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Problem with 9MM handloads. Opinions wanted.

eric.hofmann
Hello Experts,

I tested my first 9MM handloads today; 115 grain fmj bullet with 6.8g HS-6 powder shot from my S&W 6906. Seemed to perform well except for an intermittant problem.

Out of 50 rounds, 4 of them didn't quite re-set the slide. A light push of the thumb snapped the slide into position and the next several shots performed seemingly flawlessly. Any theories?...

Thanks!
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Comments

7 comments

Date Votes
  • richbug
    What shape bullet were you using? I had the same problem when I first started loading 9mm when I tried using a flat point bullet. The OAL of the round had to be shorter to make up for the sharp shoulder of the bullet. What is you Oal length and what bullet are you using? The charge of HS-6 I a fairly strong load for a 9mm and as such it shouldn't be short cycling. I have loaded many many 1000's of rounds with HS6 with 115's and 124's and believve it to be the best powder for the 9mm.

    My border collie is smarter than your honor student.
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  • eric.hofmann
    Full Metal Jacket, RB. OAL is exactly the same as the factory loads I've used for years (though I couldn't tell you the exact measurement).
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  • richbug
    When you get one that hangs up instead of closing the slide, eject it and look for marks where the rifling had touched the bullet. Also my HS6 data allows for a shorter OAl than most powders, you might just shorten them up a bit. I still bet your bullets' ogive is different than the factory you were shooting before.

    My border collie is smarter than your honor student.
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  • perry shooter
    Hello what kind if any crimp are you useing? taper crimp is best as lenght of case varies make for problems you describe with roll crimp and no crimp can also cause same problem. quote:"PRAISE THE HARD BALL GUN"
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  • ern98
    Next time you have a hang up, set it aside, pull it down later and weigh the powder charge. Unless you are weighing each and every throw, there is a chance that once in a while you are getting a shot measure. Four or five hang ups compared to your mean load may tell the story. Personally I've stop handloading for handgun except where I'm willing to measure each and every charge, just like I do for my bolt action rifles. When it comes to blasting away at the hillside I figure that the cheap factory stuff works as well/often better then most stuff. If I'm going to handload, my loads have to be better then most of the best that is on the market for that cartridge.
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  • perry shooter
    Hello when you said "reset the slide" my take was the slide did not CLOSE all the way ? If this is correct it is not a function of power of the previous round but the size of the round that you are trying to chamber quote:"PRAISE THE HARD BALL GUN"
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  • muss
    eric, One easy "generic" way of testing your overall length is to load a few rounds "WITHOUT A PRIMER AND WITHOUT POWDER", just seat a bullet in an empty case. then use a match to smoke the bullet, put black soot from the match on the bullet. Then load in your gun the as normal. then you carefully cycle the bullet, you can then see if the bullet made contact with the lands in the barrel. If you see scrape marks on the bullet, it is to long. Just reseat another bullet and repeat. you want your bullet to almost touch the lands. Oh you will probable get a scrape mark from the ramp when you cycle the action, that is not what you are looking for.... also you can check your crimp in the same manner, if the case edge is all scraped up then you need to run a taper crimp die over your finished rounds. like I said, generic, but works. I would suggest buying a micrometer and caliper for accurate measurements. Then follow the reloading manuels lengths. Good Luck

    muss
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