Dirty 45 brass, is this normal?

Shooting normal handloads, 4.0gr Titegroup behind a Brazos 180 FBSWC, Federal brass .469 crimp 1.2"ish OAL & WLPP. Lots of soot from the case mouth extending ⅔ of the way to the rim. This happens in 3 SARO's and my Gold Cup, also with regular lubed cast SWCs so I don't think it's the coating... Is it normal?

Try two things, 4.4 of powder, and your normal load.  You also need to try more crimp.  Say .466.  

So next trip, take 4.0 @ .469; 4.0 @ .466; 4.4 @.466 ; and 4.4 @ .469.

Sizing dies matter too. Many dies size to guarantee a tight fit of minimum size 451 jkt bullets. Lots of clearance to the side for gas flow.

Try some fired clean deprimed but unresized

Dillon 550B w/ Dillon carbide die set, resize and decap in one... I can see on some cases the bullet expanding/filling the case. I am using AP’s PTU which is an improvement over the original.

I’ll try a little more crimp, and a heavier charge, though it’s a shame as it shoots quite well.

I'm using tighter crimp with anything coated - 0.463" with Brazos 180gr coated SWC on top of 4.0gr of BullsEye.  1.24" OAL, ~0.920" base to shoulder.  Shoulder is about 1/16" over the top of the case's mouth.  Also, in the past I had issues with Federal brass, - it didn't hold neck tension well with lead / coated bullets.  I don't think you need to elevate charge, especially if your load is shooting well.  Increased crimp will provide for developing of higher pressure and better powder burn.

Side questions is how you clean brass and if you use any lube to aid with sizing.  Both processes can leave residue on the brass that can lid to the soot you mentioned.

AP

If your pistol functions fine and is shooting on call leave it alone. Dirty brass really doesn't mean much in the BE game, 10's do though!
Jon

I’ve just started wet tumbling, no brass lube on carbide pistol dies, though I have been paying attention to those who recommend it.

I try to put a skimpy amount of lube on my brass for my 650. I find it makes for smoother function. And yes it does have carbide dies.

Following up, I ran about 75 rounds through the same SARO tonight for a little informal steel fun since my home club indoor range is still closed... 🤬 Looking at my brass tonight, there was considerably less sooting so I’m wondering if it’s a cleaning residue issue, as the brass with the most soot was right after a full cleaning...

Worry about the target. This is a non-issue caused simply by pressure being too low to expand case and seal chamber. It's been happening since the dawn of low-pressure target loads.

Gotta have something else to distract from the lousy targets don’tcha know!

Motophotog7 wrote:Gotta have something else to distract from the lousy targets don’t have know!

Or change your thinking from "lousy" targets to "improving" or some other less negative adjective. This is a mental game, and negative self talk is like anti dryfire practice...

While my reply was meant more tongue-in-cheek, my girl says the same things to me all the time. Something that deserves more consideration I guess 

I know it was, but the self talk was driven home.to me this summer as i was traveling to canton and cardinal with a 2650 shooter. At one point he said... "Rob, your biggest problem is you don't really believe that you can shoot a ten every time. You think you do, and want to but, but you dont...yet..." I was into positive self talk before that, but after that he'd give me "the look" every time I demonstrated negative self talk... I couldn't believe how often I did it almost unconsiously... this winter I've quit judging myself and gotten back to shooting for fun and allowing things to happen, and my scores are up considerably...

Extremely relevant “point taken”