New to 45 acp

[Carver Speed]

I am new to reloading, did a thousand or so of 38 special so I’ve ventured off to 45 acp.
I had these 185 gr Hornady XTP hollow points so I used them. 3.5 grains of Bullseye, unfortunately I made 250 of them, tried them today, fire fine, but they don’t cycle my gun so the spent case doesn’t eject.
I am assuming this is due to the low charge weight?
Do I take 240 bullets apart with the hammer?
Rookie mistake, appreciate some experience to make this right.
Jeff

 

[praveen]

3.5 grains of Bullseye seem very low. It could even result in squibs.
Alliant manual lists 6.4 grains for 185gr speers.

Consult a reloading manual for the minimum recommended charges.

Personally, I would dismantle them and start over.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

May need a grip and pull to speed up the dismantling, unless you can change recoil spring. BUT bullet still needs to exit barrel. I would pull and load a correct charge weight.

 

[TRSR8]

Many Bullseye target loads are 3.5 gr of powder, and have zero squibs.
I run 3.5 gr with 185”s or 200’s with a Les Baer which is very tight.
My guess your cycle issue is either a soft hold or less than adequate slide lube.

 

[rr2030]

What everyone said plus, go buy inexpensive plated bullets. Don't waste your $$ on hollow points. Paper and steel won't know the difference. If I recall, I use 3.7 gr Bullseye for my Bullseye gun and near 5.0 gr for my IDPA gun. Both with 200 gr bullets.

My $1 worth of advice (thats $0.02 adjusted for Joe's economy)

 

[Carver Speed]

I got the recipe from a Lyman manual but admittedly 3.5 was the starting load. I tried a tighter grip thinking the same, gun is HK, very low use, and is clean/oiled.

 

[CJ6]

When I first started loading for semi autos I loaded a mags worth of rounds and fired as quick as I could (function testing),then worked up as needed and started checking for accuracy.

 

[ronsatspokane]

You could change over to a lighter recoil spring but I would follow Praveens advise. Take them apart and start over. Get yourself a bullet puller to accomplish the task. With those XTP's you are probably not going to shoot bullseye competition. They are more defense oriented. I'd load them on the hot side.

 

[old_heli_logger]

It might be worth trying lithium grease instead of oil...
Good luck

 

[std7mag]

3.5gr of Bullseye for the 185gr XTP sounds really low.

I'd have to dig into my load book, but I think offhand that I'm running 4.0+ gr of Red Dot for the same bullet.

Normally I'm using about 8gr of Silhouette for most of my shooting.

 

[std7mag]

It might be worth trying lithium grease instead of oil...
Good luck

Uuummm,
Please don't do that!

Depending on powder used, and pressure, 45ACP can be rather a dirty burning cartridge.

Lithium grease is just going to grab all that. And could possibly turn the gun to nonfunctioning with an OWB holster in cold weather.

@Carver Speed issue isn't with lubrication. It's a low charge weight hence low pressure is not enough to overcome the spring tension.
I'm not sure if HK uses a double spring.
I KNOW my 4" barrel spring is higher rate per inch than the 5" spring.
So a typical 1911 with 5" barrel will reliably shoot lower pressures than my 4" 1911.

 

[joshb]

You should pull them apart and start over. A grip puller is worth the investment. I have the Hornady and it works great.
I ALWAYS test loads before doing a mass quantity. Load 3 of each increasing charge weight up to max and see how they do in your gun. Having more than one gun means I have to test all of them for a good load.

 

[Rwfish]

You don’t indicate what your OAL is but unless your loading really short to specs for some reason this load is undercharged by ~.7gr to even make what would be minor power factor for a competitive shooter ( lowest allowed ). Unless your running a lightened slide and spring you have little chance of this load cycling your slide and extracting the spent case. I would guess the cases are landing within a 3 feet from you which should be another indication your load is too light!! Time to pull them all and redo….

This page is a good resource for what competitive shooters use for loads which will help get an idea of where you should start and the velocities you should see.

44/45 Caliber

 

[Doom]

@Carver Speed: In pistol the overall length is extremely important in both the chambering of the round and in the pressure/velocity generated. You didn't mention what COL you used or what where you found the info. Hornady lists 1.225" for COL and a load range of 5.4 to 6.6 gn of Bullseye with the 185 XTP.

When loading for semi automatic pistols different bullets often require different seating depths. This is due to the shape of the nose of the bullet and the steepness of the feed ramps. This also can change the pressure generated significantly when using charge data from one bullet to a different style bullet as the length of the bullet will change.

With regard to the Bullseye target guns and low charge weight, these are 1911 full size 5" barrel pistols so the recoil springs are lighter than on the 4" 1911's (16 lb vs 22 lb). The HK would be similar.

 

[Doom]

I would guess the cases are landing within a 3 feet from you which should be another indication your load is too light!!

He didn't have enough "umph" to eject the case. I'm betting the slide probably barely moved!

 

[Doug Casner]

Be careful changing recoil springs. Went to light in a 220 sig one time and the guide rod wore through the side of the slide. Worked like a charm for a little while. Havent messed with recoil springs since. Easier to add a little powder. Doug

 

[divingin]

What everyone said plus, go buy inexpensive plated bullets. Don't waste your $$ on hollow points.

With the relatively low velocity on .45, you can save even more by skipping the plating and run cast lead. Unless you really try and push the speed, you probably won't have a leading problem.

3.5 Bullseye with a 200 grain LSWC is (well, "was" may be more accurate) the "normal" bullseye load for competition guns (Gold Cups and the like.) No experience with HK 45's.

Doug: It's easier to add powder until you figure in hammering 250 bullets from the cases.

 

[Doug Casner]

I meant next time. Doug

 

[Multiracer]

Put a wolf 10# spring in and choot them. Is this a 1911 ?

 

[TIMO]

You should pull them apart and start over. A grip puller is worth the investment. I have the Hornady and it works great.
I ALWAYS test loads before doing a mass quantity. Load 3 of each increasing charge weight up to max and see how they do in your gun. Having more than one gun means I have to test all of them for a good load.

Joshb said it all. A fee reloading lesson and learning point that we all receive at one time or another.
Tim