Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading 45 Colt hand-load issue

I added another Ruger to my meager revolver collection today . This is a old model (3 screw) Blackhawk in 45 Colt. I have a newer Bisley stainless 45 that I have been handing loading for. Been loading 255 grain lead Keith style that I have been casting. No issues with the Bisley, but they do not want to seat completely in the old model. I notice that the old model cylinder has a rebated chamber in that the case rim sits flush with the back of the cylinder, which differs from the the new model where the rim sits proud.

I had previously loaded 250 grain round nose, and they load fine, and the cylinder rotates freely. I also have the 270 grain lead from Lost River ammunition which loads fine. The 255 SWCs are getting hung up some where and not seating completely. The case rim sits proud in the cylinder on most rounds. I suspect that the hang-up point is the edge of the first driving band at the start of the throat. I am seeing some marks there with a bullet I tried to load with thumb pressure. Of course, I could be wrong and the rounds are hanging up for a different reason.

I am seating and crimping the bullets where the edge of the case is at the top end of the crimp groove. I could seat the bullets a deeper, but the end of the case would be just past the end of the crimp groove.

I am sizing the cast bullets to 0.452 and as best as I can measure with a caliper, the throats are tight at 0.451. Any ideas on how to correct this issue other than choosing a different bullet?

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After posting this, I noticed the thread on “Lee FCD to the rescue” so I pulled the die set and ran a couple rounds through the FCD and they loaded just fine. I had been seating and crimping in one operation using a RCBS die set. Once I get to casting and reloading 45 colt again I will try seating and crimping in separate steps and see if that resolves the issue.

Have you measured the length of the cylinders?

Or dropped an unloaded bullet through the chambers to compare where they hang up as compared to the other cylinder?

I load 45 Colt for a new model, but have not had an old model 45..

I have noticed that not all revolver cylinders are the same length.

With any ammo that needs a crimp, I have always seated and then crimped in a separate operation.

I'll never crimp ANYthing in a seater die again after discovering the FCD.

Sliced bread is pretty damn cool, but those FCD's are WAY cooler.

I am out of 45 bullets at the moment, and need to do another casting session soon. Once I do get another supply of bullets, I will go back to crimping as a separate step with the FCD.

I did have another Blackhawk 45 (1977 build) that had loose chambers and was sold. This old model has chambers that appear to be a bit tighter than the newer Bisley.

If you've never slugged and measured the throats, as you've mentioned, a lot of Rugers in 45 Colt are on the tight side.
The throats generally need opened up to do their best work, .452-.453. Groove is generally .4505-.4515 on them, but they will lead at the forcing cone if using the stock throat diameter, as the cone is often larger and your alloy may or may not slug back up with alloy and load.
Most Ruger 45s I've toyed with have .449-.451 throats. They work okay at times, but opening the throats generally improves both jacketed and cast bullet accuracy and with cast bullets, creates the support and seal that prevents leading.

The LEE crimp die is more than likely swaging the front band of your .452 sized bullets (and the other two bands and the case), fixing your chambering issue but making your size discrepancy worse regarding the forcing cone.

If your not using a coated bullet, leading is sure to grace your bore. The coated bullets won't lead, but accuracy won't be at its best, due to being undersized.

I do plan on renting the reaming tools to correct the throats and forcing cone on both revolvers.

I was using traditional lube with the previous batch of bullets, but not seeing any leading issues. I have been powder coating 357 mag bullets with success and will most likely try powder coating for the 45.

Doug Phillips in Henderson, NC does cylinder honing work on revolvers. I've been very pleased with the work I've commissioned with him. He has a Facebook page and posts on the castboolits forum under the name DougGuy.

This +1

I made a trip to the range with some bullets that I ran through the Lee FCD and that revolver really shot well. Better than my Bisley.

Yesterday, I cast a batch of bullets, this time, powder coating them instead of traditional lube. Sized with the Lee .452 sizer.

Today, I reset the dies and loaded up a few rounds. This time I carefully reset the seating die to crimp. There is one cylinder that seems a shy bit tighter than the others, but the bullets fit fine and the cylinder rotated. I must have been putting a pretty heavy crimp before which was causing the issues. I am going to try the powder coated bullets to see how they shoot compared to the lubed bullets.

Ruger, for some reason makes the throats in their 45 Colts .450. On mine, one cylinder throat was .449, the other 5 were .450. A .452 bullet should pass thru the throats with a very slight pressure. I got a Clymer .4525 throat reamer & opened up the throats on my Ruger.45 Colt. Super easy. Using the proper size guide, I hand turned the reamer slowly with plenty of lube. Came out perfect. Made a significant difference in accuracy. I'm no gunsmith. Far from it. But, if I can do it anyone can... Too bad your not closer. If you could come by we could fix your throats quickly.

Why would you mess with the seating die to crimp when you have the Lee FCD? You're just asking for trouble. Like almost everyone else, I refuse to crimp with a seating die unless that die has the seating stem removed.

I had to open the throats on all 4 of my ruger 45's. .4525 reamer off of amazon, cut the head of a fired case, split it and slipped it over the reamer for support. Cylinder in a padded vise and turned the reamer by hand with plenty of cutting fluid. Accuracy improved and the barrel leading stopped.

As others have said, the big point is getting the bullet diameter and throat diameter to match. Pretty hard to find a mound or buy bullets for a .450” throat; better idea is getting the throats reamed/honed to .452” or so. Pin gauges are your friend.

As to how to crimp, definitely don’t do it in the same step as seating. Be sure no crimp is applied in seating (run the die up high enough so the crimp portion never touches the case), then for crimping, run the stem all the way up or remove so it doesn’t contact the bullet in crimping. Or you a separate crimp die.

Even if you had .450" bullets, launching them into .452" grooves is no bueno.

Made another trip to the range, this time with the powder coated bullets. Shooting at 20 yards standing, off-hand, I was keeping all the bullets inside of 4”, measuring the outer edges of the holes. And I will freely admit that I struggle with revolver shooting. If reaming the throats will improve upon that accuracy, I will be a very happy man. I am going to rent the tools this week.

BTW, it seems that Belt Mountain is getting out of the base pin business. They finally emailed me back and said that they still have some stock, and asked what pins I was looking for, but have not responded when I answered. Power Customs makes them so I will be ordering those.

As for crimping and seating in one pull, I have the die set up to where it seems to be working nicely now. I can always revert back to the Lee FCD if necessary.

No matter what, you're not doing yourself any favors. Just use the Lee FCD. Forget that the seating die can crimp.

No one on here has every wrinkled or crushed a 44mag or 45colt case from seating and crimping in one step? I have and that’s basically why I went to using the FCD. Now I use it for all my handgun calibers.

Follow up on the problem I was having with hand loads for the old model Blackhawk.

I did go back and forth with the Lee FCD and RCBS seating die, but there was really no difference in the crimp when they are both set up right. Both had issues with some rounds not chambering completely.

I believed the primary issue was in the cylinder and not reloading. I ordered the cylinder reamer kit as well as the forcing cone kit from 4D Reamer Rentals, which showed up today. After reaming the cylinders, all the rounds fit the chambers perfectly. Also, my cast bullets can be pushed through all of the cylinders with very light pressure. Prior to reaming, they would have to be hammered through the throats.

I will taking both revolvers to the range this week to check the results.