Function problem with my reloads

[Whatisthis?]

I could talk a lot about this, but I'll try to keep it short. I recently started reloading and have loaded 9mm, .40, and 10mm. I shoot all lead. For 9mm, I shoot 125 grain cone nose through my Glock 19 (with a lonewolf barrel) and my M&P9c. My 10mm reloads are shot through my Glock 20 (22lb spring for heavier loads and KKM barrel) and consist of 180gr flat points and 200gr round nose.

Anyways, I went out shooting yesterday and had same failures for the slide to reset all of the way. The slide would literally be about 2-3mm from all of the way reset and could not be pushed/jammed forward. It would eject the fired casing and strip off the new round just fine, but still get stuck. Only manually cycling the slide would work. This happened with my Glock 20 AND Glock 19 BUT NOT my M&P9c.

The Glock 20 is shot from BRAND new starline brass and I've tried different crimps for 9mm and 10mm, so I doubt it's the brass. I've shot some freedom munitions 9mm reloads through my G19 at this session without issue. So this leads me to believe it's one of these options:

1)Something about the lead and/or tighter tolerances from these aftermarket barrels

2)Something I am over looking that you all could point out to me

3)I need to accept these handguns may have issues, buy another of each, and learn to dual wield with factory ammo.

Any help could be appreciated. I have a feeling pictures might be requested but I don't have a high quality camera, so I will wait until someone asks for pictures since they may not even be necessary.

[Bill Steele]

You are correct, it is the wider lead bullet getting jammed in the tighter throat of the aftermarket barrel, very common.

You can try seating a little deeper or send your barrels back to get throated for lead.

Good luck, have fun.

BTW, you can unstick the slide when this jam happens by holding the slide with your weak hand and slamming the strong hand into the backstrap right where you grip it.

[Whatisthis?]

Will getting my barrels throated for lead cause issues with my brass in my really hot 10mm loads (i.e really bulged cases or a shortened case life from more wear and tear)?

[Bill Steele]

Will getting my barrels throated for lead cause issues with my brass in my really hot 10mm loads (i.e really bulged cases or a shortened case life from more wear and tear)?

No, the bulging happens down by the head (where the feed ramp meets the chamber, this area is well supported in the LW and KKM barrels, among other brands).

The T/C bullet profile is one of the most challenging in this area as the break from the bearing surface to the cone makes for a near perfect wedge. If you load another profile like RNFP and seat so the bearing surface is no more than 1/16" above the case mouth, they probably will feed fine. In any case, seating deeper is usually an easy fix.

BTW, I load my nuke 10mm loads one time in new Starline. After that subsequent loadings in this brass are sub 1250 fps w/180 gr bullets out of a g20 length barrel.

[Whatisthis?]

Alright. Thanks for all the info. Seating how much deeper if you don't mind me asking? I know it's probably going to have to be a trial and error thing based on my specific barrels, but my 9mm loads are already short at 1.085" OAL when most loads call for 1.12" or so. My 10mm is just at the standard 1.26" OAL, so I can shorten a little there.

[Bill Steele]

Alright. Thanks for all the info. Seating how much deeper if you don't mind me asking? I know it's probably going to have to be a trial and error thing based on my specific barrels, but my 9mm loads are already short at 1.085" OAL when most loads call for 1.12" or so. My 10mm is just at the standard 1.26" OAL, so I can shorten a little there.

Definitely is a trial and error thing, but if the failure to go into battery is only a mm or two, you are probably pretty close already. Just make sure as you go down you lighten the charge slightly and work back up as deeper seating means more pressure, especially in the small 9mm case.

As I said earlier, the T/C is one of the most challenging profiles to load as many times when you get seated deep enough so it stops jamming in the throat, you induce other feed problems, out of the magazines, etc.

There are a few other options as well. You can go back to your generously throated stock barrels. I shoot lead out of my stock barrels and have never noticed any more leading than with conventional rifled barrels, ymmv.

Another option is to throat the barrels yourself. You only need to enlarge the first part of the throat (the part that starts at the end of the chamber) about .0015" about 1/8" into the leade. This can be accomplished with fine emery paper on a cone shaped mandrel, it is not very much at all, you just need to be sure you don't take too much off.

As I recall, I think LW charges a nominal fee for the throating and the last time I sent one to KKM he did it free of charge, but he has gotten pretty successful lately, so maybe that policy has changed.

Good luck, have fun.

[Whatisthis?]

Alright. Sounds good. Thanks for all the help Bill! You've definitely made this easy enough to deal with!

[uhlan1]

You are correct, it is the wider lead bullet getting jammed in the tighter throat of the aftermarket barrel, very common.

You can try seating a little deeper or send your barrels back to get throated for lead.

Good luck, have fun.

BTW, you can unstick the slide when this jam happens by holding the slide with your weak hand and slamming the strong hand into the backstrap right where you grip it.

"BTW, you can unstick the slide when this jam happens by holding the slide with your weak hand and slamming the strong hand into the backstrap right where you grip it."

Thanks, that is a handy tip for any future "what the heck?"