Failure to feed ( pics )

[Tango2020]

I'm getting this which is stopping the round from going into battery after about 20 or so rounds using Felix lube.
http://tapatalk.com/mu/4584d78f-295a-2f1c.jpg

Hopefully you can see there is a buildup around the case mouth. Do I need to harden or soften the lube?

[Tango2020]

Link to my Lube post

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=128354

[geargnasher]

Wipe the excess lube off the case mouth area before shooting them.

If lube/powder fouling is accumulating in the front of the chamber causing failure to go fully into battery on it's own, increase your powder charge (if safely possible) or go to a faster powder burn rate and rework the load.

Lube is the last thing you need to worry about. 99% of your problems with the .40 will not be related to lube, as long as you're using a good lube like you are.

Gear

[Tango2020]

I'm wiping the lube well from the case mouth so increasing the charge my be the answer. I'm loading 5.1 of unique so I have room. .40 cal 175 gr by the way.

[Sonnypie]

My last step has been to wipe my ammo, especially the boolit, with a lightly solvented shop towel as a last step.
My reasoning has been the loob needed to be in the grooves and encased area of the boolits. Not on the nose.
So far, it has seemed to have worked good for me.
(I hate linty boolits at the range. So embarrassing!) :oops:

[geargnasher]

Another tip, use your barrel as a case gauge and seat the boolits out far enough so the front shoulder of the boolit headspaces the round rather than the case mouth or extractor. The reason to do this is mainly so the boolit makes a good seal with the barrel (obturation of the bore is what we call it) with minimal movement, which keeps lube from blowing out of the groove and around the boolit upon firing. You also want the boolit to be fully inside the barrel before the breech unlocks, that way the lube is trapped in the groove and what little escapes during the case-throat transition is blown out behind the boolit, rather than being slung back on the chamber walls as the case is extracted. More pressure=more velocity, so the boolit will get out of the case more quickly and beat the extraction cycle. Another effect of increased pressure is better case sealing to the chamber, which helps prevent lube from being blown around the mouth and back up the chamber walls.

For ultra-light .40 loads I would recommend tumble lube, as the very hard .40 brass tends to have these lube fouling issues at lower pressures, at least in my guns. Personally, I've settled on a full-house, factory-level load using Longshot and haven't had any more issues. Unique is a good one too for 1000 fps loads and tough boolits.

Gear

[Tango2020]

Thanks gear. That defiantly gives me options for my next loads. I'll make up some test loads and see where that takes me.

[gray wolf]

Long Shot powder can be your friend, low pressure and great velocity.
For tin can plinking mouse loads in the 40 you may consider Tite group.
Don't over do the tite group

[beex215]

your lube around the neck is making the neck too large to fit in the chamber fully. is that how the ammo looks when its finished reloading or thats from a range session?

[Tango2020]

That's from a range session. I clean the cartridge up well after loading. The build-up makes the case stick after about twenty or so shots. I increased the charge and all fowling and leading went away.......( Wow...Cleanest bore I have ever seen after a shoot ). Thanks Gear . But ....the build up around the case mouth continued. I think I am going to reduce the wax in the Felix back to 8 oz per batch. Maybe it's too thick .... I moved the seating depth out to 1.34 " but couldn't go further because the round wouldn't fit in the magazine.

[Tango2020]

Tested the new batch with FWFL at 8oz per batch and I continue to have the lube blown back into the chamber an accumulate around the case mouth. I'm now Loading at 5.9 gr of unique which chrono around 1025 FPS.
Barrel looked great but every 3rd or 4th round the slide stops just short of battery. I push it with my thumb and....click. ready to fire.

I tried resorting back to Alox/JPW/OMS tumbel lube to see if at the higher pressure it would perhaps stop leading but the last 1/3 of the barrel leaded.

Any Ideas?

[geargnasher]

That's right at the absolute max pressure for Unique and that boolit, if that isn't sealing the cases I'm not sure what is going on.

What gun are you using? Some people have trouble with the XD-40 due to the lack of throat.

I've always had good luck with Felix lube in that caliber using Universal and keeping it to about 900 fps. For the high end stuff, I use Longshot or Blue Dot, harder boolits (20 bhn seems to be about right), and White Label Lube's Carnauba Red/BAC mixed 50/50. Blue Dot has to be loaded absolutely to the gills in the S&W M&P .40 and Glock 22 to keep from having the same problem you're experiencing, although the BD fouling is dark, goey stuff that has burnt powder mixed in with the lube, not clean lube like yours are.

Gear

[Tango2020]

I am indeed using an XDM 40. Do you think I should put more effort toward a tumble lube in my 40 and abandon Felix for now?
I loaded some with Alox/JPW/OMS and had leading at the end of the barrel but shot great.

Is there a better tumble lube I could use or an addition I could make to the Alox?
By the way I ordered a Lyman M die last night , can't do anything but help the situation.

[geargnasher]

If the M die small-diameter is less than .399" I'd say it's not going to help much, but I don't know what size they are. The tumble lube formula you're using will work fine at lower pressures, although it may smoke a bit and leave some ash in the barrel. I've never gotten peak accuracy with any kind of tumble lube, but that doesn't mean you won't, and by "peak" you probably won't be able to tell the difference in your gun at 15 yards or less.

Try using a softer alloy, going at least .001" above groove diameter with the boolit size, make sure the brass isn't swaging the boolit down (load and crimp a dummy, pull and measure it), use a faster powder like Titegroup that burns really clean at low pressure. Try for around 800 fps.

Gear

[MikeS]

It might just be a trick of the lighting, but it looks like that boolit is roll crimped into place. If it indeed is, that might also be giving you trouble, as auto cartridges are NOT supposed to be roll crimped, as they headspace on the edge of the cartridge! If you need to crimp it, at most it should be taper crimped, which can either be done with the same die you're currently using by just backing it out a bit, or by getting a dedicated taper crimp die.

If it IS just a trick of the lighting, please disregard the above. :)

[popper]

That unique load is pretty much max. I shoot MBC (hard blue lube)180 T/C with ~5 gr. unique, from XDM-40. Accuracy is acceptable, with some leading. I'm thinking I'll try adding the LLA/JPW tumble lube to cut down on leading. As nasher says, I think your soft lube is blowing out and getting caught in the chamber. Do you size after lube to make sure the lube is just in the lube ring? Your pic looks like it has a roll crimp, or at least a hard taper crimp. More of my cases have many reloads and are shorter, so I am having a hard time controlling taper crimp. I end up with the same problem as you, but for a different reason. Guess I'll have to start sorting by case length.

[seagiant]

Hi,
I'll throw this in just for GP. It looks like your boolit is been smacked pretty hard on the nose. What might be happening is you are close to what is called a 3 point jam! This is when the cartridge is allowed to exit the mag to soon and the nose jams on the top of the barrel chamber or slows the slide so the slide lacks about an 1/8" to go into battery! Also make sure your chamber is not rough and as Mike says use a seperate taper crimp die as a last operation. I have NEVER seen the lube as being a pistol function problem!
http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=32993.0;wap2 This is for 1911's but is useful for all auto pistols!

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-58497.html

[357 Voodoo]

I think seagiant is pointing in the right direction but i think it may be just the just the opposite it may be that the boolit is hitting the steep ramp of the XD too soon and slowing the forward speed of the slide down too much. I have that problem if i seat the boolit too far out.