First batch of 45 ACP

[RooftopKorean]

Got bored so I figured no better time than to start reloading a new caliber.

I've had the dies for quite sometime, recently purchased primers, brass, and bullets. Decided for the first to around, single stage was the way to go.

Made (100) for my first batch.

• Assorted once fired brass (small primer pocket) - Speer, Federal, Blazer, FC.
• Aguila small pistol primers
• 4.5gr HP-38
• 230gr jacketed bullets

 

[RooftopKorean]

 

[Darth]

Now chrono and report.

 

[Defilade]

Show a pic of your reload station. What press are ya using?

 

[RooftopKorean]

Now chrono and report.

I don't own a Chrono. Maybe in the future I will invest in one.

 

[FP1201]

I know manufacturers have gone to Small Pistol Primers for .45acp but it just ain't right!
4.5gr is kinda light, should net ~800fps. If you're using a 1911 you might have to drop from the 16lb. spring to one around 12 pounds.
Have you tried any yet?

 

[Zerex]

Make sure they chamber......... a wilson case gage is quite necessary for the caliber.

I once loaded 200 45ACP,.........went to a match, none would chamber.

I use a case gage, and a loose barrel on the bench, to make sure each 45 reload actually chambers.

Happens.

 

[RooftopKorean]

Make sure they chamber......... a wilson case gage is quite necessary for the caliber.

I once loaded 200 45ACP,.........went to a match, none would chamber.

I use a case gage, and a loose barrel on the bench, to make sure each 45 reload actually chambers.

Happens.

I don't own a case gauge for 45 ACP yet, so I took the striker out of my Glock 21 and checked some at random while I was loading to make sure it would load and eject.

I know manufacturers have gone to Small Pistol Primers for .45acp but it just ain't right!
4.5gr is kinda light, should net ~800fps. If you're using a 1911 you might have to drop from the 16lb. spring to one around 12 pounds.
Have you tried any yet?

I was going based on what the Lee reloading manual 2nd edition had listed, it said 4.0gr minimum with 5.2gr maximum load, so I picked something in the middle.

 

[RooftopKorean]

Show a pic of your reload station. What press are ya using?

I have a three-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, so I converted the smallest one into a "gun/hobby room", wife was less than pleased but it keeps all my crap in one place.

I have three presses at the moment, and they all share the Inline Fabrications Ultramount.

• Lee Load Master progressive
• Lee Classic single stage
• Lee Load-All II (for shot shells)

Most of my dies are Lee but I have some RCBS peppered in there.

Powder drops I have:

• Lee Autodisk (mounted to my progressive)
• RCBS Competition Pro w/ bench mount
• RCBS Charge master
• FA Powder trinkler

I have a myriad of reloading tools/toys:

• RCBS handheld case prep tools
• Hornady Case prep trio
• Hornady Digital scale
• Hornady bullet puller die
• FA hammer style bullet puller
• FA dry tumbler
• Lyman Universal case trimmer
• Lee 4lb smelting pot
• Lee 1oz key drive 12ga slug mod (thanks Repete!)
• Lee 690 round ball mold
• Husky digital calipers
• Harbor Freight bench vice
• Various case gauges

It's a small space, but I find that being well organized and keeping my workspace neat makes it manageable.



A small Pringles can with the front cut out a bit makes the perfect receptacle to catch the spent primers. Old Chinese food soup containers to hold bullets when they aren't in boxes.

For case lube I use a mixture of lanolin and 99% isopropyl alcohol in a glass spray bottle (I forgot who here recommended this and gave the mixture ratio).

The top of the gun safe is loaded with MTM cases full of reloads.

 

[Far king]

I don't own a case gauge for 45 ACP yet, so I took the striker out of my Glock 21 and checked some at random while I was loading to make sure it would load and eject.



I was going based on what the Lyman reloading manual had listed, it said 4.0gr minimum with 5.2gr maximum load, so I picked something in the middle.

You don’t need a case gauge.
Just remove the barrel and drop the loaded round in the chamber.
It should fit freely, compare it with how a factory round fits and if it’s the same you’re golden.
Overall length and lack of sufficient bullet crimp are your issues here.
Oh btw make sure your primers are seated to the bottom of the cases primer pocket especially with a striker fired gun . I once had some high primers in a G 21 and I had unreliable ignition.
A striker has a much softer hit than say , a hammer fired 1911 and the primers were merely pushed forward with hardly a dent , while a 1911 will drive it home and set it off.
Happy handloading . I’m sure you will find it rewarding and therapeutic!

 

[Far king]

Nice setup you have. Did not realize you weren’t new to reloading as I was pecking out my reply as you posted the pictures .

 

[RooftopKorean]

Nice setup you have. Did not realize you weren’t new to reloading as I was pecking out my reply as you posted the pictures .

Started a few years ago and quickly dove into the rabbit hole and learned from many people here.

This was my first handgun load.

Been loading:

5.56/223
300 bo
303 brit
300 win mag
308 win
338 lm
45-70
458 socom
500 Beowulf
6.5 cm
6.5 swede
7.5 french
7.5 swiss
7.62x39
7.62x54r
8mm mauser
12ga slug

Going to start reloading
45 gap
357 mag
357 sig
9mm

 

[RooftopKorean]

Overall length and lack of sufficient bullet crimp are your issues here.

The length is fine, I ran through all my brass with a trimmer just to make sure. I was on the fence about crimping them. I heard that some you may not need to unless you are using 45 ACP bullet which are .452 in diameter to ensure that the cartridge inserts without issues.

 

[RooftopKorean]

I know manufacturers have gone to Small Pistol Primers for .45acp but it just ain't right!
4.5gr is kinda light, should net ~800fps.

Lee manual 2nd edition says:

HP-38 for 230gr Jacketed Bullets
Starting grains 4.2
Velocity 751

Never exceed 5.3
Velocity 832

Are they just quoting lower to play it safe? I do know that 230gr is rather heavy since my factory rounds are 185gr.

I do have a mess of 45 ACP brass I picked up at the range and factory ammo that use large primers, so eventually I'll have to get large primers. For now, small primers are what I'm using since the once fired 45 ACP and 45 GAP brass I purchased both have small pockets.

If you're using a 1911 you might have to drop from the 16lb. spring to one around 12 pounds.
Have you tried any yet?

The only 1911 I own is a Kimber Pro Raptor II. I may eventually pick up an Auto Ordnance "Fly Girls" 1911.

 

[Far king]

The length is fine, I ran through all my brass with a trimmer just to make sure. I was on the fence about crimping them. I heard that some you may not need to unless you are using 45 ACP bullet which are .452 in diameter to ensure that the cartridge inserts without issues.

While it’s not necessary to crimp most rifle rounds it is imperative to crimp pretty much all pistol rounds.
Whoever told you it’s not is full of shit!
you don’t want that bullet to be pushed back into the case when it slams into the feed ramp which will increase the chamber pressure.
Factory rounds which are also crimped
will get bullet setback after several chamberings and those factory crimps are quite tight.
Revolver cartridges have a separate issue and that is the bullets moving forward in the
Cylinder from recoil and tying the cylinder up . You will probably have to send the gun to a smith to open the cylinder.

 

[RooftopKorean]

While it’s not necessary to crimp most rifle rounds it is imperative to crimp pretty much all pistol rounds.
Whoever told you it’s not is full of shit!
you don’t want that bullet to be pushed back into the case when it slams into the feed ramp which will increase the chamber pressure.
Factory rounds which are also
will get bullet setback after several chamberings and those factory crimps are quite tight.
For God’s sake crimp your loads !
It’s very fundamental.

Thanks for the information. I had no idea that it was imperative to crimp pistol loads. Looks like I'll have to buy crimp die.

Glad I decided to post my pistol load here.

 

[Far king]

Thanks for the information. I had no idea it that was that imperative to crimp pistol loads. Looks like I'll have to buy crimp die.

Glad I decided to post my pistol load here.

The seating die is also a crimping die . The amount of crimp is determined by how much the die body is screwed down. Back off the bullet seater and screw the die down a little at a time until you achieve the crimp you want . You don’t want to be so tight that it deforms the projectile but enough that it takes several wacks in your kinetic bullet puller before it moves.

 

[RooftopKorean]

The seating die is also a crimping die . The amount of crimp is determined by how much the die body is screwed down. Back off the bullet seater and screw the die down a little at a time until you achieve the crimp you want . You don’t want to be so tight that it deforms the projectile but enough that it takes several wacks in your kinetic bullet puller before it moves.

Odd... Well I did the bullet seating the same way I've done my rifle cartridges. I took a factory load, put it in the seating die.

Put the factory cartridge in, screwed down the bullet seating die, let it the carrier go up to meet tension, lowered the carrier and did a half turn on the bullet seater of the die. COAL was in spec but I didn't see a pronounced crimp.

 

[Far king]

Odd... Well I did the bullet seating the same way I've done my rifle cartridges. I took a factory load, put it in the seating die.

Put the factory cartridge in, screwed down the bullet seating die, let it the carrier go up to meet tension, lowered the carrier and did a half turn on the bullet seater of the die. COAL was in spec but I didn't see a pronounced crimp.

Odd... Well I did the bullet seating the same way I've done my rifle cartridges. I took a factory load, put it in the seating die.

Put the factory cartridge in, screwed down the bullet seating die, let it the carrier go up to meet tension, lowered the carrier and did a half turn on the bullet seater of the die. COAL was in spec but I didn't see a pronounced crimp.

Went down to my loading room and checked one of my seat/ crimp dies to make sure I didn’t miss anything and yes , how l described it is correct. Screw that die down and go ahead and screw the seater pug out completely so there is no way you can seat the bullet deeper then screw the die down until it stops against the case mouth with the ram up . Now turn the die down incrementally ( with the ram down) .
Put the ram up again with your loaded cartridge in it and you should actually feel as the case mouth crimps the bullet . Remember to turn the die a little at a time as a little goes a long way

 

[RooftopKorean]

Drop tested all the reloads in the barrel of my Glock 21, no issues slipping in and no, zero friction.

I ran them through the seating die again for food measure.

 

[dsdmmat]

Lee makes a factory crimp die. I seat and crimp as separate steps, but I use a progressive press to load pistol.

 

[RooftopKorean]

Lee makes a factory crimp die. I seat and crimp as separate steps, but I use a progressive press to load pistol.

I didn't want to use my progressive press the first time around loading a new caliber. I've always been this way.

 

[Far king]

I didn't want to use my progressive press the first time around loading a new caliber. I've always been this way.

Have you been able to crimp those reloads of yours? Since you are using a single stage press it is easier to play around with adjusting the dies than a progressive machine with everything sorta crammed together.
Back in 85 I bought my 1st colt government model , an RCBS single stage press, and a set of Lee 45 auto dies ( still have them all )
Two years later I ordered a Dillon square deal and was able to spend more time shooting and less time loading.
By the early 90s I immersed myself in IPSC competition and that Dillon press allowed me to pump out the thousands of rounds l needed for matches and training.
Almost 40 years and many thousands of rounds later l say I’ve picked up a thing or two with regards to handloading various handgun and rifle cartridges .
A couple of thoughts on loading pistol rounds.

i never trim straight wall pistol cartridges. It’s a waste of time and many calibers like the 45 actually shrink in length after several reloads . Get on any serious loading forum and you’ll hear the same thing.
With semi auto cases I don’t bother sorting by head stamp or go by anyone’s recommendations as to the number of times I can load them before they should be trashed. For plinking or shooting steel targets etc I load em till they split. With revolvers it’s till they don’t extract from the chambers easily or spit and this goes for my Freedom Arms 454 , Redhawk 45 colt or my S&W 44 or 41 mags
For serious work such hunting I do use new or once fired brass .
Primer pockets , don’t clean them and never had an issue .
Straight wall cases l never lube them if the dies are carbide .
Top end magnum loads with heavy bullets I seat the projectile and use a very heavy crimp ln 2 separate stages. Try to do that in one stage and you’ll buckle the case .
Cheers

 

[Darth]

A striker has a much softer hit than say , a hammer fired 1911 and the primers were merely pushed forward with hardly a dent , while a 1911 will drive it home and set it off.

Do you have any data on this? That doesn't seem like a thing.

 

[dsdmmat]

Do you have any data on this? That doesn't seem like a thing.

Sounds like the primers were not fully seated.

 

[Darth]

Sounds like the primers were not fully seated.

I doubt hammer vs. striker made any difference. Had a revolver behave the same way.

 

[Far king]

Do you have any data on this? That doesn't seem like a thing.

No I don’t have any data on that other than the fact that it is obvious the mass of a hammer being propelled by a large leaf spring is much more powerful than a tiny coil spring used in a striker fired weapon.

 

[Far king]

Sounds like the primers were not fully seated.

Yes they were high primers as I said and they functioned fine in my 1911s.

 

[Darth]

No I don’t have any data on that other than the fact that it is obvious the mass of a hammer being propelled by a large leaf spring is much more powerful than a tiny coil spring used in a striker fired weapon.

It's really not obvious though. The hammer transfers the inertia it can to a firing pin of similar mass of a striker. I imagine the mass and velocity of both the firing pin and striker are very similar at the point of ignition.

I mean my Mosin Nagant is technically striker fired and look at what those set off...

 

[Xae289]

Looks good. You have way too nice of a reloading room to not have a chronograph.