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Jimboajubejube

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Posts posted by Jimboajubejube

  1. Soo had an outdoor 8 stage shoot yesterday (very interesting), I have to say the reduced charge did help iron out some of the jams. I still had a failure to feed, although less frequent, and at one point all my rounds nose dived when i i had to start gun holstered and mags on belt. After that I cleaned the mags and for the last 3 stages i had no jams at all. It is now starting to seem that it could be the mags giving trouble and not the ammo anymore.

  2. I was running a really hot load, at one point the load was hotter than minor power factor. I think it is OAL that is messing me around. i was factoring at 4.4 gr, and i increased it to 4.7 gr. now i am lightening the load back to 4.4 gr

  3. I must say that i think the jams are most likely caused by the ammo. I have had the gun checked and the mags checked.i have corrected the mistakes i used to make and these were:

    1) I was loading the rounds too short, 27.8 mm. I increased them to 28.5 mm then to 28.8 mm and now to 29.3mm. this definitely reduced jams.

    2) I was crimping the bullet way too hard, now i just get rid of the belling.

    3) The rounds were not factoring so i had to increase the powder to factor.

    4) i was not removing the lube off the bullets after they went through the press, so the bullets were sticky.

  4. A stronger recoil impulse might aid some of the feeding problems. What velocity does your load produce?

    - last time i used a chrono the power factor I had was 125 power factor, can't remember the velocity.

    Is the gun new? Maybe it needs a little more break-in time for things to smooth out.

    - gun is not new, had it for nearly 3 years, 2 of which have been competitive years, and lots of rounds have been through the gun.

    You bullets sound like they are plated, correct? Any chance you can try some true FMJ bullets? Plated bullets are soft and can produce feed problems like you see. A hard FMJ bullet bounces off surfaces much better.

    - will give that a try. Although I will soon be using an STI Trubor in the open division and i will be using the same bullets.

    Does your feed ramp have rough spots? Has it been polished?

    - no it does not have rough spots.

    Do your nosedive-like jams only occur when the magazine is full?

    - yes they do, it seems that in between shooting stages if i keep the magazine loaded i tend to get jams, although not always. The mag takes 18 rounds but now i only put in 17

  5. Actually spoke to a guy today who sells me reloading gear, and i cant remember the make of sight <_< . I will find out the name, but it comes with a plate already machined for standard 1911 dove tail slot (excuse sloppy terminology) and the brightness is manual.

  6. It's not clear that your OAL is correct. Each bullet nose profile is different, and therefore the OAL can be different. You can't just measure a factory round, or any other, and use that as your guide for the correct OAL. That's not how it works.

    You write "i remove any rounds that do not sit properly or have difficulty sitting in the chamber." This suggests that some rounds are not at the proper OAL. If they were at the proper OAL, all the round would properly fit in the chamber. What do you mean by " rounds that do not sit properly or have difficulty sitting in the chamber. "?? How do they not sit properly or have difficulty sitting??

    What bullet are you using? Can you take a picture or direct us to a picture on the internet?

    It's also not clear what you mean by " failure to feed (out of battery)". Please describe that in more detail. Pictures would be very helpful.

    i almost never have any rounds that i need to remove when i drop the rounds into the chamber. ALL the rounds pass the plunk test. What i mean by not sitting properly is when i drop the rounds into the barrel and they do not seat properly i.e. sit flush in the chamber. They stick out. I only do this as an added precaution, all my rounds fit the chamber perfectly. I have measured, using a bore rod, what the max overall length for my gun would be, 31.7 mm.

    "You can't just measure a factory round, or any other, and use that as your guide for the correct OAL. That's not how it works".

    I know that you dont just use factory ammo OAL and reload with that. What i did was take some rounds loaded at 28.7 mm, 29 mm and 29.3 mm (i worked my length upto factory round length). I cycled these rounds through the gun and the smoothest, in my opinion, was the 29.3 mm OAL.

    the failure to feed jam that i get is very similar to this, note this is not my gun http://i55.tinypic.com/2lbls0m.jpg

    The second jam is a failure to extract http://i56.tinypic.com/wtsrrd.jpg(again not my gun)

    I also tend to get a Jam where the bullet does this http://s968.photobucket.com/user/kiin61/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpse53d0b5a.jpg.html(not my gun)

    also, when you have a failure to feed, the gun is said to be 'out of battery', here is my reference http://www.northcarolinasportsman.com/details.php?id=485

    The rounds i use are CMJ Restrike 9mmP 124gr RN.

  7. I am not sure how heavy the recoil spring but i will check.

    like i said the brass is sized just fine, especially after the plunk test i remove any rounds that do not sit properly or have difficulty sitting in the chamber. my rounds are at 29.3 mm OAL, the same as factory ammo, and the bought reloads i checked were 28.7 mm and they ran perfectly, so i think it is safe to say length is not the issue. Also i have shot factory ammo through the gun and it ran well. I am almost certain it has to do with excessive pressure, not that there are signs on the brass of such pressure, but i did experience primer flow when i shot the gun. As for the magazines i would think that if those were the problem then i would have more or less consistent jams on every stage, but i dont. some stages run smoothly and some turn into a jamming nightmare.

  8. Hey guys,

    I have a somewhat complicated issue to explain and try fix. The gun i am having trouble with is the BUL M5 Government 9mm. The barrel has 2 ports on the end (not strictly a compensator). In shooting IPSC obviously it is considered an open class gun because of such ports.

    I am continually getting jams in the gun, specifically failure to feed (out of battery) and failure to extract. I have eliminated certain elements that could cause the jams and these are:

    1) I DON'T limp wrist. I know it is the first thing everyone asks when dealing with jams, dont ask me because i dont limp wrist.

    2) My rounds do factor through a chrono for minor power factor.

    3) my brass is thoroughly checked cleaned and i plunk test all the rounds.

    4) according to every gun smith i have spoken to, my magazine springs, followers, base pads etc are all good. I also make sure they are clean.

    5) gun is always clean and lubricated correctly.

    6) My OAL is correct for the gun and all rounds cycle smoothly.

    I am reloading using s121 powder (fast burning) with a 124gr bullet. I have found a possible cause of the jams. This could be loading the rounds too hot? and causing the gun to cycle too fast. I found this out by shooting my reloads vs bought reloads. the bought reloads grouped extremely well where as my reloads were all over the place. This i figured out was because of too much pressure exiting the ports on the barrel causing the gun to move too much. I went back to my reloading data and found that i factored at 4.4 gr but i was actually putting in 4.7 gr due to increasing the length. what i have done is bring the powder down to 4.3gr and i will be shooting the rounds this weekend hopefully with no jams. What my question is, is it possible that a gun can jam when running too hot a load through it? i.e. the action closing too fast therefore causing a failure to feed and the action opening too fast that the extractor, in lay mans terms, looses grip of the brass casing to extract it?

  9. I think you mentioned you are in RSA? If so frontier metal processing is there and they make an excellent 124gn RN CMJ. It's perfect for what you want and will shoot nice and clean. They also make a 147gn RN CMJ (I've used them in my production gun) so you could try those if you want.

    I agree keep the home cast pills for your other guns and shoot cmj or jhp in your open gun.

    that is the bullet i currently use and it is very good

  10. Looking to mount a red dot on the slide of my BUL M5.

    I would imagine there are lots of advantages to mounting the red dot

    on the frame rather than the slide??? :cheers:

    there are, but the BUL M5 has a polymer frame, i asked Cmore and they said you cant drill and tap the polymer frame (obviously). So only option is the slide :cheers:. not sure about lots of advantages though.

  11. Yes super mags will work, depending on OAL. you will have to play around with that once you get your gun.

    I have SPS mags that I use in both, my super and 9 major guns without any change.

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    What overall length do you use for 9mm in order to get the mag to feed reliably?

  12. STI makes one size tube for 9mm and 38 super. If you don't use a spacer in the back of the mag you run the "potential" of the 9mm rounds getting "behind" the forward control rib, thus causing feeding problems. Rear spacer moves the round just far enough past the forward control rib to prevent this from happening. Now, do some have success without spacers running 9mm in STI mags? Yes, but it is hit and miss.

    Good luck

    Thanks will do my best to get them working with out spacers etc. Worst case i will have to get spacers

  13. does the trubor mag come std with a spacer when the gun is bought? i can't remember seeing one. I thought that they were just 38 super mags

    I'm pretty sure yours will be super mags. 9mm Major springs and spacers are few and far between here in ZA. I suppose the 2 dealers may be able to bring those in for you albeit a bit of a wait.

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    Hey Mo Zee. surely i can just use the 38 super mag? why would they send me a 38 super mag if i could not use it for 9x19?

  14. My plan is to just start with 124 gr, oal 1.130" and 7 gr s221 moving up from there until factor.

    Good plan :cheers:

    My only suggestion would be to experiment with longer rounds and see how they feed.

    well for that what i have done is found a method to measure the max oal of the gun:

    use a rod that basically fits the barrel of the gun (i'm cheap so i use my primer tube which fits well). completely close the action and put the tube down the barrel all the way to the breach face, mark that point on the tube at the end of the barrel. Then i take out the barrel and put a bullet head in it until it touches the rifling and hold it there gently with a rod or something. Insert the tube again and mark the point where it stops against the bullet head. This gives the max oal of the gun.

  15. Using lighter bullets with a compensator has advantages due to more gas and typically has less muzzle flip as has been discussed. However, lots of folks have shot a crap ton of 135gr -150ish grain lead bullets out of 38 supers at 175+ powder factor. I used lots of 135-150 grain hard cast bullets and they actually shoot pretty well. Yep, there was comp leading but cleaning your compensator was just another skill/chore that was part of the game. Wear on the barrel with the lead bullets was minimal. Never had to replace a barrel due to wear until I got a real job and could afford to shoot jacketed bullets. I also think that shooting the heavier bullets were easier on the guns in general.

    Looking that the specs for S221, it looks like it is around N350 in burn rate and has a bulk density similar to AA#7. That is a good combination and looks like a good candidate for an open powder to work in the 9mm case w/ light or heavy bullets. Also, you have the advantage of making major at 160pf for IPSC Open so that helps.

    Personally, I like to use 115/124grain MG jacketed bullets and think they work very well. However, about a year and half ago I was trying to conserve my "good" MG bullets and loaded up some old 135gr LSWC's. Shot them for a couple months and they worked fine. Leading wasn't horrible, but there was more smoke.

    I'd say try what you want and see what you think. Maybe your local club guys are onto something.

    Part of the enjoyment of the game is the quest.

    Just don't invest a bunch of money into 147grain bullets. ;)

    Yes the s221 is the std powder here in RSA for open. every single open shooter uses it so i will stick to that powder. I haven't got my Trubor in my possession yet, our licensing system takes months to issue the license and every firearm has to have a new separate license applied for separately, only once you have the actual license card can you then take possession of the gun. (It takes 3 months for a single sports license for a particular gun, 6 Months for a self defense license :angry: ) anyway, My plan is to just start with 124 gr, oal 1.130" and 7 gr s221 moving up from there until factor.

  16. Really appreciate the help guys. I am going to stick to 124 gr. for me it is easy to get. I guess for some it comes down to personal preference, i personally want to use a bullet such as the 124gr to be on a good competing platform against the other shooters. as for casting rounds, I will leave that for standard 9mm ammo i use to shoot steel challenge as opposed to using it for 9 major.

  17. Let me start by saying I'm not a physicist by trade (a sprinkler fitter actually) so I don't actually know the answers to these questions, but I have some moronic ideas I'd love to flesh out with the rest of the Enosphere :cheers:

    the dot does not lift as much when shooting.

    First off, I'm not sure this is true. I've never shot 9 major with 147s but I have shot it with 135s, 124s and 115s; I found the heavier the bullet the softer, bouncier the gun shot, whereas the lighter the bullet the flatter, more violent the gun felt.

    for 9 major 147gr is best, because it reduces wear and tear

    I found this comment intriguing, intuitively I want to agree, but I'm not sure why... My initial though was a heavier/slower bullet has less energy than a lighter/faster bullet and perhaps energy has something to do with "wear and tear". Then I though pressure is probably more closely correlated so I went to 'the book' and was surprised to find this data:

    Loads_zps1546695f.jpg

    This would lead me to believe that, at least in this small relative range between 124gr and 147gr with WAC, two loads of the same PF would have exert the same pressure on the chamber. Granted these two max loads have a muzzle energy of roughly 345 ft.lb and 274 ft.lb for the 124gr and 147gr respectively.

    But shooting a 124/5gn projectile at 1400fps(173pf) is easier to get to then moving a 147gn projectile at 1100fps (161pf)

    This doesn't sound very scientific, do you have a more technical analysis of "easy to get going"? If a 124gr bullet is going 1290 fps to make 160 pf and the 147gr is going 1088 fps, the 124gr bullet has 458 ft.lb of energy vs the 386 ft.lb. I'm not about to say definitively that muzzle energy has any correlation to "wear and tear" but if the muzzle energy is greater, the pressure is about the same, which factor do you suspect are the greatest contributor? the force required to unseat the bullet?

    I also have a number of questions, but as far as i have been told, the pressure behind a heavier bullet such as the 147gr is less therefore reducing the wear and tear or as i was told "does not hammer the gun as much". i can also see the the pressure is lower. I was also told from a mutual friend who shoots 9 major and has extensive experience that yes the heavier bullet will save the gun, less pressure and less powder behind the bullet, but one must make a decision; save the gun? or make that sacrifice and compete properly in IPSC using a lighter bullet.

    However on the range on sunday I spoke to another person who shoots 9 major and he said that 147 gr is better for 9 major than 124 gr. This just adds to my confusion. As i said earlier i always get told something different, i even had a gunsmith who builds his own opens guns, mainly using BUL components, that heavier is better.

    it seems that from your data above, that the more you increase the ft/s of the 147gr, the closer the pressure is to that of the 124 gr. The difference in pressure and velocity reduces. At the end of the day the pressure is less with a heavier bullet and will most certainly reduce the wear and tear on the gun, whether this is substantial and even worth it is another debate. I guess the more powder used with a 124 gr will create more gas and make the comp work better?

    Lets assume that the pressure difference, in the maximum loads of your data, is not going to substantially increase the wear and tear. The question is then how much gas will be redirected through the comp.

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