Rounds not drop testing in barrel?

[trp]

I'm loading 40 to 1.190 I've been useing dillon dies and an assortment of bullets, my problem is my rounds almost all pass the the dillon gauge and almost none will go all the way in the barrel with out a little help( I'm talking the with of the rim usually)

I just tried the egw u-die and I still get the same thing it's either that last little but of the case that dosent get sized or sometimes it seems the bullet is in crooked

How can I fix seating the bullet straighter?

I'm loading on a 550 and suspect I've been shooting all my rounds like this and really haven't had problems but occasionally I'll have a round not let the gun go into battery then I have to grab the slide a ram the grip to get the round out.

Any ideas maybe getting the brass sized

Anybody else have the same issues

I'm shooting out of a stock trojan barrel

Edited August 16, 2014 by trp

[Round_Gun_Shooter]

To start with skip the crimp station on a few rounds (mark them) and see if they drop in.

[trp]

I did just run it through the first station and dropped it in like that and went straight in.......

I'll have to try that later what should the crimp die be doing?

[mildot1]

The crimp die should just be tight enough to settle the hard edge into the bullet meaning the you should not feel an abrupt bump whenb you run your fingernail down the bullet to the brass.

If you over crimp your are upsetting material in the bullet and it has to "MOVE" somewhere.

Mildot

[Hi-Power Jack]

Possible you're loading a little too long for that particular bullet style.

[trp]

Ok I just loaded some for tomorrow took some off the crimp and lowered the sizing die as far as I could it helped, but I am useing bear creek 180's and there still not "plunking" but I used some bayou 180's and there much better

Any ideas?

I'm using the last 500 of these bear creeks and won't be buying more

[ron169]

Keep in mind I'm a new freeloader, so take what I say lightly. First, if you think it's the bullets, check their diameter and post the result. Second, I would think that if the brass punks after the first station, then the problem is after that. When flaring the case, don't go overboard. Only do the bare minimum to get the bullet to sit on top of the brass reliably on the up stroke. As far as crimp, not to much, not to little. Only enough to remove what little flare you did. If it's still not plunk testing, turn seat die 1/8 of a turn, reseat that same round and see if it will plunk. If it still doesn't, keep tightening 1/8 of a turn.

[HI5-O]

Possible you're loading a little too long for that particular bullet style.

Try shorten to 1.175 - 1.180 and see it that works.

[ZombieHunter]

This sounds like you're loading too long and running the bullet into the lands - nothing to do with sizing, seating straighter or crimping. You either need to make the OAL shorter or send your barrel to a smith and have it freebored to the OAL you want with the bullet you want.

[grouptherapy]

Sounds long like posted b4. I load 1.125 in 165,180, and 200s. Work your way down .010 till it drops and if you got the crimp right you should find it if all else is right.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DougM]

I ran into the same issue with 45ACP into a 1911. Turned out my problem was too little crimp. This may not be your issue but it sure was mine.

While all rounds passed the Dillon case gage, they hung up entering the barrel. For 40S&W, SAAMI specs actually call for a very slight taper in the chamber from 0.424" at the rim end down to 0.423 at the case mouth. If your chamber is tight (i.e., close to SAAMI specs), then a failure to fully take out the bell will screw you up. All I did to fix my issue was turn down my taper crimp die about 1/4 turn and they all passed the plunk test in the barrel. I didn't have to change the COAL at all.

By the way, I have a call into Dillon to find out if their case gages check a round at the mouth as well as the overall case but my thinking is that they do not. I suspect they're bored straight and only check overall case diameter and length to case mouth. I never use the case gage for COAL since I've already determined the proper lenght for my barrels.

To net it out, all of my bad rounds passed the Dillon case gage both before and after I re-crimped them. So I'm now re-thinking how I use a case gage and their overall value to me.

Edited August 17, 2014 by DougM

[Steve RA]

Use your barrel, you aren't going to shoot them from a gauge.

[bigedp51]

Read the link below on how to find your over all length written by wobbly, this applies to all pistols. Also remember your taper crimp should only be approximately .001 smaller than the case diameter and it may help if you crimp in a seperate operation.

How to determine Max OAL for a CZ Pistol

http://www.czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=34225.0

[kamikaze1a]

After reading your first post, I was going to guess you were loading lead or coated bullets. Jacketed bullets measure .400 while lead cast are .401-.403 or larger diameter. I bet if you measure your bullets most are larger than .401...

If you are going to load lead or cast, either seat shorter OAL, throat the barrel or find a brand that is sized to .401. Or load jacketed or plated bullets..,

[Sandbagger123]

get a lee FCD and try it out and see if it fixes the issue. its only $20. i know some people don't like them, but i have loaded lots of 9 and 40 with it and have no issues with chambering with either lead, coated or FMJ.

[trp]

There barrel has been reemed but the bear creeks might be a little cubby the bayous seem to work fine,

[nathandewalt]

Sounds like the same issue we experienced for a while. Conventional wisdom has always had lead and coated bullets sized to .401 which works great in most guns. However if you get a competition gun with a tighter chamber (in our case STI Trojan and STI Edge) they have to be absolutly straight or they will rub the barrel and not chamber check. I would fail 10-15 rounds per hundred sometimes. I experimented with sizing them to .400 and found that I fail maybe 1 in every 400-500 and they have that nice clank sound. We also saw no reduction in accuracy or speed.

So I would get some .400s and give them a try. I bet thats your culpret.

[trp]

Are .400's readily available? Never paid attention ?

[Nugget]

Bbi's are sized .400. They are clean and shoot well. I had issues with cast at .401 at the rate of 15 per 100 but have zero issues with bbi.

[narcop]

I also had issues with .401's losing about 5% which would not chamber check. The Blue Bullets have 180 and 200 grain .40 cals sized to .400. I have been using these for a while and it is very rare to find a bullet which does not go plunk when I chamber check them. I had one out of the last batch of 500 which would not chamber check, but the rest do. I am using a Lee U sizing die and crimping to .421 with a OAL of 1.18. They shoot great in my Edge. Hope this helps.

Edited August 20, 2014 by narcop

[kamikaze1a]

There barrel has been reemed but the bear creeks might be a little cubby the bayous seem to work fine,

Throat reamed or chamber? It sounds like in your case you need the throat reamed... I think it is your bullets touching the throat.

[trp]

It was throat reemed, I think tapper reamed?

But I believe it to be the bear creek bullets at .401+ and the bayous at .400.5 are fine

I'm done with best creeks most of them weight 183 and higher all different sized garbage

[cwmax2000]

Use your barrel, you aren't going to shoot them from a gauge.

I'm glad you said that. That is what I do for all of my pistol rounds. It is easy to get to a chamber......more difficult for rifle....will get gauges for those.....when I started, I wondered why gauges for pistol calibers when you can get barrel out so easy???? Glad to hear I did something right......Cmax