d3ydx3

Makes sense. I did notice in one of my videos my elbows were more straight out and the gun looked like it was shooting very flat. The particular day I tested the load that I complained about my elbows are definitely bent and more inwards. Something that I will need to consciously work on during practice.

Tried the paper test this afternoon and for what it is worth, 8.4gr (new load) had quarter sized splatter and the 8.8gr load (load in the videos from the original post) had splatter 2-3x the size.

That bad, huh? I did buy your book so I’ll make sure to read the section on stance. Grip strength is one area that I’ve put some effort into recently. Curious what you’re seeing? Wrist separation or just overall weak grip? I’ve been looking to see if the trigger guard lifts off my hand in video, and I thought that was something that I had fixed.

The paper test is definitely on my list of things to try. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Here's my load data for 3N38. Seems I just have a fast barrel and also no popple holes.

Sure do, but not from that same angle. 1st video is me shooting some plates with the same 9.6 AA7 load and the 2nd is a comparison of different AA7 loads and N350. The 9.6 AA7 happens to be the 1st one in the 2nd video.

Tried 3n38 yesterday at the range for my 9 Major load. I have been using 9.6gr of AA7 behind a 124gr Everglades JHP V2 bullet, which runs the gun fairly flat and not a lot of push. The 8.8gr 3n38 load that I tested yesterday didn’t feel as good and seemed to push the gun a lot more than I wanted. Got back home and reviewed some of the practice video, where it looks like a lot of gas coming out of the front of the gun and even the ejection port. 8.8 out of this gun is around 175-177 PF, so I’m thinking of dropping it down to 8.4 for 172 PF. Videos below.

I saw the previous Alpha Powder Dropper thread on here from last year and it looks like @hwansikcjswohad some case tension issues. Wanted to see if anyone else has had case tension issues w/ the Alpha dropper and 9mm? While getting into Open and loading some 9 Major, I discovered that I was getting bullet setback with the Alpha dropper & Dillon sizer, specifically with Blazer and Federal brass (no surprise). I changed back to the Dillon powder dropper, which fixed the case tension issue. I'm not a fan of how much flare I have to put on a case to get a bullet to stabilize on the case for seating with the Dillon powder dropper. Now, I went back to the Alpha dropper w/ and added a Lee U-die and that seems to work OK. Just curious what everyone else's experiences are with the Alpha and case tension? I'm expanding to the minimum amount with the Alpha dropper. Right now my bell is around .378-.380, so nothing crazy. If you have an Alpha dropper, then you know you have to expand pretty deep before it starts belling. I also use the Alpha dropper for my 40 S&W setup, and I have no issues there with the Redding dual ring carbide sizer.

Trevor’s write up of the incident is all over Instagram. If the investigation confirms his story, our organization has some absolutely disgusting leadership that needs to be removed by the board ASAP. The outside counsel the board brought specializes in Corporate law and specifically employment law. If they severance Foley out with any amount of money, and hopefully we will know, then the organization is corrupt.

The Area 6 FB page has posted a summary of the incident.

Latest update... I'm still using AA7. Switching from the Winchester 124 FMJs to the Everglades 124gr JHP V2 bullets seems to have reduced the cornmeal significantly. Still dirty, but a lot less cornmeal. I'm still seating at the same 1.160" OAL. The Winchester FMJs were around 0.595" and the Everglades JHPs are 0.575-0580", so I don't think there's a notable pressure difference to get more burn. In fact, I would assume there is less pressure. My only guess is the FMJs had some type of lacquer/wax coating on the base of the bullet that I suspect might have caused the cornmeal.

Looks pretty clean. I do see some cornmeal in the locking lug recesses, but looks cleaner than my loads for sure. Not sure if it is a new lot or an old lot issue. My 8# jug lot number is 80322212051. Purchased a few weeks ago from Powder Valley.

@regor@HesedTech@Farmer@Jim Watson@M1A4ME@RePete@NoSteel@AverageJoeShooting@zzt@Rnlinebacker@Guy Neill@38super@TONY BARONE@BoyGlock@dansedgli@CocoBolo@36873687@Sarge@Aircooled6racer Turns out that I may have some bullet setback issues. I got my Redding titanium sizing die in today and decided to load up a few dummy rounds for plunk & set back testing. Used a combination of FC, Blazer, and GFL headstamp brass. The FC and GFL did OK on setback testing, but the Blazer cases flunked - around 0.010" setback after a couple of chamberings. I then took the Blazer cases and pressed them against my workbench and I was able to get the bullets into the case completely, so not good. Took out the Redding sizing die and went back to the Dillon sizing die. Same issue with the Dillon die, the Blazer cases flunked and I was able to push the bullet in completely. Took out the trusty U-die that I haven't used in awhile and grabbed a couple of more Blazer cases. Zero to a very tiny amount of setback - 0.002-0.004" after multiple attempts to the get the bullets setback deep. I did try testing with a couple of Winchester cases on the Dillon sizing die to replicate the same setup I would've had for the KB. I wasn't able to get any noticeable setback, but at this point I can't rule out setback being the issue or a contributing factor. This was all done with the same Winchester FMJ 124gr .355 bullets that I used when I had the KB. I've noticed a lot of consistency issues with the bullets. The length varies from .588ish up to .599ish. I'm also seeing they may be slightly undersized to .354 or .3545 vs a real .355. I was wondering why Wideners was selling 3500 count boxes of these for cheap when the pandemic started. I say all that because the new Everglades 124gr JHPs that are .355 seem to setback a lot less even with the Redding and Dillon dies.

Despite my KB I still plan to shoot 9 Major in open. I did fire 100 rounds after the KB happened to verify function of the gun without any issues. I think at this point it was a combination of issues. Possible weak brass. Possible OOB caused by debris in the gun. Will I be a bit more careful with my brass selection and inspect cases more? Yes. Not sure if I'll go as far as to buy once fired roll sized brass, but we'll see. Will I stop recycling my major cases 4 or more times? Probably. Will I likely switch powders in the short term to something cleaner to minimize debris? Yes KBs happen in minor guns for the same reasons. Not much we can do except accept the risk with our sport. Now if I have a 2nd or 3rd KB in the near future, we'll see...

@zzt Here's some pics that I just took. It has been disassembled a few times, so some of the cornmeal has come out of it, but I think this will give you a good idea as far as the amount of fouling that I'm getting w/ AA7.

Yeah, I don't know what the deal with my lot of AA7 is. It kills me that it shoots great, but leaves the cornmeal like it does. Really, really wanted to make it work. I've heard different lots are cleaner than other lots, maybe I just have a bad lot, but it has caused nothing for problems with my gun since I started shooting it and this last session was very dry (not going to say completely dry on oil). I had no idea AA7 compressed that well. Maybe I did have bullet setback then. I do use the Dillon sizer, and I've heard mixed things. Some people say it sizes great, some people say it doesn't as far as case tension goes. I've been using it for a year and haven't had any issues to date. Regardless, I've gotten my hands on the Redding sizer, so I may end up switching to it. I use the Redding for 40 cal and it is super smooth, so hoping it is equally smooth for 9mm. Lots of variables. I am not looking forward to my rounds growing with 3N38... that's why I didn't go with 3N38 originally.

Yep! The cornmeal was nowhere near as bad. Maybe I'll give it a try instead of going back to N350, which is a bit high pressure for my taste until I get some 3N38 to try out. I would say the cornmeal with AA7 is at least 2x to 3x worse.

@regor@HesedTech@Farmer@Jim Watson@M1A4ME@RePete@NoSteel@AverageJoeShooting@zzt@Rnlinebacker@Guy Neill@38super@TONY BARONE@BoyGlock As far bullet setback goes, I've tested setback quite a bit by chambering dummy rounds and I haven't had any noticeable setback. 9.6gr of AA7 fills up 97% of the case to where the bullet gets seated, so there would be very little room for the bullet to move back further into the case. I also think that AA7 doesn't compress well, but others can correct me there. I'm using a Dillon sizing die that creates a very nice coke bottle shape. I should also mention to everyone that this practice session was to mainly isolate a stovepipe issue that I've been having since I switched to AA7 from N350 and Silhouette. I wanted to try the factory BUL mags vs the MBX 140mm mag that I've been using in practice and experiencing the issue. I will say that AA7 has been VERY dirty for me with lots of cornmeal in the chamber, rails and other parts of the gun. At times it has made the slide sluggish even with a 9# spring. The goal of this practice session again was to isolate the problem being either mag related and then running the gun fairly dry since others on here have suggested that the AA7 cornmeal is because the gun is too wet. Seriously considering dropping AA7 despite how nice it shoots and going to 3N38 (assuming I can find some). The 1st thousand rounds that I put through the gun were mostly with N350 and it was very clean with zero malfunctions. The feel wasn't very good since it doesn't run the comp well, but at least it was clean. I'm assuming 3N38 is equally clean.

I've actually been in contact w/ David (TheHumbleMarksman) after my incident. I saw his YT video on a KB last week and thought about it to myself right before this range session where I had my KB. The brass he had it with was range pickups and he has not had any with once-fired roll-sized brass. His KBs were with HS-6 and he has now switched to SWMP/AA7. He is shooting a slightly lighter load than mine (9.3 SWMP vs 9.6 AA7), which is probably close to being the same given the very slight difference between SWMP and AA7.

I had the same question on your Out of Battery point. Sounds like you’re thinking weakness in the brass is the cause here?

No damage to the gun. The chamber looks fine. I shot another 100 rounds after the KB to confirm function, and no issues at all. Here's what a dummy round looks like when chambered just to see the case support if anyone is interested.

Here are some more pictures of the case. There is a slight buldge/very thincrack that runs along the bottom 5th of the case and turns in towards the extractor groove. The case rupture is also oddly symmetrical and almost looks like a mirror of the feed ramp.

@zzt @Rnlinebacker@Guy Neill Thanks for the feedback guys. I really hope it wasn't out of battery. I am running AA7 and the gun was kind of dirty, so the debris story is possible. Here's a pic of the primer. Any chance the powder dropper taking me from 9.6 to say 10.5 or 11 with a 124gr bullet could've caused this? I've run 10.0gr loads before in the gun and it hit 180-185PF, which is way over what I needed so I backed it down. I'm also running a 9# spring, which I don't think is horribly light. If it was OOB, what could I do to troubleshoot? I have tested the disconnector by slowly locking up the slide, and it appears to be working just fine.

Went to the range today for a practice session to shoot my BUL SAS2 UR that I've probably put 1300 rounds through at this point. My standard load is now 9.6gr of AA7 @ 1.160 OAL using a 124gr FMJ, so nothing special. The load runs the comp well and feels good. About 100 rounds into the practice session, I had my first Ka-boom. After a few seconds of shock and making sure I had my fingers and no punctures, I see the magazine spring laying on the ground along with the rounds that were left in the magazine, as well as the base plate for the 170mm mag, which is plastic and has been sheared off. It also looks like shrapnel hit my RTS2 or I dropped the gun on the gravel - good thing the magazine decided to blow itself apart and lose the rounds if I did drop it. Luckily, the ruptured case was still in the gun and and hadn't fully ejected. One of two things could've been the cause or both. I've probably reloaded this case 2-4 times to major and possibly minor before that. I've also noticed my Dillon likes to drop few extra tenths of a grain on the first case when starting a reloading session if it has been sitting awhile. There was a case where I remember thinking it had more powder than usual, but nothing crazy. If you know AA7, then you know 9.6gr fills a good portion of the case volume. At this point I'm either thinking recycle my major brass less and be more careful with the powder drops. Maybe always throwing out the first drop if the powder has been sitting awhile. Pics below.

Brass Monkey makes some great bullets. Very consistent and the coating is high quality. I've been using their 180gr and 140gr (which is pretty unique to them) for 40 cal major and minor, respectively. Currently trying their 127gr 9mm conicals for open. Jason is always great to work with and they ship same day or next day on the order. They recently started trial packs.

Gilbert is a great dude. I've consumed more of his time than I deserve and he has never hesitated to help me when it is usually user error.