PPQ 45 - 200gr cast & ongoing issue ejecting live rounds

[ghh3rd]

I am loading 200gr cast bullets from a 452460 mold (HG 68 type profile) for my PPQ 45, found that I need to seat them down to 1.190 and crimp down to 468.5 to get them to all chamber completely.

I am continuing to have issues with live rounds ejecting. Sometimes I'll get 10 rounds downrange and 2 on the floor, without even noticing that the live rounds ejected. Other times, a live round will jam rather than ejecting.

Anyone own a PPQ 45 and had this issue?

Thanks,

Randy

[Dusty Bannister]

You may want to see if this happens with all magazines or just one of them. You may check to see that the magazine "lips" are not too far apart and spring tension is pushing an extra round out of the magazine when feeding a new round. You might get an impression of how the magazine feeds by pushing live rounds from the magazine and take note how soon they are free of the magazine. The photo suggests that the back of the cartridge is too high when presented to the chamber. Maybe the specific load data would be a guide to the issue as well. Are they loaded "hot or mild"?

[wv109323]

I am guessing magazine lips and magazine spring pressure. I am not familiar with the pistol but the nose of the bullet should be higher than the base of the round as it feeds into the chamber. The slide should strip the round out of the magazine, the nose of the bullet up the feed ramp and start the nose of the bullet into the chamber. The magazine lips release the rim of the case and the base of the round slides up the breech face and aligns with the chamber.
It appears in the picture the rim of the case is being released prematurely, The rim of the case is in front of the extractor,which indicates the round is being released early.

[runfiverun]

how do you not notice rounds popping out of the gun?
doesn't it not chamber that round and slam home empty?
if it's tossing a round and chambering another it's definitely the magazine letting go of the top round.
if it's jamming straight on to the chamber it's the magazine letting go of the round too soon.

I'd check the magazine lips.

[ghh3rd]

To tell you the truth, sometimes I perceive that I have ejected a live round when I hear a louder thunk on the floor or bench than usual. Other than that, the gun runs out of ammo a little early, and I bend down and look for the missing rounds. Sometimes I all twelve make it through Ok, but usually not.

I like this Lyman 4 cavity steel mold, and it drops lots of good boolits fast. I also have a Lee 230 gr TC 2 cavity mold that I guess I should give a try... but I like those 200's.

[ioon44]

I have been shooting a PPQ 45 for about a year with out any problems, 200 gr SWC out of a NEI mold and 185 gr SWC from Magma molds bullets sized to .452" with Hi-Tek coating. I seat them 1.250" to 1.260" and crimp to about .472"

You might leave your mags loaded for several days to break in the springs, I had a hard time getting 12 rounds in the mags to start with as the springs are pretty strong.

What diameter are you sizing your bullets to?

[ghh3rd]

That sounds just like what I want from my PPQ ioon44. I started off loading long but the rounds would not chamber fully. I'm sizing to .452 but my sizer is closer to .4525

[ioon44]

I have one sizer die that runs .4527" and didn't have a problem with them feeding but .452" works fine.

I thought the reaction to shooting cast bullets was funny when you posted this on the Walther forum.

The Walther polygonal barrel is different than a Glock barrel, I don't think Glock is a true polygonal.

[runfiverun]

there is nothing wrong with the mold.
it's nose is shorter than the 68 molds is but other than that it's a good mold.
I use the 630 because I like one single lube groove and the longer drive bands, but the 460 is a proven mold in the acp.

you didn't mention trying some jacketed rounds to see if it did the same thing with them.
but trying some should point to where the problem is.

[ghh3rd]

I don't know if this has anything to do with my issue, but my PPQ ejects practically straight up. Not sure if all PPQ's do this.

I made a couple of brass catchers for use on a tripod that didn't work out too well before I noticed the upward path of the empties. I finally swung the net overhead, and now it at least bats the brass back down to the floor.

[rototerrier]

I've had this issue repeatedly and even sent it in to the factory and they returned it saying they couldn't duplicate the issue.

After much trial and error, I've managed to get it to where I can repeat it with 100% consistency.

Shooting 230gr boolits over 5.0-5.2gr of HP38 works fine. As soon as I move up to 5.4+, the very last round in either of the 2 magazines that came with the gun will eject itself onto the ground.

I've tried limp wrist and holding the gun white knuckled and nothing makes a difference. Hotter loads seem to cause the issue.

Not sure if the magazine needs a lighter or stiffer spring to resolve it. I resolved it by simply not going above 5.2gr with this particular load.

[ioon44]

All 4 of my PPQ's eject about 3 to 4 feet to the right, that might be something to look into.

I shoot 200 rds of factory ammo out of a new gun so the warranty won't be an issue if there is a problem.

[35remington]

Puking the round instead of feeding it occurs due to inertial issues. Control is
lost when he slide impacts the frame and jars the round loose from the magazine.

Check magazine spring strength. If the follower is smooth it does not help but no other style may be available. If it was a feed lip isssue it would do it on other than the last round.

[35remington]

To positively determine it is the spring or not, place a block of wood or other flat surfaced object equivalent to a round's thickness in the bottom of the magazine, presuming your floorplate allows it. It should go between spring and floorplate. Load two rounds in the magazine and repeatedly test to see if the problem occurs. If it does not...it's insufficient spring tension.