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Non SASS 45acp reloading question


Marlin Buckhorn,SASS 51727

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My son has an FN 45 acp. The ammo I load works fine in his gun and fine in my 2 1911s. The same ammo does not want to load in his new Springfield XDs.

 

I am checking the ammo with a ammo check die that I bought from Dillon. Load on a 550 with Lee dies including the FCD.

Ammo goes in the check die except for the very last bit of the rim. If I turn the cartridge around the rim of the cartridge goes in the ammo check die just fine.

 

Using the measurements in the Lee manual for OAL, case length, case diameter and etc all measurements are in tolerance up to .002 under.

 

Seems like there might be a bulge in the case near the neck. I can't find it. I use a Midway dial caliper to check measurements.

 

What am I doing wrong and how do I fix it. Do I pull the primer punch & run the loaded cartridge through the sizing die again. This about the only thing I haven't tried. One other thing I am loading a RNL 200 grain bullet sized to .452.

 

Help Please,

Marlin

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Springfield 1911s have very short - no throat. So, presumably, their polymer guns are similar in this regard. Bullet must be seated to the beginning of the ogive or even a little deeper. (in other words, none of the bullet shank can be above the case mouth) Take the barrel out of the pistol and use IT as your case gauge in adjusting your seating.

 

Once you get the bullet seated so the gun likes it, it will run 100%. At least mine does.

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Case gauges are within SAAMI tolerances as are rifle and handgun barrels, but if you get a gauge and barrel that are both on the wrong side of the tolerances, funny things can happen. Same thing can happen if a short throat.

 

I have a Glock 40S&W that I hand load for. With one particular combinations the loaded rounds would fit in the Dillon gauge and the factory Glock barrel, but not the Wolf after-market barrel.

 

Like the guys before said, the Wolf barrel had a short throat. Seated the bullet a hair deeper and problem was solved.

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If I may piggyback on this thread....

 

I am loading (on a 550 with Dillon dies) for an STI 1911...

 

Using the case gauge it would seem that a RANDOM 5 -10% of the rounds produced have some sort of problem, as they will NOT enter the case gauge fully....not even close in some cases...

 

BUT.. here's the thing....EVERY round produced so far has worked just fine in the pistol....

 

Could my case gauge be "minimum" and my chamber "generous"? Or????

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Brass that has been shot in an unsupported chamber will sometimes develop a bulge near the rim that a conventional die can't reach. It's fairly common in "range" brass. Get a Lee Bulge Buster die and run your loaded bullets through it and they'll chamber..

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Some barrels have the rifling go all the way to the chamber.

Better barrels have what I think is called a "lead" where there is a short, gentile introduction to the lands a grooves. Without that lead, many bullets must be loaded shorter than specifications. (Similar to the forcing cone of your shotgun)

 

This is a problem with such barrels as the wolf as you much load the cartridges too short - thus significantly raising chamber pressure to unsafe levels.

I had both my 90mm and 40 S&W wolf barrels re-cut to fix this. On the 40, I send it back to wolf with samples of my reloads so they could recut it. But it cost $30 plus shipping.

 

Others have mentioned that they bought barrels directly from wolf and they told them they wanted the problem address on the new barrel. That seems to work best.

 

It is an easy task for a gunsmith to address this (and not expensive), and I recommend it since pressures can really rise with shorter loaded cartridges.

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I bet August West has it right. I had a similar problem with my Springfield 1911. I seat deep enough so that the round will chamber in the Springfield and the rounds then work in all of my other 1911 including several Colts and a Remington. Check for proper chambering with the barrel removed from the XD. Good luck.

 

TR

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I too believe that August West has it correct. Just realize that you must consider chamber pressure when loading such short loads.

 

Be sure to reduce your powder and never go near the recommended max loads - if you like your gun - and your hands, and your eyes....

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