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Old April 30, 2000, 08:08 AM   #1
45King
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I just aquired a Winchester Trapper in .45 Colt, and I'm wondering if there's a trick to reloading SWC in lever guns so that they will feed reliably. I've never tried reloading for a levergun as this is the first one I've owned since I began reloading 25 years ago.
I'm using Rainier 200 gr bullets, but cannot get them to feed. These bullets do not have a canelure or crimp groove, so I'm wondering if I should seat to the shoulder and crimp. Is this perhaps a hopeless task? Do I need to switch to a bullet with a different profile? HELP!!! (I'm dying to shoot this thing, and single loading just don't cut it. )

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Old April 30, 2000, 08:29 AM   #2
Mal H
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I had the exact same problem with my '94 in 45 Colt. I had loaded some 200 gr SWC's (National Bullet, but the same profile as the Rainier). They would not feed reliably. Making them shorter would just make the problem worse. I had to relegate them to the Vaquero only. I have no problems with 250 gr. SWC's or round nose in any weight.
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Old April 30, 2000, 12:22 PM   #3
Grayfox
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Sounds like Mal has the answer. Mine will cycle 255gr SWC without a hitch. I never tried it with 200gr bullets.

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Old April 30, 2000, 09:38 PM   #4
45King
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Well, I wonder if seating the 200's out further might help? Looks like I've got some experimenting to do. Mal, what's the OAL on your 255 gr. loads?

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Shoot straight & make big holes, regards, Richard at The Shottist's Center
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Old April 30, 2000, 10:08 PM   #5
Mal H
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Seating them out a little might help as long as you have enough bullet in the case to make a good purchase on them. I didn't try that.

Here are my OAL's:
255 SWC - 1.610
200 SWC - 1.580

And as an indication it's probably not the OAL that is the problem, I can use Win 225 gr. Silvertips with no problem and they average around 1.546 OAL. I think it's strictly the shape - I'll bet a Keith shaped 200 gr. would work if there is such a bullet around. I only have 255 Keith's.
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Old May 2, 2000, 07:10 PM   #6
45King
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Hmmm, interesting observation on the Silvertips, as that is what I've chosen for defense. I didn't even think to measure them.
I'll try some longer lengths and see if they work, but I've got a feeling that if I want to go with SWC's, I'm going to need a longer bullet with a different profile. Oh well, I can still shoot 'em up in my ACP (and be glad when they're gone, too.)

How does the Kieth bullet differ in profile from a standard SWC? I've never really looked closely before.

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Old May 2, 2000, 09:51 PM   #7
Mal H
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The Keith profile has a nose that is slightly rounded and a little longer than the standard SWC which generally has a straight truncated cone shape.
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Old May 2, 2000, 11:48 PM   #8
Kenneth L. Walters
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Just got a Uberti Henry and this was the first problem I ran into. Upon looking up 45 Colt rifle loads in the various handbooks I came across one account that said that it was absolutely vital that overall cartridge length be under 1.60 inches for the rounds to feed properly. My bullet, SAECO #458, has a crimp groove but not at the right place for this overall length. Still I shortened the cartridge length by crimping into a driving band and the rounds now function flawlessly.
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Old May 3, 2000, 04:49 AM   #9
45King
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Well, I've decided that instead of messing with the Rainier 200 gr. SWC's, I'll just pull 'em and reload the cases with Rainier 200 gr. HP's. I'm loading them to an OAL of 1.56", and they work just fine. Thanks for the help guys.

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