.45ACP case walls too thick ?

[Dudemeister]

I've recently started loading .45ACP, and bought a whole bunch of brass with a wide variety of head stamps.

During the resizing process I notice a pretty wide variety in what appears to be the case wall thickness. Not because I was measuring it, but because how much more effort it took to resize them (I'm actually doing this with a Lee Precision Hand Press).

It turns out that most of the cases that required extra effort were marked "A-MERC", and to a lesser extent "PMC". Additionally it also required more effort to flare the shells and to seat and crimp.

I really didn't think about it anymore until it came time to shoot the stuff. A few of the bullets would not seat all they way in, and it really required quite a bit of force to extract them out of the chamber. Everyone of those bullet cases were marked "A-MERC".

At home I measured the diameter of a bunch of "normal" bullets that simply drops in the chamber, and found them to be 0.471"-0.473". The A-MERCs were 0.475"-0.476". On another note, not all A-MERC cases have this problem, so far I found about 50 A-MERC cases, of which 12-13 are too big.

Has anyone else come across these? The variance makes me wonder whether some pistols have looser barrel chambers and throats and will accept this type of bullet, or whether these were loaded with a bullet of a slightly smaller diameter, like 0.450".

BTW, I'm using a 200gr. Round Note Hollow Base bullet from Bear Creek. The gun itself is a Sig 1911 which is billed as having a "match barrel"

HAs anyone else co

 

[Steve C]

A-merc brass and ammo is foreign made despite its "American" label, inexpensive import of inconsistent quality. A-merc brass is the only brass I toss whenever I find it. I've had loose primer pockets with once fired and off center flash holes. IMO its of so poor quality that it's not worth reloading.

 

[LiveLife]

My Sig 1911 chamber is very tight with very short start of rifling (almost no leade/freebore) and I need to be very consistent in my reloading practice for the finished rounds to drop in freely into the chamber with a "plonk".

I would suggest you resize some of the brass and see if they drop in the chamber freely (resized case only, no bullet). If they don't, the cases are not being full length resized and you need to readjust your resizing die.

My Sig 1911 barrel has a very quick start of rifling (almost no leade/freebore) and bullets need to be seated deeper so the bullet's bearing surface don't hit the start of rifling when chambered. As an example, for M&P45 and RIA Tactical, 200 gr SWC (Missouri Bullseye #1/IDP #1) OAL up to 1.265" will fully chamber but for the Sig chamber, OAL must be no longer than 1.245".

Chambered rounds should look like this - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=8336242#post8336242

BTW, I'm using a 200gr. Round Note Hollow Base bullet from Bear Creek

Once you verified that all the resized cases drop in the chamber freely and OAL is not allowing the bullet to hit the start of rifling, next I would adjust the bullet seating/taper crimp die a bit tighter to make sure the taper crimp was no more than .473". If .473" taper crimp is too tight, you can try .472" taper crimp and see if that helps.

Keep us posted.

 

[Dudemeister]

I already tried chambering the resized shells by themselves and they work fine.

As for the Moly coated bullets they work perfectly in every other case I have, just not those few A-MERC's.

I was aware of the tight throats of the Sig, so when I started reloading for it, I worked up to seating depth found that 1.240" work perfectly fine for my pistol.

So I think the problem is the wall thickness of that brass. It's no big deal, I already removed all the A-MERC brass and will probably not bother loading it, I just found it interesting that these bullets actually worked (at least once) in other pistol, so that begged the question as to whether the bullet was undersized, or other pistols are not as tight as the SIG Sauer.

 

[LiveLife]

Yes, looks like separating out the A-MERC brass is the solution.

Sig chamber is indeed tight. Finished rounds that won't fully chamber will fully chamber without issues in M&P45 and RIA Tactical (both barrels have looser chambers).

What I also experienced is that I ran into a batch of softer once-fire brass (these were PMC headstamp) that were slightly collapsing when the bullets were seated and bulging the case to keep them from chambering fully. It took me a while to figure out as all the resized cases dropped into the chamber freely. Once I figured out what was happening, I tossed the entire once-fired batch of PMC brass in the recycle bin and the chambering issues stopped.

This is one of few times where Lee Factory Crimp Die is handy to have to "fix" the finished rounds' dimensions so the rounds will chamber in the Sig (of course, you want to put a "X" mark on the case base so you'll know which cases to toss after you shoot them).

 

[evan price]

A-MERC 45 auto brass is totally unsuitable for reloading, let alone firing once. It is the crappiest, most out of spec brass you can find. Every case I find I crush and put directly in scrap. Trust me on this- do the reloading world a favor, destroy A-MERC 45 acp brass wherever it is found.

 

[918v]

It's not case wall thickness but case diameter that makes resizing more difficult. Newer FC, Speer, CCI, Chech made WWB are bigger at the base and harder to resize.

 

[hentown]

Amerc used to be made in Miami. Of course, I guess one could say that's a foreign country? Worst ammo/brass ever sold to the American public. Unsafe at any speed!!!

 

[mdi]

A-merc brass and ammo is foreign made despite its "American" label, inexpensive import of inconsistent quality. A-merc brass is the only brass I toss whenever I find it. I've had loose primer pockets with once fired and off center flash holes. IMO its of so poor quality that it's not worth reloading.

I have purchased mebbe 3k once fired 45 ACP brass. I sort them all by headstamp. But, I have heeded the suggestions from a few forums, and tossed all the A-merc brass. Since I have a lot of brass, I haven't had the need to try A-merc (and I've held my curiosity/need to find out for myself ).
So far, mebbe 12 years reloading 45 ACP, PMC has served me well...

 

[EddieNFL]

Amerc will fit my Kimber and Colt chambers, but not Baer, NH or Wilsons. Goes in the recycle bin along with S&B and small PP brass.

 

[Dudemeister]

It's not case wall thickness but case diameter that makes resizing more difficult. Newer FC, Speer, CCI, Chech made WWB are bigger at the base and harder to resize.

OK, but that doesn't explain the problem I have.

Once it's resized, the case fits the chamber fine, it's after you seat the bullet that it no longer fits. That's because the bullet has expanded the upper part of the shell to fit inside. Now you have a shell who's inside diameter is 0.452" (the diameter of the bullet), but the thick case walls give an overall diameter of 0.476".

 

[CZ57]

EddieNFL, don't throw that S&B brass away, send it to me!

 

[918v]

Are you getting a pronounced bulge in the case right where the base of the bullet sits? If you seat to 1.270" OAL does the bulge go away? If so, then you are hitting the thick part of the case wall. It's not that the brass is bad, it's just not designed to accept a bullet seated that deep.

I sort my brass for that reason.

 

[Dan0]

I agree with Eddie. Amerc and S&B go in the junk pile. Depending on the dye you use it may handle it. My Dillon dies don't like either and often get stuck in the de-capper die, or the powder measure dye. And I'm guess the same is true for EddieNFL.

 

[ljnowell]

I have always known PMC brass to be more difficult to resize and to re-prime, but I have gotten tons of reloads off it in 38/357/45.

AMERC on the other hand, I will not even attempt to reload anymore. From off center, too small flash holes to brass that cracks the first time I resize it, its junk. Also, the extractor groove isnt always uniform and the case head diamaters are not always right. Plain and simple its junk and always goes straight into the recycle bucket for me.

 

[Dudemeister]

Are you getting a pronounced bulge in the case right where the base of the bullet sits? If you seat to 1.270" OAL does the bulge go away? If so, then you are hitting the thick part of the case wall. It's not that the brass is bad, it's just not designed to accept a bullet seated that deep.

I sort my brass for that reason.

Not just at the base of where the bullet seats, but for the whole length of the seated depth (about 0.25"). That whole area is bulged.

 

[918v]

Last, how much crimp are you applying? It could be that some of this brass is too long and your crimp setting is buckling the case.

 

[TonyT]

Do yourself a favor and toss the AMERC brass into the scrap heap - you will save yourself a lot of headaches.