wildman5759
Member
Hey guys, I've been reloading for awhile and have recently seen an issue pop up that maybe ya'll can help me with. Here's the load data for starters:
Bullet: 180 Gr Rainier RN FMJ
Powder: Hodgdon HP-38
OAL: 1.120 - 1.125"
Grs. Powder: 4.8
Velocity: 913 ft/s
Approx Pressure: 30800 PSI
Here's the issue. Every 20-30 rounds, I have one go off where the bullet stops just at the rifling which of course fails to allow the next round to be chambered (thank God!). I have had this happen in a Glock 22, 23, and XD and a Baby Eagle .40.
At first I thought it was my Glock, so I tried a few other guns and had the same issue. The recoil and report are identical, as far as my shooting partner and I can tell, when these non-performing rounds are squeezed off.
So, I pulled 50 rounds from each of 6 batches and remeasured the rounds as well as re-weighed powders. All of the specs were within the above. The only thing that I can see is that maybe the base of the .40 bullet is too large in diameter because the bullet stops about 1/4" from fully entering the rifling of the barrel. The width at the bases measure out from .4010 to .4022(the widest measured and only 2 of 100).
Could it be a bad lot? The first 100 I loaded functioned flawlessly, so I bought a brick of 1000 of the same bullets and loaded away. I hate to think I have 1000 loaded rounds of crap. Any insight from the great minds here would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Bullet: 180 Gr Rainier RN FMJ
Powder: Hodgdon HP-38
OAL: 1.120 - 1.125"
Grs. Powder: 4.8
Velocity: 913 ft/s
Approx Pressure: 30800 PSI
Here's the issue. Every 20-30 rounds, I have one go off where the bullet stops just at the rifling which of course fails to allow the next round to be chambered (thank God!). I have had this happen in a Glock 22, 23, and XD and a Baby Eagle .40.
At first I thought it was my Glock, so I tried a few other guns and had the same issue. The recoil and report are identical, as far as my shooting partner and I can tell, when these non-performing rounds are squeezed off.
So, I pulled 50 rounds from each of 6 batches and remeasured the rounds as well as re-weighed powders. All of the specs were within the above. The only thing that I can see is that maybe the base of the .40 bullet is too large in diameter because the bullet stops about 1/4" from fully entering the rifling of the barrel. The width at the bases measure out from .4010 to .4022(the widest measured and only 2 of 100).
Could it be a bad lot? The first 100 I loaded functioned flawlessly, so I bought a brick of 1000 of the same bullets and loaded away. I hate to think I have 1000 loaded rounds of crap. Any insight from the great minds here would be much appreciated. Thank you!