.45 ACP Test Load results

[EltonMarcelPadia]

Hi, Everyone

I recently started out reloading .45 ACP rounds, and am pleased to report that my first test loads fired perfectly - no jams, no failure-to-feeds, no high pressures and case deformities, and no injury to self or weapon. This has been a journey of discovery and learning, and I'm glad that the learning curve hasn't been too steep. I owe a debt of gratitude to those who helped me along the way, and this post is a small way of giving back. Special thanks to my boss, Mr. Paul Middleton, MD of Ebony and Ivory Advertising for gifting me a set of Lyman AAA All-American Dies for 45 ACP. I hope you find the info educational. For those of you contemplating reloading as a hobby, there are few activities that I can think of that are as rewarding, or as economical as this. On a shoestring, I managed to get a reloading kit with press, powder, bullets, primers, bullet puller, the Lyman 49th edition reloaders handbook - all for R2 800,00 from Kalahari Arms at the Top Crop Centre.

My shopping list comprised the following:
Lee Anniversary Reloading Kit: R1 665,00
Ezypul inertia bullet puller: R194,00
Somchem MS200 Powder: R316,00
CCI 300 Primers [large pistol 100's]: R42,00 each x 2 = R84,00
Lyman Reloaders Handbook (49th Edition): R347,00
Frontier 230g Total Metal Jacket bullets, .451: R236,00 per 200 box
TOTAL, with VAT: R2842,00


I am using locally produced brass by PMP (Pretoria Metal Pressings), and Lyman 3-set pistol dies and a fourth die, which is the Lee Carbide Taper Crimp Die for 45 ACP.

The challenge for me was to replicate the exact factory load. After speaking to the friendly people at Denel, and Frontier Bullets, I was given a loading formula of 5 grains [start grains] with a max of 5.5g with the components I was using. I pulled a PMP 45 Auto round and discovered that there was a tar-sealant coating the brass and bullet on the inside. This made it virtually impossible to pull the round. If you want to pull a PMP tar sealed round, place the round in your seating die and squish the bullet a little into the case to break the seal, then use the bullet puller. I broke my puller from whacking it too hard, lol! Okay, back to reloading. I made a few dummy rounds, 10 in total, and noticed that I was getting setback when I was chambering the round, about 0.05mm each time the round was chambered. Not enough bullet pull holding the bullet in place. Certainly potentially dangerous. The problem wasn't the sizing die - I measured the dimensions, nor was it the expander die. Taper crimping did not solve the problem either. The secret lay in that tar sealant. Discussing my issues with my mate Ben Woodhead at work the next day, he suggested I try Loctite number 2 gasket sealer as it exhibited the identical properties of the sealant that PMP uses. The sealant PMP uses was gummy, did not solidify, created a thin seal and remained this way even after I pulled the round and exposed it to the open air for a week. So does Locktite No 2. Gasket Sealer. So, I applied a thin, 1.5mm deep coating (from the rim towards the head) of tar around the inside neck of the case, about 0.5mm thick all round and let it thicken a bit overnight. I did this after case resizing and primer seating. I then charged the case with 5 grains of powder the next morning, seated the bullet, taper crimped the round lightly and then chambered it. Up to 10 times, from slide lock, from racking the slide and letting it go forward full speed from the magazine, even from putting the round in the chamber and dropping the slide on it. The dimensions of the finished round was 32mm exactly and didn't change at all. Problem solved. At the range, I pitted the factory round against my reload. The reload won hands down in terms of cycling the slide, loading, ejecting. Inspecting the PMP round, I found whole kernels of unburned powder inside the case. The tar they use leaves a white coating around the case. Mine burned off completely. The reloads burned powder completely. The accuracy of the reloads were marginally better. I followed the Lyman reloading procedure for handgun rounds to the letter, just substituted the load and COAL from reliable info from trusted sources to replicate the factory load, which was my initial intent. Comments would be greatly appreciated, questions and/or admonishing, lol!

Respectfully submitted, Elton Padia.

Disclaimer: This is my experience with what I have learned, and tested myself. Yes, it works safely and accurately for me. I do not advocate you do what I did, I am only vouching for the accuracy of information I myself sourced, and the tests that I safely and sanely performed. Due to outside factors, and your reloading style and methods, components, etc, I cannot accept any liability for personal harm or damage to property if you choose to use this info.

[shooter]

Glad it all worked out, great to shoot your own ammo isn't it?

This is the fist time I've heard about the tar keeping the OAL correct. Maybe it's a .45ACP issue?

One other comment, don't put a round in the chamber and release slide. You will damage the extractor.

Thanks for the neat post.

[EltonMarcelPadia]

Hi, Shooter

Thanks for the comment. 100% correct on the chambered round and extractor thing. I was loathed to do it, but did it just once in the name of science, lol!

---------- Post added at 17:45 ---------- Previous post was at 17:31 ----------

Sorry, Shooter, I forgot to address your question about the tar. Here's what I discovered. According to my research, the tar (or bitumen) is used to increase bullet pull on straight wall cases that headspace on the mouth. 9mm, 45 ACP, 357 Mag, and others that feed out a tube mag and the bullets exposed to the recoil forces or feeding forces. Neck tension is what holds the bullet in place, sure, but as an added guarantee, the tar is a great investment. The US military uses the tar as both a sealant against moisture and to improve bullet pull. I've heard of people using tree wound healer too. Same stuff, I suppose, lol.

[shooter]

Ah, OK. It may be that my 9mmP rounds have some setback too, I just don't notice it. I will look into this bitumen for the carry ammo I load.

[Bushboy]

Although Ive never loaded 45 acp, ive seen plenty being loaded and ive loaded a fair amount of 40s&w and have never had a problem with set back. Setback in 40 is a major problem. I have never used anytype of bitumen etc.

[EltonMarcelPadia]

Hi, guys,

Shooter, there's plenty of info on the web. Try 'Bitumen bullet sealer' or 'bullet sealant' - you might get directed to a few forums where you can access info.

Bushboy, thanks for the comment, is there perhaps something you are doing different to overcome the setback problem? If so, please won't you share your tips? Setback is so frustrating - just when you think you have it...you don't. Lol!

[Bushboy]

Elton, im no pistol calibre reloading guru, but I know a bit about rifler calibre reloading and am sure the principles are the same. A good crimp is what prevents set back for me. For my lighter rifle calibres I use very gentle crimping, but for my heavy stuff I use quite a bit of crimp. This is to overcome the set back that can occur during recoil. (The round impacts onto the front of the magazine during recoil) It can also occur when chambering the round aggressivley as you would with a dangerous game cartridge. In my 40, I apply a crimp after bullet seating. So far I havent had the problem. Set back can occur when chambering if your pistol is rough during feeding or if your overall cartridge length causes it to engage rifling on chambering or if they are longer than the magazine and get squashed when loading the mag.

[EltonMarcelPadia]

Bushboy, thank you so much for the info. I've been giving this a lot of thinking, and doing research, but what you say is correct about the taper crimp. I got a Lee Carbide Taper Crimp die and played around with maybe 20 different crimp settings (by turning the taper screw in for progressively deeper crimps), and each time I got setback. I pulled each round to check how much I was actually squashing the bullet, the first time, the indentation was barely there, and then it got deeper until I squished it so hard, the bullet ended up looking like a mushroom, lol! But still, the dreaded setback, lol! So, I have to finally concede that it could be my precious 1911 that's causing kak, lol! You know, I happen to own the only 1911 in the world that is totally flawless, ha, ha, ha! I stripped the gun, and lo and behold, there, just under the barrel hood is an indent that tells me this is where the nose of the round is impacting, and thus, causing the setback. I'm going to fluff and buff that area tonight, and I'm going to give it one more try. I'll post my findings once I do the tests. Thanks for giving me a new perspective.

[Bushboy]

There are some real 1911 aficionados on this site who also load thousands, no, 10s of thousands of rounds and would be better positioned to tell you what is best.

[Paul]

a) Don't bell the hell out of your case mouths so that they stretch,

b) If your brass is so badly cracked that it's not possible to hold the bullet in once crimped it's probably time start thinking about brazing the cracks.

c) Use a proper taper crimp die.