I strayed and bought a new Ruger 45 colt/45 acp blackhawk. FMJ's fit flush in the 45 acp cylinder, but my LSWC reloads won't sit flush in the cylinder, although they fit in my case gauge. The wads work with my 1911. Is it the oal, or is tight cylinders? I guess they can be reamed,but I'm not sure thats the problem. Do these issues occur in S&W 45acp revolvers also?

Im my S & W 325 NG and 625 JM, I taper crimp rather than roll crimp.
Roll crimping was not getting the cases slim enough to slide right in flush.
As I always do with my 1911's, I keep the revolver handy while reloading so that I can test fit the rounds in the chambers.
Check all six chambers.

I also have a Ruger convertable. I've found it really likes reloads to perfect, otherwise the rounds don't go into the chamber far enough.

My load:

Brass - mixed range pickups, most importantly ALL cases used in the Blackhawk are trimed and champhered.
Primer - Federal 150, ALL primer pockets are uniformed so no primers are proud.
Powder - Bullseye 4 --> 4.5 grains, nice soft shooting an accurate.
Bullet - 200 grain plated Berry's SWC, they are sized .452".
OAL - I use 1.20", but this will vary with the SWC design. Most important, seat the bullet so only a very small portion of the SWC sholder is above the case mouth. I'm guessing about .004"
Crimp - Taper crimp set to .470 --> .471" depending on brass thickness.

Attached Images

bishawk_r.jpg (155.2 KB, 9 views)

__________________
Go NRA

My most used guns are my 625's.

However, I do have a Ruger SS Bisley .45 Colt/.45 ACP convertible. When I first took it to the range, using the .45 Colt cylinder it started leading with the first shot. By the 30th the groups were noticeably wider. I couldn't even full chamber my .45 ACP's with cast bullets (sized .452" with the shoulder extending a bit past the case mouth).

I slugged the cylinder throats and they were undersize in both cylinders. Using a Manson reamer kit made for the job, complete with pilots, I reamed both cylinders. Afterwards, I get NO leading using either cylinder and I can load .45 ACP's in the ACP cylinder with the SWC shoulder extending from the mouth of the case (the cylinder throats were reamed to .4525").

The accuracy of both cylinders is exemplary - well under 1" at 25 yards from a rest. I am a happy camper!

I consider this THE one best thing you can do if your cylinder throats are undersize.

If you don't have the skill level (or tooling) to do this, then you might want to send your cylinders off to Cylindersmith.com. He reportedly does a fine job for a nominal fee (discount for multiple cylinders) with quick turn around.

Dale53

Alot of the ruger 45 acp cylinders also had no transition from the chamber to the cylinder throat, and lead bullets had to be seated so the full diam was just at case mouth. I used a chamber throat reamer (designed for 1911) on mine. However it left the cylinder throats at .451. Revolver is very accurate with lead and jacketed.

seatng bullet with minimal lead above case and .470 taper will allow for reliable use in ALL revolvers and autos. I have SAutos, DAs and SA revolvers, and this is critical.

__________________
Tommy

Some older S&W revolvers have HUGE cylinder throats. My mid-1970s Model 25-2 has cylinder throats ranging from .4550 to .4565.

Birddog2's suggestion of having the gun handy when setting up your dies is right on the money. Something about the chamber of my Les Baer 1911 requires that 200gr LSWC bullets get seated shorter than any other gun I have in .45 ACP or Auto Rim.

I have a Ruger birdshead New Vaquero in .45 ACP, and I've had problems with using some of my handloads. Miking the chambers shows that they're quite tight (I hear rumblings about Ruger not sharpening their cutter blades often enough); taking that into account during my loading has been necessary. I've not had a problem with LSWCs, though; only with RNFPs with fat ogives.

The gun shoots well, though.

__________________
Now go make God proud...

erich,

Nice SHOOTIN' Amigo.

__________________
NRA Pistol/Rifle Inst. RSO

I found that I had to taper crimp down to .468 in order to get all of the rounds to enter the chambers all the way all of the time. If you only have a few that won't chamber just rotate them around and see of that helps. When I was crimping to .470 I had about one out of 10 that wouldn't chamber on the first try. When I rotated the cartridge most of the reluctant ones would then go. Crimping a little more and the problem went away. YMMV