Stumped - reloading 40S&W

E

elkhuntingfool

New member
I have loaded a lot of pistol and picked up an XD40 and loaded some up. COL length is dead on and OAL is dead on. However, when I attempt to fire them out of my XD they will not load, in fact, one jammed. I am stumped. I'm not a newbie, my 45s and 9s fire perfectly.

I had to buy a box of ammo (yuck). I kept a round and brought it home to compare to my loads and I am EXACT in everything.

Am I missing something with the XD?

Thanks!
 
Question 1) Did you try the factory ammo and if so, what were the results?

Question 2) Did you try a different magazine?

Question 3) Did you have any problems loading the magazine?

3a) Spring overly weak or strong?
 
Question 1) Did you try the factory ammo and if so, what were the results? Fired every time.

Question 2) Did you try a different magazine? Tried both mags with reloads - won't load. Factory ammo - no problems


Question 3) Did you have any problems loading the magazine? No problems with loading either factory or reloads.

3a) Spring overly weak or strong? Couldn't tell a difference when loading either factory or reloads.
 
Get a Lee factory crimp die and the problem will go away. Had the same problem with a tight chambered sig in 40. Also check your OAL in the chamber of the gun. May have a short chamber, or need to fiddle with the OAL to get it to feed. Also bullet shape may be the factor. Had a P220 that didn't like 200grswc but fed everything else. Just expirement. A little goes a long way in OAL.
 
I shoot a .40 Walther P-99 and the only times I've had a problem with my reloads involved:

Either too short OAL cartridges that had a different bullet configuration (changed back to original configuration) or the magazine springs seemed weak and had a problem pushing the follower on a consistent basis (went nose up).... I replaced the mag springs and the problem was solved...

That happened with all three mags..so I had to assume it was some bad springs...The followers and feed lips were all consistent as far appearance..

Were the bullet weights the same between the reloads and the factory rounds? i.e. all 180gr or 155gr, etc..? I did find that my other .40 doesn't like 135gr loads...

I'm really having to guess as to the problem unless there is a difference in the bullet composition and it's having something to do with the feed ramp to the barrel chamber..
 
Reloads were 180 so I grabbed a box of 180s. The only difference is I'm shooting lead cast flat nose and the factory loads are jacketed round nose.
 
Make a round with no powder or primer Leave it long load it in your mag. slap the slide and let it go forward on its own, does it feed? if not bump it a few thousanths shorter, try it again,? Keep going till it feeds. I had some 9mm that were giving me fits till I finally got the length right . Just watch closely that youdon't go too short and have pressure probs.
 
My question is:

Will one of your reloads drop freely down the barrel?

Take the gun apart and hold the barrel only with the muzzle down. Drop one of your reloads in the chamber. Any resistance?
Now compare that to a factory round.
 
Cast bullets are nominally larger than cast, at least .001-.003. Your rounds are to big around. Get the factory crimp die and life will be good. The factory crimp die swages the round back to size after the bullet is seated.
 
How much bell are you putting on the case mouth and are you getting rid of it after the bullet is seated? Thats where I'd look first. Also the brass you are reloading, was it all fired from your gun? If not you might have a bunch that was fired in a Glock and has the famous Glock bulge from the unsupported chamber area. Using your barrel as a case gauge is a good idea try dropping a sized case in it and see if it fits if it does use the same case and bell/charge it seat bullet, remove the bell and try again. If it fit the first time and doesn't with the finished round you either aren't removing the bell or you're crimping/seating at the same time and the die isn't set right crimping before seating is complete and bulging the case. The Factory Crimp die will get the rounds back to size but they will size the lead to small and accuracy will suck the lead bullets are bigger for a reason and shouldn't be causing the trouble. Give us some more info after you've tried a few more times. What press and dies are you using?

peace.
unloaded
 
Originally Posted By: 204DudeMy question is:

Will one of your reloads drop freely down the barrel?

Take the gun apart and hold the barrel only with the muzzle down. Drop one of your reloads in the chamber. Any resistance?
Now compare that to a factory round.


+1

This is the idot proof way to check your ammo. Dillon sells a "checker" to run your ammo through if you don't like to take your gun apart.

If it the loaded rounds just fall into the barrel, then won't feed, you have other problems...oh, yea!

SWC designs do not work in a lot of auto's.

If it is a spring issue, then it will show up on the last round in the magazine for sure.

Good luck!
 
Originally Posted By: medicdaveCast bullets are nominally larger than (NON-)cast, at least .001-.003. Your rounds are to big around. Get the factory crimp die and life will be good. The factory crimp die swages the round back to size after the bullet is seated.
(edited)

Yep. Works this way on my 10mm

Measure the OD of one of your cast loaded rounds at the mouth, bet it is a couple thou' larger than your chamber and cartridge spec. Compare it to one of the factory rounds.

B
 
After looking at the other replies, I now remember that some of my .40s had to be 'barrel checked' as well, even though I have a chamber check gauge that they all work in...

My Para Ordnance and Walther have tighter chambers (or different feed angles) than my ex-Glock used to have and stuff that had been fired in the Glock would not feed in the other two...

That wasn't the only reason I sold the Glock but I now have several boxes of ammo that I will need to pull and reload to the tighter standards..

I've also had problems when switching to the lead bullets and had to load them a little shorter...

I haven't shot my handguns much in the last few years and age is showing up in my memory..
blush.gif
 
Thanks for all of the replies. The OD of the reload is a bit bigger than factory so I've ordered a factory crimp die from Lee Precision. Once that has arrived I'm hopeful this will solve the issues. If not...then I'm stuck shooting jacketed bullets out of my XD40.
 
Its the lead cast bullets, had the same probhlem with my XD in 9mm. Had to shorten up the cast bullets or switch to hard ball to feed right. factory specs has the lead into the lands to far. or you could go 155
 
I second Dave's motion. I use the Lee sizing, crimping die in place of my Dillon crimp die on my 550. Made all the difference in the world on all pistol cartridges.
 
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Thank you all for your suggestions. I used the factory crimp die and it worked! I figured it would. Strange how the XD40 is so picky, but my Taurus and Kel Tec eat lead cast all day long with no factory crimp. My father in law has XD9 and is going to reload lead cast so I picked up a factory crimp die for him.

Again, thank you all.
 
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