Certain headstamps not chambering....drop OAL?

[CTJer]

I’ve run about 350 rounds through the G17 now and feel good about certain headstamps, but there are several that won’t chamber at the OAL of those others. 

 

WIN, FC, RP, Speer, CBC, Blazer.....all good at 1.100 with a 147g truncated cone from H&S.  

 

Perfecta, Aquilla, G.F.L won’t chamber. 

 

Would I be better off lowering my OAL to get them all to chamber or keep those for another bullet type (round nose) and see if they work then?

 

 

sorting by headstamps in a real time killer, especially since I’m relegated to a single stage for now. 

[Hi-Power Jack]

I'd keep them for another bullet type  

 

1.10" is as low as I'd like to go.

 

Be interested, though, in determining why they won't chamber - might just run The Plunk

Test on a few of them and see how low you have to go to ensure proper feeding.

[Dr. Phil]

Might consider tossing them or donating them ("them" being the ones that won't chamber @ that OAL) to somebody who needs brass. You have a lot of brands which do work. Sorting takes no extra time if done while watching TV etc. That very problem is why I shoot only FC and Win out of my autos. Only FC out of the revos.

FWIW when I ran 147 TC coated bullets I had to run them @ 1.100 or shorter for reliable feeding and battery. Usually shorter...

That was why I switched to 135RN bullets. Easy to load and good PF as well as great gun function. Might be worth a look?

[Sarge]

53 minutes ago, Dr. Phil said:

Might consider tossing them or donating them ("them" being the ones that won't chamber @ that OAL) to somebody who needs brass. You have a lot of brands which do work. Sorting takes no extra time if done while watching TV etc. That very problem is why I shoot only FC and Win out of my autos. Only FC out of the revos.

FWIW when I ran 147 TC coated bullets I had to run them @ 1.100 or shorter for reliable feeding and battery. Usually shorter...

That was why I switched to 135RN bullets. Easy to load and good PF as well as great gun function. Might be worth a look?

Something needs tweaked in the OP’s press. I load all of the brass he mentioned as being bad. Shoot fine in a 2011. The crimp or something needs adjusted.

[CTJer]

Both above are options.   I’ve got a good 12,000+ 9mm cases.   I wouldn’t mind helping someone else who needed some (my buddy just got into reloading)

 

 

I’m sure my die could be tweeked.  Like i said, I’m just getting started in this.  

 

 

I’m using Hornady dies if anyone has a tip. 

[Nathanb]

Aguila does not size properly for me a large portion of the time. If I find one that doesn’t case gauge it’s almost always aguila. 

[stick]

I'm back to sorting my brass by head stamp.  I find that I get a more consistent OAL with only one head stamp.  I also ensure that I don't have  any stepped brass or 380 brass mixed in with my 9mm brass.

 

I only keep Win, R&P, PMC, FC, Speer, S&B & Blazer.  All the rest go into a pile to trade or give away.

[Hi-Power Jack]

7 minutes ago, stick said:

 

I only keep Win, R&P, PMC, FC, Speer,   S&B   & Blazer. 

 

I toss my S&B ...  too hard to get the primers to seat properly     

[stick]

Just now, Hi-Power Jack said:

 

I toss my S&B ...  too hard to get the primers to seat properly     

I've noticed the older S&B with the red around the primer are crimped and much harder to seat.  I just picked up a crap load at my range and they were really easy to seat since they didn't have crimped primers.

[AHI]

Can you load longer?  I load all the brass you list with no problems. As Sarge says some thing else is wrong. Most Glock barrels will handle ammo longer than you can get in the magazine.Most of my guns will handle up to 1.160 but I load to 1.135. 9mm case is tapered a147 loaded real short will bulge the case quite a bit and may be causing your problem.  

[CTJer]

1 hour ago, AHI said:

Can you load longer?  I load all the brass you list with no problems. As Sarge says some thing else is wrong. Most Glock barrels will handle ammo longer than you can get in the magazine.Most of my guns will handle up to 1.160 but I load to 1.135. 9mm case is tapered a147 loaded real short will bulge the case quite a bit and may be causing your problem.  

1.100 or 1.105 is as big as I could get to “plunk” consistently with the rest of the headstamps.  

 

I thought I’d be able to go longer too with a Glock, but found quite a few similar OAL with a truncated cone. 

 

I’ve run about 300rds and they run well. 

[HoMiE]

Are you sure it’s the OAL stopping it and not the rim or base? Is it once fired brass or range brass shot through a 9 major open gun?

[floater]

2 hours ago, AHI said:

Can you load longer?  I load all the brass you list with no problems. As Sarge says some thing else is wrong. Most Glock barrels will handle ammo longer than you can get in the magazine.Most of my guns will handle up to 1.160 but I load to 1.135. 9mm case is tapered a147 loaded real short will bulge the case quite a bit and may be causing your problem.  

This, I had issues with CBC and Aquilla and 147s muffin topping, not sure but I think the brass is harder and or thicker. Make sure your sizing die is doing its job have you plunked a resized case with no bullet?

[floater]

What gen of glock is this?

[ddc]

This topic always gets my attention. It seems that headstamps that are problematic to some are no sweat for others.

 

For example I've been collecting a lot of CBC after hearing that it was "garbage" or "hard to size" or "whatever" and I didn't want to deal with the issues and I didn't want to toss it either.

 

Finally about a week ago I decided to do a run with CBC (all I load is 9mm). Initially I had to make a couple of small changes to my 650 setup. My de-priming pin wasn't set quite deep enough to punch the CBC primers all the way out. And since the brass is a bit stiffer than the Blazer I had loaded on the previous run, (I think Blazer and CBC may be on opposite ends of the "stiffness" spectrum.) I had adjust my powder/expander and seating dies just a hair. I could have left them where they were and everything would have probably been just fine. Just a little OCD here... lol...

 

There is a definite difference in how the brass feels when you run it through the press, "stiffer" as opposed to the "softer" Blazer. And the primer seating lever push needs to be firm, no doubt about it. But other than that the results over the past thousand rounds have been... what's the big deal? CBC loads just fine for me. Of course YMMV... :-)

 

 

[Brooke]

Go buy yourself some factory ammo. Measure it and shoot it. You'll see that AOL is not your problem. You also need to gauge every round you make. The 100 hole so -called Hundo gauge is your best choice. You definitely have a problem and it is not AOL. I agree with your brass choices except S&B.

[CTJer]

6 hours ago, floater said:

What gen of glock is this?

Gen 4 G17

[CTJer]

7 hours ago, floater said:

This, I had issues with CBC and Aquilla and 147s muffin topping, not sure but I think the brass is harder and or thicker. Make sure your sizing die is doing its job have you plunked a resized case with no bullet?

Most do not plunk.  Some of the Perfecta does no problem, but the G.F.L isn’t even close.  

 

I took calipers to a bunch of cases and from every way, they seem the same as my WIN brass that runs just fine. 

 

 

 

I can’t say for sure that some isn’t from a 9 major.  I do pick up at matches here and there.  I’d say the bulk of the Perfecta was shot through my G19 or G17 over the last year and a half.  

 

 

I’ll play around with my sizing die and see if I can figure out if that’s an issue.  

[Hi-Power Jack]

14 hours ago, stick said:

the older S&B with the red around the primer are crimped and much harder to seat. 

 

Good info, thanks.

 

I'll check from now on - toss the red, keep the brass ...    

[Sarge]

5 hours ago, CTJer said:

Most do not plunk.  Some of the Perfecta does no problem, but the G.F.L isn’t even close.  

 

I took calipers to a bunch of cases and from every way, they seem the same as my WIN brass that runs just fine. 

 

 

 

I can’t say for sure that some isn’t from a 9 major.  I do pick up at matches here and there.  I’d say the bulk of the Perfecta was shot through my G19 or G17 over the last year and a half.  

 

 

I’ll play around with my sizing die and see if I can figure out if that’s an issue.  

First, size a case and see if just the case drops in the chamber. That should tell you where to focus first. If a case falls in and out easily then it's a problem on the other end. Seating, crimp, etc.

2 hours ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

 

Good info, thanks.

 

I'll check from now on - toss the red, keep the brass ...    

Or just get a pocket reamer and twist them out. After a while you will learn which brands have crimped or just tight primer pockets. I toss them in a container and spin the pockets out in the winter.

[superdude]

First, determine exactly why they do not plunk. 

 

Use a magic marker on the ones that don't fit to determine where they are too big to fit in your chamber. That will determine what needs to change.

[lgh]

1 hour ago, superdude said:

First, determine exactly why they do not plunk. 

 

Use a magic marker on the ones that don't fit to determine where they are too big to fit in your chamber. That will determine what needs to change.

When there is  a problem that is not press related, this is where to start. You might want to  then inspect and measure everything - bullets, brass, crimp, COL, etc. When I go through this exercise, I will make multiple measurements (typically 10) of the various parameters and get avg, SD, and range for the measurements. It usually turns out to be interesting if not useful. The measurement data gets recorded for future reference and trouble shooting. But the first step is to find out exactly why they are not plunking. In a gen 4 Glock you should not have to keep dropping the COL. Whatever you find out, let us all know.

[krp]

What are the bullets sized at? I have the same problem when loading cast bullets. I'm loading the Lee 356-120tc sized to .357.

 

When I seat the bullet on brass that is thicker, it creates a bulge where the base of the bullet is and hangs in the chamber at that spot.

 

I'm new to casting and still haven't found out if this is a press setting or not.

[CTJer]

I went back and resized a dozen G.F.L and a dozen Perfecta.   They all “plunked” fine after the resize.  

 

I backed off the seating die and adjusted down till I got to 1.115 OAL with both headstamps.  

Only 1 Perfecta wouldn’t pass the plunk after they were all loaded.  The bullet sat a little crooked at seating and just didn’t seat well.  That got tossed into the pull bucket.  

 

I’ll make a range trip after work tomorrow and test them out.  

 

[Smitty79]

I shoot a CZ.  Since I haven’t reamed the chamber, I have to load pretty short.   If I use CBC, Aguila and a few others, I get lots of rounds that don’t case gauge when loading 147’s.   The reason is these headstamps thicken closerto the mouth and the deep seated bullet expands the brass too much to allow them to chamber.   I’ve cut some brass and measured the difference.