.45 200 SWC Frustrations
- Thread starter ilmonster
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Well, through my experimentation I had around 100 rounds loaded total. I emptied both ammo boxes of rounds that fit and didn't fit into one pile and begun re-doing the plunk test. I got roughly 50 that did pass the "plunk" test, and except for two Federal cased rounds, the other 48 were R-P (Remington), CCI and PMC. Of the almost 50 that didn't plunk, 80+% were Federal cases, with some brass Blaser and Winchester cases not fitting either. I checked OAL, and both lots (fit and don't fit) are between 1.223" and 1.236" regardless if they plunked or not, so OAL doesn't seem to be the issue. Looks like case thickness might be the culprit, although I think I also want to try the magic marker experiment to see where the rounds that don't "plunk" all the way are hanging up.
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Recall that post 16 says that his Remington likes .451 bullets. This is something to consider trying, to see if your barrel leads or not. What does your barrel slug at? As other have suggested, look carefully at those that didn't pass to make sure the flair has been sufficiently flattened. I use a straight edge and my eyeballs, holding up to a light. If there is still some flair, recrimp slightly and try the plunk test again. If this is the case, I'm guessing that the .452's may pass and the .453's will not.
If money is not too much of an object, and this was for myself, I would order the Lee .451 bullet sizer die and try out a handful or so to see if it solves the problem and/or results in leading. If the chambering problem is solved but leading is now an issue, try honing the die out to a light .452.
As someone suggested previously, the chamber may just be too tight (for cast bullets) and needs to be reamed slightly larger. But I'm the wrong person to give advice in that area.
If money is not too much of an object, and this was for myself, I would order the Lee .451 bullet sizer die and try out a handful or so to see if it solves the problem and/or results in leading. If the chambering problem is solved but leading is now an issue, try honing the die out to a light .452.
As someone suggested previously, the chamber may just be too tight (for cast bullets) and needs to be reamed slightly larger. But I'm the wrong person to give advice in that area.
RealGun
Member
I was having gauging problems with a significant percentage of my finished rounds at .471. Under magnification I saw goop around the case mouth. If I cleaned that up completely and dressed the lead nearby, the rounds would pass. Reading here I got the notion of increasing the crimp diameter to .472 in hopes of getting a cleaner headspace. It worked! The case mouth is clean and everything passes, barring a few random heads that are too big or have a burr.
p.s. I take that back. What finally solved the gauging problem was shortening the COL to 1.243 (exactly short of where gauging issues started). I surmise that the LSWC ogive was limiting the ability to headspace on the case mouth. Slight mushrooming of the bullet around the case mouth is contained by enclosing nearly all of the bearing surface inside the case. A slight fraction is now visible above the case mouth.
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Well, tumbled some more range pick up brass (how can I not pick it up, it's free!) and tried to load everything but Federal and Blaser brass, and it all fit. I reloaded R-P, Starline, HPR, CCI, Winchester and Aguila of all things, and they all went plunk in the barrel. No Federal or Blaser brass for me! Thanks for all the help folks!!
I had same thing happen. It is the crimp. As others said, turn die in station 4 to get 0.469 inches.
1.255 col and 0.469 to 0.470 crimp are my magic numbers for 200g SWC.
Coincidentally, Bill Wilson says same thing in the pamphlet that comes with the WC mags whereby it states 1.25 col and .469 feeds most reliably for 200 swc
1.255 col and 0.469 to 0.470 crimp are my magic numbers for 200g SWC.
Coincidentally, Bill Wilson says same thing in the pamphlet that comes with the WC mags whereby it states 1.25 col and .469 feeds most reliably for 200 swc
DC Plumber
Member
Ilmonster,
Want to sell all of your federal and blazer brass? Do you have enough of it to bother with?
Pm me if you are interested.
Want to sell all of your federal and blazer brass? Do you have enough of it to bother with?
Pm me if you are interested.
RealGun
Member
I had the crimp in that range, but 1.243 COL is the closest I could get to 1.250 without case heads failing to completely and freely seat in my Lyman gauge. These were Meister bullets, so YMMV.
Went to the range today. Took all of my non-Federal cased rounds I loaded up (around 60), and shot 40 rounds. Whereas before I was getting at least one FTF per magazine, I went through all 40 rounds without a single FTF! At least for my Rem. R1 Carry, no more Federal and Blaser brass. Love my gun again!
FTF?
Is that fail to fire or fail to feed?
From this you are concluding the trouble is Federal Brass????
Not likely (JMHO)
I assumed FTF meant failure to feed. My Federal cased rounds would not feed into the barrel. They would get halfway in and not go any further. Yes, I conclude that the trouble is Federal brass as the PMC, Remington, Starline, Winchester all fed fine. All rounds fired. There were no failures to fire.
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