Is this an issue?

[greenfar0608]

I'm fairly new to reloading and to test out what would work best for me loaded up about 10 rounds of 45 ACP at various powder charges and with 2 different powders.

I used both Hodgdon Titegroup and CFE and loaded a few rounds at each of the charge levels in .1 increments from the lightest load up to the max.

Every reload that I have fired comes out very dirty on one side. The soot seems to wipe away easily so the picture here isn't great but I wanted to see if this is an issue with the case not sealing properly or something I should not worry about. I have never had this issue with any factory brass only my reloads. There is a piece of once fired factory brass in the middle of the fired reloads for comparison.

I have not noticed any other abnormalities on the reloaded brass either when inspecting or while shooting.

Any advice/guidance would be appreciated.

 

[76Too]

Nailed it. It’s not expanding/sealing to the level of your factory ammo. Everything seems to chamber ok? Is this happening with your max charge loads?

 

[greenfar0608]

Everything chambers fine. And everything has cycled fine. Haven't had any rounds not pass the case gauge check. This is happening on the max pressure loads as well as the minimum loads and everything in between.

 

[DW357]

No experience with CFE but I know Titegroup burns super hot and always stains the cases regardless of min or max charges.

I stopped using TG a number of years ago. Works fine and it’s cheap but wasn’t a fan of how hot it burns.

If they cycle your gun fine and shoot well then I wouldn’t worry.

 

[one-eyed Jack]

For .45 you can't go wrong with WW231. Jack.

 

[greencobra]

you think those are dirty? i must be reloading all wrong.

 

[TrashcanDan]

No experience with CFE but I know Titegroup burns super hot and always stains the cases regardless of min or max charges.

I stopped using TG a number of years ago. Works fine and it’s cheap but wasn’t a fan of how hot it burns.

If they cycle your gun fine and shoot well then I wouldn’t worry.

This

For .45 you can't go wrong with WW231. Jack.

And this

So as stated, titegroup burns hot. You'll have to find the "magic number" to eliminate soot, or at least most of it.
Remember, even at "max book charge", 230 gr .45 acp is considered low velocity compared to others like 9 or .40.
I had pretty good luck with 4.6 gr t.g. under 230 gr, at 1.230 i think? play around with the o.a.l.

No experience with c.f.e.

Win 231/ HP 38 is probably the best stuff I've used for .45, outside of the v.v. stuff which can be tough to find.
Clays is some good stuff too, or it used to be. You'll see references between "austrailian clays" and "canadian clays" on the ever knowing and always snarky interwebs.

 

[drgrant]

Titegroup pretty much sucks in .45 ACP for trying to make a full power round... even at a max charge it won't get the bullet moving fast enough to reach commercial spec .45, and the hilarious part is when firing it "feels" like the load is powerful but it really isn't going fast over the chrono. Save it for other calibers like 9mm.

Another thing- titegroup does not like "limp wrist" crimps, either, loose crimps might cause issues as well.

-Mike

 

[greenfar0608]

you think those are dirty? i must be reloading all wrong.

Dirty compared to factory brass yes. More just wanted to make sure there was not too much gas blowing by and potentially causing damage or excessive wear to the firearm.

 

[greenfar0608]

Titegroup pretty much sucks in .45 ACP for trying to make a full power round... even at a max charge it won't get the bullet moving fast enough to reach commercial spec .45, and the hilarious part is when firing it "feels" like the load is powerful but it really isn't going fast over the chrono. Save it for other calibers like 9mm.

Another thing- titegroup does not like "limp wrist" crimps, either, loose crimps might cause issues as well.

-Mike

Thanks. That was one of the other areas I thought may be an issue and will tighten up the crimp and see how that goes. From what I was able to find it seemed like the consensus was don't worry about crimp too much as long as it passes the case gauge test.

 

[greenfar0608]

Thanks for the recommendation on the WW231 from both. Will try and pick some of that up in the near future and see how that goes. These were all loaded to a 1.250 OAL so I may try seating them a little deeper along with a tighter crimp

 

[jek]

I've been loading .45 ACP with a 230 gr RN over ~6.0 grains of CFE Pistol for quite a while. I see a broad range of case "staining" as you call it. As long as the gun cycles fine don't worry about it.

 

[jek]

These were all loaded to a 1.250 OAL

What projectile are you using? In the load I mention above, I load to a COAL of 1.210".

 

[EddieCoyle]

Don't tighten up the crimp. It won't do anything. If the round gages, it's crimped enough.

 

[mac1911]

I dont know if this matters much but measure unfired factory brass vs your reloads after you finish reloading a case. Are there any differences in the case measurements anywhere on the case?

Also I was thinking about this the other day.... If your cartridge case length is short vs factory that may or may not have a longer case length will this have a impact on case expansion/gas blow by?

My 45 cases will split long before I get to max of .898 BUT I decided to cast up a new SWC mold I picked up. Dusted off the 1911 and ...had some issues, I never have problems with this gun. What did I change ? The brass.
I measured the cases and they where really short. .886-.888"
I dug out some older brass I used in this pistol with no problems and it comes in at .894" at the shortest out of the handful I tested. I loaded some of these cases and no issues??

Now if your 45 acp brass is really short will this effect how much gas can blow by ?
I use clays and its dirty to begin with but I dont get a lot of "case" blackening far back on the case. just around the mouth.
other than a little fouling and a few miss feeds I thought it shot well.

 

[radioman]

I’ve reloaded 1000’s of rounds os 45acp
using Unique. My favorite pistol/shotgun
powder. Never had a problem. Also seems
to burn rather clean.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

Try some clays powder. I’ve found it to be super clean.
Having said that don’t worry about the soot. Just tumble the brass and it’s clean again

 

[mac1911]

Try some clays powder. I’ve found it to be super clean.
Having said that don’t worry about the soot. Just tumble the brass and it’s clean again

Thats funny , I been loading with clays a long time. i get a pretty good amount of fouling on case mouths and muzzles...but barrels tend to be clean??

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

Thats funny , I been loading with clays a long time. i get a pretty good amount of fouling on case mouths and muzzles...but barrels tend to be clean??

I mainly use it in 38 special with wadcutters so I’m sure that helps. I’ve used it in 9mm also with good clean results.

 

[greenfar0608]

They are 230gr RN bullets. Going to seat them a little deeper and hopefully that increases the pressure to create a better seal.

Won't worry about increasing the crimp.

I couldn't care less from the aesthetic aspect just as long aren't going to cause premature wear on the firearm or cause a safety issue.

Thanks to all for the input. Hopefully I will get some time this weekend in the reloading room.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

They are 230gr RN bullets. Going to seat them a little deeper and hopefully that increases the pressure to create a better seal.

Won't worry about increasing the crimp.

I couldn't care less from the aesthetic aspect just as long aren't going to cause premature wear on the firearm or cause a safety issue.

Thanks to all for the input. Hopefully I will get some time this weekend in the reloading room.

Don’t seat them deeper.
That increases pressure really fast! Sootiness is part of the process. Don’t worry.

 

[jek]

This is from the Hodgdon site for .45 ACP using a 230 gr lead RN:

Set your sights on pistol reloading data | Hodgdon Reloading

I went a little longer than recommended when I did max loads using data from the Hornady manual which has higher max charge when using a jacketed bullet. I use Hitek coated bullets which can handle jacketed bullet loads. I never adjusted the length when I lowered the charge since there have been no issues.

ETA: not sure why but the load data link doesn’t paste. You can find it by plugging in the info in the above link.