keyhole

[dwtt]

I have a question for those who have experienced keyholing from a pistol. I haven't shot my 9mm Hi-Power for several years because I've been occupied with other guns, but recently I was shooting it and noticed some of the rounds were keyholing in the target. I was also missing some shots on steel that I used to hit with good accuracy and I thought I was slapping the trigger or flinching, but even on slow steady shots I was missing at ranges I used to nail with one shot. After seeing the keyholing, I realized something is making my gun no longer able to stabilize the bullets, but the gun has been shot only 5000 rounds and the rifiling still looks fine. The ammo is American Eagle 9mm, 124 gr FMJ round nose. Anyone have something like this happen to them with this ammo? Anyone know of other possible causes of keyholing? Thanks.

[sirgiles]

how far is the target?
it's possible that the bullet is undersized causing it to be improperly stabilized after leaving the barrel.
try another ammo.

[mes227]

A 124 gr bullet isn't undersized for a 9mm. But I agree that trying other ammo is the next step. Also check the rifling right at the muzzle. This can Be damaged by the cleaning rod and even the slightest mar there can cause serious accuracy issues.

[gschoelles]

I used to load wad-cutters backwards on purpose to get this effect, which caused in-flight instability and the flip effect.

I would definitely try other ammo and if that doesn't fix it your pretty much down to the barrel and muzzle.

[GunDog]

I seriously doubt anything is wrong with your Hi-Power. If you are like most of us, you probably clean the barrel from the breech and muzzle damage is a non issue. You just need to keep experimenting and find an ammo that is compatible and shoots well with your pistol.

[dwtt]

I don't see any damage on the muzzle, and I use a brass brush on an Al rod to clean from the chamber end. I used to shoot Sellier and Bellot and Remington commercial ammo and my own reloads with 124 gr. FMJ and coated bullets. The poppers and steel plates were at distances of 10 - 25 meters. I'm just disappointed that American Eagle ammo made by Federal would perform like this in my gun, and the only other available 9mm ammo here is 135 gr lead round nose. I'm not looking forward to lead fouling in my Hi-Power.

[Voo]

Things like the powder use (burn rate), actual bullet size and bullet weight all effect whether or not your barrel will 'like' that particular round..

After a bit, i adopted the philosophy of "shoot whatever's cheapest". I would run anything and everything and you see this happen. I reloaded my own and sometimes what would run in my G34 would not behave so well in my 1911 and vice versa. It's pretty damn strange that proper jacketed bullets from AE do this.

I have to admit, I've never had a single issue with anything that was factory new. S&B, AE, Wolf, Tulsa, Win, Rem, CCI..etc etc..

I would try various ammo and see if the problem repeats itself.. In all honesty, I dont think there's much you can do.. maybe have a smith look at your crown/barrel to see if there's anything there that might cause this..