Jesse Heywood
Member
I finally got to where I was ready to start working up loads for 9mm to use in a P-38. After some research I ordered some MBC SmallBall!, 124 gr RN.
Following advice in a recent Handloader article, I decided to use an OAL of 1.05". My actual OAL was 1.055 with a taper crimp. Powders for my first trip were SR-7625, Green dot and Red dot. My trip to the range was a failure.
I was getting failures to feed, with the second round standing up in the end of the magazine. Needless to say, I left the range frustrated.
What I finally determined the problem to be was the cartridges were sticking in the guides in the front of the magazine.
Under recoil, the cartridges were moving forward and sticking in the guides. From this I assumed that I needed to somehow reduce the diameter of the case, but that wouldn't be easy. First I would try seating the bullet as shallow as possible, using less bell and possibly reducing the case diameter.
I ended up with an OAL of 1.140, which is just past the single lube groove in the bullet. I made some dummies and tested the chambering and magazine fit. To my amazement, the rounds didn't stick in the magazine.
Following advice in a recent Handloader article, I decided to use an OAL of 1.05". My actual OAL was 1.055 with a taper crimp. Powders for my first trip were SR-7625, Green dot and Red dot. My trip to the range was a failure.
I was getting failures to feed, with the second round standing up in the end of the magazine. Needless to say, I left the range frustrated.
What I finally determined the problem to be was the cartridges were sticking in the guides in the front of the magazine.
Under recoil, the cartridges were moving forward and sticking in the guides. From this I assumed that I needed to somehow reduce the diameter of the case, but that wouldn't be easy. First I would try seating the bullet as shallow as possible, using less bell and possibly reducing the case diameter.
I ended up with an OAL of 1.140, which is just past the single lube groove in the bullet. I made some dummies and tested the chambering and magazine fit. To my amazement, the rounds didn't stick in the magazine.
