9mm bulge problem

[Jal5]

I finally got the mold to work correctly, RCBS 09-115RN and loaded up some test rounds with SB brass (range pickup), Bullseye, and CCI500 primers. After messing up several with the OAL , I fixed my dies properly and set up about 25 rounds, 5 of each amount of powder.

I thought since my OAL was good and the dimension at the mouth of the case with the boolit seated looked good compared to the other ammo (see below comments) that I was OK. But these failed to fit the barrel correctly and wouldn't let the slide go back into position on my S&W Shield.

I have read alot about 9mm problems here especially about cases and bulging. Here are some comparison dimensions using this gun and 3 different ammo types.

MFS ammo: .378 (CS mouth )/.387 (above base)/COL longer than my rounds
Berrys bullet: .376/.388/COL same as above
Mine: .373/.389/1.131 to 1.135

The MFS and Berrys all cycle the slide fully in this gun. Mine is shorter in OAL than both of them but larger by .001 above the base- I am thinking that this is the problem? My boolits are dropping at .356-.357 and are not sized.

What should I do to correct this fail to close the slide problem? Thanks.

[runfiverun]

take a look at things one step at a time.
the area above the web is certainly larger.
the question is are you not sizing it or are you making it bigger along the way.
try chamberng a case before and after full length sizing.
then go from there, to when you seat the boolit, and the amount of crimp you are applying.

you are making the front of the case 5 thousandths smaller than you are showing with the bullets.
i'd say that was a bit too much/small.

next thing to look at is if it is the boolit hitting the throat [if it's a lee design i'd say the chances were pretty high you need a shorter oal]
remember you are making custom ammunition with your components for your gun,and need to look at things from the front to the back.

[garym1a2]

I use the dreaded lee factory crimp die in 9MM and size my boolits.
Also pull the barrel from the gun and use it as a case gage.

[Jal5]

Runfiverrun-
I will try that with the case tonite and let you know before and after how it fits for each step in the process.
I thought that the dimension of the finished round at the mouth was too small too- is that a result of the taper crimp die step?
It is a RCBS boolit mold not a Lee boolit and my finished round is shorter than the other two examples which fit fine in this gun. So I didn't think the boolit was hitting the throat.
Thanks.
Joe

[hicard]

Are you crimping so much that the boolit is expanding( in front of the case ) so much it doesn't fit the chamber?

[Jal5]

Don't think I am crimping that much just barely even out the case mouth.
After trying all 25 of the reloads by putting 5 at a time in the magazine, they cycled fine after the first one. Maybe a dirty feed ramp caused the hangup before with the couple that I tried?
The empty case cycled fine as well.

I went through the process step by step of reloading a dummy round and here are the dimensions:
after sizing- .372 @ mouth of case/.386 @ web
after expanding- .375 @ mouth/.386@ web
after seating to 1.130 OAL- .379@mouth/.386@ web
after crimping 1.131 OAL- .376@ mouth/.386@ web
after cycling through the pistol- 1.133 OAL/.376@mouth/.386@web

This was using Pacific reloading dies, Lee Universal Expander, Lee Universal Taper Crimp die.

Any thoughts? The dummy round cycles fine in the gun.

Joe

[runfiverun]

you are losing 3 thou in the crimp, that should be leaving you a boolit diameter of about 356.[depending on the brass thickness, i was guessing at .0010]
since they feed through the gun now.
i would make a few up with different crimps and try each one to see how they work in the gun.
protecting the boolits diameter will pay dividends in the long run.
you now know the rounds will feed and eject fine,if it acts up under shooting conditions then i'd take a look at the load,for some gunk in the chamber or build-up in the throat/bbl step area.

[Jal5]

Will do thanks. I will let you know how it turns out. Joe

[292]

I had to shorten to 1.060" to get mine to chamber using Lee 358-125-RF. Best I can tell Shields have tight chambers and throats. I also have had problems with too much LLA building up in the chamber and causing trouble.

[Jal5]

292 thanks and good to know about the Shields.
The first couple that I placed in the chamber seemed to stick the slide open. But when I filled the magazine and just worked the slide, they all went into battery correctly and ejected correctly so I am not sure what happened. It wasn't the OAL that hung the rounds up since longer ammo purchased at LGS cycled well in my gun. Will try them out today and give a report later.
Joe

[Jal5]

Range report-
long story short, all 25 rounds shot fine out of the Shield with no leading whatsoever, and cycled the action.
But accuracy at 5yds. wasn't any good with any of the combinations and this from resting position on sandbag.
My thought is to experiment with COL a little and maybe bump up the amount of Bullseye?
I am using the max. for 120gr boolit where I see the best results, maybe bump up a little since this is a 115gr boolit?

Just to make sure it wasn't the operator I ran through a box of ammo of my own boolits in 9mm Makarov in the other gun, and shredded the center of the target. :)


JOe

[popper]

Difference between Shield & Makarov is? Bbl, trigger, grip? Test the shield with factory ammo vs cast, not 2 guns. Fire a round, check the next chambered nose for damage. If all else is good, play with the powder, load and OAL.

[Jal5]

My point was I started to doubt my ability shooting any semi auto handgun.
The exercise with the Makarov was a confidence booster with my handloaded rounds made with my cast boolits. I have just begun the process of casting for 9mm Luger and the process of getting used to this new gun, the Shield.

I thought about running 50-100 factory rounds through the Shield just to get used to grip and trigger and sights and may do that soon.

Joe

[runfiverun]

so everything worked fine,no leading, etc.. but you had poor accuracy.
you didn't have any oblong holes in the target?
or any other indicators of a problem.

i'd try another [slower] powder,or maybe a slightly different oal.
fast powders in the 9mm give me the creepy crawlys.
you are on the right track it's now down to just finding the happy spot.

[Jal5]

The last set had 3 grouped pretty good but stringing then 2 off the group and that was at the highest load. No other signs of problem.

Should I reduce the OAL a little? I was still bigger than recommended in the book with mine.
I could switch powders but I would like to try a few more with the BE first.
Joe

[Jal5]

Looked at those targets again, there was evidence of oblong holes in each one, at least one on each paper. And I recall that the slide didn't stay open on the last shot as it should have with that gun on any of the series which were incremental increased powder- I had to rack the slide to leave it open. Those were both problem indicators but of what kind?
The slide stayed open with the other reloads I tried and with all factory ammo.
Joe

[Jal5]

I tried a full box of WWB 9mm 115gr in the gun today. It performed flawlessly and with good accuracy at 6yds so I am pleased with the gun's overall performance. The factory rounds were definitely noticeably more powerful than mine. So I think I will try to bump up the BE a bit and see where that puts me.