9mm not cycling

[jm22250]

I'm new to loading for pistols. Been loading for 50+ years for rifle and shotgun. with the 9mm I'm loading I have about 10% where the action won't close on my S&W M2. I've compared to a factory round and measurements are within .001 to .0005. Thats at the mouth of the cartridge and right in front of the groove. I've dropped them into the chamber and the bullet is not into the lands. Looks like it is in the chamber as far as a round that does chamber. I have not measured that thou. I'm using Redding carbide dies with my rock chucker.
Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?

 

[piie]

Is it not going into battery after firing a round, or when you manually cycle the action?

 

[Doug Casner]

Id try more crimp. Doug

 

[Jester560]

Id try more crimp. Doug

Bingo....there is probably too much bell left in the case mouth.

OP- please post a pic of a loaded round.

 

[shoot4fun]

I'm new to loading for pistols. Been loading for 50+ years for rifle and shotgun. with the 9mm I'm loading I have about 10% where the action won't close on my S&W M2. I've compared to a factory round and measurements are within .001 to .0005. Thats at the mouth of the cartridge and right in front of the groove. I've dropped them into the chamber and the bullet is not into the lands. Looks like it is in the chamber as far as a round that does chamber. I have not measured that thou. I'm using Redding carbide dies with my rock chucker.
Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?

You haven't said anything about brass being virgin or fired. If it was fired before it may have been fired in a Glock. You could tell by looking at the spent primer. If it has a rectangular looking strike and slight "swipe" then it likely was. The chamber of Glocks, especially older guns, is what is known as unsupported. That causes the case head to swell more than supported chambers. Your die will not remove that swell.
Buy yourself a chamber checker like this:

4 Caliber Auto Case Gauge Ammo Checker (9mm, 40 S&W, 45 & 38 calibers)

Our Case Gauge Ammo Chamber Checkers are machined from solid 6061 T6 aircraft grade aluminum. Our gauges are made to SAAMI miniumum spec. While some companies use boring bars to make chamber checkers, EGW uses the actual Clymer reamers that are used to

www.egwguns.com

Great product and easy to use.
Redding makes/made a die called Gr-x designed to remove the bulge. You can fix the brass easily IF you can find one of those dies.

 

[bloc]

When I had that problem, I field stripped my 9mm and used the chamber as a case gage. If the round just "ka-chunked" into the chamber, it was good. If not, I sought out the cause.

The problem was almost always a slightly shorter case, which meant I was dealing with a "not-enough-crimp" issue and I'd increase the crimp slightly.

After each crimp adjustment I'd recheck my previously chamber-checked rounds and all that came after the latest adjustment.

Pretty soon, I had the crimp adjusted to exactly where I wanted it viz to crimp the shortest case I had.

 

[6.5 forever]

I'm using a Lee die set. The 9 has a tapper crimp which if adjusted properly is its own gauge.

 

[NETim]

Spin the case in the chamber once you've dropped it into the barrel. It should spin easily and freely when fully inserted.

I primarily use Hy-Tek coated bullets. Too much crimp will cut the coating and cause it to fail. Gotta crimp just enough to remove all traces of the belling but that's really all you need to do.

Mixed brass complicates matters as far as getting the ideal crimp/mouth diameter. But it can be done.

My life was made better by the acquisition of a Hundo case gauge. Not only does it make boxing up 100 rounds easier and quicker, it is cut to very tight tolerances. Any round that's goofy in just about any way is immediately and readily apparent. If a round passes the Hundo, I know it will work in my M&P's with Apex match barrels installed. Glock 17's will chamber AA batteries. They don't care.

 

[6.5 forever]

You haven't said anything about brass being virgin or fired. If it was fired before it may have been fired in a Glock. You could tell by looking at the spent primer. If it has a rectangular looking strike and slight "swipe" then it likely was. The chamber of Glocks, especially older guns, is what is known as unsupported. That causes the case head to swell more than supported chambers. Your die will not remove that swell.
Buy yourself a chamber checker like this:

4 Caliber Auto Case Gauge Ammo Checker (9mm, 40 S&W, 45 & 38 calibers)

Our Case Gauge Ammo Chamber Checkers are machined from solid 6061 T6 aircraft grade aluminum. Our gauges are made to SAAMI miniumum spec. While some companies use boring bars to make chamber checkers, EGW uses the actual Clymer reamers that are used to

www.egwguns.com

Great product and easy to use.
Redding makes/made a die called Gr-x designed to remove the bulge. You can fix the brass easily IF you can find one of those dies.

Shot for fun, I may be wrong but the Glock 9 has a supported case, unlike the Glock 40. I have used the Redding RX die for all my 40, but do not need it for a 9.

 

[skeeljc]

Get a taper crimp die (RCBS or Dillon) and crimp your reloads until they drop in and out freely in a loaded round checker (Dillon). That is all you should need to make reliable 9mm reloads. If you do not have a loaded round checker you can remove the barrel from your pistol and use it.

 

[Bill K]

Get yourself a set of small base dies for sizing the brass down, then load as usual, with a very slight crimp, if you need it. Sounds as if the brass is bulging near the base, common with semi-autos, and you need to use small base die for sizing that back to normal, so rounds with lock into battery.

 

[txtaxman]

I'm new to loading for pistols. Been loading for 50+ years for rifle and shotgun. with the 9mm I'm loading I have about 10% where the action won't close on my S&W M2. I've compared to a factory round and measurements are within .001 to .0005. Thats at the mouth of the cartridge and right in front of the groove. I've dropped them into the chamber and the bullet is not into the lands. Looks like it is in the chamber as far as a round that does chamber. I have not measured that thou. I'm using Redding carbide dies with my rock chucker.
Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?

I suspect you need to turn the sizing die in a fraction of a turn. The reluctant cases may need just a bit more sizing.

That cured a similar problem for me. Be careful not to cam over on a die with a carbide insert.

 

[Bunt]

I'm new to loading for pistols. Been loading for 50+ years for rifle and shotgun. with the 9mm I'm loading I have about 10% where the action won't close on my S&W M2. I've compared to a factory round and measurements are within .001 to .0005. Thats at the mouth of the cartridge and right in front of the groove. I've dropped them into the chamber and the bullet is not into the lands. Looks like it is in the chamber as far as a round that does chamber. I have not measured that thou. I'm using Redding carbide dies with my rock chucker.
Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?

I'd pull the barrel and drop a cartridge in to see if it passes plunk test. Sounds like you need to add a more crimp, don't over do it, go in very small increments, too much crimp could cause a similar problem.

 

[jdague12]

I didn’t see where you said what powder you used. My wife’s LC9 will not cycle with HP-38. Titegroup and every other powder I’ve used is fine, just not HP-38‍

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I check my brass and finished rds. If the case passed and loaded rd, doesn't usually it's because the expander (case mouth) was to much, bullet should just stick in case mouth with thumb pressure and "pop" out. After a tapered crimp of a rd made with sizing,mouth-expander/seating die adjusted correctly they all drop in my Lone Wolf match barrel.

 

[jm22250]

I'm using range brass. Not sorted. It's not going into battery after i fire a round and manually. I've adjusted the crimp (maybe too much). I'll play with that. I have used the barrel to check the rounds but is not helping.Look like I need to get a case gauge ammo checker. I'm sure the various range brass is part of the problem after reading all the replies.
Thank You all for your ideas!

 

[JT27]

Make sure you seated your primers all the way. I have reloaded more 9mm than I can count and I ran into a problem last year with my CZ shadow 2. Every once in a while I’d get a failure to chamber. Couldn’t figure out what it was as I gauge every single one. If it doesn’t fit the gauge I check it in my barrel. Turns out I hadn’t fully seated the primers all the way. We’re talking maybe 2-4 thou. Couldn’t tell by just running you finger over them.Guess I got lazy on the last batch as I load on a progressive but that was enough. Check your rounds on a perfectly flat surface. And every single piece of 9mm brass I load is range pick up. High primers have been the only problem I ran into loading 9mm.

 

[fkimble@charter.net]

YOUR BARREL IS THE ULTIMATE CASE GUAGE, for your gun! Blacken a case that won't fully chamber. Drop the slide on it from a mag. Extract and look it over. Try to chamber a sized only case or a couple. If they work then the sizer die is adjusted ok. Expand these cases and then without a bullet, run them thru your sizer die. If these work then it may be an occasional bullet right on the edge of being seated deep enough. Different brands of bullets that look alike can have a slightly different taper to their nose causing the same problem you are having. Good luck and let us know what the fix is. Or take a short cut and turn your seating stem in a 180 degrees and see what happens.

Frank

 

[DirtySteve]

It has been said many times and worth saying again.. Get a Lee Factory Crimp die... to use as a final reloading step..

Edit:
Also make sure your are seating the bullet to the proper depth.. Too long and it will drag on the feed ramp... Too short will raise pressures..

Edited Again.. Also try not seating and crimping in the same step...

 

[jsn]

Where does the ejected round land? Close or far?

What's the load? Minimum loads sometimes do not cycle very well.

How many rounds through the gun? Newer guns haven't broken in.

Any burrs or other heavy machining marks/defects on contact areas of the slide or frame?