Powder blowing back in my face with 220 gr Berry flat nose 45acp bullet

[Geo9547]

I just recently got some Berry Plated 200 grain flat nose 45 bullets. I loaded them with 5.4 grains of Win 231, OAL of 1.225 and crimped to .469. I seem to be getting powder blowing back in my face (on about 15 of the 30 I made) and, with 1 or 2 exceptions, the brass has excessive burnishing on 1 side. Shooting them in a S&W 1911 E series 45. They all cycled fine with no feeding or ejection issues.

FWIW, I load both a MBC lead flat nose 230 grain bullet (1.225 OAL) and a Berry plated 230 grain round nose (OAL 1.26) with 5.4 grains of Win 231 and a .469 crimp and don't get any blow back in my face. There is some burnishing on those cases but not like the 200 grain.

Am I doing something wrong and/or does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do differently with the 200 grain bullet or is this "just the way it is" with this bullet?

Thanks,
George

[cpeblue]

When is the last time you changed the recoil spring in the 220? With the lighter bullet the Sig is unlocking to quickly and spitting unburnt powder in your face. If you take your 220 and point it at a light source , unloaded of course. You will notice that you can see right through the barrel. Sigs are the only guns I've seen like that. I had the same problem with my older P220 but not the newer P220ST, I put the new green recoil spring into the P220 and it cured the problem. You could also try a faster burning powder like Bullseye or Titgroup .

[Skip Sackett]

30gr makes quite a difference, doesn't it? Your loads are too light for the bullet weight.
W231/HP-38 is not really a super fast pistol powder and it needs pressure to work well.
According to Hodgdon, you can go up a bit on that charge. If it was me, that is what I would do. EVERYTHING else you are doing is just fine with the information you have given to us.

Up the charge to 5.6gr and let us know how things turn out.......

[Steve C]

The burnishing of the cases on one side is an indication that the pressure is too low to seal the case in the chamber allowing gas to escape down the side of the case. Up your charge to 5.5gr and there should be sufficient pressure.

[Nevada Ed]

Yep;
too low a powder charge for that slower powder.

Happened to me with a 357 mag with IMR 4227 powder.
Very happy to be wearing safty glasses at all times at the range or where ever shooting.

Never know when stuff is going to happen.
Stay safe...........

[Geo9547]

Thanks guys. I am glad I checked for answers. I am making a new batch now. I will load them to 5.6 grains and see what happens. I will go to the range tomorrow afternoon and see what happens. I will get back to you all with the results.

[Geo9547]

Got back from the range and the 5.6 grains pretty much stopped the blowback and the burnishwas considerably better. Thanks for your help.

[Geo9547]

Well, I have loaded another 50 Berry Plated 200 grain Flat Point bullets trying to control excessive burnishing and blowback. In trying to get better case expansion, as suggested, I upped the powder to 5.7 grains (from 5.4) of Win 231 seated to 1.225 and a Fiocchi Large pistol primer. The blowback is all but gone but the cases are still getting burnished on one side. I think I am concerned about going much, if any, higher on the powder, like to 5.8 or 5.9. BTW, the performance is very good, tight (for me) grouping, feeding and ejecting very well. Do you have any other suggestions or should I just move on and not worry about the burnishing? FWIW, I have only been reloading for 6 months so I am still learning about what is important and what isn't.

Thanks, George

[Maximumbob54]

I'm not sure about this burnishing issue. Cases get dirty. Just tumble clean them in walnut or corn cob media and they will look as new as the first time you loaded them. Between the powder and the bullet lube on lead bullets you are going to always generate some amount of soot from your ammo factory or reloads. The more you up the pressure then the more your powder is fully consumed and thus slightly less yuck leftover. If your loads are already accurate and reliable then you have already won the learning curve battle and should just start cranking away at production.

[Geo9547]

Thanks Maximumbob. That is what I was thinking but felt I might be doing something wrong with the 200 gr as the 230 grain I load, of course get dirty, but not anywhere near this bad. I think it is time to stop overthinking this and continue loading and shooting. Thanks for the advice.

[TSQUARED]

Originally Posted by Geo9547

I just recently got some Berry Plated 200 grain flat nose 45 bullets. I loaded them with 5.4 grains of Win 231, OAL of 1.225 and crimped to .469. I seem to be getting powder blowing back in my face (on about 15 of the 30 I made) and, with 1 or 2 exceptions, the brass has excessive burnishing on 1 side. Shooting them in a S&W 1911 E series 45. They all cycled fine with no feeding or ejection issues.

FWIW, I load both a MBC lead flat nose 230 grain bullet (1.225 OAL) and a Berry plated 230 grain round nose (OAL 1.26) with 5.4 grains of Win 231 and a .469 crimp and don't get any blow back in my face. There is some burnishing on those cases but not like the 200 grain.

Am I doing something wrong and/or does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do differently with the 200 grain bullet or is this "just the way it is" with this bullet?

Thanks,
George

George,
In my limited experience the plated bullets will provide ca 10% lower velocity with the same powder charge when compared to lead bullets of the same weight. By reducing the bullet weight and changing to a plated bullet you are developing much lower pressures and seeing some partially consumed powder grains.
Switch to a faster burning powder and chrono to the velocity required. I have used American Select, VV N-310 with good results. If you want powder puff loads then go to Trail Boss and get a much lighter reloi spring.
As an aside my favorite bullseye pistol load is 3.8 gr. HS-700X behind a 185 gr. LSWC at ca 720 fps - very accurate but plenty of unburned powder grains.
Tony