no chrono yet, help plz. ?leading and glock bulge on 147gr BBI and 4g

[RandyLahey]

using 4g American Select with 147gr BBI coated bullets. 1.15-1.120 COL. I get a "glock bulge" firing these from my Taurus PT111 G2 Millenium pro. From my M&P9 they are fine. But I'm getting what I think is early leading as I say some "hairs" coming off of the rifling of the barrel. Plus some discoloration of the barrel as well. Cleaned guns really good, and all seems fine now. I'm guessing the load is a bit hot and possibly burning the coating from the coated bullets?

I put some Green Dot in the same load otherwise and I don't get much of a bulge in the cases, but accuracy didn't seem as good. The AS loads were tack drivers. Sample size with green dot wasn't big though so maybe I had an off day or something. Green dot in my 40 loads seem very accurate.

I've never messed with coated bullets so I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong here. Crimp is light and just taking the bell out. I did have to adjust my expander to open up the cases a bit more as the coated bullets didn't want to sit as easily as the Xtreme 124 plated RN I was using prior.

Is the glock bulge a sign of over pressure or since the chamber obviously is unsupported, will I just have that with some brass?

[leemoe83]

9 mm glocks don't bulge brass anymore than any other 9 mm that I have noticed.

[Hi-Power Jack]

What velocity are you getting?

[Sarge]

No chrono? Should be against the law to reload without one! my guess is you may be shaving some of the coating from the bullet during reloading. I know guys running BBI's in open guns well over 1400 fps with no issues so you are NOT burning the coating off.

Glocks make Glock bulges not Taurus'. what kind of rifling does Taurus use? Maybe the gun isn't compatible with BBI's. How do the primers look? What primers are you using?

[RandyLahey]

I would tend to believe the shaving is the issue then in regards to the leading. I had to open up the belling of the case when I first started loading them as I was getting visible shaving. Maybe I need to go more? On my 40 I'm getting no issues with leading, so yeah I probably have the dies setup wrong.

Re: the bulge, it's very apparent. At lower charges it doesn't do it, but at the higher charges it does. Primers look ok to me. Maybe a touch flat at the higher charges, but nothing that had me super concerned, but the bulging was a concern. It looks just like a glock bulge from pics I've seen.

Edited May 20, 2015 by RandyLahey

[RandyLahey]

added pics. BTW, I've never run "glocked" brass through my setups. I have standard LEE sizing dies. Not sure if my dies will take this out, or not. Should I just scrap the bulged brass?

[Youngeyes]

That primer doesn't look good. You're running too hot. I copied this from another site....

Posted 14 May 2013 - 06:03 PM

I received the below load data yesterday (while I was at work) from Ben Amonette at Alliant:


"With American Select and a 147 gr lead bullet, I suggest starting with 2.9 grs and the max should be approx. 3.3 grs."

[RandyLahey]

Well I thank you sir!

Yeah I'd imagine running what I was I'm lucky. I only found a couple of threads where AS powder was referenced with 147's and either I got something wrong, or it was a vastly different powder lot. I would have to go with my fault. The lower loads of AS at 3.5 or so seemed good to shoot, but it wouldn't meter well for me, so I switched to green dot.

thx

[RandyLahey]

ps I do have a chrono on order(backorder at midway). Waiting impatiently!

[IDescribe]

Dude, American Select is a fast powder. I get a PF of 136/137 with that exact bullet and 3.2 grains of American Select. You're VERY lucky. Throw that brass away -- it's ruined -- then invest in a couple of reloading manuals and a chronograph. You CAN'T reload like that. Don't think you can't afford a chrono. It's a lot more affordable than doctor bills, lawsuits, and a new gun.

Edited May 21, 2015 by IDescribe