Reloading .45 ACP

[larphred]

I've been reloading .45 ACP for quite some time now with a Dillon 1050 press. Since my whole family shoots .45 I go through a lot. After loading I check each one with a case gauge. Many do not pass because the cases are too long. With rifles, I check case length with a micrometer after full length resizing, but I load so many .45s that I would have to resize each one, check length, then run it through the press again. Does anyone have a method of checking case length of pistol cases before they are resized?

[Hebrew Battle Rifle]

Case length measurments taken before resizing are meaningless. It is during the resizing process that the cases get longer. ( for the most part)

[Deltaten]

"I dunno,
but I bin tole..."

Everything I've seen on .45 suggests that they actuall get shorter, having to do with the width vs length and web thckness. I've NEVER had one grow enough to notice or hafta trim.

Trim .45's?....................Not on yer nellie!:D
Brass that's that "off' gets throwed in the scrap bucket. With decent 1X brass avail for such a reasaonable price, I'd sooner replace it than futz w/it.

Not sayin' it can't happen, tho

Best,
Paul

[shootist87122]

Originally posted by larphred
...
After loading I check each one with a case gauge. Many do not pass because the cases are too long.
....

Suggest you try a different case gauge. I've never had a .45 ACP fail a case gauge due to the brass being too long. Are you sure you having fat bullet problems?

[ftierson]

I also shoot quite a bit of .45ACP...

I have never bothered to check case length and have never had problems. I do pay attention to overall cartridge length, however...

I run the loaded ammo through a Lee Carbide Factory Crimp die that also post sizes the case of the loaded round, and I have never had trouble chambering ammunition in any of the several .45ACP handguns that I shoot...

For what it's worth...

Forrest

[DJ]

I also go through alot of 45 acp's and I've never checked case length not ever trimmed even one case. I set a light taper crimp on my Dillon SDB and watch my OAL. The only problems I've ever had was "fat" cartridges when I first started reloading .45's with some worn out dies a guy gave me.

[SteveW]

Have any of the 'long' ACP cases ever given any problems ?
Have you dropped one into your gun to see if the slide will go into battery ?
I bet it will !!

I would speculate that most 45's headspace on the extractor ! :biggrin:

I reload lots of once fired 45 ACP brass without even bothering to check the case length, just LOA. No problems in many thousands of rounds...

Just my $0.02 !

S.

[Survey Punk]

Are you belling case mouths, loading lead bullets? Too much belling can cause problems the crimp die can't solve.

JB

[bykerhd]

I scrounge .45 ACP brass all the time at the range and take whatever anyone gives me and occasionally buy a bunch of "Once Fired". By the way, "Once Fired" seems to be often not the case, but that is another story. I haven't bought any new .45 ammo or brass in years. I discard any obviously damaged stuff and just tumble and load the rest. I run 200 grain cast lead swc and about 4.5 grains of Bullseye. Cheap and dirty, but they run through 3 different pistols of mine with no issues and a couple other folks' guns too. The only thing I watch is OAL. Too short is trouble as well as too long. I try to stay just under max. length. I have no idea how many times around some of this brass has been loaded. Potentially, a lot. These are pretty mild loads and reasonably accurate. Or, at least accurate enough for my purposes.

[Clark]

If ammo will not drop into the chamber, it is not reliable.

The bullet seating and bullet crimping process can make the diameter of the loaded round too large in the bullet bulge area of the case mouth.

To fix this, Lee factory crimp pistol dies have a built in caribide sizer ring that is not as small as the sizer ring in a sizer die.

I go even smaller.

I usually resize the loaded ammo in a cabide sizing die with the decapping stem removed.

I do this for all straight wall semi auto ammo I load that my life might depend on: 45acp, 10mm, 40sw, 380. 9x19mm, 9x23mm, 32acp, etc.

The ammo will then pass the drop in test, but be careful that the bullet has not become loose. The bullet has much less elastic deformation than the brass. The Lee Factory Crimp pistol die is especially good for this.

[Right Side Up @ 1000 MPH]

I've loaded thousands of rounds of .45 ACP for pleasure and never even thought about checking the case length, and never had a problem.

That said, I always use new brass for defense loads where failure is not an option.

[Hebrew Battle Rifle]

When I first started reloading 45ACP I made the mistake of using the seating/crimp die as directed. The result was unuseable ammo. I solved the problem by making a seating die and using the factory seating /crimp die as a crimp only die. Now I have zero problems with my reloads.

45ACP is a low pressure cartridge and has a .022 head space margin.

[Court in Fl]

Check your seating and taper crimp die every so often and see if it's full of wax.

I have seen rounds come out with a lump of wax on the side.

Court in FL.

[stargazer]

I had a gun shop order me a 45 ACP trim die and they were right, I have never had to use it.

[larphred]

Thanks for all the info guys. I checked today and sizing increases case length from .004" to .005". I do use separate bullet seater and taper crimp dies with minimal taper. Shooting 6gr. Unique behind 200gr. FMJ RN. I have had several fail to go into battery in my Baer .45 and my son has had similar problems with my XD45--both during competions. I had speculated that several of the cases were too long and the brass expanded when the crimp die was applied. I plan on trying to chamber my gauge rejects this weekend to see if they chamber.

[1006587]

On sale now. It will fix your problem for $12. http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=716704

Been using one for years and have never had a chambering problem since.

[Court in Fl]

A lot of .45's with MATCH chambers can be a little finicky with ammo that is just a little out of spec, as the chamber gets dirty it gets worse.

When I was shooting IPSC I always polished the chamber of my .45's a little oversize to make sure they would feed just about anything.

I always joked that I had a .45 barrel with a .46 chamber.

Court in FL.

[larphred]

I'm sorry, but I don't understand how the Midway die could resize a case. Without cutting off brass the only way I can see that it could resize would be to squash it down and make it fatter. I don't get it.

[whirlibird]

In all my 20+ years of reloading I've never ran into a overlength .45 acp casing. I've loaded heavy, loaded to destruction (# of shots), shot 'til the headstamp was gone, etc., etc.

I've never had a .45 case reach proper length.

What brass were you using? A-Merc is notorius for the absolute worst cases in existence. I tried to reload them and had case web problems, too short cases and off center primer holes. You name it, they had it.

How are you checking case length after loading?

The only chambering problems I've encountered have been with a tight throated Gold-Cup that required me to shorten my standard swc load so the bullet shoulder wouldn't butt into the chamber throat.

I can see a problem with the Baer, but the XD? Something's strange here, we need more details.

[ftierson]

Originally posted by larphred
I'm sorry, but I don't understand how the Midway die could resize a case. Without cutting off brass the only way I can see that it could resize would be to squash it down and make it fatter. I don't get it.

The Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die is designed to crimp the bullet in the case. Revolver cartridges are heavily crimped, if you like. Auto pistol cartridges are taper crimped. While the bullet is being crimped, the cartridge case is run through a carbide sizing ring that guarantees that every cartridge run through it will be sized enough to fit in the chamber (even if the case has been expanded during the seating step).

I use the Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die on all the cartridges that I shoot that they also make the die for...

You'll wonder how you ever got along without it once you use one...

Forrest

[chromestarhustler]

dude whats it costing to reload 45 acp. at 10 to 16 bucks for 50 in the bulk packs are you really saving enough money to justify your time. i am just curious not dogging i did the math one time wasnt impressed. when you can buy remington or winchester for 12 cents apiece why reload.

[Hebrew Battle Rifle]

Originally posted by chromestarhustler
dude whats it costing to reload 45 acp. at 10 to 16 bucks for 50 in the bulk packs are you really saving enough money to justify your time. i am just curious not dogging i did the math one time wasnt impressed. when you can buy remington or winchester for 12 cents apiece why reload.

I think that your calculator needs to be recalibrated.

A properly calibrated calculator will produce the following results:

$10.00/50 = $.20

$16.00/50 = $.32

$.12 X 50 = $6.00

My cost to reload 45ACP is $.09 per round.

[1006587]

Originally posted by larphred
I'm sorry, but I don't understand how the Midway die could resize a case. Without cutting off brass the only way I can see that it could resize would be to squash it down and make it fatter. I don't get it.

Think of it as a case gage that fixes problems rather than tell you have a problem.

The Lee Factory Crimp Die has a carbide ring at the base that is slightly larger than a resizing die. In addition to putting the proper crimp for the kind of ammo (roll crimp-revolver, taper crimp-semi auto) it squeezes the case down if, and only if, it is too fat. Say the bullet you use is a little oversize or the brass is a tad thick. The die will squeeze this down so it will chamber. Lead bullets are usually .001" larger than jacketed bullets and bulge the brass a tad when it is seated.

Using the standard seater/crimp die causes a problem with shaved lead. The die starts the crimp before the bullet is fully seated and digs in. It can also crush the case mouth. With the Lee Fac Crimp, I seat the bullet in one step and crimp/after size as the last step.

Read the reviews on the Midway site. Not one less than 5 stars. Sometimes Lee hits a home run with a product and this is one of them.

[stargazer]

Lee's factory crimp die for bottleneck cartridges is a hit in my book too. After seating the bullet I run them all through this crimp die and it crimps them just like they come from a factory. I highly recommend Lee dies, their way of adjusting the die without an Allen wrench is so cool too.

I will have to get myself one of those 45 crimp dies as my reloads will not fit the cylinders of my Taurus 45 ACP revolver. They work great in my Glocks, just too large for the revolver's tight cylinders.

[BUFF]

Are you sure that it is the case that is too long? I have never seen an over-length .45 ACP case, either.

I loaded a batch of SWC's once that wouldn't chamber all of the way. The bullets' shoulder/front driving band hung up. Another bullet had the nose engage the rifling too soon, preventing the case from chambering fully. Both bullets needed to be seat4ed deeper. Those are two things to check, but you probably have already done that.

[chromestarhustler]

9 cents apiece thats good. yeah math error on my part. it was costing me in the neighborhood of 14 cents apiece. and without a progressive machine i wasnt turning out high enough numbers to justify it in my eyes. now the only thing i reload is wildcats. 6/250 and 6 x 45 and of course the 308 when i can buy cheap indain to tear down for componenets.

[owlcreekok]

Just echoing RSU and SteveW. I happen to be running my RCBS Green Machine now. Over the course of the the weeks, few minutes here, few there, I will run three or four thousand rounds through it. The crimp is a taper, so I won't see long cases by virtue of a bulged crimp. My bullet is a home cast Hensley & Gibbs 200 SWC. The bullet seats to where the case mouth is all but flush with the top of the driving band. SO, I can faintly see the variances in case length. I do not remember ever having one far enough out of spec to warrant picking up the caliper for a measurement. As RSU said, when making social ammo, I use the Rock Chucker, and I fuss over detail. Even then, about all I look for is once fired, and then all I do is make sure the roll crimp goes into the cannelure uniformly on the Hornady XTP's.

BTW, I figure my cost to make .45 practice ammo is a fuzz under $0.02 a round.

:biggrin:

My time is free. I ought to be paying someone for all the fun I have at the loading bench, but I ain't.

[stargazer]

I just odered that Lee crimp die for my 45 reloads. Hopefully it will size them to where I can use them in my revolver.

[Noah Zark]

I've been reloading the 45 ACP since 1968, and I've seen two things regarding 45 ACP brass:

1) Once fired case length varies greatly between case manufacturers. In fact, some Philipine "Armscor" 45 ACP cases actually exceeded the SAMMI maximum case length.

B) 45 ACP brass does lengthen in my RCBS carbide die, but brass from different manufacturers lengthens at different rates as one might expect, being a function of brass hardness and thickness.

That said, I always trim new once-fired brass to a nominal length and go from there. I check it every five loadings, and don't have to retrim until between 10 and 15 loadings. And yes, I get that many loadings per case bacuase I'm using 5.6 gr of Unique under a 230 gr Hornady FMJ-FP.

YMMV, and appears to, reading some of the posts above.

Noah

[owlcreekok]

I'll prolly never get 5 loadings on a lot of brass, Noah. :rofl: I lose it faster than that. Some years ago, I ended up with more 45 brass than I could ever hope to load, shoot and lose. The most of it is TZZ and WCC headstamp.

This round of stocking up I found a wierd headstamp. *I* No clue what that is. It has to be range pickup stuff. My teenage daughter thinks filling a couple WalMart bags with brass at the range for $5 and a Slushee is a bargain. Me too.

[SteveW]

I use once fired brass so that I don't have to think about picking it up. At the outdoor range I use you have no idea what might rise up out of the grass to meet your hand on the way down to pick up the brass. Best not to take the risk for old brass...