Walther PPQ .40 S&W Failures to Feed...... HELP!

[qcsmitty]

So I went to the range today for my second ever trip with a .40 S&W pistol; my new PPQ .40
I took two boxes (50/bx) of Fed Champion 180g FMJ ammo purchased at Walmart today. Of the 100 rounds put through it, I had three failures to feed; two from one box and one from the other. In all three cases, the round stopped at the bottom of the feed ramp. I simply tapped the mag in all three cases and the round went into battery. I then discharged the round with the next round feeding properly.

After finishing the two boxes of FMJ, I ran 50 rounds of Federal HST 180g JHP rounds (same as in my first range report last week) with ZERO issues.

I will say that from the first round today, I did try applying a more firm grip with my left hand (non-trigger) to see if it would help control recoil better. I have never had a limp-wristing issue before. A guy at the range suggested that perhaps I was applying too much pressure with the left hand, thus throwing the barrel angle diagonally to the left; out of alignment with my right arm and causing a limp wristing type affect. Needless to say, these FTF's really concern me.

What say you?

 

[wally]

My PPQ .40 does seem to be sensitive to "limp wristing". I haven't had any issues with it, but I took it out with a couple of new shooters who were trying to decide what to buy by trying some of mine and they both had issues with the PPQ, but none of my others (although except for the Glock 22 all the others were 9mm).

 

[hammerklavier]

Keep your thumb off the mag release and you should do fine.

 

[Chuck R.]

Could use a little more information:

Were the round that FTF the first round in the magazine, IE you’d just changed mags and were loading from slide lock, or were you firing the gun and the FTF was during firing?

I don’t know about the geometry on the PPQ-40, but on my 9 for a round to stick under the feed ramp, or at the bottom of the ramp, it would have to nose down quite a bit. From the magazine to chamber is a pretty straight shot.

The reason I ask is because it sounds like the magazine wasn’t fully seated.

Chuck

 

[qcsmitty]

"Could use a little more information:
Were the round that FTF the first round in the magazine, IE you’d just changed mags and were loading from slide lock, or were you firing the gun and the FTF was during firing?
I don’t know about the geometry on the PPQ-40, but on my 9 for a round to stick under the feed ramp, or at the bottom of the ramp, it would have to nose down quite a bit. From the magazine to chamber is a pretty straight shot.
The reason I ask is because it sounds like the magazine wasn’t fully seated.
Chuck "


It's not the first round in the mag. Thanks for the input however, Chuck.

 

[qcsmitty]

Keep your thumb off the mag release and you should do fine.

The PPQ mag releases are down under the trigger. My thumbs are nowhere near them. Thanks.

 

[fastbolt]

If it were me, I'd try running some more of one brand or another of the better quality hollowpoint ammunition through the gun before I did anything else. (After cleaning & lubricating the gun, of course.) More than the 50 rounds you've already test-fired (without the same problem occurring ).

Sometimes the lower-cost budget ammo doesn't produce the same power levels, or use the same components, as some of the more costly ammo. Just the way things work.

This reminds me of something I experienced back when the licensed SW99's were still pretty new.

I remember when S&W was receiving some complaints from a few LE agencies for feeding issues involving the SW9940's. The short story is that while Walther eventually made some revisions to the gun (things like the extractor hook angle/polish, mags & followers, etc), I was told that S&W was initially unable to to duplicate the feeding issues reported by some of their customer agencies using some of the SW9940's.

At some point during their effort to figure out what was happening, they requested one of the affected agencies ship some of the duty ammo they were using ... which was not apparently among the brands used back at the factory for test-firing at that particular time ... and S&W was then able to duplicate the feeding problem.

We were told that even once the magazine & extractor issues were discounted, there were apparently a couple of other issues at work. The specific duty ammunition being used (including by my agency, who was experiencing some of the same issues) was of one of low-bid product lines offered by one of the major makers (not one of the "premium" products, as it were).

S&W observed significantly lower velocities than those considered typical for the .40 180gr load (which would adversely affect slide travel & speed, and therefore feeding "timing"), and some of the brass exhibited some tolerance variations which created occasional problems for the case rim slipping up under the extractor.

Those things can sometimes happen when the ammunition influence is factored into things.

Just my thoughts.

As an instructor and armorer for a number of different firearms, over the years I've come to believe one version or another of the old saying that day in & day out, the significant number of "problems" experienced by shooters are caused by the shooters ... followed by a much smaller percentage of ammunition-related problems ... followed by a surprisingly small percentage of instances that can actually be attributed to the guns, themselves.

 

[qcsmitty]

You make sense. I am leaning toward thinking that this is a new recoil & mag springs + weak ammo = FTF issue.

The HST 180g JHP SD ammo I've fed through her (now 150 rounds with zero issues) is a noticeably more powerful round. The energy difference between the problematic Fed Champion FMJ round (it was 100 rounds, btw) and the Fed HST was extreme. This is the first time that I've had any feeding issues with this round. I would expect this from Winchester White Box however.

Outstanding contribution. Thank you fastbolt.