Reloading question

**Wedge32legman** · June 26th, 2020, 07:36 AM

So is there a fix for that? It makes sense that this is the issue, every mag I can get two into fine then the third gets tight and no more. Anything that can be done ? I hate to lose that many boxes of ammo

**Delkal** · June 26th, 2020, 11:37 AM

Put one round in a mag and push it down with the back of a pencil. See where it is getting jammed up. It should be easy to reseat the bullet a little deeper as long as you didn't give it a crimp of death when you loaded it (and can have a die and press). But you don't want to do this if you were already at a max load since pressures might increase.

It doesn't sound like you did any load development at all. NEVER load 500 of anything without making sure it functions. Load 50 max. As for the spec OAL it is just a recommendation for the load data they published. I have seen cases where the spec OAL was too long for firearms with a short throat. And you can't take the OAL of one HP bullet and think another brand will have the same length. That is why you determine a length that is best for your mag and chamber then work up the powder charge starting at -10%.

If all else fails load 2 rounds in each mag and start practicing your speed mag changing drills.

**Wedge32legman** · June 26th, 2020, 05:11 PM

Like I said in the orig post I check every tenth round for oal and they were good, I can place any round in the mag and use a pencil all the way to the bottom of the mag no issues at all, I can do the same with two, once I get the third it’s stiiff and the forth is the last I can get in, what seems to be happening it the top of the mag follower is tilting down in the back I checked the spring and it’s installed correctly. But where they jam is right where the mag release notch is, if I pull out the forth round the third stays stuck down inside the mag till I tap it on my hand or squeeze the mag hard. I guess I could have been looking at the wrong data for the wrong bullet, the loads were all minimum or starting loads just for target practice, I got a deal on the hollow or truncated rounds for the same price as roundball.

**Delkal** · June 26th, 2020, 05:37 PM

Checking every round for a correct OAL is worthless if you never determined if the OAL was correct in the first place. It sounds like you got a deal on some HP bullets and used the published OAL for another bullet. You can't do that.

Are the rounds touching the front an back of the magazine and is the OAL longer than your RN loads that do function? But realize even if they are the same length a HP design will have more surface area of the bullet exposed and the wide tip of the hollow point could be giving you problems in your mag. The edge of the wide HP is probably what is binding on the mag release notch With a RN its just the very tip of a smooth bullet that can touch the front of the magazine and by the time you get to the clip latch cutout area the bullet is at a smaller diameter so it never touches.. Do you remember the weight and brand of bullet you used? And what is the OAL?

On the bright side if you were just loading target rounds you shouldn't get in trouble pressure wise setting the bullet back a little. I would find someone with a press and .45 die and try seating a few back slightly. If that fixes your problem work out a deal with them to do the rest.

**raxar** · June 26th, 2020, 07:50 PM

I was going to suggest picking up a lee loader, but those things have gotten crazy expensive.

As someone else said if you crimped them they should not be used in an automatic at all, as they headspace on the case mouth.

**Wedge32legman** · June 26th, 2020, 08:15 PM

Since when do you not crimp a round used In an semi auto, the die set come with a crimp die and there would be no way to get the proper pressure without a crimp or am I wrong about this?

**Delkal** · June 26th, 2020, 08:31 PM

Originally Posted by Wedge32legman

Since when do you not crimp a round used In an semi auto, the die set come with a crimp die and there would be no way to get the proper pressure without a crimp or am I wrong about this?

A slight crimp is good. You need to set the crimp so you remove all of the case bell from the expander die and I always go a little more. There is a potential issue if you massively overcrimp so the case neck is buried into the bullet. But I don't know why anyone would do this.

**Bang** · June 26th, 2020, 08:37 PM

The crimp on a semi-auto round is called a factory crimp or taper crimp. It allows the case mouth to contact the chamber shoulder and establishing headspace. Crimping on a bullet having no cannelure creates additional friction and helps stop set-back (bullet seating deeper from recoil and from loading/unloading), but is not as positive as a roll crimp into a cannelure.

**Wedge32legman** · June 26th, 2020, 08:57 PM

I was just questioning raxars post about not using crimped rounds in a automatic. I’m going to pick up a Lee hand press and then I can fix the depth on these rounds. Cheap and easy route to fix the problem.

**bamboomaster** · June 27th, 2020, 03:55 PM

Originally Posted by Delkal

Checking every round for a correct OAL is worthless if you never determined if the OAL was correct in the first place. It sounds like you got a deal on some HP bullets and used the published OAL for another bullet. You can't do that.

Are the rounds touching the front an back of the magazine and is the OAL longer than your RN loads that do function? But realize even if they are the same length a HP design will have more surface area of the bullet exposed and the wide tip of the hollow point could be giving you problems in your mag. The edge of the wide HP is probably what is binding on the mag release notch With a RN its just the very tip of a smooth bullet that can touch the front of the magazine and by the time you get to the clip latch cutout area the bullet is at a smaller diameter so it never touches.. Do you remember the weight and brand of bullet you used? And what is the OAL?

On the bright side if you were just loading target rounds you shouldn't get in trouble pressure wise setting the bullet back a little. I would find someone with a press and .45 die and try seating a few back slightly. If that fixes your problem work out a deal with them to do the rest.

All good information. As Delkal suggested, it's OK to reseat already crimped bullets a scoch, and then crimp them again.

Since you no longer have a multi-stage press, you don't have to worry about removing the powder reservoir, the primer tube, etc.

If you've got a hand press (like a Lyman version made around 70+ years ago), be sure you're consistant and take the time to measure each round.

If I may make a suggestion, while doing this, don't watch TV, don't smoke, and put the beer away. The only reason I suggest this is that a friend (after doing the three dont's) asked me to fix his stuff because of his similar issues with yours. I did it - and each of the 365 rounds apparently worked just fine in his 1911 after setting the seating depth to the correct OAL.

FWIW, he was only off by "one tenth" of an inch...