What to do to a 929

[AzShooter]

I liked my 929 so much that I bought a second one.  I had no troubles with it shooting my reloads.  I shot with .358 coated lead bullets and they grouped into 2 inches at 24 yards which was the best I could do at that time.

 

I eventually sold it when had to give up shooting do to health reasons.  In a wheelchair I just couldn't roll around on the rocks at our local ICORE clubs. I liked my 929 but if I were able to shoot again I'd buy a 627 instead and shoot .38 Short Colts in it.  I still have 1000 pieces of brass and another 1000 .38 specials.

[tomjerry1]

I'm with ysrracer, the 929 takes an exorbitant amount of time to make run reliably for competition. The minute you try to reduce the trigger pull to a manageable amount, game on. In all honesty, I believe a good business, like TK Customs, and others are worth the money. They know what they're doing.   

[ysrracer]

2 hours ago, tomjerry1 said:

I'm with ysrracer, the 929 takes an exorbitant amount of time to make run reliably for competition. The minute you try to reduce the trigger pull to a manageable amount, game on. In all honesty, I believe a good business, like TK Customs, and others are worth the money. They know what they're doing.   

 

Agreed. I've talked to people that own a 929 and they tell me it's great, 100% reliable with all factory ammo.

 

When I get more information, they're going to the range once a year and banging away at static targets.

 

It may be fine for that, but for my purposes it needed a ton of work from three different gunsmiths...

 

...well, two gunsmiths and one tractor mechanic in Phoenix

[tomjerry1]

I'm still chasing the bullets walking out of the cases, going to start crimping more, seems to be the answer for a lot of folks.

[ysrracer]

15 minutes ago, tomjerry1 said:

I'm still chasing the bullets walking out of the cases, going to start crimping more, seems to be the answer for a lot of folks.

 

The technical term is, "crimp the s#!t out of them".

[gargoil66]

Guys:

 

This has been the thing that I still don't understand.  People complain about the 929 but is it mechanically different than a 627 or is it the 9mm cartridge?

 

Guys shooting minor loads out of 627's don't seem to have the same problems.

 

GG

 

 

[ysrracer]

40 minutes ago, gargoil66 said:

Guys:

 

This has been the thing that I still don't understand.  People complain about the 929 but is it mechanically different than a 627 or is it the 9mm cartridge?

 

Guys shooting minor loads out of 627's don't seem to have the same problems.

 

GG

 

 

 

9mm is a semi auto cartridge. Factory ammo isn't usually crimped.

[Squirrel45]

I also believe that many are not aware that specific brass require a certain clip. 

[warpspeed]

56 minutes ago, Squirrel45 said:

I also believe that many are not aware that specific brass require a certain clip. 

Please elaborate on this

[ysrracer]

9 minutes ago, warpspeed said:

Please elaborate on this

From TK:

 

The extractor groove diameter on cartridge cases is the most important part of fitment into a moonclip. There is no SAAMI specifications for the extractor groove and each manufacturer makes them as they want.

 

 

[ysrracer]

I've found Federal brass with TK moon clips with Federal Small Pistol Primers work best in my 929.

 

Starline .38 short colt brass  with TK moon clips with Federal Small Pistol Primers work best in my 627.

[AzShooter]

Mine worked best with Winchester 9 mm brass and TK Moons.

[warpspeed]

3 minutes ago, ysrracer said:

I've found Federal brass with TK moon clips with Federal Small Pistol Primers work best in my 929.

 

Starline .38 short colt brass  with TK moon clips with Federal Small Pistol Primers work best in my 627.

Thanks for the info - very helpful

 

[ysrracer]

19 minutes ago, warpspeed said:

Thanks for the info - very helpful

 

 

I also use a Lee U die for 9mm, and Mr Bullet Feeder powder funnel in my Dillon 750. With .358 coated bullets from either Bayou or Blue I don't get any bullet creep.

[Squirrel45]

1 hour ago, AzShooter said:

Mine worked best with Winchester 9 mm brass and TK Moons.

This

[tomjerry1]

I've done all that and more, nothing short of gluing the bullets in the cases. I'm down to .375" crimp, soon to be .370", way more crimp than I could imagine.

[ysrracer]

7 minutes ago, tomjerry1 said:

I've done all that and more, nothing short of gluing the bullets in the cases. I'm down to .375" crimp, soon to be .370", way more crimp than I could imagine.

 

Are we talking about 9mm? Where do you live?

[IHAVEGAS]

8 hours ago, tomjerry1 said:

I've done all that and more, nothing short of gluing the bullets in the cases. I'm down to .375" crimp, soon to be .370", way more crimp than I could imagine.

I tried running 135 grain bayou coated bullets sized at 0.358 with Winchester brass and no crimp, I found 1 bullet that walked out of the 1,000 I tested. I am thinking that might be related to my reusing brass until it splits. For what that is worth. 
 

[gargoil66]

8 hours ago, tomjerry1 said:

I've done all that and more, nothing short of gluing the bullets in the cases. I'm down to .375" crimp, soon to be .370", way more crimp than I could imagine.

TJ:

 

Did I miss it or have you not said the brand of brass you are using?  My bet it that the problem lies in the brass more than anything else.  I avoid reloading 9mm as much as possible because of what I think are gigantic variations in dimensions of 9mm brass based on the manufacturer.  First it is slightly tapered which may be some of it but my bet is that the brass you are using is thin and so takes more crimp.  Could be the taper of the brass means not as much is being held sufficiently by the crimp but most likely overall thickness.

 

If I had this problem I would find out the thickness of brass based on maker and try the thickest brass that is readily available.  You would use less crimp for sure.  

 

GG

[IHAVEGAS]

4 minutes ago, gargoil66 said:

TJ:

Did I miss it or have you not said the brand of brass you are using?  My bet it that the problem lies in the brass more than anything else.  I avoid reloading 9mm as much as possible because of what I think are gigantic variations in dimensions of 9mm brass based on the manufacturer.  First it is slightly tapered which may be some of it but my bet is that the brass you are using is thin and so takes more crimp.  Could be the taper of the brass means not as much is being held sufficiently by the crimp but most likely overall thickness.

 

Agree that bullet and brass details may be important here.

 

Have always looked at crimping as prescribed in this article https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/reloading-crimp-not-crimp-question/ "The short explanation is that crimping is not what keeps a projectile firmly seated, case neck tension is, and those two things are not the same. " 

[gargoil66]

2 minutes ago, IHAVEGAS said:

 

Agree that bullet and brass details may be important here.

 

Have always looked at crimping as prescribed in this article https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/reloading-crimp-not-crimp-question/ "The short explanation is that crimping is not what keeps a projectile firmly seated, case neck tension is, and those two things are not the same. " 

HG:

 

That is a more precise statement and to me is the major problem here.  Use a thicker brass, a .357 or .358 coated bullet, and a taper crimp.  Bet it will work without bullets getting pulled.

 

GG

[Toolguy]

Your powder drop die may be expanding the case mouth too much, thus cutting down on case neck tension. One possible thing to look at.

[tomjerry1]

Winchester brass, .357 blue bullet dia + (.011 x 2 case wall thickness) = .379" usin Lee factory crimp.  Guess I should try different brass, although I'm pretty sure I've been down that road. I've tried other bullets also. Powder drop die is set to the smallest bell to accept the bullet without shaving.

Oh, Montana.

[Toolguy]

Measure the straight part below the bell. That's what sets case neck tension. I should have said case neck instead of case mouth.

[Farmer]

Have you tried seating a bit deeper and crimping where the ogive starts? This allows the mouth to be crimped smaller than bullet diameter. Sometimes it works. It helped with my 38 sp with some TC bullets I had without a cannalure.