Cast Bullet Feeding Problem - 45 acp

[Caithford]

I purchased a new Lee .45 ACP 6 cavity mold a few months back. I broke it in so it was dropping good bullets and cast about 150 of them or so. Over the past couple of months, I've been loading up some test rounds, but been having non-stop feeding problems with these things.


The new mold is the 228 gr, .452 round nose profile. Previously, I'd been using the 230 gr .452 tumble lube version. I had no problems with the TL bullets, as the profile is somewhat conical, with a fairly steep slope towards the point compared to the new bullets.


The new bullets are even gentler sloped and "fatter" at the base than my winchester factory 230gr fmj rn rounds. I think what's happening is that the "fatter" profile causes the nose of the bullet to be higher when ascending the feed ramp than on my other rounds. Then the top curve of the bullet catches on the top edge of the chamber.


I use Win231 and WST. I load somewhere around 4.5gr of powder for each of them (on the light side, at 50% recommended or a little lower).


Normally, I'd load at 1.272" per the Lyman book. I've been unable to get any of the new bullets to feed when loading at that length. The "plunk test" seems to work, so I don't think the length is the issue.


It might be my firearms. I've tried it in both my SA XD(m) and my EAA Witness with similar results. The top of the bullet catches on the top of the chamber. Since I have no problems at all with either pistol feeding the TL bullet, factory ammo (230gr fmj), or anything else, and these guns are considered very reliable, I really think it's the bullet profile.


What I think I need to do is drop the powder charge and load lighter. The problem is I don't really have the experience to know how much to reduce the charge for how deep I seat it. I can easily make dummy rounds for length/feeding testing. However, I don't have a chrono to verify that I'm operating in a safe range.


I'd rather not just ditch the mold unless all other options are exhausted. I'm hoping someone else has this mold, or has used it, and can offer some advice.


Oh, I have the Hornady and Lyman manuals. I don't have a Lee manual. I don't think that's necessarily the problem, but wanted to mention it just in case.

[Zombie Steve]

Well, you've loaded them about as long as any .45 auto can go. Try going the other way - 1.260" or even 1.250". I use 1.260" as pretty much standard OAL with a round nose bullet. Just keep in mind seating deeper raises pressures a bit. If you're midrange now, it may only gain 30-50 fps... not enough to be concerned with.

[earplug]

I tried that bullet with my Springfield 1911. To deep would bulge the case and longer would bounce off the feed ramp/throat. I now use the LYMAN RN mold.
The LEE RN was ok with my 625 revolver.

[Caithford]

I think I'll make up about 20 dummy rounds tonight, I can always pull them and reuse or whatever later. And see if I can get 2 mags to feed without any problems. Then when I've found a length that works, I'll throw it up here and get input on if it's too short. I also can drop my powder to minimum recommended charge too to be extra safe.

I tried that bullet with my Springfield 1911. To deep would bulge the case and longer would bounce off the feed ramp/throat. I now use the LYMAN RN mold.
The LEE RN was ok with my 625 revolver.

This is what I'm afraid of, and I think that I'm seeing in my case too. Both of my pistols are 1911 derivatives with similar feed ramp/chamber/barrel designs. I'll try to see how short I can load it to get it to feed and see if I can find a sweet spot.

[Zombie Steve]

I'm not sure what you mean by bulge in the case. The case gets sized down quite a bit... The "coke bottle" hourglass shape isn't at all uncommon when you seat a bullet. Nothing to worry about.

Is that what you meant?

[crays]

I may be off base, but all this talk of bulging, and fatter at the base...are you sizing the bullets after cast?

[Hoser]

Too long. Try loading them to about 1.240-250 or so. Come back a few tenths on the powder as you are loading shorter.

[Caithford]

I will post some pictures to help describe.

[tmjohnson]

Everybody likes a long sleek cartridge, unfortunately a 45acp is short and dumpy.
Listen to Hoser and shorten them up

[Caithford]

Okay, so loaded rounds. New bullet on left, tumble lube in middle, factory winchester on right for comparison.



Here are the bullets themselves, new on left, tumble lube on right.



I hope that clears up my poor descriptions a little. I'm going to try Hoser's recommendation to load a lot shorter. I just wasn't sure how far I could go before increasing the pressure measurably.

Interestingly, in doing this comparison the bullets I normally shoot are longer, so loading COL shorter isn't going to decrease internal volume as much as I thought initially. Going to drop the charge anyway to be on the safe side.