.40 S&W and ENFORCER powder multiple misfire!!!!

[jmalys]

I loaded 10 grains of enforcer powder unto a .40 S&W 165 grain jacketed round with PMC primers. Firearm was a Springfield Armory SD sub-compact.
Got misfires (2 in a row) which resulted in the bullet being stuck about 1/8 way into the barrel. When the firing pin struck the primer there was a slight "pop". Waited 10 seconds and ran slide to the rear and discovered bullet lodged in barrel with unburned gunpowder still in case. Once I got the bullebtout of the barrel same thing again!! THen I fired 50 Federal 165 grain jackets bullets no problem so I know the mechanics of my firearm are sound.

Ruled out primer by shooting 5 rounds of .357 magnum with 12 grains of enforcer powder unto a 158 grain HDY XTP HP with same batch of PMC primers.

The only thing I can think of is too little powder charge and because of this it failed to ignite?? Ramshot on the side of the enforcer container states that 15.1 will propel a 165 grain bullet 1300fps. Didn't know if this was a never exceed load or a starting load so I tried to err on the side of caution with only 10 grains. Will a significantly small charge simply cause the primer to not ignite the powder?????

Thanks for the answers/help !!! BTW (I am new to reloading)

 

[jmalys]

bump

bump

 

[ants]

Bad powder, bad primer, bad brass, bad bullet, bad gun, bad operator.

Pretty much has to be one of those.







Sounds to me like you didn't have the whole 10 grains in the case. I've done that before, it happens when you're not careful. Then you learn your lesson and never do that again. Of course, we always swear that it can't be the operator.

Or maybe you had lube or water or some other contaminate in those particular brass cases, which wetted the powder.

 

[Walkalong]

That is very old data. 14.5 Start to 15.1 Max with a Montana Gold 165 Gr FMJ.

10.0 Grs had no chance to burn well.

The newer PDF's from Ramshot do not show .40 loads with Enforcer at all. (Hint hint)

If you are an experienced handloader, I say go for it. If not, I would suggest True Blue or Silhouette if you want to stick with Ramshot powders.

I really like Universal Clays in .40 myself, but others work well too.
.

 

[USMCJG]

The load listed on a powder bottle is the maximum load. A general starting load should be about 10% less than the max load. If max. is listed at 15.1gr. then the start load would be about 13.6gr under most circumstances. The starting load that you used would be over 33% less than the max. load. I would recommend following Walkalong's advice and switching to one of the powders that Ramshot(or a different powder manufacturer) lists data for on their website. I just checked my manuals(Hornady, Lyman, Nosler, Sierra- all of these are newer manuals) and none of them list any loads for Enforcer in .40S&W.

 

[ants]

By the way (friendly advice)

...bullet lodged in barrel. Once I got the bullet out of the barrel same thing again!!

It's entirely up to you, but if I ever had a stuck bullet on the first round with a new load, I probably would be prudent and not shoot another one. It's entirely up to you, but I generally don't try the second round if the first round of a new experiment fails that badly. Stuck bullet would be a pretty bad failure in my logbook.

 

[jmalys]

Thanks!

THanks for the reply's everyone!!

I will just use the enforcer for .357 mag then, I have a shipment of #7 coming in which will be better suited for the .40 S&W.

10% less than max, rodger that. Not 33% less!! haha. Oh well live and learn.


Have a good one everyone!!

 

[USMCJG]

"10% less than max, rodger that. Not 33% less!! haha. Oh well live and learn."

10% less than max. is just a general rule that you can use if you don't have solid data. It's always better to go with reliable published data if it's available and work from there.