9mm reloading with lone wolf conversion barrel

K

kenpomace

Inactive
I been reloading 9mm for yrs and always went bang with my guns. I got a glock 23 and the lone wolf conversion barrel. Took the gun to the range today on the 3rd round the glock locked up and wouldnt rack. so I took the slide off and had to remove the barrel to get the unfired bullet out.

I started comparing the barrel and noticed that the reloads would not fit in the LW barrel but it fits perfectly in my other 9mm.

Seems like the bottom of the casing is little thicker than the barrel.

Is there any dies that will size to the bottom of the brass?

here is a pic attached
 

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Might be an OAL issue instead of a base bulge. Do your empty cases drop into the chamber?

Make some dummy rounds and experiment with OAL, and (gasp!) consider a Lee FCD if you can't iron out things using the seating/crimp die.
 
empty cases does not drop all the way in the LW barrel

I do not think it is the OAL.

factory 9mm drops in easy and falls out easy the OAL is 1.151

the reloads I have are 1.090 to 1.095
 
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I run a few LW barrels in different caliber a including 9mm and they're definitely tighter. I seat and crimp in different steps on a progressive press and find that using the Lee Factory Crimp Die seems to work pretty well because it post-sizes the full length of the case.
 
I just put a Lone Wolf 9mm barrel in my Glock 22 Gen 4 and have put about 50 rounds of 9mm reloads thru it with no problems so far except one fail to lock the slide back after last round out. I'm going to get a 17 spring and guide rod if this becomes a common event.

I shoot reloads of untrimmed cases, 115 gr Xtreme RN plated bullets, 4.3 gr Titegroup and OAL of 1.135.
 
you have an ammo issue, need to see pics of loaded rounds. Do the plunk test where you drop a loaded round, not empty case, into the chamber. If it doesn't go, you need to make adjustments. What bullet are you running? Most likely an OAL issue.

Here are 4 different loads I run in my 9mm Glocks, OEM, BarSto and LoneWolf. no issues.



image37275.jpg
 
Old, the G17 recoil spring assembly is longer than a G19. While you can run it in a G19, the guide rod will stick out the front. And nobody trims pistol cases, not even for stepped cases.

image37304.jpg
 
I see a Lee Factory Crimp Die in your future...
Click to expand...

. . . ^^ Yep ^^

I'm not meaning to start the usual Lee FCD firestorm here - I'm really not. But from my experience, they seem to work really well for fixing this problem. And that's plenty good enough for me.
 
Empty RESIZED cases will not drop in or empty FIRED cases will not drop in?

If the brass was once fired (or more) it could have been through a glock which can cause slightly excessive case bulge, lee makes the bulge buster die that will get the very bottom of the case sized down so it will fit in tight chambers.

Are you sure the bullet isnt jamming in the throat? Is the ogive (sp?) Of the bullets you are reloading different from the factory rounds you shoot?
 
Different barrels have different limits for OAL. This is more likely the problem.

Fired brass won't necessarily fit back into a different barrel. If the brass is bulged to the point were they won't work even after resizing I would toss the brass.

The Lee FCD die might help if the brass diameter is too large, but won;t do anything for OAL
 
I think the LW barrel is smaller than the factory barrel. Dont think it is the OAL problem since it feeds and function fine in my taurus.

After re sizing the brass with the first die, it wont fit all the way in the LW barrel but it will drop and fall out easy in my taurus barrel

I went ahead and ordered the Lee FC die to see if it will help. If not I believe the LW barrel might be defective.
 
Is your sizing die screwed down all the way?

It's possible the Taurus has a looser chamber. It's also possible the LW barrel is defective but if factory rounds drop in fine i'm guessing it's with in spec.

Do you have calipers? You can get the 9mm diameter specifications from Saami's website and compare them to your resized brass.

I had the throats reamed on my Lone Wolf G17 and CZ 75B barrels so that they would accept lead bullets seated at the same OAL that would fit just fine in my stock G17, S&W 39-2, Star model B, and Taurus Slim. The Lone Wolf barrel wasn't necessarily defective but had a shorter leade and long OAL bullets would engage the rifling before the round was fully chambered.
 
Glocked brass?

I have a G23 and LW 9mm barrel, work fine.

I am thinking you may have a Glock fired brass bulge issue. Coupled with the LW barrel being tighter (and better supported). You can test for this by dropping a factory loaded round into your LW barrel. I bet it fits fine. But if your reload wont, then your reloads are out of spec. They may fit fine in a Glock barrel, but not the LW.

Do you have case gauge for 9mm? If not, your LW barrel is one.
 
ok I had some free time to do some investigation today over this issue

I adjusted the resize die where there is little gap from the shell holder.
after resizing the brass. It went in the LW barrel without any issues. Falls in and out easily.

Then I flared the brass for the bullet. Tried again, fit without any issues

After seating the bullet to 1.090 it did not fit. The brass stuck out of the barrel. I was thinking something during the seating process made the brass bugle at the end.

So I did another one, however this time I flared it a little bit more so I can push the bullet in the brass by hand. This time the bullet did not fit. Aftet that I was thinking hhmmmmmm. I measured the bullet(berry 115) and it showed .356

I decided to keep adjusting the bullet seating die down to see if it made a difference.

When the reload ammo OAL size got to 1.071 the bullet fitted in the LW barrel!!

Thinking it was a fluke, so I made another one and this one fitted the barrel at 1.068

maybe it was a OAL issue. My concern is now about the OAL

Arent those rounds little to short for a 115 gn flat point? attached here is the bullets
 

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Short chamber throat.
They look ok, assuming the powder charge suits the short OAL and they feed.

If you want to be able to load to suit yourself and not an undersize barrel, you can send it in to be fixed:

You can return your barrel to Lone Wolf and include 4 or 5 dummy rounds of your reloads (no powder or primer) and we will open up the chamber to accommodate your loaded round.

If you'd like to have your barrel reamed to your reloads we charge $30 (includes return shipping)
 
I'm glad you got it figured out. 9mm can be a finicky round to reload. I think you should be fine using 1.06 to 1.08 for a flat point bullet. Isn't that the OAL most reloading manuals use for those types of bullets?
 
It could be the lead into the rifling too. I have a lone wolf barrel that won't accept factory Federal HST's. The bullet gets shoved back if I try and chamber them.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
Bullet Ogive

Rather than OAL, I think your issue may be bullet shape versus leade. Specifically, those conical bullets with 2-3 millimeters of bearing surface extending out of the case mouth. That may be contacting the lands before, for example, a round-nose bullet which would have more clearance, loaded to the same OAL.
 
An ogive problem is the same as an OAL problem... Either way they bullet is contacting the rifling before the round is fully chambered and the remedy is reducing OAL.
 
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