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justone
04-27-2010, 02:49 AM
Hi boys, I have been reloading for about a year, .45acp. I have an application question for you. I shoot a Colt 45saa. Because Long colt ammo is very hard to get and expensive. I have installed a .45acp cylinder in my colt. I cast bullets in a Lee mold, 452-228-1R, which is a round nose olgive. After about 50 rounds the chambers get built up with lead and powder causing the cartridge to not seat all the way and the base to stick up blocking the cylinder. I have to force the cartridges in or brush out the chambers. NOW the question: I bought a Lee .45 bullet mold, 452-230-TC Truncated cone. My plan is to seat the bullet down to the start of the cone so that the cone will have plenty of room in my gun chambers and not wedge against the buildup. HOWEVER with the bullet seated thus, the base of the bullet is .078 inch deeper in the shell casing. I load 4.0 grains Red Dot and there is room for air space in the acp case. (here it is) Will the smaller space raise the compression or will the bullet take off before the powder has fully burned? Is this a hazard? My loading die instructions give a maximum length for the cartridge but no caution for seating too deep. I value your input, Rr

versifier
04-27-2010, 04:33 PM
Welcome to The Guide.

No, it shouldn't cause any problems with a light load like that. It will raise the pressures slightly, but the .45ACP is not a hot round by any stretch of the imagination, and you are using a very light charge in a very strong firearm. I do not know if simply seating deeper will cure the problem however. I don't think it will.

You might want to try a slightly harder alloy to minimize the buildup, or get yourself a Lewis Lead Removal Tool in the proper size from Brownells to make it much easier to clean out of your cylinder.

As to the actual cause I can think of two possibilities.

Possibly one or more of your cylinder throats are undersized. This can cause the buildup you are experiencing, and also accuracy issues with any revolver, though I assume you would have mentioned it in your post if that were also a problem.

Another thing that can cause it is a bad combination of lube and powder. I have had serious problems using White Lightning tumble lube with Blue Dot powder, enough to prevent function in an autoloader after only two or three rounds. What you are using for lube and how you are sizing your bullets?

runfiverun
04-27-2010, 11:28 PM
it could be from mixed brands of brass also.
i'd try the t/c mold and pay attention to case length.

justone
04-28-2010, 01:55 AM
Thank for your help. My partner has a Ruger .45 single action revolver with acp cylinder and has the same problem. We reload, he uses factory bullets and mixed brass. The only reason I'm setting deeper is to bring the edge of the cone in line with the mouth of the case. I have always used wheel weights air cooled. My new batch of Truncated cone mold is recovered firing range lead, Bucket quenched which makes them a little harder than WW air. I have a brass chamber brush with Hoppes 9 which works great. The round nose that builds up is all loaded with HP38 4.3 grains and use Lee Tumble lube. I have shot 1000's of these in my 1911 with no function or feed trouble AND very little leading of barrel.
My only worry was the bullet setting further into the case made the size of the air space smaller. My friend today told me of someone who intentionally uses a fluffy powder and sets bullets extra deep even compressing the powder. At least I have some space for the gas to build up in the case. I'm glad to be able to rap with you . Rr

justone
04-28-2010, 05:38 PM
Well guys, I took some .45 acp TC ammo to the range and ran 50 or so through my colt saa revolver. The sound of the report was similar to the Round nose seated to the normal depth. The recoil was just a little more, kinda like a Long colt .45. The accuracy maybe was better than usual. And the flat nose of the TC makes a nice sharp round hole in the paper. After shooting all the TC's I dropped in the chambers some Round nose Cartridges, they go "clink". No resistance or wedging which means the TC's did not deposit lead and powder on the chamber cone. I thank you for your input. Rr

runfiverun
04-29-2010, 02:12 AM
the point was to make the rounds headspace on the case mouth like they are supposed to.
i have had to headspace on a datum line on the boolit before.
but this is not a favored practice.
you can also try leaving a little bit of flare on the case mouth with the rn's.
this makes them a one gun round but will help with the mess at times.