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[JohnNguyen]

Gentlemen...
VERY new to reloading. Luckily did NOT blow myself up this past weekend, but here are the specs..

Springfield XD(m) 9mm.
Bullet: Hornady - HP/XTP 115 gr .355 dia.
Powder: Hodgen Universal Clays.
Load: 4.5g (.5cc dipper on Lee Loader)
OAL: 1.125

Bullets were previously seated at 1.075, but I looked at the Lee Reloading manual on page 532. Universal 115gr, jacketed.


Situation:

Fired 20 rounds of commercial rounds to start off, no problems.
(American Federal 9mm, FMJ, 115gr.)

Loaded first magazine of reloaded ammo w/ above specs.

Result:

Fired round #1, next round chambered, must not have been fully seated, while, pointing downrange, hit the back of the slide with the palm of my hand, bullet fully chambered, fired round, next round loaded...again, not fully chambered. Repeated action, rounds fired.

This happened about 4 or 5 times repeatedly.

Then on the final "breathtaking moment" The NEW XD(m) 9, fired the round, but failed to eject. Slide stuck, HARD.

Had to angle skyward (Range Safety supervised) and "knock" the slide downard, hitting the handle portion of the pistol against the wooden shooting bench.

Fired 20 more commercially loaded ammo, and functioned fine.

Assumption/Deductions:

- Ammo load could have been too hot (Universal, im told is a hot load), and the round expanded in the chamber, causing a failure to extract.

- OAL was too long for the pistol, which caused it to seat improperly. I could not find the Hornady data. Anyone know the Min- OAL?

Before I get the spiel on my ignorance.

I fully understand that I could have gotten seriously injured with the nature of my potentially incorrect loads, though I feel that a longer bullet, decreases that chance because of decreased internal pressurein the cartridge, im still learnng.

Gotta start somewhere right? Luckily, I can restart with all 10 fingers.

Anything ideas?

 

[mongoose33]

When you are reloading something new, you need to establish that the OAL is workable. One way to do this is load a dummy round (no powder, no primer) to a specific length. Drop into the chamber (barrel out, as in a field strip), and see if it drops in the chamber. Compare to a commercial round so you know what it should look like. It's possible, I suppose, that it's too long, but I'll bet it's something else:

Did you crimp to remove the bell from the case? If you don't remove that casemouth bell (the crimp should just remove the bell, shouldn't be pressing into the bullet), the round will be difficult to seat in the chamber.

I've had this happen in my XD-9; I wasn't removing the bell enough, so the rounds would tend to hang up instead of dropping cleanly into the barrel. I noted this at loading, as I test to ensure what I'm producing works in the barrel I'm intending it for.

So the guess here is you didn't crimp enough.

It's also possible the round is simply too long. Since the bullet is a hollow point, the shoulder of the bullet might be contacting the lands of the barrel before the round is fully seated.

 

[RoostRider]

Im a big fan of having a gun to try to chamber a few rounds in when setting up.... I have found several problems before I was at the range that way....

Sounds to me like it might be a flare issue too.... 9mm can be tricky...

 

[ArchAngelCD]

JohnNguyen,
Welcome to the forum.
I have to agree with the others, it sounds like a case problem, too wide, not correctly sized or possible excessive OAL. Are you using a good set of dial or digital calipers? If not are you using a case gauge? (or with semi-autos the barrel as a gauge like mentioned above)

Universal is no "hotter" than any other powder in it's burn rate range like Unique, Power Pistol and Herco. The charge you use will make the ammo hotter or not but not the powder unless you move to a slower powder.

You said the charge was "Load: 4.5g (.5cc dipper on Lee Loader)" Did you weigh that charge or just assume the dipper was correct? You really have to weigh everything before you use it as a charge. Dippers are good but unless you know you can load the dipper exactly the same every time the charge will be different every time. (and no one can scoop the same exact charge every time) You were using the starting charge so I doubt you were over-pressure even with the slight differences in charge you possible had.

 

[JCisHe]

John,

Why did you keep firing the rounds when they weren't functioning properly? I mean... anyway.

You might want to get a Hornady manual if you plan on using those bullets. For another reference anyway. That's just some good advice.

Another question. Why are you target practicing with Hornady's PP rounds?

Isn't there ANYONE who can teach you how to do this? Honestly, it's not difficult but it cuts the curve, saves time and in this case a lot of money (you shouldn't really be target practicing with XTP's), and will save you a lot of heartache.

 

[steve4102]

According to Hornady #7 115gr XTP; OAL 1.075, Univ Clays Start-4.0gr MAX 4.5gr. Starting out with a MAX load can be dangerous,especially when you are guessing with the dipper.

Sounds like and OAL or crimp problem to me as well.

 

[MikeS.]

I know from personal experience and from many others the XD .45 is very particular to OAL. The 9mm might be too. I've only shot commercial ammo in both of my XD 9s.

John, I'm not a fan, at all, of the Lee dipper method unless you are willing to weigh each and every load.

Please heed what the others above have said. The 9mm Luger round is very sensitive to pressure spikes when loaded to short.

 

[loadedround]

I've seen that happen before, and I'm betting that it was caused in not removing all the case flare upon taper crimping.

 

[The Bushmaster]

JohnNguyen...Go back and reread your reloading manual. Especially the part about seating and crimping the bullet and where to start when charging powder for a new round never tried in your firearm...

You NEVER start with a maximum powder charge. Especially when using those DAMNED dippers. Get a scale...

 

[ArchAngelCD]

According to Hornady #7 115gr XTP; OAL 1.075, Univ Clays Start-4.0gr MAX 4.5gr. Starting out with a MAX load can be dangerous,especially when you are guessing with the dipper.

Guys, don't jump him too much. According to Hodgdon the starting charge with a Speer Gold Dot HP bullet and Universal is 4.5gr with a Max charge of 5.0gr. The OAL listed is 1.125". I would tent to go with the powder company's data before anyone's reloading manual. The Hornady XTP and Speer Gold Dot HP bullets are very similar.

I do agree using a dipper without checking the charge with a scale is a bad idea though, just like I mentioned in my above thread. That's only an assumption though because the OP hasn't yet answered that question.

 

[JCisHe]

Arch I got the same info from my Speer.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Arch I got the same info from my Speer.

That I didn't know. Thanks for that information...