Help with feeding and bullets

[happyal]

Hello,

 

I hope someone can help, as I have a problem with my new SVI in 40 S&W with getting my load right for feeding and ejecting.

 

I'm having the odd hiccup on feeding with my own loads, I'm using 180 grain, poly covered lead heads. 5.2 grains of N340 and a OAL of 1.14. It's not all the time, just some time, and it's either a failure to feed, or a failure to eject. 

 

Can anyone spread some light on my my problem? I've tried a few different length, and powder but nothing seemed of completely cured it yet. What does anyone suggest?

[Hi-Power Jack]

Sounds, to me, like a Very Short OAL for .40.

 

I'd see how long I could load (1.18"?) before The Plunk Test fails.

 

I'd bet you need to lengthen the loads to feed properly.

 

Also, an "odd hiccup" could easily be a single magazine out of

all your mags - one doesn't work properly (out of spec or needs

new springs).

 

BTW, you shouldn't be awake a 4:30 a.m.   

[happyal]

10 minutes ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

 

BTW, you shouldn't be awake a 4:30 a.m.   

 

LOL, I'm in the UK, it's 10:30am here.

 

I thought about mags, so I've numbered them and checked. It happens with all my mags. The gun and mags are only 4 months or so old.

 

I had heard that 2011's like long rounds, will I need more powder to make major if I make them longer? I was struggling to make major with the load data from the manufacturers web site as it was. I will run a few tests and see where I can get the rounds

[Hi-Power Jack]

18 minutes ago, happyal said:

 

 will I need more powder to make major if I make them longer?  I will run a few OAL  tests and see where I can get the rounds

 

Yes, these are two separate issues, I'm afraid.

 

One, get the OAL out as long as they will feed.

 

Two, find an appropriate powder and load to make Major - work them up slowly with a chrono.

 

Good luck - guess it's almost lunch time there, now.   Raining?   

[happyal]

5 minutes ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

 

Good luck - guess it's almost lunch time there, now.   Raining?   

 

Thanks I will do this, borrow the clubs chrono and get to work

 

Yeap, nearly lunch time, and no rain. In fact so far 2 weeks of Sun shine so far, which as you might of guessed, is pretty unusual. 

[Hi-Power Jack]

10 hours ago, happyal said:

 

2 weeks of Sun shine so far, which  is pretty unusual. 

 

I've heard that the English are droll, but  "pretty unusual"  for a  millenium old record ????

 

The last time the sun shone for a fortnight was the Battle of Hastings ...   

[djcsmith]

I find my .40S&W 1911 prefers bullets with a rounder nose-profile. 

Heavily truncated bullets seem to hit the feed ramp at a bad angle, or too early in the slide travel, stopping the slide.

Also, I load mine to an OAL of 1.185".

Many of my friends load as long as 1.2".

 

[zzt]

You can tune magazines to feed anything between 1.126" and 1.180" OAL.  All of my MBX and SVI mags do.  Just as important to feed lip tuning is slide speed.  If it is slow you may occasionally have a FtF problem, especially with a full mag.

 

I used to load 4.8gr N340 under a 180gr LTC bullet for 172PF.  Switching to a BBI coated 180gr dropped than to 162PF.  I subsequently decided to drop N340 in favoe of Alliant e3.  3.6gr under a 180gr coated bullet makes 172PF, and the recoil is softer than with N340.

 

I also find the RNFP bullets feed better than TC bullets, especially in Winter.

Edited May 12, 2017 by zzt

[Hi-Power Jack]

49 minutes ago, zzt said:

You can tune magazines to feed 1.126"

 

You can load a .40 that short ?   

[zzt]

Yes Jack.  My CZ TS 40 has problems with anything loaded over 1.135", so I load to 1.126" specifically for it.  It just so happens that both of my 40sw 2011s run fine with that same length with all mags.  I have MBX, SVI 1st gen, SVI and STI mags.  The MBX uses all MBX stuff.  The SVI 1st gens have TTI followers, springs and pads.  The SVIs have Grams followers and springs with Dawson pads.  The STIs are all grams- followers, springs and pads.  So I don't think it's unique to any specific set of components.

 

While initially experimenting with 40 loads for the 2011s, I tried all lengths from 1.125" to 1.180" in .005 OAL increments.  There was no difference in feeding reliability.  With Montana Gold 155gr HP bullets seated to 1.180", they fall below the hoods in both 2011 barrels during the plunk tests.  So I could probably go even longer.

[not4you2know]

On 5/11/2017 at 4:28 AM, happyal said:

Hello,

 

I hope someone can help, as I have a problem with my new SVI in 40 S&W with getting my load right for feeding and ejecting.

 

I'm having the odd hiccup on feeding with my own loads, I'm using 180 grain, poly covered lead heads. 5.2 grains of N340 and a OAL of 1.14. It's not all the time, just some time, and it's either a failure to feed, or a failure to eject. 

 

Can anyone spread some light on my my problem? I've tried a few different length, and powder but nothing seemed of completely cured it yet. What does anyone suggest?

What exact issue are you having? When I first started loading mollys I had feed issues, but was informed that I didn't have enough crimp. Different cases have different wall thickness and that makes it seem random. You should be crimping enough to put a line in the molly, but not enough to go through the coating. There is a measurement, but I can't remember it at the moment. If you crimp too much, you can cause the molly to bulge at the crimp line and cause a failure as well.  

 

Also, with a 2011, load long to get ride of feeding issues. With mollys I'm at 1.180. With jacketed I'm at 1.200

 

Hope this helps

 

Also, yes, you will need more powder for long loads. I use to run N320, but switched to WSF and WST for cost and availability.

Edited May 12, 2017 by not4you2know

[happyal]

Hello,

 

I tested some different loads at the weekend with a chrono. They all fed fine but power was an issue.

 

I loaded them to 1.19 but was still using the same amount of N340 (5.2 grains) and my power factor was about 155. I plan to make them a little shorter and add a little powder.

[happyal]

I got to the bottom of my problem, and it's an embarrassing one for me...... Lack of Lube

 

Went to a practice last night and still had all sort of problems, a friend who has much more experience with 2011 and SVI's in general had a look at it for me. He quickly found the lack of lube problem, lubed it up and it ran perfect after that.

 

A little embarrassing for me, but I'm glad it was such a simple problem to fix.

[Hi-Power Jack]

On ‎5‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 4:51 AM, happyal said:

I loaded them to 1.19" but PF 155. I plan to make them a little shorter and add a little powder.

 

Once you find a good OAL, I wouldn't decrease it to make up power - might affect functioning.

 

I'd Add Powder to increase power   ....     

[happyal]

Currently got them at 1.175 and they fed perfectly. I will get them chronoed to make sure they make major, but I'm planning on leaving them like that.