Failure to Feed

[Pope Urban]

Hi Folks,
I'm new to reloading and new (as a registered user of this site.) Thank you for all the advice I have gleaned from your collected expertise!

I have a question that hopefully you can answer. It's stumping the hell out of me.

I'm reloading .40 S&W. Using Hodgon HS-6, at the low end of 7.5 grains with Berry 155 grain copper-clad bullets. All mic specs are within tolerance, that is OAL, cartridge length, etc., and I'm using a Hornady case guide as a final check. Again, everything is within tolerance and the rounds that fire, fire well. I'm a happy camper and glad I spent the time checking and double checking.

I shoot with a Smith M&P Shield, subcompact. Factory loads have zero issues. Again, there are NO issues with factory loads, so I've taken the chamber and ramp out of contention. Bullet seating depth is great.

I have no problem with my reloads going boom. My problem lies with some unfortunate failures to feed. Everything is in spec, yet I have a FTF rate of approximately 20%. Any round that F'sTF has a slight crescent "dent" on the bullet about 1/16th of an inch above the headspace.

This is driving me insane. I've thought that maybe the mag springs were too stiff, but it happens when even one round is in the mag. Could it be the bullet configuration of the "more" conical Berry bullet?

Lastly, if I take a round that FTF'd the first time, and then load it into the mag a second time, it feeds and fires with no issues. I've spent a lot of time jaw-boning this with a good friend who has reloaded for fifty years, and we're stumped. He has no computer and I told him I'd reach out to the horde for your expertise.

Any thoughts, guys and gals? Point me anywhere and I'll check and double check.

Lastly, lastly... on the road tomorrow to visit my son in Tennessee. No rush on an answer since I'm deadlined for a week, but any and every reply will get my attention as soon as I can.

Thanks in advance for your help, and thanks for all your prior guidance... I've learned much from you all.

SIGILLUM MILITUM XPISTI

 

[Walkalong]

Any round that F'sTF has a slight crescent "dent" on the bullet about 1/16th of an inch above the headspace.

Above the case mouth? Which is what the .40 head-spaces on.

Using Hodgon HS-6, at the low end of 7.5 grains with Berry 155 grain copper-clad bullets.

Maybe it needs to be bumped u a little bit. Or maybe you just need to adjust the OAL. Or both. Hodgdon's online data give a starting charge of 7.8 Grs with a Berrys 155 Gr FP @ 1.125 OAL.

What pistol?

 

[Pope Urban]

Above the case mouth? Which is what the .40 head-spaces on.

Maybe it needs to be bumped u a little bit. Or maybe you just need to adjust the OAL. Or both. Hodgdon's online data give a starting charge of 7.8 Grs with a Berrys 155 Gr FP @ 1.125 OAL.

What pistol?

Hi Walkalong... thanks for replying.

Yes, above the case mouth, where it headspaces on.

Smith .40 Shield sub compact. Hornady's book says low end is 7.5 with the Hodgdon's. 1050 fps, which is where I wanted to start, being new to reloading.

OAL is pretty much consistent at 1.1240 to 1.1250. Any in excess, I run through the die again and it hits the tolerances. (Forgot to mention, Hornady LNL press, if it makes a difference. One round at a time through each stage. I don't look for volume, but quality and safety.)

Thanks.

 

[Walkalong]

1.125 is what Berrys recommends for OAL, so that should be good. I'd try bumping it up a hair.

 

[MislMan]

Could be your light load is just a hair slow and messes up the cycle timing. Might try a slight increase in powder or lighter recoil spring. I believe factory .40 loads are on the stout side and .40 pistols come with a recoil spring to handle those loads.

 

[Demi-human]

Do you have any guesses of which part causes the crecent shape? Are they failing to chamber fully or are they not being picked up by the slide at all? Do they fit the magazine just right, not too tightly nor too loose?

Gratam ovili pecus,
vos estis in medio amicorum.

 

[higgite]

Lastly, if I take a round that FTF'd the first time, and then load it into the mag a second time, it feeds and fires with no issues.

Have you compared the before and after COL of rounds that FTF the first time but feed with no issues the second time? A simple COL adjustment may be all that's needed.

 

[Blue68f100]

Like others have said, It's going to be either the OAL needs adj or you need to bump the charge up just a tad. On a low end charge it may not be moving the slide back far enough for it to get the energy needed to chamber a round. Berry's uses a very soft core. Your probably seeing where the bullet is being deformed during the feed cycle. Normally a OAL adj will take care of this provided the slide is going back far enough.

 

[1KPerDay]

Try a tad more powder to get the slide firmly back and give the mag spring time to fully index the next round. If that doesn't help, try a longer OAL. They will probably pass the plunk text up to 1.4" or maybe even 1.6". Depends on your gun. Try loading the longest OAL that will plunk and fit in the mag and see if that helps.

 

[thomas15]

I'm not an expert on 40 S&W, have loaded several 1000 rounds but still not comfortable giving advice on this one.

But, just to add to what others are saying, allow me to offer this. The COAL is the overall length of the actual round of ammunition. You can have problems with feeding even if your COAL is shorter than factory that feeds flawlessly. Why you ask? Because different bullets have different profiles. It is very possible that your bullets are hitting the rifling in the barrel due to a difference in bullet profile.

For example, the SAAMI spec for 9mm is 1.169" max COAL but anything longer than 1.144 using Berrys RN will not feed in my G17. You want to make sure that your not loading over pressure your loads so keep that in mind but it's also possible (as Blue68f100 states) that you need a bit more pressure to keep things going smoothly.

Your auto loading pistol headspaces at the cartridge mouth so a bullet that is too long may stop feeding before the casemouth is fully chambered because the lead is meeting resistance when hitting the rifling so much so that the recoil springs cannot overcome that resistance. Solution is to seat bullets deeper.

 

[bbqreloader]

Urban, I shoot a m&p 40 full size, run 7.8gr HS6 at a 1.130 oal. Might be a little under power for the spring as indicated in another post.