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My first reloading attempt was a failure, what now?

R

Rum&Powder

Private
Minuteman
Nov 1, 2021
29
11
Augusta
So My first attempt into reloading 9mm has not gone well. When I started, I tried a few different loads (2 or 3 of each different grain amount). I picked one that seemed to be the most accurate and then promptly loaded 1000 rounds.
This weekend I went to the range to try them out. They all fired fine and were reasonably accurate, but it looks like I chose a powder amount that was less than what is needed to cycle my guns properly. At least every other round would stove-pipe on ejection and some never ejected at all.
So now that I have nearly 1000 rounds that don't cycle correctly should I:
  1. Call this a $200 mistake and toss everything?
  2. Buy a bullet puller, pull all of these, recharge them with new powder, and reseat the bullet back in them...making sure they will cycle correctly?
  3. or are there other options that I have not considered?
I know now that I should have not made more than 20 rounds without going back out the range and trying them and next time I plan to suck less.
 
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Rum&Powder said:
So My first attempt into reloading 9mm has not gone well. When I started, I tried a few different loads (2 or 3 of each different grain amount). I picked one that seemed to be the most accurate and then promptly loaded 1000 rounds.
This weekend I went to the range to try them out. They all fired fine and were reasonably accurate, but it looks like I chose a powder amount that was less than what is needed to cycle my guns properly. At least every other round would stove-pipe on ejection and some never ejected at all.
So now that I have nearly 1000 rounds that don't cycle correctly should I:
  1. Call this a $200 mistake and toss everything?
  2. Buy a bullet puller, pull all of these, recharge them with new powder, and reseat the bullet back in them...making sure they will cycle correctly?
  3. or are there other options that I have not considered?
I know now that I should have not made more than 20 rounds without going back out the range and trying them and next time I plan to suck less.
Click to expand...
You surely aren't a pioneer in loading bulk before proving, lol
What pistol? You can probably swap the recoil spring to a lighter weight and get the ammo fired while having fun.
 
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I sure wouldn’t throw them away! An impact bullet puller is a pain but with primer and powder shortages I’d pull before tossing. And I agree with the last two guys - change the recoil spring. I use several springs for my G20 and shoot different power 10mm and 40s&w in it.
 
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Those are your three main options: Use as is when it doesn't matter, or, disassemble and reload, or, temporary spring set that allows them to function.

All these options have pros and cons, so I wish there was a reliable way to fix them but it would take some luck with an alternate spring to see if they might run as is.

How expensive or difficult one of these springs is to find depends on the rig. Some are easy to find locally and some are not. Sometimes this works without other tuning or adjustments to other parts, sometimes it does not.

With a common rig like a 1911 or Glock, you shouldn't have a hard time finding a slide spring to try a test. With some other rigs, you will probably mail order something from Wolff, Brownell's, or similar outfit and wait for it to arrive.

Disassembly is also tedious and time consuming, but in the end you can reload to a level that works.

Use as is will mean failure drills the whole time, and at the rate you described is probably not the best option.

N.B. when starting out without a mentor, read and re-read the books. If they didn't mention it, keep your learning curve short by keeping the batches small and the cycles high. You will know when it is time to try for bulk.
 
Do you have any other pistols you could try them in? They might cycle in a different gun.

I agree, all is not lost and you learned a valuable lesson.

If you do end up pulling all the bullets I would recommend just buying the Hornady Cam-loc bullet puller as it'll be way easier than trying to pull a thousand rounds with a kinetic puller.
 
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Anyone that tells you they haven’t fucked up reloading is lying. I’ve done it. Seated bullets without powder, etc. My worst was recent. I accidentally charged a 6 creed round by 5 grains. Fucker was moving 3360 fps (108 eld) 45 grains of H4350.

Blew the primer out the back and sheered the extractor trying to get the case out. How did I do it? Watching fucking netflix, while charging rounds. I must have pulled the funnel after double charging, spilled powder all over the place, but some got into another case without me checking. I’ve loaded north of 10,000 center fire rifle rounds and this was the first major fuck up. Lesson learned; no more distractions while charging.

You messed up, but it wasn’t bad. You learned something. Find your load, test it again and confirm function and groups, then batch.
 
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when i shot IDPi was loading 45cal 235gr hand cast lead projectiles at like 580fps. absolutely needed a different recoil spring

want to talk about a flat shooting gun though

get a lighter recoil spring. nbd
 
I didn't even know that different weight recoil springs existed. My two 9mm pistols are a Taurus G2c and a H&K P30L.
I will check around and see if I can find some.
 
Rum&Powder said:
I didn't even know that different weight recoil springs existed. My two 9mm pistols are a Taurus G2c and a H&K P30L.
I will check around and see if I can find some.
Click to expand...
So the load does not cycle in either pistol?
Any HK pistol I have handled seem to have stiff springs, if finding or getting a spring will take some doing, I would not hesitate to cut 1/2 a coil off at a time of the existing spring till it functioned. I recall on full size 1911 springs, 18lb springs were not only heavier, but slightly longer than 15-16lb springs.
If this is something that you are not comfortable with, by all means wait for a replacement.
 
Rum&Powder said:
I didn't even know that different weight recoil springs existed. My two 9mm pistols are a Taurus G2c and a H&K P30L.
I will check around and see if I can find some.
Click to expand...
Not sure on the Taurus but HK pistols need about 200 rounds before the springs soften up a little. You might want to make some heavier loads to break in the HK some more and then go back to the weak reloads.
 
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Could it be that it’s just dirty now and a cleaning and nice lube job might get them running? Yeah keeping it pristine clean for 1k rounds isn’t great but it’s better than pulling them all of a bit of oil works.
 
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Lunchbox27 said:
Watching fucking netflix, while charging rounds.
Click to expand...

Same for me while on conference calls. I've never overcharged a case, but I have certainly seated bullets in cases with no powder. Sometimes I have no choice as I'm very busy with work, but I try to load when I have nothing distracting me.
 
Rocketmandb said:
Same for me while on conference calls. I've never overcharged a case, but I have certainly seated bullets in cases with no powder. Sometimes I have no choice as I'm very busy with work, but I try to load when I have nothing distracting me.
Click to expand...
Yup.... did that and shot one today. My wife was asking me a bunch of stuff and I must have missed one. The bullet being stuck in my chamber had me a little worried at first bit it wasn't that hard to get out, thankfully.

It happens.... load on
 
If you do pull the bullets I recommend the RCBS collet bullet puller die…… I had to pull 100 bullets and it was super easy with that and collet design is better the the hornady one
 
Rum&Powder said:
So My first attempt into reloading 9mm has not gone well. When I started, I tried a few different loads (2 or 3 of each different grain amount). I picked one that seemed to be the most accurate and then promptly loaded 1000 rounds.
This weekend I went to the range to try them out. They all fired fine and were reasonably accurate, but it looks like I chose a powder amount that was less than what is needed to cycle my guns properly. At least every other round would stove-pipe on ejection and some never ejected at all.
So now that I have nearly 1000 rounds that don't cycle correctly should I:
  1. Call this a $200 mistake and toss everything?
  2. Buy a bullet puller, pull all of these, recharge them with new powder, and reseat the bullet back in them...making sure they will cycle correctly?
  3. or are there other options that I have not considered?
I know now that I should have not made more than 20 rounds without going back out the range and trying them and next time I plan to suck less.
Click to expand...
Consider it an easy lesson.

The hard lesson is when you double charge with pistol powder and your slide, barrel and possibly fingers end up as splinters on the range wall.

Get a nice Ruger convertible revolver.

Have fun with it!

Welcome to loading!

Sirhr
 
This is why for 9mm and 45 I like to load near the top end range. 9mm data is very conservative due to all the older weapons out there. It’s also why there is +P load data (Hodgdon and Sierra both offer it), out there. So I stay on high end of standard for function, but don’t want to beat weapons up with +P ammo. For 40 S&W and .357 SIG I start middle and load up for accuracy and function. I primarily use CFE Pistol and W244 for Pistol. I buy all carry ammo for CCW carry.

I am surprised no one asked. How much have you shot the pistols before. Stove piping is very commonly associated with a limp wrist and/or light grip on the pistol. Have you shot a fair amount of factory ammo through the weapons to know that your technique is solid?
 
How did you come up with your COAL?
My first 9mm loads sounded just like yours. I loaded a mid range load from a reoading manual and same as you, wouldn't cycle and had unburned powder in my face when they did cycle.
I measured a Winchester white box 115 FMJ round and found the reloading manual COAL was 0.060 shorter.
I pressed the bullets in a little more and they now shoot and cycle fantastic.

I hope this is your problem, 1 because it is an easy fix, 2 because at least I'm not alone in doing it!
 
Rum&Powder said:
So My first attempt into reloading 9mm has not gone well. When I started, I tried a few different loads (2 or 3 of each different grain amount). I picked one that seemed to be the most accurate and then promptly loaded 1000 rounds.
This weekend I went to the range to try them out. They all fired fine and were reasonably accurate, but it looks like I chose a powder amount that was less than what is needed to cycle my guns properly. At least every other round would stove-pipe on ejection and some never ejected at all.
So now that I have nearly 1000 rounds that don't cycle correctly should I:
  1. Call this a $200 mistake and toss everything?
  2. Buy a bullet puller, pull all of these, recharge them with new powder, and reseat the bullet back in them...making sure they will cycle correctly?
  3. or are there other options that I have not considered?
I know now that I should have not made more than 20 rounds without going back out the range and trying them and next time I plan to suck less.
Click to expand...
Do not throw them away. There is a lot of value there and it isn't just the cost of components.

I worked up a load for my 308, I thought it was great. I made about 1,000 rounds of it. Time passed and I discovered that load wasn't as good as it should be. I disassembled it all using this. I kept everything - primed cases, bullets, and powder. I lubed and tumbled the cases, ran them through the full-length die without punching out the primers, and tumbled to remove the lube. Ran the cases over a neck expanding mandrel, and reassembled using the original bullets and recovered powder with the new-better powder quantity. The rebuilt stuff shoots just like my other stuff. I consider this a learning experience. The lengthy and somewhat painful recovery process drove home the point - before you make a lot of something, make sure that it is what you want.

Comment about the collet puller. I think that is the best one I have used. It is stout. Turns out without lube that little handle was too short to get a tight grip on bullets so I used an extender. After about 500 bullets, that little handle broke off. I cut the head off a 1/4x20x3 1/2-inch bolt, screwed it in, put my extender back on and went to town. It helps to lube the collet top and fingers and the threads - light grease. I also own a kinetic puller - it is okay for one or two, hell for more - and a Hornady that I bought right after they came out. I broke fingers off the Hornady collet within about 5 minutes. I hope they made it stronger.

I haven't tried swapping recoil springs on a Sig or Glock. I swap recoil springs on 1911s, works good there.

Real life is not a square range. You may get failure-to-fire or you might limp-wrist a shot. Lots of people practice standing at the 7 yard line and slow firing at a paper target. You need to know how to clear a malfunction without even thinking about it. When you are loading magazines, pour a box of good stuff into a bowl then salt with 7 or 8 of your questionable rounds. Swoosh it around and load mags. When you are shooting drills and you get a malfunction, kneel or step to one side, clear that malfunction right-T-F-now (watch your muzzle!!) and reengage.
 
I've handloaded for 40yrs....got home 1 week and son had loaded 500rds of 5.56,using 844,as it was a new ##,I asked if he chronoed or shot any -NOPE-dumbass...I chronoed two at 335-3400fps...had to pull all 498 and reload them 2gr down....Now you have knowledge,it's priceless.
 
Rum&Powder said:
So My first attempt into reloading 9mm has not gone well. When I started, I tried a few different loads (2 or 3 of each different grain amount). I picked one that seemed to be the most accurate and then promptly loaded 1000 rounds.
This weekend I went to the range to try them out. They all fired fine and were reasonably accurate, but it looks like I chose a powder amount that was less than what is needed to cycle my guns properly. At least every other round would stove-pipe on ejection and some never ejected at all.
So now that I have nearly 1000 rounds that don't cycle correctly should I:
  1. Call this a $200 mistake and toss everything?
  2. Buy a bullet puller, pull all of these, recharge them with new powder, and reseat the bullet back in them...making sure they will cycle correctly?
  3. or are there other options that I have not considered?
I know now that I should have not made more than 20 rounds without going back out the range and trying them and next time I plan to suck less.
Click to expand...
Personally I think I would try and use this as an excuse to buy a revolver maybe a convertible 357/9mm? Just a thought.

​

 
Rookie mistake. Never load a large lot while you are still developing a load. The most I would load is 10 for each charge or OAL. That's how you discover which ones will allow your handgun to function and if you have a chronograph, which ones also provides the most consistency.

Maybe you can give the leftover rounds to someone who shoots a revolver in 9mm?
 
SanPatHogger said:
How did you come up with your COAL?
My first 9mm loads sounded just like yours. I loaded a mid range load from a reoading manual and same as you, wouldn't cycle and had unburned powder in my face when they did cycle.
I measured a Winchester white box 115 FMJ round and found the reloading manual COAL was 0.060 shorter.
I pressed the bullets in a little more and they now shoot and cycle fantastic.

I hope this is your problem, 1 because it is an easy fix, 2 because at least I'm not alone in doing it!
Click to expand...

This is your first option
Changing the COAL ( ie shorter) can make big difference just don't go
Too short
 
Thanks for all of the replies!
I am not comfortable with cutting springs in my pistols, and was unable to find a softer spring.
I am not a fan of revolvers but I think I will see if I can find someone with a 9mm revolver and sell them super cheap.

To answer a few other questions. I have probably run 1,500-2000 rounds through each pistol. The H&K took a 100 or so rounds to break in but has run flawless since and the Taurus has never had any failure at all...ever....well until this ammo.

I load that I used was 124g flat nosed fmj from RMR. the powder was 4.1 grains of Ramshot silhouette. I started the load at the max OAL for 9mm and then realized it wouldn't load in the Taurus because the ogive of the projectile hits the lands before a normal rn fmj round would. I ended up pressing these way down to something like 1.010(would have to measure again to be sure, but seems it was pretty short) OAL to get them to manually cycle by hand.
 
According to Ramshot starting load for 124g fmj is 4.7g of silhouette. So at 4.1........
 
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My 1st reloading attempt was a great success. 50 .308 hunting rounds using a 130 gr. TTSX and I don't remember powder. They shot .75 MOA with the recommended "max load" so I said... job done. I put the remaining 30 that I didn't shoot in a fancy ammo container and set off to shoot me a deer with my hand made ammunitions! It's been two years and I've never seen a single 4 legged grazing device while employing these rounds.

Womp womp.
 
Rum&Powder said:
So My first attempt into reloading 9mm has not gone well. When I started, I tried a few different loads (2 or 3 of each different grain amount). I picked one that seemed to be the most accurate and then promptly loaded 1000 rounds.
This weekend I went to the range to try them out. They all fired fine and were reasonably accurate, but it looks like I chose a powder amount that was less than what is needed to cycle my guns properly. At least every other round would stove-pipe on ejection and some never ejected at all.
So now that I have nearly 1000 rounds that don't cycle correctly should I:
  1. Call this a $200 mistake and toss everything?
  2. Buy a bullet puller, pull all of these, recharge them with new powder, and reseat the bullet back in them...making sure they will cycle correctly?
  3. or are there other options that I have not considered?
I know now that I should have not made more than 20 rounds without going back out the range and trying them and next time I plan to suck less.
Click to expand...
I think we’ve all been there had my share of what was I thinking moments and will have plenty more (new to reloading as well)
If you plan on recycling your rounds make damn sure you put the powder back in the same container or brand..please don’t ask how I know.
A rcbs collet bullet puller works really well and it’s cheap.
Unless you’re in a hurry take your time recycling the rounds. Resize the case refill add bullet and away you go. No need to go all extreme it’s a simple problem to resolve.
 
it happens to everyone , if your going to redo loads get a collet bullet puller ,prefer RCBS , pull bullets save powder, you do not need to resize your 9mm primed brass , expand case mouth, powder charge seat bullet ,crimp, Ck to make sure your crimped bullets don't push back into case. never had to adjust my crimp die when using pulled 9mm bullets. can reuse your pulled bullets , powder, primed cases for a little time spent . I load 50-100 test loads due to several weapons in each caliber and to chronograph . a collet bullet puller with all collets is a component saver as some bullet shapes not just caliber determine how well they grab bullet . not going to admit to to how many .30 cal carbine bullets i pulled 40 years ago
 
Rum&Powder said:
I didn't even know that different weight recoil springs existed. My two 9mm pistols are a Taurus G2c and a H&K P30L.
I will check around and see if I can find some.
Click to expand...

Neither are very popular

You might find one for the HK at Wolff Gunsprings.

I doubt you will find any aftermarket anything for a Taurus
 
Rum&Powder said:
the powder was 4.1 grains of Ramshot silhouette.
Click to expand...
Im2bent said:
According to Ramshot starting load for 124g fmj is 4.7g of silhouette. So at 4.1........
Click to expand...

46d4a96a0e40f1ea87817f16536d486c--night-stars-stars-and-moon.jpg
 
JsnSanko said:
This is why for 9mm and 45 I like to load near the top end range. 9mm data is very conservative due to all the older weapons out there. It’s also why there is +P load data (Hodgdon and Sierra both offer it), out there. So I stay on high end of standard for function, but don’t want to beat weapons up with +P ammo. For 40 S&W and .357 SIG I start middle and load up for accuracy and function. I primarily use CFE Pistol and W244 for Pistol. I buy all carry ammo for CCW carry.

I am surprised no one asked. How much have you shot the pistols before. Stove piping is very commonly associated with a limp wrist and/or light grip on the pistol. Have you shot a fair amount of factory ammo through the weapons to know that your technique is solid?
Click to expand...
I load at the top of the recommended range for 9mm and 45 ACP autoloaders. Anything less and the guns I've shot my reloads with didn't cycle reliably. I'm not a good enough shot with a pistol that the subtle difference in precision between different loads makes a difference in my accuracy.
Even so, I shot all the rounds I loaded in the middle of the recommended range (thousands). Kept the slides lubed. Sometimes intervention was required. Gave me plenty of experience clearing malfunctions. All the reloads were practice rounds. I keep factory ammo that I've verified will function reliably in my pistols in the mags for SD or home defense duty.

Just my experience.
 
Adjust your seating die and seat about a dozen of them a little deeper and try them. Pressure will rise, they may work.
(not feeding because they're too short may be where the new problem starts)
 
Last edited:
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Rum&Powder said:
So My first attempt into reloading 9mm has not gone well. When I started, I tried a few different loads (2 or 3 of each different grain amount). I picked one that seemed to be the most accurate and then promptly loaded 1000 rounds.
This weekend I went to the range to try them out. They all fired fine and were reasonably accurate, but it looks like I chose a powder amount that was less than what is needed to cycle my guns properly. At least every other round would stove-pipe on ejection and some never ejected at all.
So now that I have nearly 1000 rounds that don't cycle correctly should I:
  1. Call this a $200 mistake and toss everything?
  2. Buy a bullet puller, pull all of these, recharge them with new powder, and reseat the bullet back in them...making sure they will cycle correctly?
  3. or are there other options that I have not considered?
I know now that I should have not made more than 20 rounds without going back out the range and trying them and next time I plan to suck less.
Click to expand...
But you still have your eyes and all your fingers, right? Then it’s not a failure, it’s knowledge. And all knowledge is worth having
 
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