HELP! Difference between .451 and .452 dia bullets

[Desert Dude]

45acp re-loaders, I need some help.

I currently use .452dia bullets for my 45 Long Colt re-loads. No problems at all. Bullets are 200 gr RNFP and 230 gr RNFP.

Then, I tried the .452's in my RIA 45acp and Glock 30. The 1st round fires and the 2nd will not fully seat the slide in either 45. I then loaded up some 200gr 451 dia JHP's. They worked just fine in both.

Is this a quirk or do I need to use .451 only in the auto loaders?

Thanks in advance.

[ojisan]

Some .45 chambers are tighter (smaller diameter) than others.
Most.45s will accept the slightly larger diameter lead bullets, some won't.
I used to have a Star PD, 100% perfect with jacketed bullets, it refused to chamber lead bullet loads at all.

[kmca]

.452 is the correct size for lead, .451 is for jacketed bullets. What's the O.A.L. of your cartridges? You may be chambering on the bullet instead of the case.

[Desert Dude]

Thank you both. Neither the Glock or the Rock Island will fire the second round. Both fire the jacketed hollow points (451) just fine. I believe the OAL is 1.22 or 1.25, something in that order. I did check the loading specs for OAL and I'm right on the money.

The 452 dia lead bullets make a very SLIGHT bulge in the case for as far as the bullets are seated.

Like I said, the 451's feed just fine, and fire as fast as I can pull the trigger, in both pistols. I darn near sold the Glock when it wouldn't fire the 452's!

[Chief-7700]

What does the nose of the second bullet look like after it FTF (Failure to Feed)?

[Fjold]

Check also that your seating die is set low enough. Most seating dies have a crimp or taper crimp function built in to them and if your seating die is set to high it will not crimp thecase mouth enough.

Mic the diameter of the loaded round near the case mouth and compare that reading to the cartridge drawing/measurement in your reloading manual.

[Darklyte27]

.001

[dstiltner]

The 452 dia lead bullets make a very SLIGHT bulge in the case for as far as the bullets are seated.

I use the Lee Factory Crimp die to get rid of the "bullet belly". I am able to fire .451" and .452" bullets (jacketed, plated and lead) in all of my .45 ACPs without any issues.

[shooting4life]

.001

Beat me to it

[Point of Impact]

+1 on the Lee Factory Crimp die. Haven't had a failure to feed since I started using it.

[J-cat]

45acp re-loaders, I need some help.

I currently use .452dia bullets for my 45 Long Colt re-loads. No problems at all. Bullets are 200 gr RNFP and 230 gr RNFP.

Then, I tried the .452's in my RIA 45acp and Glock 30. The 1st round fires and the 2nd will not fully seat the slide in either 45. I then loaded up some 200gr 451 dia JHP's. They worked just fine in both.

Is this a quirk or do I need to use .451 only in the auto loaders?

Thanks in advance.

You need to use .451" in YOUR autoloader. It has a tighter freebore, apparently. Other people can use .452". You can also get a Lee bullet sizer die for $15 that will swage .452" down to .451". I had to do that for my CQB cuz it wouldn't feed .452" bullets either.

[J-cat]

+1 on the Lee Factory Crimp die. Haven't had a failure to feed since I started using it.

A FCD won't do anything if his freebore won't accept .452" bullets.

[robert101]

It seems likely that the issue is freebore. I have to seat the .452 bullets deeper in the case to get the slide into full battery. My seating depth is about 1.170 for a 250 grain Hornady XTP.

[Desert Dude]

Thanks to all replies. I believe you have helped me solve the problem.

To the 2 smilie replys I can only say .001 makes a difference in both of my auto loaders. It may not in yours. I wouldn't have asked for help if I didn't need it.

[Low-Pressure]

So what was the fix?