Loading .45 ACP

[IM391]

A friend is loading .45 ACP for the first time, though he loads a lot of rifle calibers, and he has noticed a slight bulge right at the case mouth of a couple of thousanths of a inch. Is this normal or what? He's loading 230gr FMJ.

 

[beatledog7]

Is this in a finished round? Sized round?

If it's a loaded round, did he apply taper crimp? If not, that is probably why he has a bulge.

Do the rounds chamber?

 

[Blue68f100]

Sounds like he is not use a TC die to remove the expanding for seating the bullet. If he is doing seating and crimping in the same stage/die he needs to re adj his die. First make sure the seater crimp die is Taper Crimp and not Roll crimp. With the OAL correct back the seater plug out a couple of turns and starting running the die body down in 1/8 turns till it goes away. Lock the collar then run the seeter back down till you contact the bullet and lock it in place. Confirm every thing is right by using your barrel for the drop test. Then see if it feeds ok. If good your set to roll......

 

[Old Grumpy]

Depending on just where the "bulge" is makes a difference. When i load 230gr FMJ I can see a slight "bulge" at the base of the bullet even after running the round through a FCD. The case wall thickness plus the bullet diameter is larger than the resized case so you can see a bulge. Do a plunk test with a dummy round and see if it drops easily into the chamber (flush or slightly below flush with the barrel hood) and then drops out just as easily. If they do this the "bulge is not a problem. Some times what the eye tells you can deceive you.

It's an "optical illusion" caused by lack of shooting.

 

[BWB]

He says "right at the case mouth" which means the flare is not being removed. As recommended above, taper crimp die properly adjusted to give a diameter of .470" at the case mouth of a loaded round. Problems will disappear if all else is correct.