What Happened?

[jfp357]

I am new to reloading. But I have reloaded over 300 rounds of .45 auto with no problems. Today I had click pop not a click bang. I am shooting a Remington 1911 stain less. I took the gun apart it was full of unburned powder ( Ramshot True Blue). If the primer burned and the powder did not? What Happened?

 

[Photog]

If the other reloads with that powder went off, the only thing I can think of is that somehow you managed to leave an already fired primer in the case or you somehow primed it with a used primer. Again, that is if all other reloads with that lot of powder worked fine.

 

[shield]

Maybe the primer was not fully seated.

 

[MikeyB]

Did the bullet leave the barrel?

 

[jfp357]

The bullet lodged in the barrel

 

[Rule3]

Sounds like you under charged the rounds. Somehow someway they did not get a complete dose of powder.

How are you putting powder in. What load are you using??

If it went pop the primer did it's thing.

Did you take apart any of the suspect rounds and weigh the powder charge?????????????

Need more info like bullet, weight, OAL etc.

 

[MikeyB]

What primers where you using? Possibly a weak primer that didn't have enough thermal energy to ignite the power but just enough to push the bullet into the barrel.

 

[OKFC05]

I'm with Rule3 on this one. True Blue is a very slow powder, and if the charge is light, the powder may not burn properly.
That's why I advise medium powders for .45 ACP unless you are loading to max.

 

[jfp357]

I used 8.5 grain with a Lee auto disk. 185 grain copper plated bullet. Every other 5th or 6th load is weighed. The powder was unburned. CCI large primer. Oal is 1.275. I did not the charges after wards . What powders do you recommend? The good powders may not be found on the shelves.

 

[Rule3]

I have never used True Blue but I did look up the load data from Ramshot.

http://www.ramshot.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ramshot_handgun_rifle.pdf

So for a copper jacket 185 gr bullet the load data for jacket bullets reads that as the start for a Hdy XTP so that should be working.

It is a pretty slow powder but they have data for it so it should work. Not my choice though. Is the powder old??

Do a test and drop 10 or 20 loads of powder, same case, dump it back in the hopper and weigh each one. See that you are pulling the lever the same and each weighs the same.

Bullseye has been a standard 45 ACP going back to WW II or before it was the GI load.

(HP 38 W 231) Unique , are some others. I do not use Unique I have powders that meter better but it it fine.

 

[venomballistics]

I have two theories.
first, as stated, slow powders used at the bottom of their pressure curves can get a little goofy on you. Especially true if for any reason your powder measure gets the gumption to throw a charge short.

Second theory .. contamination.
oil in a primer renders it inert.
oil in powder acts similarly, and partial contamination can act like a short charge.
that clump of dried mud in the case can plug the flash hole.
the sweat you dripped into the case can't help much either.
Keep an eye on these things.
if its a contamination issue this early in the game, you can bet it'll happen again fairly soon. try to catch it in process and adjust your methods accordingly.

 

[jfp357]

Thanks for your help and advice, I will be rechecking my equipment, loads and data.

 

[Roadranger]

I've been loading for the last 46 years and have seen almost anything happen. I agree that True Blue may not be the best choice for the 45 ACP. It's very close to BlueDot(as it name implies) and is really too slow for the 45 ACP. I've settled on TiteGroup for my 45 loading, correct burn rate, a little goes a long ways, and it meters well, not to mention it comes in 8# jugs. In your case the bullet would not have gone down the barrel if the primer had not worked at all. It sounds like a less than perfect primer or a slow burning powder that the primer can't ignite properly. Unfortunately, one can't just walk in and buy any powder he wants these days. Other classic powders for the .45 are Bullseye, RED Dot, AA2 and AA5, 231, Unique, and others. As stated, the 45 was originally loaded with Bullseye in 1905. BTW, a digital scale is ideal for checking which loads have powder and which ones don't. Bob!!

 

[mark44spec]

Check your crimp and make sure it is heavy. As others have said make sure there is no moisture issues, I had some problems when I started with condensation caused by components that were not the same temp at the time of loading in the damp basement shop. Check to make sure your primers are seated to the bottom of the pocket. Iam not familiar with the powder you are using, But my 2 cents is that its usually best to use a powder that fills the case. 70% load density or better is a good way to prevent double charges, and also makes inspecting for partial charges easier.

 

[Rule3]

Yes, I though about the crimp after I posted. Good point be sure it has a good taper crimp no need to over do it but if it is not tight, maybe the powder did not have enough time to burn and build up pressure.

Just a WAG though.

Is True Blue the only powder you have? Having never used it I do not know how it meters.

 

[Gunhacker]

New brass or previously fired and cleaned in a vibratory cleaner? Many years ago I was at a friend's house doing a marathon reloading session with him to replenish our Cowboy Action Shooting ammo stock pile for upcoming matches.

I would take the cleaned brass, prime it using a hand held priming tool with a primer feed tray, place it in the cartridge tray, pass the full tray to my buddy who then threw the powder charge.

He lost track on one tray which rows were done and shined a flashlight into them to see... one of the uncharged primed cases had a piece of corn cobb media stuck in the primer flash hole. Not found it probably would have produced results similar to what you experienced.

Anyway... just a thought.

 

[handejector]

Commercial reloaders are never surprised by what they find in brass.

I have personally seen:
Cigarette butts.
Ear Plugs.
22 cases.
Candy.
Gum.
Wax.
Paper. (gum, candy wrappers)
aluminum foil.
Thick goo from spilled cokes and coffee.
Food bits (donuts? )
Rat/mice pills.
Insects/spiders.
Insect /spider cocoons, webs, or pupae(in mud).
Stuff that CSI couldn't identify.

I also agree with above poster that VERY occasionally corn cob or other media will plug a hole.
If you wash your brass, do it deprimed, and DRY completely.

With Bazillions of primers manufactured, simple logic dictates a few must be defective/weak/contaminated.

With Bazillions of primers loaded, simple logic dictates a few must get contaminated.

 

[scooter123]

IMO Venomballistics covered the most likely causes pretty well. Additional causes can be a blocked flash hole as suggested. I use walnut shells in a vibrating tumbler to polish up my brass after the ultrasonic cleaner has done most of the work and have learned that it's an absolute must to check each casing for a clear flash hole before priming.

One suggestion was to use a digital scale to weigh your loaded rounds and while it sounds reasonable at first IMO it's only actually useful if you have sorted all your brass by weight. The problem is that the variation in the weight of different cases is greater than the typical charge weight for handgun loads.

Powder suggestion. One powder I've started loading with recently is IMR SR-7625 and I've become a BIG fan of this particular powder. I picked up 1 pound locally to try out due to the poor metering qualities of Unique and found out that SR-7625 meters perfectly in my Lee Perfect Powder Measures. Then I found out how clean shooting it is. My most used 45 is the Ruger SR1911 which is stainless like your Remington. As we both know these pistols will show powder fouling quite distinctly. With Unique I was losing the white dot in the front sight about 50 rounds into a range session and 100 rounds left the front of my SR1911 slide a rather dark brown. Contrast that with the SR-7625 and after 150 rounds I can still see the front sight and actually question the need to do any cleaning when I get home. Finally, while it may be due to my shooting more often I truly believe that loads producing 800 fps with a 230 grain bullet feature LESS muzzle flip and softer recoil than loads using Unique at the same velocity. Bottomline, meters perfect, shoots extremely clean, and pretty typical range loads seem to be very soft shooting. Yeah, I'm a big fan of this powder and now have 10 pounds stored in my powder cabinet.

BTW, if you are withing driving distance of either Akron/Cleveland or Ashland, Ohio, Fin, Feather, and Fur had a good stock of SR-7625 on hand a month ago. If you keep an eye open on Graf's or Powder Valley you will also see it come into stock on occasion.

 

[jfp357]

Thanks for all the advice. I returned to the range today. I had two FTF. I checked the ammo and found 2 NOT fully seated primers. Could that have caused my problem? I have reset the primers and now the ammo is up to specs. While taking apart the ammo to figure this out, I was wondering is it safe to decap live primers?

 

[venomballistics]

Thanks for all the advice. I returned to the range today. I had two FTF. I checked the ammo and found 2 NOT fully seated primers. Could that have caused my problem? I have reset the primers and now the ammo is up to specs. While taking apart the ammo to figure this out, I was wondering is it safe to decap live primers?

the less than seated primer can cause an FTF as the space left can absorb the force of the pin strike.
Decapping live primers is generally ill advised. They have a lot more energy than you might think.
SOP has been to chamber the primed case and fire it prior to stuffing it through the size / deprime die