9mm reload occasional light report

[phil plesetz]

I'm loading 6.6 grains of HS-6 under 115 Precision Delta JHP bullet and had 4 occasional different sounding report when fired.(slightly lighter or different sound) I have loaded this powder for over 3 years and never had this happen. All were fired through a Glock 34 with factory barrel. The powder is still from the same jug. I randomly sample my loads and never see anything with with a variance more than +/- .1 grain. (point 1 grain)

 

Lee undersize die

OAL 1.090

new brass

 

I was stopped by an RO when shooting a match in fear of a squib. any thoughts?

[Hi-Power Jack]

1.  Did you notice where those 4 shots landed on the paper ?  Noticeably lower ?

2.  How long has the powder been sitting in your hopper ?

3.  Do you let the case lube dry thoroughly before you pour powder into the cases?

4.  Any different feel (recoil) or smoke for those 4 shots that sounded different ?

5.  How did the cartridge cases look for those 4 shots ?

6.  Do you have a light source that enables you to actually visually check the powder

     level in each and every case before you seat the bullet ?

 

BTW, what PF are you getting from that load ?   Sounds like a heavy Minor load, but

not quite a Major load ???

[Postal Bob]

How are you loading, single stage, progressive, etc?

Could it be your powder measure throw bar is getting stuck, and not fully resetting?

You may also have powder sticking in the powder funnel causing bridging.

[phil plesetz]

14 hours ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

1.  Did you notice where those 4 shots landed on the paper ?  Noticeably lower ?   

2.  How long has the powder been sitting in your hopper ?

3.  Do you let the case lube dry thoroughly before you pour powder into the cases?

4.  Any different feel (recoil) or smoke for those 4 shots that sounded different ?

5.  How did the cartridge cases look for those 4 shots ?

6.  Do you have a light source that enables you to actually visually check the powder

     level in each and every case before you seat the bullet ?

 

BTW, what PF are you getting from that load ?   Sounds like a heavy Minor load, but

not quite a Major load ???

1. on the paper but it was during a match.

2. couple weeks since I reloaded. I never empty bottles in my shotgun loaders with no issues, nor do i have issues with other calibers.

3. you may be on to something here. usually I spray my lube on in a zip lock bag, then dump them in the bin, load my primer tube with 100, and start loading. maybe a couple minutes from spray to loading.

4. recoil i would say maybe just a bit less, but the report seems to have a whistle sound, but this has only been 4 shots.

5. USPSA match, never got them back, but started with new extreme brass cases

6. i do watch when i seat the bullet in the belled case, and nothing seems like there is a lower volume.

 

Dillon 550, no problems with 38 super, 40 S&W, 32, 45 ACP, 45 GAP, 357 or 38.

Power factor at last crono put me at 127 if I recall.Hodgdon book at 6.7 grains puts it at 134 PF

 

Thanks,

[Hi-Power Jack]

3.  Let the brass dry completely before loading ...  see if that helps

 

I'm surprised you're getting only PF 127 with 6.7 gr HS6 under a

115 gr bullet - I would have guessed more like PF 150.

[phil plesetz]

From Hodgdon Manual

 

Bullet Weight115 GR. LRN

Starting Loads

Maximum Loads

Manufacturer

Powder

Bullet Diam.

C.O.L.

 

Grs.

Vel. (ft/s)

Pressure

 

Grs.

Vel. (ft/s)

Pressure

Hodgdon

HS-6

.356"

1.100"

 

6.4

1,117

27,900 CUP

 

6.9

1,170

32,200 CUP

[robertson]

Hornady one shot will cause near squibs if you don’t let it dry fully before loading.

John

[Youngeyes]

9 minutes ago, robertson said:

Hornady one shot will cause near squibs if you don’t let it dry fully before loading.

John

Huh?

[Garmil]

12 minutes ago, robertson said:

Hornady one shot will cause near squibs if you don’t let it dry fully before loading.

John

Have loaded seconds after spraying with one shot, zero issues.

[Hi-Power Jack]

Depends on how you spray.

 

Get that stuff inside the case, and fill up the powder before it dries,

and you just might have problems.   Just a thought     

[robertson]

Had some rounds that acted like very light powder charges, several in a couple of matches, case lube that I didn’t let dry fully was the only thing I could trace the problem to. With the same powder, primers, bullets, brass and press haven’t had another problem.

john

[phil plesetz]

thanks,

Because i spray my other calibers with no issues I never gave it a second thought. maybe i was heavy on the case lube trigger the last batch.

[RudyVey]

I never spray the lube on the cases. I spray a couple squirts into the ziplock baggie and then add the brass and shake and "massage". If one sprays directly onto/into the brass, then I would think this could happen that the lube is still wet inside some brass.

[Stealsack]

I might just be lucky, but I spray the top "layer" of brass lightly in the bin that I reload from and use them after a minute or two.

This method sprays some cases directly down the throat, though most cases it hits the side facing up.

I have never had an issue with 9 or 40 in many thousands of rounds.  When the powder die starts to require a bit more pressure, I spray again.

A few of my friends also load on my Dillon 550, same method, with no issues.

I suppose the powder could be some part of the equation, I use VV320.

 

Edited February 23, 2018 by Stealsack

[Hi-Power Jack]

1 hour ago, RudyVey said:

I never spray the lube on the cases. I spray a couple squirts into the ziplock baggie and then add the brass and shake.  

 

Good way to do it - I still wait at least an hour or two before I reload     

[NoSteel]

I have run into this with .40 when I was new to loading.  Once it was indeed due to issues with One Shot Lube being left wet ( tried it deliberately and had the issue),  another time was due to dried residual car wax being left in the case ( I used to dry tumble with a few drops of car wax added, you could see the residual in the case after).

[AHI]

Contrary to popular be leaf  hornady one shot will react with some powders. ( clays)  Now I use an old bread pan lay all the cases on there side and spray. That way no one shot goes inside the case. This is the first tang I do when getting ready to load.That way it has plenty of time to flash off. 

[Broncman]

Had this once, went back home and took my powder measure apart. A piece of the seal from the powder bottle had gotten in the powder die.

[Hi-Power Jack]

2 hours ago, Broncman said:

Had this once, went back home and took my powder measure apart. A piece of the seal from the powder bottle had gotten in the powder die.

 

Yeah, it's Really Important to visually see the powder level in each and

every case just prior to seating the bullet     

[lgh]

On 2/23/2018 at 6:28 PM, Hi-Power Jack said:

I still wait at least an hour or two before I reload

I wait pretty long as well. I spray them at the end of a reloading session so they dry by the next session.

[Shootingbeaver]

Any chance you had some 380acp cases in there?  I accidentally got some mixed in my 9mm cases and loaded them.  They are to short and the powder drop wasn’t dropping more than a grain or two in the case.  

[Hi-Power Jack]

I've had .380's in my SDB, and there's NO WAY that was going to get totally

reloaded before I culled it - feels too different     

[Shootingbeaver]

8 minutes ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

I've had .380's in my SDB, and there's NO WAY that was going to get totally

reloaded before I culled it - feels too different     

I’ve caught them before. I have no idea how I missed them this past time.  I had 3. 

[N3WWN]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this yet: Your load may have been right on the cusp of sub- and super-sonic.

A 115gr bullet at 127PF is 1104 FPS. That's right near the speed of sound, which changes depending on the elevation, atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature (ambient, chamber and powder). A small variation in round-to-round velocity can result in some being supersonic and some being subsonic.

Supersonic bullets will have a "crack" that the subsonic ones won't.

I've seen folks shoot at USPSA matches whose ammo did this, most noticeably with a PCC and heavier ammo which picked up some speed (and some sound suppression) from the longer barrel.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[MemphisMechanic]

On 2/25/2018 at 7:03 AM, AHI said:

Contrary to popular be leaf  hornady one shot will react with some powders. ( clays)  Now I use an old bread pan lay all the cases on there side and spray. That way no one shot goes inside the case. This is the first tang I do when getting ready to load.That way it has plenty of time to flash off. 

 

It’s easier to lightly coat the inside of a small bucket or tupperware with one shot, drop a few handfuls of brass in, and shake.

 

Keeps the lube exclusively on the outside of the brass, and is still very fast.