Problems at the range

[bigbossman]

Have you ever seen a gun blow up? I have, and just such a thing I witnessed last Sunday. This is not a trivial thing you are discussing here. Were I you I would be nowhere near that fellow when he was shooting his reloads, and I damn sure wouldn't be shooting them myself.

[TomReloaded]

Loaded ginex primers to book oal.

[xMAC1x]

Step one stop shooting the ammo.
Step two pull all remaining ammo.
Step three read the instructions.

[K001]

RELOADS!

[newbie1234]

..... Some of the primers were a little proud of the pocket.
....
I have no info on the brand of primers, powder or reloading machine.

Nothing wrong with brand of primers, powder nor reloading machine. He needs to seat primer BETTER. Did he seat the primer with hand held primer insert not with the press ????? Inspect every single round, make sure the primer is FLAT to the base of the shell, NOT protrude from the base of the shell.

[RickD427]

I'll second the comments of several previous posters that improper primer seating is at the top of list for causing the misfires.

A full seating of the primer is important for reliable ignition.

I'd also check the primers. They've been kinda hard to acquire lately and that makes it possible the small rifle primers were substituted for small pistol primers in the 9mm.

You may also have an issue with the mainspring in the pistol. Last year, I had a similar issue with one of my benchrest rifles. My primers were fully seated, but I found that Federal primers always fired, and that I had a ton of issues with CCI primers. The CCIs had a slightly harder cup. I replaced the firing pin spring and the problem was solved.

I'll also second previous comments about using a test gauge to prove reloads before chambering then in a firearm.

[Epaphroditus]

Reloading is easy ... to screw up. Always be paranoid and extra careful the first 10 rounds - once those 10 spec out proper then complete the set.

If even 1 of the 10 are off go back to square 1 .

[TomReloaded]

The jammed slide is usually from oal so long that the bullet crams into the rifling. It'll get surprisingly stuck. Usually forcing the slide yanks the bullet out of the brass and dumps powder into the gun. *sometimes* the bullet will fall out of the gun at that point, or it'll stay jammed and the next round won't chamber at all.

This happens when people insist on copying load data like a baking recipe and end up using something like 1.150" and have a cz/gen5 Glock/most 9mm guns these days.

[CptDan]

Bulged cases shot from a pistol with unsupported chamber resulting in what is known as a "glock smile". I have run into this a long time ago, you need to have a case gage or do a plunk test on all your rounds. Bulge busting is done with Lee 9mm Makarov case sizing die. The Makarov case is not tapered like the 9mm Luger you can bulge bust loaded or unloaded cases. Google is your friend to look up 9mm bulge busting. https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/s...2&action=click

[TomReloaded]

I've picked up thousands of 9mm cases and never had a buldged one. Tons of split cases, but never a bulge.

It was mostly a 40 issue, and resolved with gen3. I can't think of a 9mm that has a majorly unsupported chamber.

[hambam105]

This batch of Reloads may be FUBAR, but look at the bright side:

These Reloads were assembled quickly on a progressive.

[kcstott]

I've picked up thousands of 9mm cases and never had a buldged one. Tons of split cases, but never a bulge.

It was mostly a 40 issue, and resolved with gen3. I can't think of a 9mm that has a majorly unsupported chamber.

well they are out there. I've run into more recently then i have in the past. used brass bought on line. lord knows where it came from but I've found a few.
hey it makes for good malfunction drills

[Supersapper]

Went indoor shooting with a friend. He was using a Glock with his own 9mm reloads. He had many failed fires. The firing pin strike looked good on the primer. I took some of his duds and tried them in my FN 503. About 50% failed to fire. Some of the primers were a little proud of the pocket.

His other problem was 2 times after a failed fire he could not rack the slide to clear the bad round. Trigger was back in the pulled position. One of the range masters managed to loosen the slide up by firmly hold the slide and very sharply striking the grip in a forward motion. Not sure what was happening there.

I have no info on the brand of primers, powder or reloading machine.

Ok...in pieces:
Failure to ignite could be as several have suggested. He needs to insure a properly seated primer. For the record, I hand prime every case and inspect to see if the primer is seated to proper depth...ie minimum flush with the case head.

If that is ok, then it could be as simple as crappy primers. You said you didn't know what primers were used, and with good quality ones being really expensive, I'm really curious about that.

Hitting a primer 2 or 3 times will generally damage them enough to just toss the round into the dud bin. If you do pull the bullet for components, be careful...the primer's been possibly made unstable by the multiple impacts, so just be aware.

Also...I didn't see this mentioned anywhere else, but your friend may be trying to reload NATO casings with the pocket crimp. I would ask him if he is having super hard times trying to seat a primer. Trying to seat a primer in a non-swaged NATO primer pocket can damage or destroy the primer going in. That would be a perfect reason you're getting so many issues.

If you want, get as many of the casings together as possible and let us know what the headstamps say. We can let you know if you need to look at that.

On failure to extract:
I have never crimped my rounds, but have made some dummy rounds (for training) that caused the slide to lock in place. Turned out to be a bad casing, so you should have your friend really start checking the casings he is reloading.

I don't really buy off on the idea that some have suggested that the round is too long for the chamber, causing a failure to fire. It might cause a failure to go into battery (which can be it's own issue). My fear in that is that if the projectile is jammed into the lands and grooves, it may cause excessive case pressure (owing to the excessive initial resistance) if the thing actually ignites.

People here are right. Your buddy needs to find someone who's been doing it for a while and actually stop and learn. I've seen bad things happen to good people. These issues are also why I agree...never should someone elses reloads out of your gun. People have asked me if I sell my reloads. I tell them no; if my reload blows up in my gun when I shoot it, it is MY problem. If you shoot my reload out of your gun and it blows up, whose problem is it? Yep. Mine.

[Flouncer]

Reloads. Yeah. My only 9x19 problem ever came from range pickup. Some of you cheap Ahs Bahstards are using mil crimp cases. If you mistakenly pick up this sabatouge crap along with your MagTech and Winchester beauties, and deprime, resize and load it will ruin your day seating primers. That is all I have. So we have to be more specific, detailed when we say "reloads."

[becxlt]

Buy your friend a case gauge.

Agree ! a Test gauge will tell you a lot before you ever pull the trigger!