45ACP Reloads some problems

[Woodythedog]

Went to the range yesterday to shoot some 45ACP Reloads. My Citadel 1911 has always been flawless over the approx. 1200-1400 factory rounds I have sent. Never a problem. Yesterday I went with 185 gn RN Plated, longshot 7.4 gn and 1.223 OAL. In the course of shooting about 40 rounds, I had 3 failure to eject completely and had to manually clear the jam. Any clue as to what could be causing the problem.
The empty casings all look much dirtier than the factory loads. Not sure if that matters. Any clues???
Thanks

[slayer61]

I understand powders are impossible to find right now, but Longshot isn't a great choice for 45 ACP.


That said, increase the charge a couple tenths & retest.

Good luck & be safe.

[tabascoz28]

I have not used longshot but maybe that huge drop in bullet grain weight made it not cycle correctly. Either that or your powder drop was wrong and still set to 230.

[phil conrad]

Dirty cases usually indicate a low pressure load. I would look at your load manual and see if that is the case.

[sofbak]

Yup, low powered loads. Lee manual for your powder n bullet lists range from 7.2 to 8.2 gr.

Bump your charge wt to about 7.6 gr and see what you get.

[Woodythedog]

I am fairly new to reloading and these were the first 45 that I loaded. As we all know, components are scarce so the 185 gn was all I could find. I also have W231 and n340 and will see if I have load data and try those. Sofbak...I was thinking of doing just what you suggested. Thanks all.

[wpage]

Always test your doings...

Then tweek as needed.

[curtnelson226]

You should try increasing your crimp. 45 head spaces from the case mouth and insufficient crimping will cause the cases to get stuck and even prevent from closing into battery. Buy an oal guage and drop each round into it after loading, will save you a ton of frustration. Further, ensure that your die set provides a taper crimp rather than roll crimp... i had to buy a separate taper crimp die from Redding... never had an issue since adding these two tools

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[hermosabeach]

Look at the brass for signs too- primers, extractor marks etc

It’s probably a light powder charge, but it’s simple to check the extractor

Take a quick look at your extractor. Is the channel clean of debris or do you need to remote the extractor, clean and reassemble?

[bruce381]

I understand powders are impossible to find right now, but Longshot isn't a great choice for 45 ACP.


That said, increase the charge a couple tenths & retest.

Good luck & be safe.

do this wrong powder

[bruce381]

I am fairly new to reloading and these were the first 45 that I loaded. As we all know, components are scarce so the 185 gn was all I could find. I also have W231 and n340 and will see if I have load data and try those. Sofbak...I was thinking of doing just what you suggested. Thanks all.

run about 5 gr 231 (check me on this never trust anyone)
OAL is about right crimp at .470 try that

[Tom-ADC]

I am fairly new to reloading and these were the first 45 that I loaded. As we all know, components are scarce so the 185 gn was all I could find. I also have W231 and n340 and will see if I have load data and try those. Sofbak...I was thinking of doing just what you suggested. Thanks all.

Where you located? I have some heavier cast bullets that shoot well in a 1911.

[Rwnielsen]

I had a similar problem with some 45s I loaded once. I loaded the to the factory length while the bullet itself was noticeably shorter in profile. This lead to low pressure and sooty cases.
On a plated 185 I'd probably start at 5.2 of 231. I load a 200gr lead RNFP at 5.3 and its my most accurate load

[BigMoney_NoWhammy]

I reload 45 with longshot and it's a great load...at max pressure. I'm Pushing 200gr seated to 1.155 plated to 1100+ fps with a 6" barrel. That being said for the 800-850 sweet spot get a faster burning powder like titegroup or bullseye.

From Hodgdon:

Screen Shot 2021-03-05 at 5.46.49 PMAD.jpg

Looks like you might need to seat deeper.

[XDJYo]

OP-One thing to remember while reloading. When tweaking a recipe or chasing a problem, ONLY change 1 variable at a time and retest.
Ex: Up your charge a few tenths as suggested above. Make 10-15 rounds. Then, a few more tenths. Make 10-15 more. I would do that and re-test those two. Take notes! See which work in your gun and bullet etc.

If neither work, try a few more tenths until you start getting up to the max load for that powder and bullet.

Then, change something else. If you have another 1911, see if the problem persists.

Take more notes.

The 45 ACP is a very forgiving round to load. I use Bullseye at 4.8 grains with 230 grain FMJ. Bought 1k of 200 gr SWC powder coated bullets to try out. It will take some tweaking. But, the same rules as above apply. Test in small batches.