a successful experiment

[thunderbyrd]

i committed my first act of loading today! i have no primers or powder, but i have bullets and brass, so i decided i would try loading a dummy round and see how hard it would be to get the length right.

so, the 49th lyman says the correct overall length of a roundnose 230 grain 45 acp is 1.275. i got out a box of Armscore and measured 7 rounds. i measured from about 1.266 up to 1.275. this told me that there is some leeway here. good to know. i also must admit i might not be the most adroit operator of a caliper, beings as i've never used one.

i deprimed a couple of cases just for the sake of trying it, but i have a pile of unprimed brass. all my work on this was simply sizing the cases and seating the bullet. i forgot to lube the first case so i couldn't pound it very far into the die. i realized my error and threw that one away and tried another, with lube. it didn't get any farther into the die than the first one. so i threw it away and tried another with more lube. this one went into the die pretty well - but it stopped about a fingernail's width from going all the way down. i don't know if that's acceptable or not.

seating the bullet was no trouble at all. i adjusted the bullet seater twice. when i quit, i measured it and got 1.276. i took the round and cycled it through my RIA. it worked perfect.

i have been reading various comments here and there about how engrossing and enjoyable this reloading business is - i see what you mean! it was definitely a good feeling to see this perfect looking bullet appear. yes indeedy!

and a question: the bullets i have are coated - powdercoated i assume - so should i consider this a jacketed bullet or lead? i don't find and entry for powdercoated in the manual.

 

[HowieG]

A jacketed bullet has a metal jacket over a lead core.

 

[LaneP]

Congrats on what will become a rewarding (and addicting) hobby. Coated bullets use lead bullet load data.

 

[thunderbyrd]

Congrats on what will become a rewarding (and addicting) hobby. Coated bullets use lead bullet load data.

thanks i needed to know that! i forgot to say that i was using a lee classic whack a mole set.

 

[Bazoo]

I'm happy to see progress.

The academy in Etown has primers sometimes. As does kygunco in bardstown. I ain't seen any but I think sportsmans in Etown has rarely. They so have powder though sometimes as does kygun.

 

[AJC1]

I don't know how far north in Kentucky you are but Tennessee gun country is in is basically on the border and may be near enough for an adventure if your traveling. It's 4 hours from Memphis but I swung by during a trip.

 

[Bazoo]

Last time I was there, woods armory had shotshell primers too. Be a place to check if you happen trough this area.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Gotta go easy on the crimp with those coated lead bullets. Best to use a factory crimp die with very little crimp, if at all. Better to just to take out the the bell you’ll need to seat the bullet without shaving off the coating.

 

[AK Hunter]

Do you have a way to pull those back out or do you plan on pouring powder through the flash hole??
I hate seeing people wasting bullets or brass.
A hammer type bullet puller is a good thing to have even for the low volume reloader.

 

[mdi]

45 ACP? Don't "crimp" (especially with a Lee FCD for handguns!). Just use a plain taper crimp die to "deflare" the case. 45 ACP bullets are not held in place with a crimp, neck tension does that, and many new reloadrs ruin their handloads by over crimping. It's difficult to see "enough" crimp so many just keep adding crimp, in fact loosening neck tension and bulging cases.

I hav reloase many thouands of semi-auto rounds (5 calibers from 32 ACP up to 45 ACP for 10 different guns) and have yet to "crimp" any with no problems, no bullet setback...

 

[FROGO207]

Guys he's using a Lee Loader with a plank and plastic hammer. Not a press. Definately a spartan way to load ammo but it'll work.

 

[Walkalong]

so, the 49th lyman says the correct overall length of a roundnose 230 grain 45 acp is 1.275.

That is the SAMMI max OAL, my 1911s mag/s had issues with them that long, so I ended up loading round nose FMJ to fall between 1.269 & 1.265 OAL, which has worked for me to this day with various RN bullets in .45 ACP. There are some very blunt RN out there that people load shorter.

 

[Walkalong]

45 ACP? Don't "crimp" (especially with a Lee FCD for handguns!). Just use a plain taper rimp die to "deflare" the case. 45 ACP bullets are not held in place with a crimp, neck tension does that, and many new reloadrs ruin their handloads by over rimping. It's difficult to see "enough" crimp so many just keep adding crimp, in fact loosening neck tension and bulging cases.

Yep.

 

[lordpaxman]

Congratulations on starting the addiction!

i took the round and cycled it through my RIA. it worked perfect.

I would recommend you do a plunk test first to determine with the bullet you’re loading and the guns you’ll be shooting this in, to find the max and working COL that you can count on. There are lots of references in this forum.
Also, when you cycle the round, measure it before and after to see what setback (shortening) of the round occurs. That determines if you have sufficient neck tension for holding the bullet in place. Good luck with the new hobby.

 

[BW460]

As a new reloader, the most important thing to learn is to only make up 3 to 5 rounds and then test those in your gun before you make any more. Do NOT make 100 rounds of a new load before you test them. There is little worse than having to pull 99 rounds because the first one wouldn't pass the thunk test!

 

[BJung]

Since you are practicing seating bullets, can I suggest you make a dummy round with each of the bullets you have. After you find it, crimp them hard so the bullet doesn't move. And when you reset your dies in the future, you have a preference point to adjust you dies from.

 

[thunderbyrd]

Do you have a way to pull those back out or do you plan on pouring powder through the flash hole??
I hate seeing people wasting bullets or brass.
A hammer type bullet puller is a good thing to have even for the low volume reloader.

no, AK, i only loaded one round. i don't want to waste these very nice bullets. this was just a "testing the waters" excursion, i was pleased with the outcome.

 

[thunderbyrd]

about crimping: no crimping die comes in this kit. lee has a post on the 'net saying crimping isn't needed in 45 acp. i've looked at the 45 i have and it doesn't seem to be crimped.

after i loaded this round, i took it and pushed it as hard as i could to see if i could dislodge it and it didn't move.

 

[thunderbyrd]

As a new reloader, the most important thing to learn is to only make up 3 to 5 rounds and then test those in your gun before you make any more. Do NOT make 100 rounds of a new load before you test them. There is little worse than having to pull 99 rounds because the first one wouldn't pass the thunk test!

this sounds like excellent advice. i do intend to go very slow, knowing how mistake prone i can be. weighing each finished round is also something i have seen advised that sounds like a good idea.

 

[thunderbyrd]

when i pounded the case into the sizing die, it wouldn't go flush, stopping just a small amount about the width of the case from going all the way down. would this make any difference loading a live round?

 

[Artofgolf]

Merry Christmas to all here at THR

 

[BW460]

There can be a lot of confusion on the term "crimping" when talking about semiauto rounds. No, you do not need to crimp the case mouth into the bullet. But, you do need to remove the bell. After you seat the bullet, using a caliper, measure the diameter of the case at the base of the seated bullet. Then measure the diameter of the case at the mouth. If the mouth is wider, you should use the crimp die to bring it down to the same diameter as the base. This is removing the bell. Then do the plunk test to make sure they chamber in your barrel.

 

[thunderbyrd]

Merry Christmas to all here at THR

yes indeed! Merry Christmas to all!