New Open Gun questions/issues

[midatlantic]

only if you put your thumb in the wrong place

[Cam73]

Update:

I took a little more off the left side safety, it's pretty comfortable if I don't try to grip the gun super high. Still sorting through getting a good grip that isn't approaching slide bite territory and being able to run/ride the safety. 

 

Mags:

I have 4-170mm and 1-140mm Gen 2 STI tubes. Some with Grams guts, some with TTI. They sat fully loaded all week so I emptied them out today and gave them a once over. I watched the Atlas mag tuning videos on YouTube and ended up making a few small adjustments to the feed lips. Most were already within their specs. I couldn't bring my self to squeeze the bodies down to .560" at 1 inch down like they suggest. That was anywhere between .040-.050" of squeeze required depending on the tube. I called it good around .590", not much luck getting good repeatable measurements in that area either.

 

All mags feed great using dummy rounds loaded up to 1.165" I cycled the gun with as many as 15 in the tube. Ejection was consistent with the exception of the 2nd and 3rd to last rounds in a few of the mags. Basically straight up out of the gun rather than 3:00ish like the rest. The rounds are not nosed up when sitting in the mags and contact the feed ramp pretty low. When removing a loaded magazine after cycling, the top round is consistently pulled out about 1/4". Not sure if this is bad, but it has not caused any issues with mags dropping free to this point.

 

Bullet set-back:

I'm getting anywhere between .010-.040" of set back with a good hard lean on the reloading bench. I even used a bullet comparator to make sure I wasn't just measuring deformation of the hollow point. I didn't measure any change in length when hand cycling rounds through the gun though.

 

Press set up as follows- 

LnL AP

Case activated powder measurer with Hornady .355 powder funnel set with just enough flare to hold a bullet stable during indexing.

Lee U die

MBF die with MagP

Lee FCD

 

Bullets are PD 115gr V2 (haven't shot any yet, but they look nice) loaded to 1.165"

"Crimp" at .377" to remove flare

mixed head stamp brass

 

I have a theory: 

Any amount of the PTX funnel that goes deeper into the case than the bullet when seated to 1.165" oal negates the under sizing done by the U die and allows a lower tension area for the bullet to set back.

 

There is about .130' of bullet in the case at 1.165". A case sized with the U die will only go onto the ptx funnel by hand about .065".

 

To get the flare required to stabilize the bullet during indexing, the powder funnel goes full depth( about .300") into the case. The funnel is somewhat tapered otherwise the set back numbers would probably be more.

 

I use the DAA funnel in my other powder measurer for CO loads. The funnel is a little shorter and has a different profile that might be better for this application, but I still think it will have a similar result. That being said, there are tons of people out there loading 9 major without this problem so I'm not really sure where to go from here. Thoughts?

 

Thanks

[Rvajma]

So with all the tinkering, checking, hand racking and such, have you actually tried to fire the pistol?  Hand racking ejection patterns and feeding will be different than actually shooting the pistol.  I would suggest going to the range and putting some rounds down range before you start home gunsmithing with a platform you have already stated you have no experience with.

[zzt]

19 hours ago, Cam73 said:

I use the DAA funnel in my other powder measurer for CO loads. The funnel is a little shorter and has a different profile that might be better for this application, but I still think it will have a similar result. That being said, there are tons of people out there loading 9 major without this problem so I'm not really sure where to go from here. Thoughts?

 

The DAA/Mr. Bulletfeeder funnel does not require any flare for jacketed or plated bullets.  You can put a minute flare in for oversized poly coated bullets.  I use these powder funnels/expanders for every caliber I load.   They prevent a lot of problems.

[Cam73]

10 hours ago, Rvajma said:

So with all the tinkering, checking, hand racking and such, have you actually tried to fire the pistol?  Hand racking ejection patterns and feeding will be different than actually shooting the pistol.  I would suggest going to the range and putting some rounds down range before you start home gunsmithing with a platform you have already stated you have no experience with.

 

No, I have not. You are correct, no actual hands on experience with 2011s until now. I have done a good bit of watching/reading about the platform prior to ordering and while waiting for the gun to arrive. If nothing else, I concluded that a pistolsmith or open gun owner of any experience level should (hopefully) start with basic function checks prior to live fire, particularly with 9 major. I had a pretty bad KB in my PCC last summer from bullet set back and don't want to go there again. I plan to shoot the gun once I get that resolved.

 

2 hours ago, zzt said:

 

The DAA/Mr. Bulletfeeder funnel does not require any flare for jacketed or plated bullets.  You can put a minute flare in for oversized poly coated bullets.  I use these powder funnels/expanders for every caliber I load.   They prevent a lot of problems.

 

 Just ordered one for my 9 major powder measurer, hopefully it eliminates the set back. 

 

[zzt]

14 hours ago, Cam73 said:

Just ordered one for my 9 major powder measurer, hopefully it eliminates the set back. 

 

It will help.  Also, a Lee factory carbide crimp die will help.  In fact, it will cure the problem in almost all instances.  You have to watch out for weak or split brass.

 

For my 9mm major loads I buy once-fired, fully processed, same HS brass.  The brass is resized, decapped, primer pocket waged, roll sized, polished and lightly waxed.  So far I've had no setback in 12,000 cases loaded.  I use SWMP/AA7 powder which is VERY compressible, so I don't want to take chances.  All our local matches are lost brass, so I shoot it once and leave it.

[Robertwil18]

Go shoot the pistol.  

 

[Cam73]

Put 80 rounds through the gun today and it ran 100%.

 

Zero feeding issues from any of the 5 magazines. Didn't shoot any of the mags from over half capacity though.

 

Ejection around 3:00 and very weak, however ammo was under power at 150-155 PF. Loads were PD 115GR V2 over 9.7 and 9.9 AA#7. Barrel is a 5.0" SVI w/ 2 ea. 3/16" popple holes, 8# Wolff variable recoil spring and unknown main spring. Lots of cornmeal looking stuff left in the gun.

 

Next up:

Bump up the 115gr load.

Try a 124gr load.

Get used to the teeth rattling concussion the gun makes.

[yigal]

On 10/31/2021 at 9:21 AM, Cam73 said:

Put 80 rounds through the gun today and it ran 100%.

 

Zero feeding issues from any of the 5 magazines. 

What a disappointment. But you can keep working on it until it stops functioning.

Enjoy the new toy.