Ruger 45 acp not cycling, MY RCBS PRO auto 2000 press DILLION 550B one the way

[Randy C]

I bought Dale a Lee hand loader for when he is in new Mexico. But his 45s are not cycling, at first he thought they were not crimped right, Dale said he has a hard time pulling the slide back to get the old shell out, he is using 5.2 gr Aliant unique with some 228gr round nose lead bullets he bought them at the gun show there. I think they were made by the man he bought them from, he loaded 80 of these so he will shoot them one at a time or figure out what the problem is. He said they cycle on the first one when he pulls the slide back. I told him to measure and check everything with a mic. He was going to take the barrel out to see if the bullets fit proper. I just thought I would throw this out there for you 45 guys, I think he is going to have to do his homework before we can help him but they should not be hard to get out of the chamber. This is a sign of a problem. He used a LEE 3 die set and this is the 1st time the brass was reloaded.
I ordered the RCBS PRO 2000 auto press and he said the Dillon 550B should be in soon, I will pay for the Dillon when it gets in he would not let me pay for it till it gets there.
Thanks Randy

[drklynoon]

Lots of things come to mind but I'd need to know a little more. Is it failing to pick up the next round or is it not ejecting? .45's are sensitive to OAL and when I switch to a different type of brass I check for fittment in the chamber. Some chambers are tighter than others and will not allow for any boolit bulge. It's really hard to determine what the problem might be but I would start with OAL and chamber fit.

[runfiverun]

5.2grs is on the minimum side.
might be a combination of things here.
oal,and low load.

[HATCH]

Oal wouldn't come into play as its a fired round.
Have him clean the chamber good
i do 5.6 - 5.8 unique

[Randy C]

I think you both are wright I told him to mic the bullets to see if they need to be sized, and over all fit. He said they sounded like they were on the low side but I don’t think that will make it hard to pull the slide back. The 9mm and 30 carbine worked perfect this is the first time he has done 45 acp with this set up. He pulls the slide back for the first round and it goes in the chamber just fine by hand but It is not ejecting and he has a hell of a time pulling the slide back to get the shell out. I know nothing about automatic's, He has not had time to look at it retired life has to be rough I’m waiting for him to look at it so I know what happen.

[drklynoon]

Randy, as I am reading your posts I'm getting the notion that the gun is not cycling meaning that the slide is not going back and the brass seems stuck in the chamber. If this is the case I would check the chamber for a burr or something. I really can't see a reason for a .45 acp case to be hard to extract unless the loads were seriously over or under pressured. Another thing to check is to see if the gun is assembled incorrectly. Most .45's wont let you put a guide rod in upside down but something like that may be the issue as well. Anyway good luck.

[Randy C]

Thanks everybody I will give him the info next time I talk to him, I know at first he said he thought it look like some of the bullets were not crimped enough. But I am not there.
Randy

[CJR]

Randy C.,

I suggest your friend pick up a "cartridge gauge" (Dillon sells them) to check all the reloaded ammo. Its always better to identify bad ammo before it gets into the gun. A cartridge gauge will detect bulged/oversize cases, nicked rims, OAL, round concentricity, belled cases not taper/rolled crimped properly, etc. Much more info then a mike will give. After the ammo checks out , look at the pistol; i.e. oval/short/burred chamber, broken or poorly adjusted extractor, ejector, etc.

Best regards,

CJR

[runfiverun]

okay it's a fired case that's hard to get out.
definatly bad.

[ole 5 hole group]

I would imagine the guy knows his 1911 - racking the slide is made easier with the hammer cocked, otherwise you are cocking the hammer as you bring the slide back - with a tight fit frame every little bit helps. If the round doesn't eject manually, I would replace the ejector, a simple task on the 1911. If the slide isn't coming back far enough to eject, then I'd go up on the powder or replace the recoil spring with a lighter one.

[gray wolf]

Please read !! I think he is saying the cases are hard to come out of the chamber. The extractor and ejector sound fine. Make sure that reloading set up is sizing the base of the brass enough,
Sounds like the case is being grabbed and held by the chamber.
Pull the barrel and do a drop test, a round should drop in and drop out.

[KYCaster]

I think you both are wright I told him to mic the bullets to see if they need to be sized, and over all fit. He said they sounded like they were on the low side but I don’t think that will make it hard to pull the slide back. The 9mm and 30 carbine worked perfect this is the first time he has done 45 acp with this set up. He pulls the slide back for the first round and it goes in the chamber just fine by hand but It is not ejecting and he has a hell of a time pulling the slide back to get the shell out.
Live round not ejecting or empty fired case not ejecting.....big difference.

Not ejecting or not extracting.....big difference.
I know nothing about automatic's, He has not had time to look at it retired life has to be rough I’m waiting for him to look at it so I know what happen.

Need more info.
Jerry

[ole 5 hole group]

Please read !! I think he is saying the cases are hard to come out of the chamber. The extractor and ejector sound fine. Make sure that reloading set up is sizing the base of the brass enough,
Sounds like the case is being grabbed and held by the chamber.
Pull the barrel and do a drop test, a round should drop in and drop out.

Did I miss something in his posts Gray Wolf, as I thought I read it correctly??? He stated "He pulls the slide back for the first round and it goes in the chamber just fine by hand but It is not ejecting and he has a hell of a time pulling the slide back to get the spent casing out."

To me that means he sling-shots the 1st round into the chamber and fires the round but the casing doesn't eject. That could mean a bad extractor or a low pressure round - at least to me anyway. In his 1st post he stated "he loaded 80 of these so he will shoot them one at a time or figure out what the problem is", so that to me meant he puts one round in the mag, so there probably wouldn't be a jam or stove-pipe if the slide was coming all the way back.

With an empty case in the chamber and an empty mag, I suggested cocking the pistol prior to attempting to rack the slide back - it's always easier that way and depending on one's hand strength, it may or may not make much of a difference.

I would go up on the powder first and if no joy, then I'd replace the extractor. The "plunk test" usually is used if the slide doesn't go into battery but if one jams the cartridge in and touches it off the spent case should eject if the extractor is AOK.

When someone has a hard time working the slide with a spent cartridge in the chamber there are a couple things that come to mind - 1st is the resistance to overcome the hammer spring in cocking the 1911 and then if one tries to pull the slide back with a lifting motion as opposed to straight back - it can be a struggle.

[Randy C]

Please read !! I think he is saying the cases are hard to come out of the chamber. The extractor and ejector sound fine. Make sure that reloading set up is sizing the base of the brass enough,
Sounds like the case is being grabbed and held by the chamber.
Pull the barrel and do a drop test, a round should drop in and drop out.

I have been at work you guys are right on track we have to wait for him to look at gun again. I think the barrel drop test will tell us a lot, I should have bought him a case gauge.

[runfiverun]

i'd ask him about the hammer first.
i cock every exposed hammer pistol i have first and don't even think about it.
maybe thats because all of my pistols are exposed hammers.
if he is then he has something else going on.
if he ain't then his load is too low.

[Randy C]

I will call him today plus I emailed him the link to this post.
Thanks again Randy

[gray wolf]

Did you miss something?? perhaps yes, perhaps no, why do I say that ? cause sometimes first hand info is not clear, and second hand info can and often is just that, second hand and not always clear. But let me go over a few things in your post. I may not know what I ate for dinner last night but I do know a tad about a 1911 45 acp.


Did I miss something in his posts Gray Wolf, as I thought I read it correctly??? He stated "He pulls the slide back for the first round and it goes in the chamberOK, we are in agreement so far, he loaded a round. just fine by hand but It is not ejecting If he has a heck of a time pulling the slide back then the case is still in the chamber and has never even reached the ejectorand he has a hell of a time pulling the slide back to get the spent casing out."Like I said it's still in the chamber.

To me that means he sling-shots the 1st round into the chamber and fires the round but the casing doesn't eject. No the case does not extract, if it did he would not have to struggle with the slide to get the round out of the chamber.That could mean a bad extractorNo again, why ? cause if the extractor was bad it would not bring the round out of the chamber, and it sounds like it does, but under duress, a bad extractor would slip off the round, the slide would return to the rear, pick up a new round and cause a traffic jam in the loading port at the front of the barrel. or a low pressure roundNow that could be, the round could fire with a low powder charge, and the slide could stay closed, especially if the pistol is over sprung as in a recoil spring that is greater than the normal 16# But that would not explain the hard exstraction - at least to me anyway. In his 1st post he stated "he loaded 80 of these so he will shoot them one at a time or figure out what the problem is", so that to me meant he puts one round in the mag, so there probably wouldn't be a jam or stove-pipe if the slide was coming all the way back.Now I may have missed that part, but I don't recall anything about jams or stove pipes.

With an empty case in the chamber and an empty mag, I suggested cocking the pistol prior to attempting to rack the slide back - it's always easier that way and depending on one's hand strength, it may or may not make much of a difference. Under normal conditions a 1911 slide is not that hard to bring back, small frail women can do it, pull back the slide while pushing the pistol forward with the hand gripping the pistol. But if the person has a problem with hand strength ? then yes it could be hard to do, and it's compounded with an over sprung pistol, say an 18# recoil spring.

I would go up on the powder first and if no joy, then I'd replace the extractor. The "plunk test" usually is used if the slide doesn't go into battery that's correct, but my contention is the case may not be sized correctly, so the slide momentum jams the case into the barrel and that in conjuntion with a week load puts the case in the chamber with more holding power than the rear motion of the slide can over come.but if one jams the cartridge in and touches it off the spent case should eject if the extractor is AOK.

When someone has a hard time working the slide with a spent cartridge in the chamber there are a couple things that come to mind - 1st is the resistance to overcome the hammer spring in cocking the 1911 and then if one tries to pull the slide back with a lifting motion as opposed to straight back - it can be a struggle.

[Randy C]

I did not have all the facts right. but he did the Drop test today and the brass is tight in the barrel. I am sorry for not getting everything wright but he did not give me all the info to give you so I had to wing it he was not in a good mood when I talked to him at the range but you have covered just about every avenue he read the post and said he would get back with me my phone did not want to work I was on the Canadian border, I don’t know exactly what is going on now but I do know the brass must not have got resized all the way to the base.
I guess we are going to have to leave this post alone until he takes the time to work this out and wants some help I think he has been busy, I know he is getting ready to drive to the Vegas gun shows.
I can’t thank everybody enough for trying to help you sure know how to research a problem, I bet he won’t mess with that new Rugger 911 till he gets back.
Randy

[ROGER4314]

I bought a case gauge for most of the cartridges that I load. They aren't a lot of money but it helps me troubleshoot problems like you have. $15 for a gauge will tell you exactly what's wrong. In fact, the gauges are designed on the tight side so if it works in the gauge, you know it's OK in the gun chamber.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/594222/lyman-max-cartridge-gage-45-acp

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