I need help

[rbstern]

You were running a max load of a fast burning powder. At that level of performance, any number of things could cause or contribute to the issue:

1) The brass was previously used in a Glock, already with a weak spot near the base.

2) Brass length after several uses at max pressures cause the headspace to increase to the point where there was a very small area of brass unsupported in the 1911, but the gun still went into battery and fired the round.

3) Brass worn enough that it wasn't up to handling a max load.

4) Bullets not crimped tightly enough, causing them to set back during recoil while in the magazine. If this happens with a max load of fast powder, it can drive pressure through the roof. Do you recall if this happened on the first shot of a magazine? Last shot? Somewhere in between? If it happened later in the magazine, bullet setback is more likely. Also, in a tapered crimp cartridge like 45acp, jacketed will set back more readily than unjacketed lead bullets, because brass squeezed against copper produces less friction than brass squeezed against copper.

If they were my reloads, my corrections would be:

1) Inspect all the brass: Get rid of bulged or obviously worn cases. Measure case length and trim if needed.

2) Increase the crimp.

3) Stick with decreased powder loads, particularly for plinking rounds. People have a tendency to want max loads, but it doesn't serve much purpose in target shooting ammo. Harder on all of the gear, not likely to be more accurate than a softer load.

 

[Greybeard]

I think your on the right tract. Titegroup does not like to be compressed. I don't think you had a double charge, nor did it fire out of battery, weak case and having a unsupported chamber would be my guess. I would also check your oal before they are all disassembled. Reloading since 1975 seen many glocks belly out and seen 9mm shot in 40s,with out case failures, yours points to week case. Just my thoughts let us know what you find.

 

[1006]

TiteGroup, and Clays are known for being pressure sensitive. I would not go hotter than recommended with either.

Bullet setback can cause castotrophic failures similar to a double charge. I like to crimp the heck out of my reloads for this reason.

People often get caught up in accuracy goals and worry about over crimping, but most people will never see any accuracy difference at 20 yards or less. Plated bullets are the most sensitive to over crimping because the plating might get torn. FMJ bullets are much tougher, and most lead bullets are soft enough to reshape to the barrel as they are fired. So, I crimp em hard for safety's sake. How hard? Hard enough that the crimp leaves a slight depression in the bullet that is visible if the bullet is later pulled, and hard enough that I can take a fresh reload and push the tip of the bullet as hard as I can against my work bench without it being pushed into the case.

 

[bgodfrey]

Well I can just about guarantee all my brass was previously ran though a glock considering I got the from my father in law who's a LEO and just grabbed them from the range him and his officers practice at. Right now I've decided my best route will be to pull all rounds, re-inspect and reset my crimp die. Have decided to go with light loads for my and my weapons safety. Really appreciate all the advice and information.

 

[RamRoddoc]

Yep, the unsupported area of the case head blew out. Compressing the non-compressible powder at a maximum charge is begging a catastrophic failure as the pressures go through the roof.

Enough recoil and a light or no crimp makes ammo grow, not shorten, That will bind up a cylinder or cause a FTF.

Bullets contacting the feed ramp on a lightly crimped load will shorten. How much? Hand cycle a few several times and measure after each cycle. Too little of a crimp and they will shrink. A case nearly full powder with the bullet setting back is not good and can result in case failures.

Don't under crimp but don't over crimp.

I check for set back on every batch of reloads by cycling a few rounds. If it appears, I turn the crimp die down a touch often less than 1/8th turn until it disappears then for good measure add just a tad more. Overdo it and it will distort the bullet and result in poor accuracy or in some cases poorer accuracy.



Edit: Brass has a finite lifespan and the more it's worked, the shorter that is. However, .45 ACP is a low pressure round (or it's suppose to be) and standard normal pressure loads will yield many reloadings. The cases will normally split before they blow, Use the Glock fired brass and don't fret over it as you will resize it. Don't attempt to reload obviously bulged cases though.

I use a Lee bulge buster/taper crimp die to size all the way to the base of the case. Why, some cases were just large enough to stop short of fully chambering. This can cause an out of battery case head failure and might be your issue but I doubt it. "Match grade" chambers are much tighter and more sensitive to this.