9mm rnds not allowing the slide to close

[Wilson]

The saga continues. Some of my cartridges do not allow the slide to close on my Glock 17 and 19 Storm Lake barrels. I sized the bullets twice because I thought maybe I didn't completely size them when I saw that they were sticking. I can see where the bullet is making contact with the chamber evenly all the way around the bullet just past the brass case. Not all rounds do this. All were sized twice in an effort to eliminate this problem. I do notice that some bullets size easier than others. Any solutions? I'm working with 147 gr bullets from a Lyman mold cast with wheel weights.

[runfiverun]

if the boolit is making contact that is what is making your slide stop short.
i had some 124 gr 9mm's do this i seated them a bit deeper.

[HeavyMetal]

Think we need a bit more info.

1. I believe I know which boolit mold your talking about, but what are you sizing it to. ( diameter)

2. Your sure nothing is on the mold face holding it open? Kind of an inadvertant "beagling" as it were.

3 Your sure all the boolits are completely filled out? If some are not that would be the reason some chamber and some don't!

4. this particular Lyman mold makes a boolit that is a bit longer than average for the 9. It is possible that your seeing more than one problem here. Boolit my need to be seated deeper, the boolits my need to be sized to a smaller Diameter ( .355 instead of say .357) or ??

Double check all your measurements and examine the cast boolits under a strong magnifiying glass for fill out and severe out of round.

[docone31]

My Star did that. Not every round, just once in a while.
I redid the seating depth a little. That fixed it. I had used the OAL for the cartridge. My casting was not what the specs showed.
Setting the casting just a little deeper and it was snag free.

[Duce]

Only 3 problems can cause it:

1. Pistol has a weak return spring. ( if it fires with factory rounds and locks after each shot skip this problem.)

2. diameter of round. ( possible out of round and not fully run through the die)

3. Length of round. ( bullet not set to given length.)

[870TC]

Sounds like Runfiverun has the answer. Take your barrel out of the gun, drop your reloads in to the chamber, then do the same with a factory loaded round. Do your reloads stick out of the chamber/barrel more than the factory round?? if yes, then seat the bullet deeper.

[crabo]

You can also try a little more taper crimp.

[Down South]

I agree with Runfiverun. You may need to seat the boolits a little deeper.

[mike in co]

You can also try a little more taper crimp.

not if its the bullet hitting the end of the chamber.....holding it tighter wont help.....he did say the bullet is engraving....

mike in co

[monadnock#5]

My old Lyman 45th Manual gives a standard 1.169 OAL across the board for 9mm. The 48th Edition gives individual OAL'S for each boolit. If that's the 356637 mould your using, make your OAL 1.058, and your problem is solved.

[Jimlakeside]

I use the same mold and shoot it out of a Glock 34 with a Lone Wolf barrel. What I noticed was the that the slide would fail to close on bullets that were not crimped properly. The problem was even more pronounced on my wife's Wilson Combat KZ (tighter tolerences I guess). My problem did not seem to be related to OAL. I just made sure there was a smooth transition between the bullet and the brass and the problem ended. I have shoot several hundred round lately without any problems.

I also noticed that when sizing these cast bullets that some were much harder to size than others. I am sizing to .356.

Hope you get it figured out.

[robertbank]

Bullets sized .355 in the 9MM will tumble. I have had them tumble shooting IDPA at targets less then 10 yards away. If you have removed the belling on your cases with your crimp you need not crimp anymore. I would bet your problem lies with the OAL of your cartridge, nothing more. I have shot several thousand rds this spring in my 9MM sizing them .357 with excellent results. I do use the 125 gr bullet however. My guns seem to like the lighter bullet frankly.

Take Care

Bob

[Wilson]

Thanks for all the good input. I'm at work now and won't be home for another 5 days, then I'll do some more checking later. I’m using a Lyman 4-Cavity Bullet Mold #356637 9mm (356 Diameter) 147 Grain Flat Nose Bevel Base. I'm sizing to .356 on a Lyman 450 (but I’ve got a Star on the way). I'll try and seat the bullet deeper as suggested. Thanks to Monadnok I’ll try and seat the bullet to 1.058

Robertbank, what mold are you using for your 125 grain bullet. I tried a Lee mold (Lee 6-Cavity Bullet Mold 356-125-2R 9mm Luger, 38 Super, 380 ACP (356 Diameter) 125 Grain 2 Ogive Radius) and I really like the speed and ease of casting with a Lee mold, but I felt the bullet shape was the cause of my feeding problems. I’d like a more pointed 6-cavity mold or at least a 4 cavity.

[pstew]

Your issue might more related to "Glock Bulge" than your bullets. There are millions of words out there on the web about the unsupported chamber, so I won't go into that, but take a look at the EGW under size sizing die (resizes the brass farther down and smaller than standard dies), or the Lee carbide factory crimp die (resizes finished ammo to the correct size)

Hope this helps

[Shottist]

Suggest you consider buying a $10 9MM ctg. gauge from Midway or Dillon or someone. When the cartridges will all "gauge", they will all chamber in most any standard gun.

[robertbank]

HI

I use the Lyman 356402 4 cavity mold. I size to ,357 only because I shoot 9MM in a number of guns:

3 Hi-Powers
Tanfoglio
S&W M&P
CZ 85 Pre-B (Since Sold)
STI Trojan

Bullet is a truncated cone style and feeds like hot butter. Bullet is very accurate when over 4.1 gr 231. Load makes power factor of around 130 - 135 depending on the gun which is enough for IPSC Production and IDPA. Driving my lead bullets faster in my experience did nothing for accuracy, consumed more powder and just led to a sore wrist.

I found sizing to .355 caused leading and bullet tumbling in all my guns. I now size to .357 and experience no leading and accuracy obviously improved. I use Felix Lube - a soft lube. Hard lube has an application in reloading....I just haven't found what application.

I water drop my bullets (WW Alloy), only because I am lazy and it works for me.

Good Luck.

Take Care

Bob

[monadnock#5]

I had issues with the 356637 when seated at 1.169. They wouldn't function at all in a Hi-Power, and only sometimes in a Glock 17. In fact, in the Glock they were an out of battery KB waiting to happen. At 1.058 they function flawlessly. Mid range loads drop the cases on the bill of my ball cap and heavier loads ricochet the cases off the rafters.

9MM is a pre SAAMI round, so manufacturers evidently feel they have some leeway in barrel specs. My Wilson after market barrel for the Glock slugs at .3575, so I size to .358. So slug your barrel like Bub said.

I also water drop, and laziness is a big plus for that procedure, but it also removes the temptation to examine each drop and foul up the rhythm. It's a Kenny Rogers thing, "you've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em..."

[yodar]

Suggest you consider buying a $10 9MM ctg. gauge from Midway or Dillon or someone. When the cartridges will all "gauge", they will all chamber in most any standard gun.

Everybody should use a case gage when he is setting his equipment and for QC

AND fer SURE get a Lee 9mm Factory crimp die.

Once I started using those two items my FTF stopped totally

NOT owner a Glock, however

yodar

[kjg]

I had similar experiances #1 was using different cases fed,win, rem,military,and found out that the brass itself was causing problems, fixed that with a rcbs tapper crimp die. #2 also discoverd when using a heavyer boolit, the round would cause the slide to stop slightly out of battery and not fire, adjusted seater slightly, that fix was solved. just my two cents worth. kjg

[Wilson]

OK, I made it back to the house and checked the OAL of my cartridges. Thanks Monadnock#5 for letting me know about the OAL. I was way too long having seated at the standard OAL. I promptly seated to 1.058, but it's not going to work well with the rounds I've already loaded. I put a slight crimp that is now shaving lead. I'll load a new batch tomorrow and see how it goes.
I got my Star luber/sizer today and promptly put it to work. After a bit of fiddling with the depth adjustment and temperature, I knocked out a thousand and a bit in 30 minutes. What a dream.