failure to cycle

[Venus Pax]

I loaded about 10 rounds today & tested them in the back yard just to see if they would cylce. (I didn't actually fire them; I racked the slide while pointing at the ground to see if they would cycle.)
Dad taught me to do this before going to the range to fire them.
Several wouldn't cycle out of my gun. They kept jamming. The shell casing would be half-way in the barrel, and I had to get my husband outside to pull the magazine out.)

Any idea what is going on here?

[pbandjelly]

since I've been reloading, well, I actually have yet to load a single round yet... so take this with a grain of Unique.

could be the brass has expanded and needs to be resized? maybe length, but I'm more thinking along the lines of girth (diameter).
you checked the COL or OAL, right? that'd be my next thought.

all I can think of....

[Venus Pax]

I went through the first two steps on the press: 1) resize/deprime, then 2) mouth expansion. After this, I went through the same process of priming, charging and bullet seating as before. The only difference is the bullet type: 200 gr. (coated) lead SWC vs. 185 gr. jacketed SWC. Somehow, I just don't think the bullet type is the problem.
I'm really not sure where I went wrong on this.

I ordered a pair of calipers, but am unclear on how to use them. When Daddy taught me to do this, he used a factory round to use as a standard. When I discovered that directions don't help when using calipers, I resorted to Daddy's method. Everything looks the same, except the bullet type.
I'm reloading using a semiwadcutter, but my factory loads are all round nose and hollow points.
I loaded SWC before, but they were jacketed, where these are coated lead.

[flintknapper]

Resize all brass (if you haven't already), check Overall length of cartridge.

Edit:

O.K. see that you have done this already. It easy to put too much "bell" in the mouth of the cartridge too. Are you "crimping" your rounds after seating the bullet?

[Venus Pax]

I have no clue how to crimp rounds after seating a bullet. I'm loading .45 acp, so I thought this step was unnecessary.

[nuparadigm]

....tested them in the back yard just to see if they would cylce. (I didn't actually fire them; I racked the slide while pointing at the ground to see if they would cycle.) ....

Did you do this same test with the 185 gr. jacketed SWC's? If you did and they cycled fine, then the only difference has got to be your new new 200 gr. projectiles and how deeply they are (or are not) seated.

OAL has usually got to be an "apples-to-apples" affair. Each style of bullet has a slightly different design and length to it. If your 200 gr. bullets are RN's, they're probably a little longer than the SWC's you've loaded in the past. Go to the manufacturer's data tables and find their recommended OAL for your new 200 gr. bullets. Chances are, you've got them seated a little too far out for reliable feeding.

But.... be careful! The deeper a bullet is seated, the higher the pressure goes.

Your other option would be to load a few dummy rounds (w/no primers or powder) with different OAL's. Decrease your OAL on each round gradually until you find one that will feed from the magazine up the feed ramp and into the barrel. When you've found that round that will feed properly, then THAT will be your OAL paradigm for your new 200 gr. bullets.

[Venus Pax]

Go to the manufacturer's data tables and find their recommended OAL for your new 200 gr. bullets.

Are you talking about the bullet manufacturer? I wasn't aware that they had data tables.

I checked my Lee manual, but it only gives one OAL, and I have a sneaky suspicion that it's for round nose bullets.
Again, I'm having trouble reading my calipers.

I'm leaving for church soon. I didn't go Sunday or last Wednesday, so God is probably thinking that I forgot His address.

I'll check back when I get home.

[flintknapper]

VP,

You can save yourself a lot of headaches by "Taper Crimping" all of your reloads.

Some folks do not consider it necessary....and it may not be your problem in this situation, but its a good practice nonetheless. A proper taper crimp tends to "iron out" the bell in the mouth of the case.

Tips:

Only expand the cases enough to start the bullet.

Make certain the bullet is straight before running it through your seating die.

I always used a separate carbide tapering die to finish with.

What is the diameter of the bullets you are using (.451 or .452)?

[phddan]

I went through the first two steps on the press: 1) resize/deprime, then 2) mouth expansion. After this, I went through the same process of priming, charging and bullet seating as before. The only difference is the bullet type: 200 gr. (coated) lead SWC vs. 185 gr. jacketed SWC. Somehow, I just don't think the bullet type is the problem.
I'm really not sure where I went wrong on this.

Hey VP

Sounds to me like the cartridge wasn't crimped after seating.
If this is the .45's, you need to "crimp" the belled mouth back straight, which is usually done at the same time you seat the bullet. And by "crimp", I mean just kiss it enough to straighten it up. And when you bell the mouth, bell it just enough to get the bullet to enter without shaving it.

Dan

[stroo]

I had that kind of problem reloading 45s for my Kimber. I discovered I had to set the bullets with the minimum OAL for them to feed in my gun. If I set them very much above the minimum OAL, about a third of the bullets won't feed. They will start into the chamber but stop about a quarter inch short.

[Tom]

I went through the first two steps on the press: 1) resize/deprime, then 2) mouth expansion. After this, I went through the same process of priming, charging and bullet seating as before. The only difference is the bullet type: 200 gr. (coated) lead SWC vs. 185 gr. jacketed SWC. Somehow, I just don't think the bullet type is the problem.
I'm really not sure where I went wrong on this.

Hey VP

Sounds to me like the cartridge wasn't crimped after seating.
If this is the .45's, you need to "crimp" the belled mouth back straight, which is usually done at the same time you seat the bullet. And by "crimp", I mean just kiss it enough to straighten it up. And when you bell the mouth, bell it just enough to get the bullet to enter without shaving it.

Dan

Yup, and with a different ogive it may just be enough to cause the case to catch on either the ramp or
the top of the chamber. I had this same problem with a bunch of .40S&W bullets that had a straight ogive,
i.e. none. I finally seated them very long to get a shoulder of the bullet onto the ramp and allow
it to slide into the chamber. I shot all of those and didn't use them again.

VP,
If you are using the Lee seating die set just turn the whole die into the press a quarter turn or so and see
what effect it has on the mouth of the case. It should start to squeeze it in towards the bullet, which is
a crimp. Play around with that geometry until you get it to where the finished round always works.
If you can still see the edge of the case (not bending into the bullet) then you are not crimping too much.
Mind your OAL while you are doing this as it will decrease as you turn in the die unless you also turn out
the top seater.
Nobody said reloading was science (ok maybe a little science). But it is also a whole bunch about
trial and error. Emphasis on error because that is the better teacher.

If this doesn't make sense send me a PM with your phone number and I'll give you a call.

And don't worry about this as everyone who reloads has some problem like this at some point.

Kind Regards,

Tom

[MoJo]

Venus,

Did you buy the Deluxe (4 dies) set of dies for your Lee set up? If you did, then you have a Lee carbide factory seating die that if used properly, will fix this problem. This die will put a slight taper crimp and size the loaded round to factory specs. I haven't had any problems like you describe since starting to use one on all my pistol ammo.

[phddan]

Was also thinking,
try and test the fit of the cartridges with just the barrel in your hand. They should slide in and out with no restrictions. Just make sure you are working with a clean barrel.
If they chamber fine, then you might have a problem with oal.
And also keep in mind, that some bullet types just don't work to good with some guns.

Dan

[Venus Pax]

I don't have a crimp die, so I'll have to order that if the other methods don't work.
I want to make sure I'm hearing everyone correctly: my entire round should go into the barrel itself and easily slide back out. In other words, if I take the gun apart and just have the barrel on the table, a round should slide in then back out if I simply tip it one way or the other. ??
Just wanting to make sure I understand you.
Still on this. (And just when I thought I understood what I was doing. )

[nuparadigm]

VP,
I don't know what brand of bullets you're using. Some manufacturers have data tables and some don't. BUT ...... Powder companies have data pages, also. Here is one for your situation: http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp. Notice that the cast bullets are set as low as 1.225 OAL and as high as 1.275 OAL (depending upon which powder you're using.