Embarassing Fail to Feed

[Ironduke]

Saturday I took a pistol course at a local shooting school. Knowing the class will go through a bunch of ammo over several levels of classes i wanted to shoot cast SWCs to save some dough. It turned out to be an exercise in embarrassment. Nothing says "I'm serious about shooting" like ammo that you made that doesn't work!!

I was shooting some 45 cal 200gr SWC I cast from a Lee 6 banger. Bullets were pan lubed and sized at .452 with a Lee push through die. I tested the loads several weeks ago, and had no issues with function or accuracy--I could easily keep all rounds in the A zone of the man-sized silhouette.

At the shooting class, though, the very first round from the mag failed to feed. The next round fed and shot, but the slide only closed half way on the third round from the mag. At that point the instructor asked if I was using handloads. I admitted such, and at the next break in training he had me switch to factory ammo, which I brought just in case. The rest of the training was uneventful. But before the break, the cast loads continued to confound my training.

I think the problem is too much crimp causing the case to bulge just behind the case mouth. Perhaps I applied slightly more crimp on this ammo than I did on the test ammo from several weeks ago?

The biggest issue I face now is how to fix these loads. I have 250-300 of these loaded up. I can go to the range and shoot the ones that will go bang, but the ones that won't feed are another issue. I can't pull these with a collett puller because there isn't enough of the bullet shoulder available to grab onto. I don't think an inertia puller will pull the bullets with such a firm crimp.

I wish I could swage out the bulge in the case by running the ammo partially through a die--maybe the sizing die with the decapping stem removed?

Advice?

[Joe504]

An inertial puller will work, just might take a few whacks.

[Mumblypeg]

What Joe said.... no shame, we all learn. That's why it's ALWAYS good to check a few rounds to make sure they work in your firearm before loading a whole bunch of them.

[62chevy]

Get the Lee bulge buster you will also need the Lee factory crimp die.

http://www.titanreloading.com/lee-cr...imp-die-45-acp

http://www.titanreloading.com/lee-bu...bulge%20buster

[willie_pete]

One other point if I may. If you are ever going to shoot in public and you don't want to be embarrassed by things like this, take the barrel out of your gun and chamber check each round you are going to shoot before match day.

Resizing after the fact runs the chance of resizing the bullet with attendant accuracy issues.

WP

[popper]

Try the sizer die, run it ALL the way down. Works for my 9 & 40. You may need to pull them manually but a whole lot less messy than the inertia method & you can save the powder. I use a short PVC tube & wire cutter/crimper tool to grab the lead. Of course the lead gets recycled.

[Bad Andy]

Well I know a Bullet Hammer (inertia type) puller has worked for me on 9mm with a factory crimp. Never done anyting above a
.40. The trick for me was using a large chunck of wood to hammer against..1-2 whacks did the trick.

[dudel]

Well I know a Bullet Hammer (inertia type) puller has worked for me on 9mm with a factory crimp. Never done anyting above a
.40. The trick for me was using a large chunck of wood to hammer against..1-2 whacks did the trick.

Best thing I've found for the inertial puller is a piece of pressure treated 4x4. I have an 18" piece that I stand on end. Comfortable enough to use while seated. Less chance of damaging the hammer. So handy, I put a handle on the side. Low tech, but works great.

To OP, inertial puller will do fine even with a massive crimp. DAMHIKT!

Lee's bulge buster should work. Remember you are pushing a loaded round from the primer end. Hope they are well seated. Go slow, be careful.

Personally, I go shoot the ones that work at the range and pull the ones that don't (hopefully just a few). Much safer. If you're not using oversized boolits, this is a case where running them through a Lee Factory Crimp Carbide die might save you the effort of pulling the rounds. Lee FCCD is pretty cheap.

[BruceB]

I've said it before, but it seems that it bears repeating....

EVERY SINGLE ROUND that I load for any autoloading firearm is run through a CARTRIDGE GAUGE (not a "case gauge") to ensure that each of those rounds is in-spec before it ever reaches a gun.

The boxes that those rounds are stored in are clearly marked with big red letters on a stick-on label: "GAUGED".

This procedure does a great deal for my peace of mind.... and it sorts-out the rare problem rounds very nicely.

If any given round fails the gauge test, I give it a fast check to see if a minor burr on the rim may be the difficulty. A needle file makes short work of small burrs.

If there is no such burr, I just crush the offending cartridge and carry on to the next. I see no point in agonizing over a single round.

[gwpercle]

Try the sizing die, partial resize (just enough to allow rounds to chamber...no more), remove decapping stem of course.
Had a whole box of Black Hills 45 acp with cast lead boolits that would not chamber in a revolver (minimum clearance in that particular revolvers chambers and throat), sized the rounds just enough to chamber and didn't have any issues after that. If you size them too much the boolit gets sized down too much , lead has no spring back, and the boolits will get loose in the case.
That particular revolver likes boolits sized .451, sized .452 and depending on brass case thickness, they may or may not chamber.
Gary

[BK7saum]

You are shooting a .45 ACP? With a taper crimp die used for crimping the rounds? I absolutely do not see how you could have taper crimp the cartridges and they will not chamber. I can see not enough crimp being applied and the mouth still belled a little bit and It won't chamber.

What caliber and what dies are you using?

[BK7saum]

Check the cases with a pair of calipers and see where the bulge is actually located.

[bedbugbilly]

I agree with BruceB - the $20 something price of a cartridge gauge is well spent. I have 'em on my bench and every round that comes off of my press gets checked. Never have had a problem if they slip in and meet specs.

BK7saum - The same thoughts you voiced are running through my head . . .

[dverna]

This is a valuable lesson - especially for those who reload ammo for things other than plinking. I see many guys get sloppy after a while.

Loads for competition, hunting and especially for self defense should be made with the utmost care. Do not use mixed cases of varying condition. Those are your plinking/practice cases.

Look at the upside. Being embarrassed is a lot better than being dead.

Don Verna

[dragon813gt]

I'm trying to figure out how you bulged the case w/ a taper crimp. Measure the crimp w/ some calipers. That will tell you if it's to much. And as much as I hate to recommend one. If the cases are that far out of spec run them through a Lee FCD. My 45acp one is large enough that it won't post size cast bullets below .452. I'd rather run a few hundred through the FCD over the inertia puller.

[Jailer]

I say keep em loaded and separated and rotate em in during practice for malfunction drills.

I've got a bunch of H&G 130 clones loaded up that will malfunction occasionally and that's what I keep them around for.

[KYShooter73]

Don't feel too bad, I made a G21 go boom in a class once. Embarrassing as hell, not to mention the blood blisters and rattled nerves. I still don't know what caused it, fired out of battery, double charged??? Screwed up the mag, trigger, and mag release....

[Ironduke]

You are shooting a .45 ACP? With a taper crimp die used for crimping the rounds? I absolutely do not see how you could have taper crimp the cartridges and they will not chamber. I can see not enough crimp being applied and the mouth still belled a little bit and It won't chamber.

What caliber and what dies are you using?

Yes, I am shooting 45 ACP. I looked at some of the offending rounds, and they don't look bad. I pulled the barrel and dropped 2 of the offending rounds into the chamber, and they do not go all the way in by a few thousandths. Factory ammo will drop right in and seat flush. Visual inspection of the offending rounds does not indicate any obvious issues, but once the rounds are seated in the chamber with mild thumb pressure, they don't want to come out that easily like factory rounds will. I partially sized the rounds in my sizer die, and now they fit the chamber nicely.

Dies are RCBS, and I have loaded lots of issue-free Jacketed loads with these dies. And, i tested these bullets with this powder before I loaded up a bunch of them, and had no issues over 20 rounds. I was confident this ammo would shoot. Bummer.

My plan, since the partial sizing seems to work is to drop each round in the chamber to see if it fits. If so, it goes in the box. If not, it gets run through the sizer and rechecked.

[Ironduke]

I've said it before, but it seems that it bears repeating....

EVERY SINGLE ROUND that I load for any autoloading firearm is run through a CARTRIDGE GAUGE (not a "case gauge") to ensure that each of those rounds is in-spec before it ever reaches a gun.

Ok. I want a cartridge gauge. I need one for another project too--I have a 25 WSSM gas gun, which makes for a picky combo. Who makes them? I figure if nothing else, I can have one made from a short stub of barrel reamed to minimum spec.

[BK7saum]

You still need to identify what's causing the problem so you don't run into it again. With calipers measure the width of the cartridge right at the case mouth, then down a little and again where the base of the bullet is in the case.

Could be way off base, but seems like a lack of crimp, not too much. I definitely would not run loaded ammo into the sizer until I identified the problem. Loaded ammo through the sizer will likely size the bullet inside rhe case and coyld lead to leading, inaccuracy or other problems, possibly overpressure from bullet setback.
Lets identify the problem, and fix it.