Lengthening short rounds?

[Cloudpeak]

Well, in all of the cast bullet loads I worked up for my XD40 cal., I never had a FTF. I found a load that was very accurate and loaded 450+ rounds and have now found that they don't feed worth a hoot. They're too short and hang up on the feed ramp. So, can I buy an inertia puller, put some "shim's" in the bottom and use this to lengthen the rounds? I would make the round too long, re-seat and re-crimp. Is this practical or do I need to just pull all of the bullets, dump powder and start over again?

The bullets are tumble lube lee bullets, 40 cal, about 172 grain wt. I set the bullet deeper than I wanted to or what is generally recommended as I thought it best to have the mouth of the case on the thickest "band" of lead toward the nose. If I were to set the OAL longer, the case mouth would be either on "open air" or a very small ridge of lead that is the trademark of the TL bullets design and that didn't seem like a good idea. What is the proper way to seat these bullets?

I still can't figure out how I can shoot 150 or so rounds during load development with the same OAL as the 450 rounds I now have with no feed problems and now that's all I have is feed problems.

Cloudpeak

[Willbird]

Well you didnt share what kind of pistol you are using, but typically the feed lips need to be shorter for shorter bullets, it lets the round pop free before it jams into the feedramp, if mags arent a jillion dollars for your pistol you might be able to mod one to let the rounds feed properly.

some of the flying ashtray bullet designs for 45 acp do not feed nicely from some mags in some guns without shortening the feed lips.

Possibly you tested the ctg. with a differant magazine than you are using now ??

This would be a good excuse to buy a 10mm revolver to shoot up the 40's using moon clips :-)

Bill

[waksupi]

Cloudpeak, I've had the same problem before. The cause of mine, was lube build up in the seating die. Check and see if that was your problem.
About the easiest thing to do is shoot them single shot if possible. It will take forever, but will still be faster than pulling the loads.

[Johnch]

I have lengthened loaded ammo before .
Results depend on how tight of crimp I put on to start with .

I use a hammer bullet puller and make them to long then reseat them to the right length .

What kind of groups do you normaly get with your XD40 ?
I have a S&W Sigma that loves cast bullets , I can keep all the bullets in the black of a 25 yd pistol target off hand .
The gun will keep them in the 9 or 10 ring ,but not with me pulling the trigger .

I worked up a target load for it 175 gr cast , 3.5 gr of 231 ,WW SP for 700 fps
3.8 gr is listed a min for 750 fps but my gun will eject properly and it has next to no recoil .

Johnch

[Cloudpeak]

Well you didnt share what kind of pistol you are using, but typically the feed lips need to be shorter for shorter bullets, it lets the round pop free before it jams into the feedramp, if mags arent a jillion dollars for your pistol you might be able to mod one to let the rounds feed properly.

some of the flying ashtray bullet designs for 45 acp do not feed nicely from some mags in some guns without shortening the feed lips.

Possibly you tested the ctg. with a differant magazine than you are using now ??Bill

Bill,

Springfield Armory XD40 Sub Compact.

I shot all of my test rounds with a new mag and everything worked fine. I used the same mag for the rounds I loaded and---problems. I will use some other mags I have and see if they work better or will play with the feed lips.

Thanks

Cloudpeak

[Cloudpeak]

I have lengthened loaded ammo before .
Results depend on how tight of crimp I put on to start with .

I use a hammer bullet puller and make them to long then reseat them to the right length .

What kind of groups do you normaly get with your XD40 ?
I have a S&W Sigma that loves cast bullets , I can keep all the bullets in the black of a 25 yd pistol target off hand .
The gun will keep them in the 9 or 10 ring ,but not with me pulling the trigger .

I worked up a target load for it 175 gr cast , 3.5 gr of 231 ,WW SP for 700 fps
3.8 gr is listed a min for 750 fps but my gun will eject properly and it has next to no recoil .

Johnch

John,

Here's a link to a previous post concerning one of the more accurate loads I came up with for the XD40:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=1637&highlight=cloudpeak

In case that doesn't work, I've found quite a few different loads that will group 1.25 to 1.50 inches at 7 yards and a couple of loads that will group even better. I shot a couple of groups off hand at 7 yards of .82" and .92" with the 172 gr. cast/4.4 grains of power pistol and a 180 grain plated/ 5.5 grains of Unique.

I've been pretty happy with the gun---until I shot a friend's Kimber (45 cal.). I didn't realize semi autos could have such good triggers. The XD is my first center fire semi auto. I've shot my old Ruger flat top 44 mag for years and it had a great, single action trigger. If I had the XD to do again, I might buy the 4" service. I think the sight picture is better due to the longer sight radius (front blade looks narrower which works a bit better for me.) But, I'm researching 1911 type guns as we speak :)

Cloudpeak

[Willbird]

This could really honk off Kimber guys.

But find a GOOD 1911 smith, and talk to him, generally a much better gun can be built for less than Kimber (feel free to flame away).

It takes longer to have one built.


Bill

[Cloudpeak]

This could really honk off Kimber guys.
But find a GOOD 1911 smith, and talk to him, generally a much better gun can be built for less than Kimber (feel free to flame away).
It takes longer to have one built.
Bill

Bill,

That will be more money than I want to spend. I'll probably go middle road--Springfield Armory, for instance, if I buy one. I'm not in much of a hurry and researching different makes and models is fun. Might buy used.

I have picked up an underlying tone that the Kimber's might be over priced and have functioning problems but my buddy's sure was a beautiful gun :)

Cloudpeak

[Willbird]

Once again tho it is worth your time to talk to a pistolsmith or two first, they know all the ins and outs and you can honestly say you want the best platform upon which to build a nice custom gun, even if you don't ever go that far.

Bill

[Cloudpeak]

Once again tho it is worth your time to talk to a pistolsmith or two first, they know all the ins and outs and you can honestly say you want the best platform upon which to build a nice custom gun, even if you don't ever go that far.

Bill

Well, Bill, I'll try to do that. But, where I live, you just don't hop in a car and drive to your nearest 5 gunsmiths :) That's kind of why I've been looking at various 1911 resources on the net. I have some law enforcement friends who might be able to put me onto some competent gunsmiths.

Thanks, Cloudpeak

[Cloudpeak]

The title says it all. I checked the width of the "lips" at the top of the mag before I got to the point where I was going to pull bullets. The mag I was using was .023" narrower than my other two mags putting the rounds lower than they should have been. I bent the lip outward and now there are no feeding problems. Then it finally dawned on me. I remembered dropping the mag. Sure enough, there was a mark where the lip was bent in a bit.
Now I'm off to display my stupidity (or feeble mind with CRS disease) to a couple of other groups.

Cloudpeak