.45 auto reloading
about a year ago i bought a springfield 1911 and a box of shells and a bunch of brass to reload. when i came to start reloading the only slugs i could find were 250 gr .452 lead slugs which i was told were for a .45 lc and would not work for a ACP. so i went ahead and reloaed them anyways thinking how much difference could there be between .452 and .451 since i could not find any load data for a .45 acp in a 250 gr slug i just backed off on powder. well make a long story short they shoot fine in my springfield but when i gave some to my buddy who shoots a kimber they jam up. they wont feed at all in the gun. not a one will go through his gun. i took the ammo home and tried it in my gun thinkin there is somthing wrong with this ammo and they shoot fine. could this be because of the .001 differnce in slug dia? or are kimbers made with that much tighter tolerances? the dimentions of my ammo are the same as a factory round that shoots fine in his kimber. any ideas would be helpful to why his gun can tell the difference between store ammo and mine.
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First off: shooting a cast bullet slightly oversize is normal. In fact, 1/1000" over bore diameter is the standard.
Second: Nominal diameter for the .45 colt is .454 so a cast bullet for THAT gun would run .455. It is doubtful your bullets were made for the .45 colt, or if they were, they were undersized.
Finally: Nothing wrong with a 250 gr bullet in a .45 acp at all.
Now, why they wouldn't chamber in yoru pal's gun- could be a number of things. I'd start by looking at the throat in his barrel vs. yours. Odds are the bullets weren't seated deeply enough for his gun. 1/1000" isn't (shouldn't) give any problems with chambering though I suppose you never know. Also, the profile of the bullet might not feed well; I have a 1911 that is real finicky about feeding certain bullets if they aren't round nose 230 grainers.
Lots of things it could be. I'd start by letting his slide slam on a dummy round (no powder/primers) and see if the bullet engraves the rifling on chambering. If so, the OAL is your issue. Go from there.0 -
1. Standard .45 ACP cast bullet diameter is .452", you are ok there.
2. Kimber advertises "match chambers" which usually means undersize.
3. There is some difference between your reloads and factory loads even if you can't find it.
Either you have bearing surface far enough above the case mouth to hit the Kimber's rifling or that long heavy bullet is seating down into the inside taper of the brass and expanding it too big for the tight Kimber chamber.
I hope you guessed right when you "just backed off on powder." A 250 grain bullet is heavy for the auto and takes up a lot of powder space.0 -
For what its worth, .45LC shoots .454 bullets. .45ACP takes .452 bullets. So .452 bullets are totally appropriate for a .45ACP gun.
In any case, there is basically no way that 0.001" plus or minus in a cast lead bullet is going to make any different in feeding in any normal gun.
The issue almost certainly has to do with the geometry of the barrel throat, shape and overall length of the bullets in the gun that's jamming, rather than the diameter of the bullets.
In a nutshell, while some 1911s will run nearly anything (particularly *if they have frame mounted feed ramps or throated barrels*), many of them will choke on just about anything OTHER than plain ball ammo.
As Tomcat suggested, you might be able to get these bullets to feed appropriately in your friends gun by reducing their overall length. Just be careful, since doing that is a good way to increase operating pressures, and can lead to problems of the "boom" kind if exaggerated.0 -
Try seating the bullets to 1.250 OAL and see if they feed in the Kimber. 0 -
ok i dont wanna come off as a smart aleck, but if you look at the hornady manual for a .45 acp slug dia it says ".451" if you look for a .45 colt it says ".452" and the slugs i purchased say
45 Long Colt .452 so i went back to 2 sporting goods stores and a gunsmith shop and all 5 guys told me that yes the .452 is for the colt and the .451 is the auto. so if what you guys are telling me is also true with regards to l.c. using the .454 dia slug whats the reason for .451 .452 .454 what the hells the difference between .003" in any of the slugs? i know my problems between the 2 pistols probably with in the tolerences of each an perhaps with the seating deapth of the slugs but now im wondering whats with all the diffent slug dia? and why i cant find in any of my load data that calls for a .454
so please no one take this the worng way as to me being a smart aleck im just tryin to figure this out and get the most info on the topic as people want to share.
thanks agian everyone!!
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One more time, regardless of the store clerks:
The usual bullet diameters for .45 ACP are .451" jacketed, .452" cast, but you may see other sizes. A thousandth of an inch makes little difference, I have some .452" full jacketed bullets and they shoot fine. I also have some cast bullets at come out .4525" due to wear on the lubrisizer dies. They will shoot just as well IF the loaded round will chamber.
MODERN .45 Colt bullet diameter is usually shown as .452" for both jacketed and cast. The .454" number you see so often goes back to black powder days and they haven't made any barrels that big in probably 50 years. The chambers will still take a round loaded with a .454" bullet and it will swage down as it goes through the cylinder and barrel with no trouble.
Your problem, or your friend's, is that you are using that long heavy revolver bullet that the tight chamber of his Kimber won't accept.
I don't furnish reloads to others anyhow. Surprising how fast a friend can find a lawyer if you wreck his gun.0 -
I reload for 45 ACP semi autos and for various 45 ACP/AR revolvers and have a variety of bullets for each. I believe this is a bullet design issue & a seating issue and not a bullet diameter issue. The leading edge of the bullet is most likely striking the shoulder of the chamber on the Kimber. My suggestion would be shoot up what you have and since you have a reloading manual, in general stick to bullets and cartridge dimensions specified.
I still load a H & G 265 grain semiwadcutter in my old Detonics, it's the only ACP semi I've used that feeds a Keith style bullet. Some bullets just work in some guns, don't work in others.0 -
What the guys said above is correct. I cast my own bullets and bullet molds are .452. The problem maybe the crimp. My 45 takes alot of crimp, especialy since I installed a wilson combat comp barrel. The tighter chamber will feed better with a tighter crimp. Bullet design maybe a factor if your barrel is unramped.(round nose only). If you have a ramped barrel the bullet shape should not be as much of a factor. 0
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