Problem ammo? what to check? .45 ACP

[JagerDog]

Personally, I like 1.230 with ball ammo.

12345(6).

1.230", 45 ACP, (6gr Unique).

[pacrat]

Officers Model is intolerant of ammo because the cycle is so short.

Post pics of the ammo, close-ups.

Get a good cartridge gauge, plunk test isn't good enough.

Try a Colt magazine. I have some CMC mags that work and some that don't.

Please explain how the [cycle is shorter] on an Officer's Md?

What will an unrelated 3rd hole, tell OP that his barrel won't?

[ojisan]

On a 1911, the shorter the slide the less travel it has front to rear.
A 5" barrel Government slide will move to the rear to where the breech face is about 1/4" past the disconnector.
A 4 1/4" barrel Commander type moves back about even with the disconnector.
A 3 1/2" Officers type moves back just to the rear face of the magazine well.
The distance that the breech face travels back and forth past the rear mag well wall is sometimes called "dwell time".
The longer the dwell time, the more time the magazine spring has to push up the next round to be fed.

The Officer's type dwell time is near zero.
The magazine must have a very strong spring to quickly push up the next round to be fed.

Also, the feeding round's case rim must slide quickly up behind the extractor hook with no drag or delay.
When you push down the slide stop and chamber a round, the sound should not be a ker-chunk, it should be chunk only (into battery instantly).
Ker-chunk means the feeding round is not sliding smoothly into place on the breech face or getting hung up on the barrel mouth.

Case gauges are nice but chambers do vary.
We used to reload and shoot a lot of 9mm.
Our lead bullet ammo worked perfect in a variety of guns we had.
We tried a guy's CZ75 one day and our ammo would not fit in his chamber.
His gun had a tight chamber and would only work with jacketed bullets.
It's always best to check and see how the ammo actually fits in your gun, especially home defense ammo.

[Sandspider500]

No 3rd hole is a deal breaker

[sigstroker]

Nice, picking up the slack.

I've never encountered a too-small chamber but I suppose it's possible.

Plunking doesn't check the ammo for being out of spec. A Plunk drops a cartridge straight in. Pistols don't feed rounds that way, they go in at an angle. A good gauge checks the overall length as well as outer case dimensions. A long cartridge might hit the point of the bullet on the chamber roof before the angle changes enough for the cartridge to enter the chamber.

[pacrat]

Thanks for this "dwell time" explanation "OJI". I currently own 4, 1911s all in 45acp. And have previously owned about twice that #. All of which were 5" Gov Md. 2 of which I built from parts.

On a 1911, the shorter the slide the less travel it has front to rear.
A 5" barrel Government slide will move to the rear to where the breech face is about 1/4" past the disconnector.
A 4 1/4" barrel Commander type moves back about even with the disconnector.
A 3 1/2" Officers type moves back just to the rear face of the magazine well.
The distance that the breech face travels back and forth past the rear mag well wall is sometimes called "dwell time".
The longer the dwell time, the more time the magazine spring has to push up the next round to be fed.

The Officer's type dwell time is near zero.
The magazine must have a very strong spring to quickly push up the next round to be fed.

Nice, picking up the slack.

I've never encountered a too-small chamber but I suppose it's possible.

[1] ... Plunking doesn't check the ammo for being out of spec. [2] ... A Plunk drops a cartridge straight in. Pistols don't feed rounds that way, they go in at an angle. [3] ... A good gauge checks the overall length as well as outer case dimensions. [4] ... A long cartridge might hit the point of the bullet on the chamber roof before the angle changes enough for the cartridge to enter the chamber.

All chambers vary. All gages vary. Many barrels have tighter and shorter chambers, than most other chambers of given caliber. CZs are notorious for tight/short chambers.

Most "gage thread" complaints that get posted here, and all other reloading sites. Are along the lines of "Ammo fits gage, but not gun".

[1] ... Neither does a gage. It only tells you that ammo fits the tolerances in that particular gage's hole.

[2] ... So do your fingers using a gage. I've never seen a gage with a "feed ramp".

[3] ... Not relevant. Not all gages are same hole. Not all chambers are same hole.

[4] ... OP's OAL is already confirmed OK. Or at least in "spec". Which means nothing, until it is "plunk checked" in his pistols own individual chamber.

Every dimension on 45acp ammo is easily checked with calipers. That every reloader should already have.

No gage is capable of telling a reloader anything that his barrel, [which he already has] and his calipers that he [should already] have, already can.

[alpha_romeo_XV]

Has anyone mentioned a plunk test yet?

I have done many a plunk test in my guns but ---

I'm a lot more comfortable doing it with a revolver cylinder where there's no chance of a accidental discharge.

I am very careful when doing it with live ammo in a semi-auto (rifle or pistol) due to the location of my reloading bench inside the home. Did I mention very careful?
Once I have verified a particular barrel/chamber jives with my gauge then its gauge only as I like to verify every 5th or 10th round depending on which caliber is getting reloaded. Not a chore for me since I only have one or two guns in each caliber, with exception of 223 and 308, so gauges serve a good purpose for me.

[Sandspider500]

You know, most pistol barrels are removable.

[not-fishing]

A decade or so ago I had trouble with my reloads and bought a chamber checker. It solved my problem and I use them for all my various pistol rounds.

Evolution Gun Works Ammo Chamber Checker

[bigbossman]

You know, most pistol barrels are removable.

No kidding. It would never occur to me to do a plunk test on a functional pistol.

Always, always on a barrel that has been removed from the gun.

[Sandspider500]

No kidding. It would never occur to me to do a plunk test on a functional pistol.

Always, always on a barrel that has been removed from the gun.

Maybe he likes to finish the test with a bench pop. When was the last time you did a bench pop anyway?

[pacrat]

You know, most pistol barrels are removable.

But gee whillikers, it takes all of 30 seconds to remove the barrel of a 1911. According to movies, it takes just 1 second for a Beretta 92fs.

Always, always on a barrel that has been removed from the gun.

That's OK for folks who don't know that a pistol that has the slide LOCKED OPEN, can't be fired.

not-fishing claimed; ...... A decade or so ago I had trouble with my reloads and bought a chamber checker. It solved my problem and I use them for all my various pistol rounds.

Please explain how a hole in a piece of metal. Actually, solved a problem? Be concise, there will be a quiz at the end of class.

[Che762x39]

I recently had a problem with some 45 ACP 200 grain JSWC reloads. Turn out one of my magazines was not tuned for JSWC.

Good luck troubleshooting.

[smoothy8500]

Funny how a case gauge mysteriously "solves" ammo problems....