2011 failing to go completely into battery ***Updated with solution***

[mwinter501]

***Update: The rounds didn't have enough crimp/bell removal which was causing the gun to lock up with certain brass. It wasn't visually apparent and didn't show when measuring, but adding a little more crimp fixed the issue.

Good evening everyone, I was hoping to enlist your help with a problem I’m having with my newly acquired Infinity 5” sight tracker in 9mm. I picked it up a few days ago and have experience the following two problems quite often (2-5 rounds per magazine). Ammo was primarily my reloads (124gr RMR plated round nose, mixed brass, 3.6g Promo, Win primers, 1.150 OAL) but also occurred with some random factory practice ammo. It also happened with 140mm STI tubes (grams spring, grams follower, STI stock basepad, tuned by me to Dawson specs from tuning kit) and the one 140mm SVI magazine that came with the pistol.

Problem 1: the gun will fail to go completely into battery (last ¼”). On these I just push the back of the slide very slightly and it will go forward and be good to fire. I attributed this to a possibly warn out recoil spring. Infinity said it came with a Wolff 9lb variable from the factory, so I ordered that along with a 10lb and 11lb hoping it would cure the issue. They are still in the mail.

Problem 2: The gun will fail to go completely into battery (again, only the last 1/4” or so) but will not go forward any more. I have attempted to push fairly hard on the back of the slide but it won’t budge. There’s usually a little extra resistance when I pull the slide back, so I’m apprehensive to push any harder. I originally attributed this problem to the ammo I was using. I knew I had some in the can that didn’t have the bell completely removed from when my die moved out of spec. They worked in my glock, but didn’t surprise me that they weren’t working in the tighter chamber of the Infinity.

I just happened to be switching over to 125g round nose from Blue Bullets, so I loaded up some dummies tonight to the same OAL. All passed the “plunk” test in the barrel, so I loaded them in a magazine and cycled them through to see if I had cured problem 2. The problem occurred two more times initially. I ran them all back through a second time and it only occurred once. All I am doing is locking the slide back on each round and hitting the slide release. I figured this would be the best way to eliminate the variable of spring tension.

I ran them through more times and thought it was being caused by the top round’s forward position in the magazine. I eliminated that after watching plenty of other rounds chamber like butter from the same position. I then thought it was only the top round in the magazine, but then found out I was just coincidentally putting the problem round in last. Finally, (I’m a little slow) decided to mark the round that caused the problem to see if it was the same one every time. That helped narrow it down, because the problem only occurs when attempting to chamber this round. I’ve measured this round at every spot I can think of and nothing appears out of the ordinary. I’ve measured OAL, case length, case end diameter, case base diameter, etc, and it all is within spec and the same as the other rounds.

(big deep breath in) So, I then kept loading this round into the magazine and slowly letting the slide forward hoping to see where it was hanging up. The round moves up the ramp, beneath the extractor, and into the chamber just fine. Everything locks up when the round is completely chambered and the barrel and slide are both moving forward together. The only thing I can see out of the ordinary are some marks on the primer. These marks do not exist on any of the other rounds. The primer felt flush and shows to be flush after measuring it. This is also the only PPU stamped case out of the bunch. I attached some photos so yall can see what’s going on a little better.

I really appreciate everyone’s help!

Edited May 2, 2016 by mwinter501

[mwinter501]

Im trying to get the other pics up, but having a ton of trouble with the site.

[mwinter501]

Edited April 30, 2016 by mwinter501

[mwinter501]

[warpspeed]

My guess is that it is the ammo.

Have you case guaged the offending cartridges?

Remove the barrel from the gun and try droping it in the barrel just by itself.

Edited April 30, 2016 by warpspeed

[RonPogi]

Try lower your OAL starting to 1.130" and up.

[mwinter501]

My guess is that it is the ammo.

Have you case guaged the offending cartridges?

Remove the barrel from the gun and try droping it in the barrel just by itself.

I've only "plunk tested" them by dropping them into the barrel. I don't use a case guage. Guess I'll need to get one.

Try lower your OAL starting to 1.130" and up.

I'll give it a try. I'd be happy if it was that easy of a fix, but would be curious since the others are the same OAL or slightly lower. The ogive on this one could be different as well.

Thanks everyone for the help

[vesap]

Hi! I had similiar problems with my STI 38 super. I found that some cases where too long due to very many reloads. I started to 'gauge' all my cases which i use in competition.

[Sarge]

Ammo

[Postal Bob]

Those primers seem to be the problem. Were they like that before you loaded the round in the gun? It might've been a defective primer from the start. Or the primer might've been not seated correctly, was sticking out, and got deformed when it moved up the face of the slide during feeding.

[Hi-Power Jack]

Have you case guaged the offending cartridges?

I've only "plunk tested" them by dropping them into the barrel. I don't use a case guage. Guess I'll need to get one.

Try lower your OAL starting to 1.130" and up.

No, you really don't. Your chamber is a much better gauge than a gauge.

BTW, there is more to The Plunk Test than "dropping them into the barrel" - they have to seat all

the way (PLUNK), and spin freely and then drop freely when inverted. If they won't do that, they

did NOT pass The Plunk Test.

[mwinter501]

Hi! I had similiar problems with my STI 38 super. I found that some cases where too long due to very many reloads. I started to 'gauge' all my cases which i use in competition.

Interesting. I initially figured this was the problem, but that case measures shorter that some of the others that functioned fine.

Those primers seem to be the problem. Were they like that before you loaded the round in the gun? It might've been a defective primer from the start. Or the primer might've been not seated correctly, was sticking out, and got deformed when it moved up the face of the slide during feeding.

I would agree, I don't know what is the problem with that particular one because it wont seat any further. The marks are very superficial and I cant feel anything with my bare finger. I guess that's the issue you can run into with such tight tolerances.

Have you case guaged the offending cartridges?

I've only "plunk tested" them by dropping them into the barrel. I don't use a case guage. Guess I'll need to get one.

Try lower your OAL starting to 1.130" and up.

No, you really don't. Your chamber is a much better gauge than a gauge.

BTW, there is more to The Plunk Test than "dropping them into the barrel" - they have to seat all

the way (PLUNK), and spin freely and then drop freely when inverted. If they won't do that, they

did NOT pass The Plunk Test.

Yeah, that's what I do, sorry for the over simplification.

[mwinter501]

Well, just loaded up 25 at 1.130. Th ere was one that had the same issue to a lesser degree. The spring wouldn't completely seat everything, but a slight to moderate amount of force would make it completely chamber. I measured that round against the others and can't find anything out of the ordinary. This one doesn't have any marks on the primer like the last one either.

I'm at a loss

[mwinter501]

Well, I may have figured it out. I started checking each station in my loader backward. The crimp station (Lee FCD) seemed like it could use a little more so I turned it down 1/4 turn. I then ran the problem round from today back through the crimp station and it fed just fine in the gun. So, I then got the problem round from last night and ran it through the crimp station and it still stopped short. I turned the die down another 1/4 turn and it now works just fine. There doesn't appear to be an excessive crimp so I'll load up a few hundred lime this and shoot tomorrow. Hopefully everything goes well. Thanks again for everyone's help!

[RonPogi]

Glad you made it.. Happy shoot!!

[Sarge]

Are these mixed brass? Case walls are thicker/thinner from brand to brand. Crimp will not be identical from brand to brand

[mwinter501]

Yep, mixed brass. Hopefully adding a little more crimp will make the thicker cases work well

[Hi-Power Jack]

I then ran the problem round through the crimp station and it fed just fine in the gun.

Sounds like the problem round didn't pass The Plunk Test?

Glad you solved the problem - check for accuracy - too much crimp can

ruin accuracy.

[TDA]

A half turn seems like a huge adjustment.

You might want to pull a bullet and see if it leaves a crimp ring around it.

[mwinter501]

I thought it had, but I'm guessing it was protruding past the hood just a tiny amount that I didn't notice. I'm heading to the range in an hour to see how things work out.

[mwinter501]

I need to be better about checking my dies. They consistently come loose without me noticing it. This is what happened the crimp die on both occasions. The rounds fed fine in my glock but I noticed they still had some bell at the ends. This adjustment still doesn't look to push the end of the case into the bullet any, but I'll pull a few and check.

[mwinter501]

Also, I was incorrect earlier regarding my crimp die. It's a dillon taper crimp not a Lee FCD. I have the FCD for 223 and had just switched tool heads.

[scooterj]

Mark the different parts of the die with a sharpie. If they move, you'll be able to see it before you have issues.

[mwinter501]

Mark the different parts of the die with a sharpie. If they move, you'll be able to see it before you have issues.

Good idea, I'll do that tonight!

[mwinter501]

Ok, update after shooting. The ammo functioned fine out of around 200 rounds. I also pulled two of the bullets which don't show excessive crimp - there's still plenty of the coating left and accuracy was good.

My magazines are another issue. I'll probably start a new thread for them after searching for the answer first, but figured I'd share here. I started to have an issue that appeared similar to the original. The slide stopped just shy of going completely into battery. This time, however, the round was getting ahead of the extractor. Thankfully the extractor didn't ride over rim. This problem happened to a certain extent in all of the mags I tuned off of the dawson tuning video (STI 140mm tubes, grams follower, grams 13 coil spring, stock basepad, spacer). It looks like the 2nd round in the magazine is moving forward with the top round is stripped by the slide. This moves that round up to the top, but forward in the magazine. I think this causes the round to be pushed up at the angle too early in the cycle causing it to get in front of the extractor.

Thoughts?

This didn't occur at all on the supplied SVI mag which does not use a spacer. Not sure if it's the feed lip dimensions, the lack of spacer, or a combination of both.