Greetings, all:

I'm gearing up to load .45 ACP and have a question about seating semi-wadcutters. Do I want to seat them so the front of the forward band is flush with the case mouth? Seat to magazine length? Seat to some other length?

I'm planning to use 200-grain cast semiwadcutters in both a 1911 and a 25-2, but the main use will be in the auto, so they need to feed correctly in that gun. I'm assuming the revolver won't care much about seating depth.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

__________________
Wishin' don't make it so.

Greetings, all:

I'm gearing up to load .45 ACP and have a question about seating semi-wadcutters. Do I want to seat them so the front of the forward band is flush with the case mouth? Seat to magazine length? Seat to some other length?

I'm planning to use 200-grain cast semiwadcutters in both a 1911 and a 25-2, but the main use will be in the auto, so they need to feed correctly in that gun. I'm assuming the revolver won't care much about seating depth.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

__________________
Wishin' don't make it so.

Ron,

I seat mine so the front driving band is flush with the case mouth. Sometimes the driving band interferes with chambering, if it's outside the case. I'm using the 200 gr Lee clone of the H&G #68 as cast and tumble lubed with Liquid Alox.

Sgt Preston here. Ron I seat my 45ACP x 200 grain semi-wad cutters to an overall length of 1.250. They feed & group perfectly. FYI I taper crimp my brass to a diameter of .469 / .470 measured at the end of the brass right next to the bullet. For the record I use Berry's copper plated bullets & the 1.250 OAL leaves about .100 of the full diameter bullet exposed beyond the brass. I have fired these out of 1911's & my PC 945 with perfect results with both guns. Hope this helps. Sgt Preston USMC LLA

__________________
NRA Life Member

Generally this is decided upon with your autos feed reliability. If your leade/throat is a little tight, a LSWC will sometimes not fully chamber.

The remedy is to seat flush. My 1911 only feeds flush seated, so thats what I do.

Load a few at suggested length, ussually 1.25, and see if they will fully chamber during normal firing. If they won't quite go into full battery, load some more flush and try it again.

OH, and this is assuming your not loading max, but a target load.

Seating them flush WILL increase pressure.

I use the Lee 200 gr SWC also. Do yourself a favor and get a Wilson gage for .45. If they seat as a new one seats you should be good to go. Never had a problem after I did this. I use a medium load of Unique.

i'm with Sgt Preston - 1.250" overall length with H&G 68 200 gr. leaves about .050" full diameter beyond the case mouth. i use a Lee taper crimp die; have fired thousands of these through 1911's without issues.

my 625's prefer jacketed bullets over lead; i don't have a 25-2, but the rifling is pretty shallow in the 625 series, and jacketed bullets seem to be more accurate.

for some reason 45 Auto Rim brass is more accurate in revolvers than ACP brass and moon clips in my experience.

Ron,
Here is how I load mine.

They are homecast and I use them in my Taurus PT1911 this way. IF you are going to shoot these out of your firearms be sure they will chamber. On one of them, and I don't remember which at this time, won't take one with any more of the lead sticking out. It is firearm dependent. Not all chambers are created equal.
The OAL is less of a determining factor than the amount sticking out of the case.

Just like chambers, not all bullets are created equal either. I have a Lee copy of the H&G #68 and also have some purchased 200gr LSWC from a commercial caster. The distance from the nose to the front driving band is different on each.

Here is a picture. Notice the two on the left:

Both of them are 200gr LSWC, you can see the difference. The OAL is the same.

I'm not disagreeing with the Sarge. Bullets from different manufacturers will be different in their construction. Even if they are billed as "the same".

FWIW

I leave and exposed lip of approximately 1/16-3/32 inch beyond the case mouth. If by chance you have a Lyman 49th Ed manual, Lyman has two different 200gr SWC styles #452630 and #452460. Note that the OAL is different for each. Your OAL is dependent on the design/configuration of the 200gr-SWC.

I load 45acp with a Dillon Square Deal.
When setting it up for my Colt auto I took the barrel out of the slide and used the chamber as my gauge, then tried the round in the magazine.
When both worked I set all the stops and haven't changed them in 15 years, maybe 20.

Jim

__________________
Cast bullets are the true and rightious path to shooting bliss

As others have intimated, there are several different styles for the 200gr SWC in .45 depending upon mold maker, or commercial source.

As shovelwrench wrote: "If your leade/throat is a little tight, a LSWC will sometimes not fully chamber." This means that the OAL you need to seat the bullet you have chosen may be different than someone with a different handgun.

You can buy a gauge like was suggested or you can simply remove the barrel from your pistol and drop in a factory round to see how it fits and then drop in your reload and see if it fits the same. If the base of the case is out too far then simply seat the bullet a little deeper by trial and error until it fits right at which point that will be the OAL you will need to use.

I generally seat the SWC's shoulder just a hair forward of the case mouth. Often the bullets forward shoulder will have a slight bevel, in which case I seat the case mouth to the bottom of that bevel.

That is a testament to the Square Deal too. I haven't used one that long but I like doing 45ACP on one. I am going to be giving my Square Deal B set up for 45ACP to one of my sons soon. I hope he has the same experience with it that you have!

I load my 200 lscw to 1.250 or 1.255 and they run fine in my 1911's. I also crimp them to .469"

__________________
Lynnie, Professional Pest

Hi Ron,
I try to set my OAL where a loaded round will fit into the chamber and the rear of the rim be even with the rear of the barrel hood and the bullet just off of the rifling.
It can help with accuracy.
OAL can vary from gun to gun, but if you can load them out and they funtion it can be a benefit.
Good luck
Mike