Jimbo76 Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 For my STI Edge I have now loaded up some lead 180 grain TC bullets. My question is that when I take the barrel out of the gun to test them for chambering there is a slight "drag" and I need to lightly push on them to get them to chamber all the way. I believe it is because the bullet dia. is .401 for lead and the barrel is likely .400. Is this normal ? I know its not the cases because they are resized and straight. I can put the same round in the chamber backwards and no drag on the case at all. It does not seem to affect the function or accuracy, I just have not seen this before. On FMJ rounds there is no "drag" but they come in at .400. Should I try to buy lead that is .400 if available ? Just curious what thoughts are on this. I think will try to "slug" the barrel and see what it measures at, rather not invent the wheel if someone out there already has the answer for me. Thanks in advance.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargenv Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 What is your bullet length? If your leade (I think that is what it is called) is a little shallow, the truncated cone bullet may be contacting the rifling just enough to prevent being fully seated in the chamber.. Also, is your recoil spring new or could it possibly have too many rounds on it, which may be preventing it from completely shutting the slide.. I found that I had to seat the truncated cone bullets a bit deeper than the RNFP's or RN bullets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo76 Posted October 11, 2012 Author Share Posted October 11, 2012 My OAL is 1.150 It is shooting fine with these and I hate to make them any shorter because of pressure. I think it is contacting the rifling, just wonder if it is ok. I have heard many loading to 1.2 but I guess they are using copper and wouldn't have a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaeOne3345 Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 (edited) Have it throated just a tad. Very common on Factory STI Edge's, regardless of them claiming you can load long. My buddy had a factory Edge and it barely took 1.135" OAL! I gave him a couple of my 1.800/1.200" OAL rounds to take to our gunsmith and he did his magic so it accepts long loads now. But you're right, it is also the shape of the bullet profile and the fact that lead is oversized, and even more so with Moly. Drop the round into the chamber backwards. Does it drop all the way down? If it does, you know the brass isn't the problem, but rather the bullet profile/size. Most of my rounds do not pass the case gauge if I insert them bullet first. I stopped worrying about it and I just drop them in primer end first to check for bulging. Edited October 11, 2012 by JaeOne3345 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertbank Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Have it throated just a tad. Very common on Factory STI Edge's, regardless of them claiming you can load long. My buddy had a factory Edge and it barely took 1.135" OAL! I gave him a couple of my 1.800/1.200" OAL rounds to take to our gunsmith and he did his magic so it accepts long loads now. But you're right, it is also the shape of the bullet profile and the fact that lead is oversized, and even more so with Moly. Drop the round into the chamber backwards. Does it drop all the way down? If it does, you know the brass isn't the problem, but rather the bullet profile/size. Most of my rounds do not pass the case gauge if I insert them bullet first. I stopped worrying about it and I just drop them in primer end first to check for bulging. First the bullet is sized correctl;y at .401 for the .40S&W for lead bullets. Your OAL is to long for that bullet. Take the barrel out of your gun. Drop a bullet into the chamber and measure from the base of the bullet to the edge of the barrel hood where the case would sit flush when a round is chambered. Measure the length of the bullet. Add the two measurements together and you have the maximum length of a cartridge for that bullet in that gun. Back off a few thousanths to allow for slack in your press and you should be good to go. Load a few rounds light and check for pressure signs. Move up to the load you want to use. Take Care Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo76 Posted October 11, 2012 Author Share Posted October 11, 2012 (edited) That is a great idea Robert. I fear using WST powder and trying to make major I may run out of room but it sounds like a good way to proceed. So would I be correct in assuming that FMJ would let me load to the longer dimensions because it is .400 and not .401? And could the longer dimension be causing the barrel leading I have been having issues with ? Thanks.. Edited October 11, 2012 by Jimbo76 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noylj Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Look at SAAMI chamber drawing. http://www.saami.org/PubResources/CC_Drawings/Pistol/40%20SandW.pdf It would require a very special non-SAAMI tight chambered gun to have a 0.401" bullet cause a problem in a .40 chamber. The throat section is to be 0.401 +0.004/-0.000 with a groove diameter of 0.4005 +0.004/-0.000. What causes that "dragging" is generally (1) not removing enough case mouth flare or (2) bullet seated a little too long or (3) a bulge in the case from incorrect case expansion (bullet seats crooked and there is a bulge on the side of the case with thinnest walls). You can determine where the problem is by using a black marker on round and rotating in barrel to see where the scrape marks are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z40acp Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Make sure it is just not some excess lube or shaved lead right on the case mouth. Using .400 lead bullets could make your gun lead up the barrel more if it slugs larger than .400. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fltbed Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 I had this exact same issue with my Bar-Sto barrel when I switched to lead. Every jacketed bullet I tried dropped in and out fine loaded to 1.200 but with every lead bullet, they would get stuck in the chamber throat. I ended up purchasing a Dave Manson chamber throat reamer and fixed the problem.Manson Reamers I ended up using it on several friends barrels as well. PM me your mailing info and I’ll loan you my reamer. All I ask is you pay shipping. (USPS) Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo76 Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 Jeff, thank you for that wonderful offer. I think I am ok now. I did the "drop a bullet in the barrel" as listed above and have now shortened my coal down to 1.125. I loaded 50 and accuracy was amazing and no signs of pressure at all. Velocity only came up maybe 30fps. I am still under 1050 fps which puts me in there for high power factor. I think this will work fine and a really cheap alternative for practice. I also think as a bonus that my leading problem went away too. I am thinking it due to the bullets being too long. Thanks again to everyone for their help, this is a great forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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