Beginner 9mm problems

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Speedee1

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Loading 9mm with 115 grain fmj over 6.0grains accurate no.5 / C.O.L 1.135

Having problems cycling in a fnh 9mm campact rounds will stove pipe and double feed and when they do eject it is dang near straight up any help would be appreciated
 
Do commercial 115s cycle reliably? Presuming yes, that's the starting load in Speer. It may be a tad light in your pistol. Try, say, 6.2 gr and see if function improves. I am also presuming you did a proper taper crimp to remove the "bell" from the case.
 
You may have a magazine problem as well. I can't imagine why a light reload would cause a double feed. Check the mag feed lips and see if the mag spring is weak.
 
You can adjust your oal to help with feed and extraction reliability. Go up or down .0010 at a time.

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My Speer manual shows that load as being the starting load for that powder and weight bullet. Maybe try a couple a bit warmer, say the mid range, and see how things go.
 
I had a very similar problem with my 9mm reloads and my Glock 19. In my case, I was seating my bullets to COAL. It turned out that some of them were seated about 5/1000ths over COAL, which as it turned out was long enough to cause FTFs in my gun. One of the guys over at Dillon told me to just seat my bullets about 5/1000ths under COAL to fix the problem, and since I started doing that, I haven't had any FTFs in my Glock.

On a side note, those slightly longer bullets ran through my Shield flawlessly. Go figure.
 
Lee manual shows 6.3 to 7.0 with length at 1.095 for #5. I'm at 6.5 with a length of 1.115, works great. I think if you boost your load and shorten it a bit your problem will go away. The lesson here is loading manuals are guides, not absolutes. That's why we reload, find what works for you.
 
Checking Sierra's Infinity ballistic & handloading program, 6.0 grs. of #5 is a starting load (at a COL of 1.100" with Sierra's 115 gr FMJ, the max is 6.7 gr.). Sierra recommends an overall length of 1.100" vs. 1.135" that you are for seating your FMJ's. I'd try a stronger load, and reduce the COL as a start.

You might also check the COL of the factory FMJ's that have worked well in your pistol, and use that seating depth.

Also, a 9mm requires only that the flare used to facilitate seating bullets be ironed out. I use a taper crimper on my press that only straightens out that flare; I'm not swaging the mouth of the case into the bullet whatsoever. HTH's Rod
 
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Case not flipping out right and a nest one goes forward.

I don't have accurate load data. Can you tell me if its starting or mid or high load? Is it a listed 9mm powder? I see AA-7.

AK-103 has it listed as low end, if that's right (check the data) then its all the symptoms of not enough go pup to cycle the action right.

Its the ride idea to start low, but with a semi auto you want to start low and work towards medium not load up all low. Not unusual to not get cycling.

9mm can go over pressure fast so don't jump to mid and high.

BE CAREFULL: COAL in a 9mm is dicey as it can build l pressure extremely quickly with a small change (case is small.

Pull the barrel, see how the round is seating. Do not make it shorter and if its ok then do not make it longer.

The following is poor advices at best.

Fist you cannot adjust to .001. Its impossible. Bullet variation alone is far to wide even on the OGVIE let alone the tip.

If he means .010 then that is far worse for a 9mm.




You can adjust your oal to help with feed and extraction reliability. Go up or down .0010 at a time.
Click to expand...








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"...that's the starting load in Speer..." It's the Max load according to Accurate. They also say 1.100", 1.169" is the length given by Hodgdon(that OAL has worked for me for eons.) for a jacketed 115, but OAL isn't causing stove piping and double feeding.
Stove pipes and double feeding is usually an ejector/ejector spring and/or mag issue. Possible the mag lips got bent. Fixed with needle nosed pliers, but start with a really good bath. Especially the slide.
Accurate load data be here. http://www.accuratepowder.com/load-data/
 
the OP did say his was cycling factory ammo fine.

My experience is that a round failing to cycle causes the kinds of problems he posted.

Frankly I would give up on the AA-5 and move to another more widely listed powder as those give you more comparison data.
 
When I first started loading 9mm, I was loading for a P38, HP, and HK P7. I wasnt loading them very hot, and the same load ran fine in all three.

Then I got a Glock.

That same load barely cycled the slide on the Glock. I had to bump the load up quite a bit to get it to cycle reliably.

The load I currently use for my Glocks, which runs fine, is the load I now use for all my 9mm's. They all seem to run fine with it too.
 
Load to 1.100" at your powder charge. Yes it does make a difference. Look at the online manual from Western Powder.

Since the early 90's AA#2 and #5 were known to be 'tempermental' in some guns. They even said so in their manuals.
 
Each to their own but #5 is one of my favorites for 9mm. Tried it and never used Bullseye or 231 again. Also like Win Autocomp, it seems very similar to #5 in performance. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to make it work for you.
 
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