semi wadcutter reloads,help!!!

Walt Nunley

OK I LOADED A BUNCH OF SEMI WADCUTTERS FOR A SIG P-226 IN .40S&W.THE TOTAL LENGTH OF THE BULLET LISTED IS 1.12" PER MY RELOADING GUIDE.THE BULLETS WOULD NOT CYCLE HALF THE TIME,THE GUIDE SAYS SIX GRAINS OF POWDER.ALSO,THE ONES THAT DID CYCLE WOULD NOT CHAMBER PROPERLY.MY GUIDE SAYS 1.12" BUT TO GET THE WADCUTTERS TO THAT LENGTH THE BULLET PRETTY MUCH HAD THE FLAT PART FLUSH WITH THE END OF THE CASING AND THE POINT CAME OUT FROM THERE.DOES EACH PISTOL HAVE ITS OWN RECCOMMENDED LENGTH OF BULLET?WE ARE VERY EXTREMELY NEW TO RELOADING AND WOULD APPRECIATE ANY HELP,AND I FIGURED THAT YALL WOULD HAVE THE ANWERS.THANX WALT

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Submarine Sailor,Truck Driver,and very bad typist.GO RUSTY #2

oneshy

[OAL quoted is incorrect see following response]Have you used this charge with other shaped bullets and had them work? Use a 90% charge. Adjust your length to where it will just fit in the mag. Test the first 20 in a full mag to check binding. Give it a good crimp, as close to factory as possible. If they still don't work give 'em a little more crimp. After that you can experiment with a length in between the 2. But, some guns don't like SWC. I believe the length I last used was closer to 1.360. My Glock would not feed, but a good crimp solved the problem. As a test, and I assume you have enough leeway between bullet and case mouth, take any cartridges you have left and re-crimp them. They are too short but you can still shoot 'em up. What powder and bullet weight are you using? If you have some factory loads measure them with your caliper.[This message has been edited by oneshy (edited 12-08-2001).][This message has been edited by oneshy (edited 12-08-2001).][This message has been edited by oneshy (edited 12-08-2001).][This message has been edited by oneshy (edited 12-10-2001).]

Judge Dread

Is different measures for revolver and pistoland in no case the measurment for pistol bullets is suposed to cause "feed" problemsfrom mag to b loading ,if it does you are using the wrong type or a "revolver" only lead.

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Good , Bad ? Who cares? as long I am the one with the GUN... and the brains !

Iconoclast

Walt - don't have a SIG, but IME, some semi-autos purely don't like SWC designs. Make sure your feed ramp is smooth. In addition to the good suggestions above, try it with some other designs seated to the same OAL. If the problem is limited to the SWC style and you are determined to use it, you can try different brands of bullets; sometimes very slight variations in ogive will make a world of difference. Good luck.

oneshy

Walt, wrong info. Min. OAL 1.105, max. 1.130. I checked and found that my best feeding load is 1.144. If yours fit in the mag they shouldn't cause any problems. This rd. worked well after trying many combinations. Again, a good, firm crimp.

j2k22

are you taper crimping? it is essential for feeding in semi autos. SIGs will feed properly made catteridges, regardless of bullet design.

oneshy

j2k22, Yes, taper crimp. I have found that it is necessary with SWC. Some dies are not capable of this. So crimp as tight as necessary to flatten any ridge on the case mouth. This, I believe, helps in proper chambering. Nothing I tried would work in my Glock until I started doing it. Thanks for bringing it up. Perhaps a factory or taper crimp die will be necessary.

Pup

Don't most semi autos headspace on the case itself? I would think a crimp hard enough to change the dimensions of the case mouth might change the headspacing? I had the same problem when I started reloading SWC for my Ruger. I was seating the bullet too far inside the case, so the brass would hang up on the top part of the chamber entrance. When I started leaving a bit of the "shoulder" of the bullet sticking out my feeding problems vanished. This shouldn't be too hard to solve, because I've heard that Sigs are almost as reliable as Rugers

oneshy

I'm not saying deform the case, just make sure you have a good crimp.