work.

Quality testing on that first dummy bullet will save you a lot of headaches when you go to the range the first time and find out none of your ammo works.

Just curious, but would it make sense to do this to all new loads, not just for 45ACP?

 

[AMProducts]

Just curious, but would it make sense to do this to all new loads, not just for 45ACP?

Yes. This is a really common practice in commercial settings both during machine setup and QC while boxing... I have big aluminum blocks that have 50 chambers cut in them with reamers you dump the rounds into the block, then flip it over into a tray, and then into the packaging box. The only downside to using a barrel is it's not always practical especially for rifle rounds as you can't see/remove the barrel easily. This is why companies make case gauges, however not all case gauges are created equal.

 

[elk311]

if you're just plinking 230gr round nose are MUCH easier to load. also something to watch is case lube, if you're using it sometimes just a little "too much" will cause seating problems and case misalignment. It doesn't take much to cause these problems either

 

[bballer182]

if you're just plinking 230gr round nose are MUCH easier to load. also something to watch is case lube, if you're using it sometimes just a little "too much" will cause seating problems and case misalignment. It doesn't take much to cause these problems either

Case lube on a straight wall pistol case???

 

[AMProducts]

Some people do lube straight wall pistol cases... if you're running it on a dillon 1050 or something, it sure makes it a lot quicker to run (and a lot smoother). Oddly enough, because of the compound leverage mechanism on the RL1050 loading short cartridges on them kinda sucks, you have this long stroke and once you're actually sizing the case it's actually a little unpleasant. The normal trick for this is use a plastic dish pan, spray some lube in the pan, and then throw a few handfulls of brass in tumble it around for a few seconds, and then into the machine. The problem is, usually you end up having to tumble the rounds afterwards to clean up the lube, which is easy enough if you have some fresh corncob, and a little bit of mineral spirits. I know a lot of people who do it that way, personally, I don't as the idea of tumbling loaded ammo bugs me (I don't like the corncob dust that's usually left behind).

 

[bballer182]

Some people do lube straight wall pistol cases... if you're running it on a dillon 1050 or something, it sure makes it a lot quicker to run (and a lot smoother). Oddly enough, because of the compound leverage mechanism on the RL1050 loading short cartridges on them kinda sucks, you have this long stroke and once you're actually sizing the case it's actually a little unpleasant. The normal trick for this is use a plastic dish pan, spray some lube in the pan, and then throw a few handfulls of brass in tumble it around for a few seconds, and then into the machine. The problem is, usually you end up having to tumble the rounds afterwards to clean up the lube, which is easy enough if you have some fresh corncob, and a little bit of mineral spirits. I know a lot of people who do it that way, personally, I don't as the idea of tumbling loaded ammo bugs me (I don't like the corncob dust that's usually left behind).

Ah, I see. Good thing I don't have a 1050.