coonan1911 said:
Yes its a lone wolf barrel.
All i can say is they either machine them tight tolerance or the workmanship not so good.
Maybe the once fired brass is not so good either. Who knows.
coonan1911, Lone Wolf barrel chambers are machined for jacketed diameter bullets. So for 40S&W, they are cut for .400" diameter bullets but you are using .401" sized coated lead bullets. I have several Lone Wolf 40S&W barrels for my G22/G23/G27 and all the .400" sized jacketed/plated bullet loads freely drop in the chamber with "plonk" but .401" sized lead bullet loads are snug, especially cases with thicker walls.
Lone Wolf Distribution will enlarge the chamber to fit the larger bullet you are using, but since you are in Australia, not sure how feasible that is.
I have even port and polished the breach and it help a little but still that big PLUNK problem.
The chamber dimension problem is not at the mouth end but the forward end of the chamber that needs to be enlarged. Do not remove too much metal from the ramp/chamber mouth as if the angle is changed, it may affect reliable feeding/chambering of rounds from the magazine. Only do a light polish IF needed. None of my Lone Wolf barrels needed ramp polishing or chamber mouth enlarging.
I opened up the forward part of the chamber on a Lone Wolf barrel to accommodate larger .401" sized lead bullet loads instead of paying LWD to do it. I sanded and polished using fine grit wet/dry automotive sandpaper wrapped around a plastic marker. It doesn't take much sanding/polishing to remove .001" amount of metal so go slow.
Note: This will void the warranty on your Lone Wolf barrel, so do it at your own risk.
If you are interested, I outlined the steps I used on this thread -
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=8093783#post8093783
This is the rough illustration I used for 9mm barrel but I used a larger plastic marker for the 40S&W barrel
Here are the step:
1. Taper crimp a flared case (no bullet) to .422" diameter (.424" is SAAMI chamber max for 40S&W) and use it as a gauge. If you have some concern whether your calipers are accurate, use one of your loaded rounds that's on the larger size/fit tighter in the chamber as the gauge
BUT ensure there is no flare left and case neck is returned flat on the bullet!
2. Use a dowel or pen/marker cap that's slightly smaller than the forward part of the chamber.
3. Start with P220 grit wet/dry sand paper (I used it dry) and cut a piece to wrap around the dowel/cap so they fit snug with the forward part of the chamber (
Note picture: I wrapped the sandpaper below the tip of the dowel/cap so I would not polish the leade or the step where the case mouth headspaces). Use a continuous rotating motion and focus the sanding on the forward part of the chamber (not the mouth end). After a few turns, push the .422" taper crimp case/round in the chamber to test - you want the case/round to chamber just snug as you'll be polishing the chamber next (you can always remove material but can't put back ).
Caution: I exercised care not to sand/polish the chamber mouth or the ramp area. Also, ensure you are sanding/polishing the chamber walls evenly and not just one area.
4. When you are able to push the .422" taper crimp case/round "snuggly" in the chamber fully, change to P400/P800 grit wet/dry sandpaper and finish polishing the chamber until the .422" taper crimp case/round falls into the chamber freely with a "plonk".
5. Load another test round with .401" sized lead bullet using .422" taper crimp. The test round should fall in the chamber freely with a "plonk". If not, polish the chamber until it does.
