Feeding issues on a Colt Competition 9mm

[hheremtp]

I'm Having some reliability issues with my hand loads in a Colt Competition 1911 in 9mm. For some reason the gun jams closed when the slide cycles and loads a new round. The round almost fully loads and when this happens the slide is just out of battery by about a mm or so, just enough to keep it from going into battery. When the jam occurs I have to force the slide open by catching the ejection port on something solid and pushing downward to eject the round. The gun does not do this if I am using factory ammunition (WWB), the difference being that my hand loads are bayou bullet 135gr and the factory loads are 115gr FMJ. I have checked the hand loads and every one of them is in spec for COAL and width. Im using VV-N320 and CCI primers. The only thing I can think of is that this gun just doesn't like the soft lead projectiles. I have previously been running these bullets thru an HK p30 with no issues what so ever. Anyone here ever have similar issues with their hand loads doing this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I bought some FMJ projectiles that I'm going to try out to see if that clears up the issue.


Thanks for the help.

Edit:
After posting I thought it might be helpful to add my setup:

Dillon 550
Dillon 9mm die set
I have the seating die set to give me an OAL of 1.420

[rotor]

Do you have a case gauge to see how these loads fit? What happens when you just take the barrel out and try to insert a cartridge into the barrel? Does it easily load? I use a case gauge for everything I load, either Wilson or Lyman. FMJ usually .355 diameter and lead .356. The only other thing I could think of is if your cases have a bulge near the lower end. If so they won't fit into a case gauge. Really curious about your findings.

[hheremtp]

Do you have a case gauge to see how these loads fit? What happens when you just take the barrel out and try to insert a cartridge into the barrel? Does it easily load? I use a case gauge for everything I load, either Wilson or Lyman. FMJ usually .355 diameter and lead .356. The only other thing I could think of is if your cases have a bulge near the lower end. If so they won't fit into a case gauge. Really curious about your findings.

Rotor,

Thanks for the reply, I do not have a case gauge however, all the rounds fit easily into the barrel, in fact, if I take the round that jammed insert it manually into the chamber and close the slide it will seat properly and fire. I have gauged the case all along the length, there is no bowing at the bottom of the cases, they are all within spec.

[Nuts]

When you drop your round into the barrel with it removed from the gun can you spin it? If not it is most likely hitting you rifling. You might need to seat the bullet a little deeper.

[hheremtp]

When you drop your round into the barrel with it removed from the gun can you spin it? If not it is most likely hitting you rifling. You might need to seat the bullet a little deeper.

Nuts,

I dont know, I will check that. Thanks for the tip.

[rotor]

See if this may be a similar problem...

[hheremtp]

See if this may be a similar problem...

The symptoms he described are almost exactly what I'm experiencing, thanks Rotor, this might just be the problem. I will check this tonight when I get home. Thanks for the video and the help!

[hheremtp]

Well guys I think I may have just solved my mystery. It seems that the Bayou Bullets projectiles are slightly larger around than the FMJ. The BB rounds were measuring out to .357 - .370 in diameter. Evidently this is just enough to keep the round from seating fully in the chamber. On the advice of Nuts I went back and dropped some of the BB rounds into the barrel and sure enough they didn't spin freely. All of my FMJ rounds measured out to be .355 to .350 and all of them spun freely in the barrel. Now to the range to see if I'm right! Thanks to everyone who helped, y'all are great!

[mr surveyor]

the numbers stated just don't make any sense. Reloading is a serious endeavor, and can be dangerous. Numbers, in this case especially, actually do mean something when conveying information.



jd

[Nuts]

the numbers stated just don't make any sense. Reloading is a serious endeavor, and can be dangerous. Numbers, in this case especially, actually do mean something when conveying information.



jd

Absolutely, a soft lead bullet for 9mm should be .356 to .357 in diameter.

[Pawpaw]

Don't cast bullets need to be run through a sizing die to bring them down to their final diameter?

[LTUME1978]

How did the range session go? I have been shooting Bayou Bullets for a number of years and have never had an issue with the bullet itself. I do gauge every round I load. I have found a small percentage of the cases to have rim that is too large in diameter to go into the gauge. Some are just buggered up and some are just too large. They have all fit in my M&P barrels though. What won't gauge out gets shot in an M&P during practice.

I used to load on a Lee Turret Press (used it more like a souped up single stage) and I used the Lee Factory Crimp Die for the crimping operation. It was rare that I have a cartridge that did not gauge out ok. I bought a Dillion 650 a couple of years ago and started having about 10% that would not gauge out ok. That was happening on both my 9 mm and my 45 ACP ammo (separate machines for each caliber). I talked to both Dillion and Bayou Bullets several times and could never come up with a solution. I took those rounds and ran them through the Lee Factory Crimp Die and that solved the problem on just about every one that would not gauge out initially. Those rounds fit in the chamber of my M&Ps and most fit in my 1911s (45 ACP). I think that the rounds that would not gauge out coming out of the Dillion actually had the bullets seated at an angle. The sizing ring in the Factory Crimp Die seemed to straighten them out (could be wrong on that but just about all of them would gauge out ok). Anything that will be shot in a match gets the full treatment. Practice ammo, I will just shoot.

One other thing to look at is the seating depth. I had issues with seating my 200 grain SWC and 147 grain (9mm) out to far and they would grab into the rifling. Sometimes it was just an issue with extracting a round when I finished shooting a round at the end of a stage. Other times, the slide would not close all the way. I have also found that the chamber depth is not the same for all of my M&P 9mm. My two Pros have about the same chamber depth but the others (newer) seem to have a shorter chamber. Just another variable to have to deal with.

[hheremtp]

How did the range session go? I have been shooting Bayou Bullets for a number of years and have never had an issue with the bullet itself. I do gauge every round I load. I have found a small percentage of the cases to have rim that is too large in diameter to go into the gauge. Some are just buggered up and some are just too large. They have all fit in my M&P barrels though. What won't gauge out gets shot in an M&P during practice.

I used to load on a Lee Turret Press (used it more like a souped up single stage) and I used the Lee Factory Crimp Die for the crimping operation. It was rare that I have a cartridge that did not gauge out ok. I bought a Dillion 650 a couple of years ago and started having about 10% that would not gauge out ok. That was happening on both my 9 mm and my 45 ACP ammo (separate machines for each caliber). I talked to both Dillion and Bayou Bullets several times and could never come up with a solution. I took those rounds and ran them through the Lee Factory Crimp Die and that solved the problem on just about every one that would not gauge out initially. Those rounds fit in the chamber of my M&Ps and most fit in my 1911s (45 ACP). I think that the rounds that would not gauge out coming out of the Dillion actually had the bullets seated at an angle. The sizing ring in the Factory Crimp Die seemed to straighten them out (could be wrong on that but just about all of them would gauge out ok). Anything that will be shot in a match gets the full treatment. Practice ammo, I will just shoot.

One other thing to look at is the seating depth. I had issues with seating my 200 grain SWC and 147 grain (9mm) out to far and they would grab into the rifling. Sometimes it was just an issue with extracting a round when I finished shooting a round at the end of a stage. Other times, the slide would not close all the way. I have also found that the chamber depth is not the same for all of my M&P 9mm. My two Pros have about the same chamber depth but the others (newer) seem to have a shorter chamber. Just another variable to have to deal with.

Ltume,

The range session went well, not a single malfunction out of the FMJ rounds. Additionally I had purchased some FMJ projectiles that have a flat point on them, those gave me the same problem as the polymer coated lead bullets. I even adjusted the seating depth just in case the rounds were coming into contact with the rifling, but it did not help. I think I'm going to contact Colt and talk to one of their CSR people, I may have a tolerance issue with the barrel.