Buggest Problem I ever had!!! Help with some .40 S&W

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WhiteMikeCN

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So about 2 weeks ago before it was super hot in my garage (Florida) I loaded about 6k rounds of .40 hollow points. I checked every 100th one for chambering and everything was fine. However when i got to shoot them about 1 out of 20 wont chamber when feeding. I loaded them for competition so this will not go over well. So what are my options. How do I go about pulling down 6k bullets. I have the hammer type puller but I liked to have thrown my shoulder out after 100 rounds so that is not gonna work. Any Ideas?
 
oh by the way I checked the dies and it was reaching the shellplate so I know it is a problem with the dies. Ordered new ones and they are on the way but what do I do now?
 
when the new dies come just run your rounds through the sizer--after taking the de-capper off.

while waiting can't you take the bbl off the gun and just drop the rounds in ; seperating out those that will need re-sizing?
6000 sounds like a large number but i'll bet you can do it before the 2 hour tv movie is over.
 
I have thought about running it through the sizer but I am scared that It will push the bullet out further kind of like squeezing a banana from the middle.
 
If they are not chambering because of case bulge, you can still debulge them with the Lee debulger.

Although you will have to get the Lee crimp die, if you don't already have one, along with the debulging setup.

I am not sure if the Redding debulging die can be used with loaded cases or not.
 
You can use the sizer in the Lee FCD (Yeh Lee haters, I know) with the crimp portion raised up to the point where it doesn't touch the case.

Try it out with one or two bullets that you know won't chamber. Measure COL before and after, do a plunk test in the barrel to make sure they make it all the way in, then pull the bullet with a kinetic bullet puller and measure the bullet length to see if they stretched to a point of causing dangerous pressure (which I seriously doubt).

That's better than pulling 6k rounds.
 

If you'd have chased the bugs off that loader, you wouldn't have had a problem!:neener:

What you need that obviously you don't have is a case gauge. You can avoid having to pull them ALL down by running each one through the case gauge;

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/276502/le-wilson-max-cartridge-gage-40-s-and-w

Now, as to running loaded ammo through a FL sizer, that's VERY BAD ADVICE! It WILL result in loose bullets that will be driven back into the case raising chamber pressure. Reason is the sizer will squeeze the case against the bullet, the copper jacket will also squeeze the lead core of the bullet, then not spring back. The bullet stays too small, you just lost all neck/case tension.

You're going to have to pull some of those rounds that fail the gauge check. But, most important is to find out why this is happening. I doubt it has anything to do with bad dies, otherwise ALL your rounds would be bad.
 
when the new dies come just run your rounds through the sizer--
Bad idea.
A sizing die is small enough it will compress the bullet undersize inside the case.

A Lee FCD would be your only option at this point.
It will fix them without messing up the bullet size totaly like a carbide sizing die will surely do.

BUt I guess the first thing you need to do it actually determine why they won't chamber. Could be crimp bulge, could be the bullets hitting the rifling, or it could be Glock base bulge.

Take the barrel out of the gun.
Color a couple that won't chamber with a black marker and force them all the way into the barrel.
Where the marker rubs off is the problem.

rc
 
rcmodel gave good advise.

And once the finished rounds feed/chamber reliably but won't fully cycle the slide due to not enough powder, I would get a lighter weight recoil spring for a few dollars than pulling 6000 rounds.

This is a good lesson in making sure your finished rounds feed/chamber and cycle/extract reliably before loading thousands of rounds.
 
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6k rounds? Ouch.

Yeah, I would say screw it and run them through the FCD too, and really, really hope that fixes them.

A kinetic puller just won't do for more than pulling the occasional mistake. If it came to it I'd get a collet type puller from RCBS or whoever.
 
I never thought I would recommend the FCD but it would seem that it is your best choice at the moment.

Since it is a .40, watch out for the possible Glock case buldge. The FCD can't reach those unless you buy the buldge buster kit.
 
If you think the FCD will swage the bullet down to where it won't have enough neck tension, then run an experiment.

See how much force it takes to push one of your bullets into the case, run another one through the FCD and test that one. After that, you can pull both to resize and reload.

Heck, you have 5998 more bullets to experiment with.

I agree that maybe you seated the bullets out too far. Take a magic marker and color the whole cartridge to see where it is hanging up in the chamber.
 
Like RCModel has said and others, You need to determine what is cause the rounds not to chamber. Once that is done you can make a correction. It may be as simple as not using enough taper crimp. But you want to know till you find out the source. It may only be some head stamps, thicker thinner brass.
 
obviously you need to first determine the exact cause of the FTF ... are they hanging on the ramp lip? Are they hanging on the nose? Just dropping 6K rounds into the barrel might not shine a light on this ... it could be a feed issue.
 
+1 Identify issue.

1. Identify issue
2. Could be as simple as seating a bit deeper, adding a bit more crimp, or using an FCD as normal.
3. Could take using an FCD with a push through adaptor.
4. Instead of the above, you might find it easier to do a chamber check on all your rounds, and set aside those 1 in 20 that don't chamber. The FCD push-thru technique takes a lot of force and 6k pulls is going to suck.

5. If all else fails, I think I'd rather go out and buy a new gun that'll chamber those rounds, rather than pull them all. :)

6. If you're really up to pulling 6k bullets, I'd investigate the possibility of buying or making a collet type bullet puller. I'm thinking of taking a cheap pair of pliers, grinding out a bullet shape in the jaws, and padding it with rubber to make a custom bullet puller jig that you use with your press on the downstroke. 40SW is probably the worst cartridge to pull bullets this way, though. Darn long case and short bullet protrusion is going to make it a bugger. And that would be the easy part. You'd also need some kind of extension to get the shellholder high enough so the bullet would poke out the top of the ram!

Considering RMR is selling pulled pistol bullets by the truckload, you might wanna ask around. There's got to be an easier way to pull 6k bullets.
 
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Multiple guns and multiple barrels. I will take a the BBL out of a few guns and make it a family night. I have loaded over 70k rounds on these dies so I have a new set on order anyway. I will let everyone know how things turn out.
 
Now, as to running loaded ammo through a FL sizer, that's VERY BAD ADVICE! It WILL result in loose bullets that will be driven back into the case raising chamber pressure. Reason is the sizer will squeeze the case against the bullet, the copper jacket will also squeeze the lead core of the bullet, then not spring back. The bullet stays too small, you just lost all neck/case tension.

What Snuffy said. He is correct.
 
I recently loaded about 1k 40 through my dillon dies. Turns out I didn't have the die screwed in quite far enough and about 50% of the nickel plated casings would not chamber in my gun. It was only with the nickel cases that this happened. Is there anything in particular about the bad cases that is different from the ones that are chambering?
 
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