Plunk Every Round?

Once I know it works, I just reload.
With a new bullet or configuration, I might plunk 5 or 6 to start, then every 10th round.

Once your dies are properly set, and you bulge bust problem cartridges, why waste the time.
However, if you are going to a competition where they don't allow alibis, you better gage every one.

Generally no, I do not plunk test every round I load for handguns. No need once the seating die and crimp die are set up.

The one exception is when I was shooting IHMSA handgun silhouette in the early 1980s with a 10" 357 Magnum Contender. If a case was a bit too long, I'd over crimp it which would bulge the case mouth and the case would not chamber. I'd check every round that I was planning to use in the match.

The Contender chamber is a bit tighter than most revolver chambers. Eventually, I trimmed my match cases to the same length to make the crimp uniform but I'd still check the chambering of each round.

No

Invest a couple of seconds extra per round while you reload or waste several minutes clearing a jam with a range rod on a live round on the firing line

I used to use my barrel for plunk testing but now that I have several guns in each caliber, I just use a case gauge and make sure they all pass SAAMI minimum specs.

No.
I setup my dies then test a few then I'm good.
I don't load near any extreme so, I'm fine in all my guns

otisrush said:

what's up with WIn brass? (9mm). I would say 30% of the Win brass I size doesn't pass the case gauge. The next-highest toss rate is S&B brass.

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But do they fully chamber in your barrel? If the rim is damaged, resized brass may not pass the gauge but should still fully chamber in the barrel as rim is held by the extractor and does not enter the chamber. If resized brass fully chamber in your barrel, I would reload them instead of tossing them.

otisrush said:

Do folks plunk every pistol round they load?

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Depends on variables like barrel (factory or match/aftermarket), sizing of bullet (.355" - .356"+), bullet profile (RN, FN/FP, HP, SWC), case wall thickness or consistency (while most brass case wall average .011", some are thicker at .012"+).

otisrush said:

I know plunking is critical to set up a specific bullet/barrel combo. I'm just curious to know if people plunk every completed round after initial setup is done. Or rather, once you know a config works, do you load 'em and box 'em?

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- I don't plunk general purpose rounds for factory barrels with looser chambers.

- I plunk every resized brass (not finished rounds) when I am doing initial load development with a new bullet or if my QC sample of finished rounds fail to fully chamber in tightest barrel I have (to rule out brass sizing factor) until I resolve the issue.

- I plunk every match round. After a round failed to go into battery fully during a USPSA match forcing me to rack the slide to chamber another round, I started plunking every finished match round.

- I plunk every finished round when I am reloading for aftermarket or match grade barrels with tight chambers like my Sig 1911 with no leade, my newest Lone Wolf 9mm barrel with no leade and Lone Wolf 40S&W barrels with longer leade but tighter chambers.

- I plunk every finished round when I am reloading with larger sized bullets (Like .356" sized Hornady 124 gr HAP, Zero 115 gr FMJ or Lead/Coated Lead bullets) as they will bulge the case wall more around bottom of bullet base area (not touched by taper crimp die depending on seating depth) and with headstamp brass known to have thicker or uneven case wall thickness as bulged area will hang on tighter chamber walls.

- I plunk every finished round when I am using larger sized bullets and/or bullet profile that results in much deeper seated bullet base as case wall thickness increases as you go down towards case base and will bulge the case wall more around the bottom of bullet base area (not touched by taper crimp die depending on seating depth) and hang on the chamber wall.

I plunk test when setting up a new round. Once I know it works, I don't bother.

Many many thousands of rounds have passed through a pile of my competition guns and, once the load is right for that gun, I've never had a jam because of the issues that the plunk test looks for.

I plunk test new-to-me bullet brands/styles to determine max COL in my pistols. Once dies are set up, I gauge every finished round.

Be aware that all gauges aren’t created equal. For instance, Wilson Max Pistol gauge is reamed to SAAMI maximum cartridge dimensions while Dillon pistol gauge is reamed to SAAMI minimum chamber diameter and max case length. Neither gauge has a tapered leade, so they can’t be used for plunk testing to determine COL.

I only plunk test every one of the hand-/re-loads that I have crafted for SD/HD.

With the others I only check enough to convince me that the new setup is consistent.

I gauge all the mixed brass pistol reloads I turn out because I load and store in bulk and there is no separation by match or practice quality.
I get a very few "sticky" rounds that I set aside for casual use, they generally chamber and shoot.
Any complete failures are pulled down. I get very few of those, my loads are worked out and my dies set.

I plunk during initial development. I gauge every round that comes off the press, and end up with 2-3% not passing (usually due to a dinged extractor rim, or, more rarely, a bullet that didn't start straight and created a bulge on one side of the case or some other weirdness). I mark those rounds with a marker stripe across the head. Nothing unsafe about them, I just don't want to count on them in competition or for other meaningful use. So they just get shot in practice/plinking. They go bang and function fine the huge majority of the time.

No.

Once I get my dies adjusted and my load developed, measurement ends.

I have one of these Lyman chamber checkers:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/4...special-44-remington-magnum-45-colt-long-colt

They are inexpensive considering they do 8 pistol calibers, I also have the same one for rifle. I check every single case after I am done reloading I plunk each one and then put it in a ammo box if it passes. If it doesnt pass I will run it back up in the seat/crimp die and sometimes that fixes it and it will plunk just fine. Best way is to use your actual pistol barrel but this seems to work just fine for me.

I have a couple "case gauges" around somewhere but found them to be of little value. I have 3, 9mm and 2, 45 ACP pistols and when reloading my "normal" loads I'll check one out of 8-10; plunk test. For my "just in case" stash I check more, mebbe 3 out of 5 or 6. If I'm at the range a "stuck" cartridge is just a minor inconvenience, but if it's a "just in case" situation, I want to make sure the ammo is reliable... (FWIW, I haven't had a chambering problem in many, many years)

Nope; During a run I occasionally check powder charge and OAL, but once the dies are set, I rarely find significant variation.

I didn't till a goofed up 9mm locked my Glock up pretty tight at a USPSA match.. range officers beating the grip with a hammer while holding the slide and stuff. Good times.

I check my match ammo now.

Once my dies are set, I just go. Not going to take the time to check a 5000 round run.

I plunk test all my 9MM, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP handloads. Doesn't take me long and I'm more confident doing it. I usually only load 100-200 rounds at a time.

As BDS mentioned above, for some of my guns/barrels I actually plunk each one. For 9MM my Glock 17 Lone Wolf barrel is very tight. I use it to plunk test every 9MM round I load. I have learned this from having force the slide open at the range on a round that would not allow the gun to go into battery. It took some battering to get the slide to allow the barrel to come down out of its stuck mode.
My Glock 19 LW barrel is not as tight, it is more forgiving, and of course, every other 9MM is much looser.
For my 45 ACP M1911s I use my Storm Lake barrel to ensure no issues at the range.
For my other calibers, I test new bullet combinations as I'm creating the first loads and I'll spot check a few along the way.

Continued from post #9 - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/plunk-every-round.826550/#post-10646402

For THR members posting they do not plunk their finished rounds, keep in mind that OP has not posted pistol/barrel or bullet brand/sizing/OAL information other than mentioning Winchester and S&B cases.

With tighter chamber barrels even with properly adjusted dies (using a random case), variation in subsequent case wall thickness or consistency (which is unpredictable with mixed range brass) can prevent some finished rounds from fully chambering in the barrel.

After adjusting my dies for RMR 115 gr FMJ sized .3555" at 1.110"-1.115" OAL to freely chamber in my no-leade Lone Wolf barrel with Federal (.FC. headstamp) brass, I had occasional finished rounds that did not fully chamber (I was chambering every finished round in the barrel). After some head scratching investigation, I identified the causes of the "rub" on chamber wall as thicker walls bulging more around bullet base area and inconsistent thickness case wall creating oval (instead of round) shape case neck around the bullet base area where the taper crimp die could not reach.

While headstamps like WIN, .FC., Blazer had consistent case wall thickness around .011"-.012", headstamps like CBC and some RP (Yes, this was a surprise to me too) had thicker case wall (.012"+) and headstamps like PMC, Tula were all over the place with case wall thickness being inconsistent from .0100" to over .0130" on other side of same case causing elongation of case neck (as clearly measured by calipers) where taper crimp die could not reach. (I will be starting a new myth busting thread on case wall thickness and consistency so stay tuned)

CBC/RP cases with thicker case wall bulging more around bullet base and PMC/Tula cases with elongated bulges failed to fully chamber in my newest Lone Wolf barrel with tighter chamber. Good news was that these out-of-round elongated case neck finished rounds fully chambered in KKM and older Lone Wolf barrels with looser chamber dimensions. So now I plunk test every 115 gr FMJ round loaded shorter at 1.110"-1.115" (OAL variance range I get from my Pro 1000) and set aside those that do not fully chamber to be shot in KKM/older LW barrels or in my carbines.