1911Forum banner

9mm not cycling

2K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  Capt. Methane 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey guys, question for you. I'm currently starting to load 9mm and I ran into an issue. I loaded up some flat nose 115 grain bullets with 6.2 grains of HS-6 that I had sitting around and wanted to get rid of. After seating the bullets they didn't seem like they seated very deep in the case but my O.A.L. was 1.125 which I thought was ok; I didn't want to seat any deeper for fear of getting too much chamber pressure. Long story short while they fire they don't completely cycle the gun, don't eject and there's carbon along the entire side of the spent case. Ideas? Too small of a powder charge? Bad powder? More crimp? Can I seat deeper? Any thoughts are appreciated. Also, my bullets are .356 diameter
 
#3 · (Edited)
Sounds as if you have too small a charge of powder. I have never used HS-6 and can't help you with personal experience with that powder, but I assume you got that load from a published and reliable data set.

The carbon on the case and the failure to eject indicate low pressure. You might go back to your data and try going a little closer to max.

If the rounds plunk and feed well, the OAL is usable but may not be optimal. Look at some other loads with a similar bullet to see how deeply they are seated. The OAL of 1.125 may be good for some bullet profiles but not good for others. Did you get the 1.125 from data for a round nose 115 grain bullet? A flat nose 115 grain bullet will probably have a shorter OAL than a round nose 115 grain bullet if the same amount of the bullet is inside the case.


edit: If the rounds chamber easily, do not increase the crimp. You are not reloading revolver rounds using a roll crimp rolled into a crimping groove.
 
#4 ·
Ok thanks Andyk, my hornady manual says a max of 6.4 but I also see a recommended OAL of 1.070 for that load so I'm taking all blame here as it seems I have a combination of a low charge and a long OAL. Snap, after looking deeper into some forums here I see guys are going even as short as 1.050 so you're right, I'm pretty long. I only loaded a few so I think I'll push em in a bit deeper and see if I can bring the pressure up. I also see in my Speer manual that HS-6 starts at 6.6. Shoulda checked both books I guess, yet another lesson learned. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction guys 👍
 
#11 ·
Bear in mind that load manuals are likely to be biased toward the WEAKER end of the swimming pool!

I cross-check my Accurate Arms published data with Lyman's #49 all the time, only to see that Lyman thinks Accurate Arms doesn't have a clue when it comes to starting and maximum loads! This is a problem when working up loads because I end up making more "tiers" than probably needed if I simply "believed" one manual over the other.
 
#13 ·
You guys should know that most powder manufacturers publish free online
loading data. I suppose have a book laying on the bench is nice, but the online loading data is also frequently updated. Can't say the same for your books. I write my recipes down that provide good rounds, but I always run to the computer to see what the powder manufacturers latest online load data shows.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top