.45ACP leading, can't find the sweet spot...

I'm still trying to get rid of the leading with my .45ACP loads for my 1911. I'm using 200gr Lee SWC (tumble lube style bullet) cast from air cooled clip-on WW. They measure (with a micrometer) to .453" and my bore slugs at .451". I've made double sure that my cases are expanded enough and aren't shaving lead, and that my taper crimp die is only taking the bell off the case and I'm not using any sort of lee crimp dies. I'm loading on a Dillon square deal.

First I was tumble lubing the bullets, and water dropping them, and loading them over 4.2gr Bullseye. That was leading the grooves in the first inch of the barrel after the chamber, pretty heavily, after just 21 rounds fired. I learned that there's no good reason to water drop bullets (to about 18BHN) for .45ACP because bullets around BHN9 are about ideal for 13,000psi chamber pressure.

So I cast some and air cooled them (I figure they should be about 12BHN?) because I don't have any pure lead to alloy down to anything softer.

I loaded up more, but this time with 4.5gr Bullseye, and they leaded a little less but still pretty bad, and right after the chamber again.

So I figured maybe the Lee liquid Alox is just not cutting it, and I pan lubed them with some home made beeswax/vaseline (50/50 mix) lube. With the same 4.5gr Bullseye load they leaded only very slightly less.

So I read that a bunch of people run 5.0gr Bullseye behind a 200gr SWC bullet cast from WW for IPDA, and that it didn't lead (no mention of lube type though). So I loaded up some of these but rather than pan lubing again I just tumble lubed them. After 21 shots the whole bore was leaded worse than I've ever seen, even on the top of the rifling lands. Is this just a flat out lube failure of the liquid alox?

So any ideas on where to go from here? Is the Lee liquid alox insufficient and the beeswax/vaseline lube I mixed also inadequate? Should I try another lube? I have HP-38 powder, would switching to that do any good? Is my alloy still too hard for .45ACP?

I can't imagine it being a bullet size issue, I'm already .002" over groove diameter and I've checked pulled bullets and they are not being sized down during loading and they drop into the chamber easily.

Still haven't figured out the leading problem with my .40S&W either, although I was hoping .45ACP would be easier to solve since it's supposed to be an "easy" cast bullet cartridge to load.

Boolit Man Join DateJan 2012LocationNE OHIOPosts87

I was having the same issues. Went back to .452 per several members suggestions. Try setting you aol to just see the rifling engraving the shoulder of the bullet after chambering a round. Im running 1.255 with my Lee 200 LSWC. I seat so that when I drop a round in the barrel the round is .005-.010 proud of the back of the barrel.

.45ACP is an easy cartridge to cast and load for.

Just exploring ideas.
As a curiosity, how large a boolit can you seat and still drop test it into your chamber. Anything over .452 won't chamber fully on my Kimber, even when pressing with my thumb.
If you have an exceptionally large chamber, perhaps the boolits aren't aligned with the center of the bore and are skidding on firing.

Do your boolits measure .453 in both directions (on the part line and 90 degrees from the part line)? What do you measure, (the base band, the front driving band, the middle tumble lube area)?

Instead of tumble lubing with straight Alox, try the 45-45-10 lube that Recluse came up with. Many have used it with success when they have failed with Alox.

OK, reaching way out to left field. Could there be copper fouling in the beginning of the barrel that is galling the lead to cause the leading? Might point back to an over-sized chamber and my first point.

Add 2 % tin to your WW alloy (3.2 oz to 10 lbs WW alloy) and AC the bullets 7-10 days before use. Get a Lee .451 or .452 sizer. After the bullets age harden the 7 - 10 days as per the Lee directions TL well and let dry over night (24 hours). Size in the Lee ,451 or .452. Then TL again and let dry at least 24 hours. Load over 5 gr Bullseye.

Larry Gibson

Try 5.5-5.6 gr of HP38 (same as W231) under that boolit. .452 diam should be good.

Bill

If it was easy, anybody could do it.

I think I wouldn't go quite that high with the 231.
5.0 is bout where I am usually at when I use it.
you could slow the powder down and see if that helps.
you could also pull a boolit from a loaded round and see what you are really putting in the chamber.
Dillon dies are jaxketed bullet designed.
you might just need to back a few things off.

it's all an educated guess,,,, till the trigger is pulled.

the more i find out about shootin boolits, the more it contradicts everything i ever learned about shooting jaxketed.

Some years ago I had the same leading problem in both my 1911's. My boolit fit was perfect, my boolits measures 10-12 BHN which according to the old hands here was just about right. It was also preached here that the taper crimp should be between 0.469 - 0.470, not more, on inspection I found mine to be much more, adjusted the crimping die out to the correct setting as above....and all my leading was gone in both pistols.
Just thought I would mention this here....

Boolit Bub Join DateApr 2010LocationTwin Cities, MNPosts28

If you are getting leading at the breech, the alloy is too hard for the application. Leading at the muzzle indicates the alloy is too soft for the application. The 45 is a very low pressure cartridge compared to .40, 9 mm, the revolver mags and such. Decades ago Speer ( and probably others ) used to sell swaged bullets for .38 target use. Velocity would be similar to .45 and they were pure lead.
I have one 1911 that is very sensitive to alloy hardness, Phillipine made ( read: cheap ). Probably needs to be fire lapped. But it works great with minimal leading if I use very soft bullets, softer than WW.
I'm not one for tumble lubing, prefer stronger lubes like LBT blue. I wouldn't bet on the tumble lubes holding up under higher pressure like the .40 S&W.
A buddy showed me a quick way to get the leading out. Wrap 0000 steel wool around an undersized brush until very snug in barrel; push it thru 6-10 times and you are good to go. On the cheap barrels it cleans out the crud quick and I'm not worried about wear / damage. Better barrels and fire lapped barrels won't have this problem assuming the lube holds up.

Boolit Master Join DateJun 2008Posts750

The front shoulder of the front drive band may be "snagging" on the abrupt end of the chamber if the leade into the rifling is also abrupt.

prs

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Abbreviations used in Reloading
Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt"

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