.45 ACP reloaded ammo FTF issues Final Crimping?

[GunPhonatic]

I recently bought some reloaded ammo in .45 acp. I went to the range today and was having FTF issues all day. This is my first time shooting reloaded ammo. A shooter next to me looked at the ammo and said it needed a "final crimp" because whoever reloaded them didnt do it. I have about a case of this stuff. Its not the guns because it went through all other ammo. 1911's. Can someone in Sacramento area do this? and how much would it cost? Heres some pictures of the ammo.

[CZlover]

They look pretty good to me. It seems they're already final-crimped...Just IMO...

[nn3453]

Which gun were you shooting this out of? Sometimes some 1911s have trouble feeding lead. You might want to try polishing the feed ramp but go easy.

[GunPhonatic]

Which gun were you shooting this out of? Sometimes some 1911s have trouble feeding lead. You might want to try polishing the feed ramp but go easy.

Yea I was shooting 1911's.

[nn3453]

Yea I was shooting 1911's.

Let me guess. SA?

[GunPhonatic]

Let me guess. SA?

SA's and Kimbers. Both had FTF with this ammo.

[Gio]

Which gun were you shooting this out of? Sometimes some 1911s have trouble feeding lead. You might want to try polishing the feed ramp but go easy.

+1 to that now that I got to see pictures of the ammo in question. Hopefully someone could help out with that if you do not feel comfortable doing it to your 1911's. I used a rough sand paper then a fine sand paper with some water to polish the feedramp on my Walther P22-CA when I had it. Just go slow and try to keep even pressure and you should be just fine polishing it

-Gio

[railroader]

It could be a couple of things. The overall length could be too long. The rounds might need to be resized after they are made. I use a Lee factory crimp die to resize. It resizes the brass after the round is made and crimps. Take the barrels out of your pistols and try dropping some of the rounds in them. They should go in smoothly. If they don't I would guess they need resized. If they do my second guess would be the overall length. Mark

[sammy]

If anything it looks like they used too much crimp. The OAL is probably a bit long. That would be my guess. If you are in the Bay Area we could try adjusting them a bit and see how they work.

[EdinKali]

+1 on the last couple comments. OAL looks a bit long. Probably needs to be resized.

I use the Lee crimp die that re-sizes also and have never had an FTF with my handloads(can't say that about reloads that I have bought at gun shows).

[SCMA-1]

Yep; the OAL is to long; that 230 gr lead mold has a mild shoulder to indicate where the bullet should approximately be seated to and most of those are clearly a bit long. The other issue I can see that might cause a problem is there is too much crimp. Ideally, you should use a mild taper crimp only to take the bell out of the case mouth after it is flared for bullet seating; that's it. Most auto pistol cartridges head space on the case mouth and too much crimp may allow the cartridge to seat too deeply into the chamber causing light primer hits and failures to fire (depending on extractor design).

[lazs]

Before you go all crazy on the feed ramps of your guns and all... Kimbers have nice tight chambers. Commercial reloaders use worn equipment and often don't pay much attention to their reloads.

Get a dial caliper and measure the loaded rounds for dia around the case mouth.. the crimp should be at about .471 not .474 or so.

[SCMA-1]

Get a dial caliper and measure the loaded rounds for dia around the case mouth.. the crimp should be at about .471 not .474 or so.

There's no need; the picture clearly shows a heavy (too heavy actually) crimp on those rounds. The problem is most likely the OAL; 1911's and most auto loaders are sensitive to OAL for proper feeding. Some are more so than others and the 1911 in particular because of the steep feed angle from magazine into chamber.

[railroader]

Before you go all crazy on the feed ramps of your guns and all... Kimbers have nice tight chambers. Commercial reloaders use worn equipment and often don't pay much attention to their reloads.

Get a dial caliper and measure the loaded rounds for dia around the case mouth.. the crimp should be at about .471 not .474 or so.

I would agree don't start messing with your feed ramps it's the ammo. Mark

[J-cat]

You can't tell the OAL just by looking at a picture.

My Lasercast 230gr LRN also has a front driving band that sticks out even more than that at an OAL way below 1.270"

The FTF is prolly due to the round possibly being overcrimped and bulged just behind the case mouth, or the bullet being too large in diameter for the throat.

I used to have a Wilson with a .452" throat and it would not feed .452" bullets. I had to resize them in a .451" die. My Lasercasts measure .4525" and are too big for some pistols.

If your chamber is too tight, there is nothing you can do to repair this situation other than reaming it with an appropriate chamber reamer.

If the rounds are overcrimped, a Lee FCD will fix them by resizing the exterior and swaging out the bulge created by the buckled case.