1911 jammed up with reload

[PhilMc]

Was at the range today putting some of my 45's through my SA 1911 LW Operator when I got a jam that was not easy to clear. Needed the help of a range officer to help clear it. Was in chamber just short of being in battery. Was the next to last round in a Wilson Combat Elite mag.

45acp
230gn RN Plated X-treme
4.5gn WST
Winchester brass (range pickup)
COL 1.250"
Bell removed with Lee Factory Crimp Die
Press: LNL AP

COL after the jam 1.226"

Any theorys as to what happened would be welcome. This 1911 has had thousand of rounds through it without a hitch. Gun was cleaned and lubed prior to the trip to the range.


http://images.thehighroad.org/editor/attach.gif

 

[rcmodel]

The bullet was seated crooked.

You probably should inspect your finished loads a little closer before you box them up and shoot them!!

rc

 

[PhilMc]

Thanks, I will check all my rounds that I have made.

 

[Okcafe86]

Geez I'd be so mad at myself if I let one of those leave my workbench.

 

[PhilMc]

I look at it as a simple speed bump in the learning process. Getting in to much of a hurry to make rounds. Will use this to insure I never do it again. Going to remove the catch bin on the LNL for a while and take each round as it comes off the press and inspect it before putting it away.

 

[cheesebigot]

Geez I'd be so mad at myself if I let one of those leave my workbench

We all make mistakes, the OP is learning from his. A crookedly seated bullet is by and large one of the more forgiving mistakes to make at the reloading bench.

 

[col.lemat]

Yep bent. I have a spare pistol barrel that I drop them into now just to make sure that don't happen. I also started doing it years ago for rifle rounds after the wife got ahold of some untrimmed stuff when I was first reloading.

 

[radpop]

Hi Folks,
New guy on board here and my $.02 worth on loading for .45 ACP is judicious attention to the process, from start to finish and with the final touch of gauging the finished/loaded round.
I use Dillon's case gauge that I had Cleimered to match my barrel's chamber.
Haven't had any oopses so far, after 20K+ reloads.

 

[Okcafe86]

After I posted I realized it was a little harsh. Live and learn.

 

[AFK]

We've all made mistakes while reloading, especially in the beginning. I use plastic cartridge boxes, by MM I think, to put my reloads in so I can give them a final once over before they make it to the range. Also inspect them while loading the mags at the range. Live and learn. I know I have and I will continue to do so.

 

[Walkalong]

The straighter you start it, the straighter it seats, regardless of whether one uses a sleeved seater or not, and I do. It's one of those lessons we learn along the way.

 

[murf]

roll em down the reloading bench. you will see the wobble if the bullet is not seated straight.

murf

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I look at it as a simple speed bump in the learning process. Getting in to much of a hurry to make rounds. Will use this to insure I never do it again. Going to remove the catch bin on the LNL for a while and take each round as it comes off the press and inspect it before putting it away.

No reason to remove the catch bin from the press. Just be sure you handle and look at every round before you put them in the box for storage.

Like said above, this is one of the more forgiving mistakes you can make in reloading. It's a good thing as long as you learn from it and improve the process. Stick with it and you will improve...

 

[PhilMc]

Walkalong, Thanks for a good idea. I will pay better attention when placing the bullet on the case.

 

[gamestalker]

Keep an eye on and clean your shell holder often also. It doesn't take much debris to interfere with the brass seating all the way into the shell holder, which can cause the bullet to start crooked.

GS

 

[n6yga]

Not to stir the pot here but I think your OAL is a little long. I load 230 grain bullets to 1.20 per the Hodgdon website.

I'm no expert but I wanted to throw that out there. I could be wrong, of course...

Mark.

 

[rcmodel]

I'm no expert either, but.
1.20" for 230 FMJ-RN is WAY too short.

The Hodgdon data is for Hornady 230 Flat-Point bullets.
Flat point bullets are way shorter then RN bullets.

GI Mil-Spec for the .45 ACP 230 FMJ-RN is between 1.265" to 1.271".

If you are loading a typical RN 230 that short, you are loading it way too short!!!

rc

 

[LiveLife]

+1. Most factory 230 gr FMJ rounds are loaded longer than 1.200" Picture below shows factory PMC 230 gr FMJ at 1.255"

Not to stir the pot here but I think your OAL is a little long. I load 230 grain bullets to 1.20 per the Hodgdon website.

I'm no expert but I wanted to throw that out there. I could be wrong, of course...

Not all 230 gr RN bullets have the same nose profile/ogive. Comparison picture below shows more typical 230 gr RN profile on the left which I load to 1.255"-1.265" and new RMR 230 gr RN with shorter nose that allows longer bullet base/bearing surface which I load to 1.200"-1.230".

 

[rcmodel]

Berry's on the left is closer to GI Hardball then many, but it still isn't.

Measure some Mil-Spec ball and see what you get for OAL!

It will be between 1.265" to 1.271".

rc

 

[bigfatdave]

I am not a reloading expert
I have only recently started loading 45acp

... and I run every round through a case gauge or dismounted barrel/chamber
It only adds a moment between the output bin and boxing up your loads

 

[rskent]

Phil, that round does look a little crooked, doesn't it.
You might want to try adding a little more bell to your brass. Just a smidgin more bell will make it easier to get
the bullets in there straight. Also, for me a 1911 seems to feed better if the rounds are a little on the long side.

 

[PhilMc]

I was also starting to think a little more bell would be a good idea. I have been loading now for 3 years and this is only the second real problem that I have had. All the other stuff that I did never made it past my own quality control checks that I have in place.

The other one I had was not correctly sizing 223 brass (too long) which is another story. Case gauge took care of that learning mistake which will also take care of this one.

Bottom line is one learns more from his mistakes than anything else.

Thanks to all of you for a good lesson!

 

[nevadabob]

Phil...my thought is that the bullet was out of round at the base. I'd pull the bullet and check it. I'd also like to see a couple more pics: a 180 of your above and a top down shot.

 

[JRWhit]

I noticed that your using the lee factory crimp die and assern that you must also be using the seating/crimp die from lee as well.
I have found that if the seating die is turned out too far, it results in crooked seating. This was a finding made on 9mm, which may be a problem only with the tapered case, but might be something to check.
I now set up the seating die by first finding the bell of the case with the seating die, and then backing it out about a 1/4 to 1/2 turn. Crooked loads dissapeared, but not before my puller got a good work out.

 

[PhilMc]

Uploaded a couple more pics as requested.

Checked my die setup and it does not give much bell on the case. I'm thinking that opening it up a little bit more will assure that the bullet can be seated straight easier. I'm starting to believe I was getting more concerned with making quanity of rounds instead of watching very carefully what I was doing.

A quick check of some of my rounds show this to be the case. A few of them show faint signs of the bullet not 100% straight. None of them are anywhere near as bad as the one in the pic. Later I will give all the rounds "The Plunk Test" in my Sig barrel which has a tighter chamber than the SA 1911 and pull any rounds that are suspect.

Prior to getting my LNL AP I loaded on a Rock Chucker and a pair of Lee Pro1000's that demand my attention to detail. This problem is purely me getting in a hurry, which I will do my best to never let it happen again.

Currently using RCBS dies for expanding and seating. Using the round profile seating pin on the seating die. Seating die is set to the point it will just touch the case but not close the bell. Using the Lee FCD as noted above, just enough to remove the bell.