9mm pistol reload problems.

[sethwyo]

I recently got a 9mm FEG HUNGARY copy of the browing.

It shoots factory rounds fine.
It will NOT chamber my 9mm reloads. I have used these same reloads in a half dozen other 9mms where thay chamber and fire fine.

Is smells like a tight chamber like some other guns i have had, but i dont want to oporate till im sure.

Anyone have any ideas?

[OzarkMtnDaredevil]

I recently got a 9mm FEG HUNGARY copy of the browing.

It shoots factory rounds fine.
It will NOT chamber my 9mm reloads. I have used these same reloads in a half dozen other 9mms where thay chamber and fire fine.

Is smells like a tight chamber like some other guns i have had, but i dont want to oporate till im sure.

Anyone have any ideas?

Hey Seth. Oh boy, I just love trying to 'smith over the 'net. ;D

We need to narrow it dowm a bit. Can you give us more details? For example, are you reloading with bullets that function fine in factory loads? If so...
Where / when does the problem occur? Is the round riding high on the ramp and jamming before it enters the chamber? That might indicate a problem with your clip.
If a round does chamber but your slide doesn't go fully forward into battery and lock...
1. Double-check your seating depth of the bullet. It doesn't take much to cause this problem and would be my first suspicion.
2. Your thought about a 'tight chamber' is also possible but fairly remote as far as being a fault of manufacturing.
Can you field strip it down to where you can put a cartridge in by hand? It should go in with very slight finger pressure. How old (well-used) is your sizing die? Do you know someone who loads 9s that would let you try a few of thier rounds?

[kawalekm]

Hi Seth
I was just in the garage yesterday working on the same problem. I myself have encountered two different autoloader problems, a 1911 that failed to feed properly, and a P38 that failed to chamber properly. D.D. makes some good suggestions. What I would do first is lock the action open and try inserting a factory load into the chamber. Using a caliber, measure how far the rim of the case extends past the edge of the chamber. Different guns have different distances. In my 1911, the end of the rim should be just flush with the end of the barrel. With my P38, the rim extends about 65 thousandths past the end of the barrel. Also, feel how tightly the factory round sits in the chamber. Is it finger tight, or will the cartridge fall back out if you invert the barrel?

Do the same thing with a fired case that was shot out of that gun.

Finally, take one of your problem reloads and repeat. If the rim/barrel distance is greater than factory round, it's likely that your OAL is too long. Look very closely at the bullet with a magnifying glass. Is there signs that it's being engraved by the rifling? Try using finger pressure to press the cartridge into the chamber. Do you see engraving after that? In my 1911 feeding was problematic until I INCREASED the OAL about .015". I couldn't go out any further, because the nose of the bullet was sitting on the rifling.

Next, measure the diameter of the cartridge right at the case mouth. With my 9mm factory rounds, the diameter was .377". My reloads with cast bullets were slightly bulged, measuring .380" or so. What solved my chambering problem in 9mm was taper crimping them down to .377" like the factory rounds. I bought this Lyman taper crimping die from midwayusa.
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=817606&t=11082005

The last thing I can think of is checking the distance between the bottom of your sizing die and your 9mm shell holder. Ideally, the gap should be just zero. I do this by running the ram all the way up till it reaches the top of its stroke, then screwing the sizing die down on to it till it just touches. Had a friend who's 40S&W wouldn't chamber because he wasn't sizing enough. You must be careful here though, because if you reduce the distance less than zero, you're likely to damage the base of your die.

Good luck on solving your problem,
Michael

[OzarkMtnDaredevil]

Hey there, Mike! I've seen you post on here. Great to meet ya!
That's some good pointers that you laid out. I hadn't considered the aspect of the bullets being cast at home. Good call. I haven't melted lead in years! :'(
I'm sure that Seth has a good set of calipers and knows how to read them.
Like you, I'm prone to suspect an interference due to a worn sizing die or seating depth if the round chambers but the action will not lock.

Seth - come on back with more details and I'll bet we can make her feed.

[sethwyo]

The reloaded cartrige wont go all the way into the chamber and sticks.
When the slide is pulled back and released, it litterly jams and wont go forward or backward. I removed the barrel and placed one in by hand, It fails to go in to the proper debth by about 30 hundreds.

As these rounds work in other 9mm's such as berettas astras, A kel tek carbine ect, i thought maby the gun has a tight chamber.

Some other guns like the yugo SKS have tight chambers, I solved this by polishing it with a 45 cal cleaning brush on a rod on a drill. Some crome plated chambers have the same problem, And gunsmiths use emory chalk and a used case to polish them.

The bullets are home cast semi wad cutters. But im thinking if thay work in everything else, there is something wrong with the gun.

[kawalekm]

Hi Seth
Yes, I had the exact same problem with my P38. The cartridges would strip off the magazine and the rounds would start to enter the chamber, but the slide would stop about 1/8" before locking up. I think one problem with shooting cast bullets is that they are about a thousandth's oversize to begin with, but I also suspect that bullet lube getting sqeezed out of the groove might be bulging the neck even more. I think that the taper crimp will solve your problem. I'd suggest getting the Lyman die. I use Lee carbide dies for loading, and the crimper in that die set is already a modified taper crimp. It obviously wasn't good enough for my rounds. Now, I adjusted the Lee dies to insert the bullet but skip the crimp, and then finish the case with the Lyman crimp. Rounds feed fine now.

There is still the possibility though that the cases themselves are not being sized enough. Careful measurements with a caliper would confirm this. Measure the diameter of the rounds starting at the neck and work down to the web on both the factory and reloaded cases. A bright, burnished area near the web after you've tried to chamber a round might be a indication that it's insufficent sizing. You'll just have to play with it till you get it right.

[sethwyo]

The crimp rim inside of the die had lead and lube blocking it, iv cleaned it, and it now crimps properly. I really hafto pull the handle till i get a 'click' or 'snap' to achieve the crimp.

It really gobbles them up now. *

[kawalekm]

Good job. Funny that I didn't think of that, because I was just making some 9mm last weekend and had to clean lube out of the bullet seating die also. My problem though was not crimping. Apparently, all the lube formed a seal around the bullet, and when lowering the ram back down it would pull the bullet back out of the case. Cleaning the die solved that problem, but I had to stop and clean about every hundred rounds or so.

Glad that you solved your problem. At least you don't have to spend money on one more die. Happy shooting!

[OzarkMtnDaredevil]

I'm so glad this mystery is solved. :)

[Stinger]

The last thing I can think of is checking the distance between the bottom of your sizing die and your 9mm shell holder. Ideally, the gap should be just zero. .... You must be careful here though, because if you reduce the distance less than zero, you're likely to damage the base of your die.

:) Not really true if you're using a carbide sizing die!

With carbide you want the, 'thickness of a dime' between the bottom of the die and the top of the shell holder.

With a steel sizing die you can, 'just kiss' the bottom of the steel sizer and, then, 'roll the handle over' at the top of the stroke. (A slight pressure against the die is OK!)

This thread is a good reminder in, 'Why' the sizing die should be cleaned out every now and then. ;)