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Lyman 452630

2K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Durango Ranger 
#1 ·
Went to the range Saturday after reloading for my Kimber Pro TLE/RL ll SS .45. Was running with CCI primers, 4.2 grains Bullseye and the Lyman 452630 molded lead bullet.

Had major feeding problems straight out the gate, stove pipes, failure to eject, failure to go into battery, lots of issues. Brass was hitting all over, some right between my eyes, most barely off to the side. Loading only 5 rounds in the 7 round factory mags eliminated the issue and the pistol would run fine. It also shot well fully loaded with factory Blazer range/target ammo.

Not allot of experience at reloading pistol ammo and none for the Kimber, but I suspect that one issue was I loaded too light and should have been more like 4.6 grains. However I want to buy that Lyman mold and am worrying that the shape may have contributed to the feeding issues as it's not a rounded profile and wondering if anybody else has experienced anything like this with that particular profile...
 
#2 ·
What weight is the bullet?
Is the gun new? Have you fired at least 200 rounds through it for "break in?" If not, then you are in "break in" mode and should just keep plugging away.
4.5gn is a normal starting load for 200-230gn lead bullets, with the even lighter loads being for Bullseye competition and require a lighter spring or a very smooth gun (which most new factory guns are NOT) or a rigid wrist (no limp wristing).
Feeding problems should be solved during die set-up. Load a couple of inert "dummy" (no powder or primers in the press). Load bullets to max COL and check if they chamber freely in your gun (for lead bullets, when you remove the case mouth flare/bell, and further seating of the bullet may shave off lead. Remove this lead to ensure that the shaved lead in not interfering with chambering). Find the max COL that fits the magazine and chambers in your barrel (barrel out of gun or use a case gage). Record this number for this particular bullet. Re-assemble gun and load the magazine with these two rounds. Do the feed and chamber? If not, decrease COL in small increments until you find the max COL that does feed and chamber in your gun and record.
You now have a COL that will work in you gun. Load up 10 rounds at this COL. Reduce COL (say 1/2 turn of seating stem down) and load another 10 rounds. Create about 3-5 sets of 10 rounds at different COLs and go to range and see which COLs are best for your gun.
Stove pipes are usually a good sign of a load too light, an extractor problem, or limp wristing. Cases being thrown all over the place can also indicate an extractor problem. If gun is new, call Kimber.
 
#3 ·
Pretty much everything you stated was 'dead nuts on the money'. Being I'm a newbie at loading pistol rounds, I took another shot at it Sunday. Loaded up 200 gr SWC at 4.6 of Bullseye. The Kimber cycled them all great, 100 rounds with nary a hiccup.

I *think* the problem was a cascade of several mistakes on my part (you hit them all) at loading cast bullets, thinking it was just like loading a rifle cartridge. First, I didn't clean them up after seating and had remnants of bullet lube on the casings. I also didn't check the length properly and had them too long, as they weren't properly seated when in battery.

I'm going to load more and back it off to 4.2 again, I'm thinking it will cycle the lighter load just fine. Got a bullet sizer coming in the morning and I'm going to take the cast bullets from 452 to 451 as well. I think by doing that I may be able to increase OAL and still get them in to battery.

My ignorance at casting and loading pistol bullets is hard to hide, but there again, I'll be fun to watch.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I wouldn't size the bullets at all. First, a cast lead bullet should, in general, be at least 0.001" larger than the barrel's groove diameter. You need to slug the barrel to determine the groove diameter. Bullets even 0.003" larger than groove diameter work just fine. I find that 0.002-0.003" is usually better in terms of accuracy.
Also, for .45 Auto, you do not need a hard alloy.
The strange thing, after loading cast bullets for nearly 40 years, is reading Ventorino (sp) shooting linotype bullets at groove diameter in his machine guns. I have never found THAT combination to work well, but he has cast and shot a lot more bullets than I have.
 
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