Tightest taper crimp with lead?

So I have about 500 rounds left of 3.5WST Summers 175gr SWC 0.920 0.463

And I can only go through 50 of them before I get failure to load/eject because the gun gets too dirty!

I’m thinking about trying to crimp them more but want the opinion of the hive mind on how much more to crimp.  I’ll eventually do a ladder to determine accuracy for a given crimp but that won’t be until next year.  

What’s the tightest crimp you’ve done and how accurate was it? 

So far I’ve read someone recommending 0.460 but they never mentioned accuracy

My standard load is .462" - .465" taper crimp, 200gr SWC over 4gr Bullseye.


But I gotta say that I shoot 60 rounds a week in both Summer and Winter leagues and I *might* clean the thing three times a year.

Something doesn't sound right.

Slower powders, light loads, aren’t good with lighter bullets.


Use them up and change your load

“The difference between Oh shit and Oh Wow is x grains of powder”

Pinetree wrote:My standard load is .462" - .465"  taper crimp, 200gr SWC over 4gr Bullseye.


But I gotta say that I shoot 60 rounds a week in both Summer and Winter leagues and I *might* clean the thing three times a year.

Something doesn't sound right.

Yeah, I don’t have this issue with Bayou Bullets 185gr of the same load but I do with Summers 175gr.  The Summers slide right into the expanded brass case rather than needing some kind of effort to push it in

1.8” at 50 yards but can’t function when too dirty

bruce martindale wrote:Slower powders, light loads, aren’t good with lighter bullets.


Use them up and change your load

“The difference between Oh shit and Oh Wow is x grains of powder”

That’s the plan

Maybe I should just clean the gun after 40 rounds rather than crimping all the rounds tighter

Yes, lock the slide back and brush it out. Maybe every 20 rounds so powder grains doesn’t stick in the chsmber

10 grains makes a difference.

My gun likes 200 gr at 3.5 wst
185 at 4.0 wst and
160 at 4.5 wst.

3.5 grains WST under a coated 175 seems pretty light. Not sure adding crimp is going to get you very far, but what would it hurt to run 50 rounds through a tighter crimp and see if you notice less unburned flakes?

Add to the literature! Enquiring minds want to know!

What primer are you using?  I use WLP's and I shoot 3.4 WST under a 200 gr. coated bullet.  It does leave some unburnt powder, but is otherwise clean.

I would suggest using a bore snake every 40 rounds or so until they are gone.

RodJ wrote:3.5 grains WST under a coated 175 seems pretty light. Not sure adding crimp is going to get you very far, but what would it hurt to run 50 rounds through a tighter crimp and see if you notice less unburned flakes?

Add to the literature!  Enquiring minds want to know!  

I’ll do it just for you, Rod!

rburk wrote:What primer are you using?  I use WLP's and I shoot 3.4 WST under a 200 gr. coated bullet.  It does leave some unburnt powder, but is otherwise clean.

I would suggest using a bore snake every 40 rounds or so until they are gone.

They’re pre-primed brass of RWS or Fiocchi

It’s not so much inside barrel but the rails and under the barrel that get flakes and subsequent gunk that slows the slide down

In that case, I would first try oiling the action more often and see if that helps.  I believe more oil in a 1911 is always better than not enough.

One of my biggest complaints with WST is the unburnt powder build up. I have tried tighter crimps and using heavier bullets (200gr) with a .463 crimp but still have the buildup and figure it's just the nature of the powder.
A lighter recoil spring might get you more cycling problems so raise the powder charge .2grs at a time and make a ladder test till you get reliable function and find which charge your pistol likes.

I run 4.7gr of WST with my cast coated bullet that comes out at about 170grs. 0.1gr makes a big difference with WST. My guess you loaded them too light and causing an usual amount of fouling. I am shooting a long slide with a aimpoint 9000 on it. So you could probable get away with less 4.2gr ish.

rburk wrote:In that case, I would first try oiling the action more often and see if that helps.  I believe more oil in a 1911 is always better than not enough.

I tried that, it gunked up even quicker!

Rodger Barthlow wrote:One of my biggest complaints with WST is the unburnt powder build up. I have tried tighter crimps and using heavier bullets (200gr) with a .463 crimp but still have the buildup and figure it's just the nature of the powder.
A lighter recoil spring might get you more cycling problems so raise the powder charge .2grs at a time and make a ladder test till you get reliable function and find which charge your pistol likes.

With the 175gr bullet, a 9lb spring let it cycle well until about round 50. Then it was FTE’s every string/shot.

With a 10lb spring I made it to round 30 before FTE

gweber wrote:I run 4.7gr of WST with my cast coated bullet that comes out at about 170grs. 0.1gr makes a big difference with WST. My guess you loaded them too light and causing a usual amount of fouling. I am shooting a long slide with a aimpoint 9000 on it. So you could probable get away with less 4.2gr ish.

Yeah, 4.3gr WST was my ideal load with my EzFit Kart barrel

Shot SWCHP and 185JHP really well

Now looking to see how well I can do if I download my loads really low with a 1:13 KMM Barrel by Jon Eulette

3.4gr WST with 200gr Bullets from DG is a winner so far. Going to try 3.5BE with JHP like Jon did back in his original 1:13 barrel thread.

I’d also like to experience 2.8gr BE with a 200gr bullet but Jon said my pistol might be too tight for it to function well

MkFiji wrote:

gweber wrote:I run 4.7gr of WST with my cast coated bullet that comes out at about 170grs. 0.1gr makes a big difference with WST. My guess you loaded them too light and causing a usual amount of fouling. I am shooting a long slide with a aimpoint 9000 on it. So you could probable get away with less 4.2gr ish.

Yeah, 4.3gr WST was my ideal load with my EzFit Kart barrel

Shot SWCHP and 185JHP really well

Now looking to see how well I can do if I download my loads really low with a 1:13 KMM Barrel by Jon Eulette

3.4gr WST with 200gr Bullets from DG is a winner so far. Going to try 3.5BE with JHP like Jon did back in his original 1:13 barrel thread.

I’d also like to experience 2.8gr BE with a 200gr bullet but Jon said my pistol might be too tight for it to function well

For iron sights 200g SWC works great with 3.2g WST in my Range Officer with KKM barrel.  I can't get below 3.6 reliable with a slide mounted aimpoint on my KC. That's just cycling though. It's still super accurate down to 3.2.

All short line. I use 4.1 & 185g for the long line.

MkFij1 wrote:With the 175gr bullet, a 9lb spring let it cycle well until about round 50. Then it was FTE’s every string/shot.  

With a 10lb spring I made it to round 30 before FTE

Is this with a frame or slide mount optic?

DA/SA wrote:

MkFij1 wrote:With the 175gr bullet, a 9lb spring let it cycle well until about round 50. Then it was FTE’s every string/shot.  

With a 10lb spring I made it to round 30 before FTE

Is this with a frame or slide mount optic?

Iron sights

MkFiji wrote:

I’d also like to experience 2.8gr BE with a 200gr bullet but Jon said my pistol might be too tight for it to function well

Give it a try!

My slide mount runs like a watch on 2.8 BE/200 Zero SWC Swaged. 10# recoil spring.

As far as being tight, the only way I can unlock mine is to cock the hammer and push the slide against the bench. It takes a pretty good push too!

I also found that it takes 3.5 WST to run reliably with a 180 LSWC.