.45 ACP Issue?

[JonnyHawes]

Hey all,

Recently took the dive into reloading, and I've been starting with my .45 ACP, as it has lots of room for error for me to work with

Brass is once fired Winchester HP from Walmart
CCI Large Pistol Primer
Ramshot ZIP Powder, 5.4 grains
Pistol is/was S&W 1911

Anyways, my first batch turned out great, no issues at all.
My second batch gave me some brass "flack" in the chamber, out the barrel, and inside a few of the brass cases. Some were worse than others, but still noticeable.

Questions being:
1. Is this bad? (I assume yes)
2. What is causing it?
3. What do I need to change to fix it?

 

[The Mechanic]

Re: .45 ACP Issue?

Need a little more info. Are you talking about flakes from the nickel plated brass? Shavings or slivers of brass? Copper bullet shavings?
if nickel change brass
if shavings of brass check for sharp edges at the ramp
if copper from bullet check for sharp edges at ramp and feed area

Cycle some loaded cases without powder, remove and check what is getting scraped if you are having issues diagnosing this

 

[JonnyHawes]

Re: .45 ACP Issue?

No sir, not nickel plated brass. Definately appears to be more like brass shavings. Does not appear to be from the bullet at all.

The shavings are all over the whole chamber, and sometimes actually inside the ejected casing. The actual amount varies from a noticeable amount to none at all.

Bullets are the Rainer 200g PRN

 

[The Mechanic]

Re: .45 ACP Issue?

Like I said I would clean it real well and load up some rounds without powder. Chamber and eject cases. You should be able to see where it is coming from. A little felt pen all over the whole case and bullet should help also.

 

[Whiskey Tango Foxtrot]

Re: .45 ACP Issue?

plated bullets maybe?
I noticed the same thing using plated 230 rn

 

[gunsnjeeps]

Re: .45 ACP Issue?

Are you over crimping the bullet? You could be cutting through the plating and scraping it off at the case mouth when it fires. Light taper crimp and look for burrs on the case mouth.

 

[JonnyHawes]

Re: .45 ACP Issue?

I like your theory Gunsnjeeps, with my first batch this definitely could have been the case, as I applied a heavy crimp with the Lee Factory Crimp Die.

But on my 2nd batch, I gave it just a kiss of crimping, and it seemed to fare worse than the first batch.

Could definitely be the plated bullets thoug

 

[RADcustom]

Re: .45 ACP Issue?

Did you ever find the problem?

You might want to adjust your die that bells the mouth of the case before you seat the bullet. Give it a little more so the case mouth doesn't shave anything off the bullet during seating.

 

[JonnyHawes]

Re: .45 ACP Issue?

Sorry, I meant to post my answer to this topic weeks ago and forgot! haha

All other things constant, it was actually the powder I was using. Ramshot Zip to be specific. It was giving me terrible flack out of the barrel, blown back in to my face, and leaving junk in the chamber.

I changed nothing on any of my dies, same brass, same bullets, etc. Switched to a bottle of Hodgdon Clays I had laying around, not a single problem. Heck its even cleaner too! haha