So I want a hundo case gauge, but...

[Luke]

Have someone mill the bottom to make it shorter

[olstyn]

What are you doing that causes some percentage of rounds to not chamber?

Unsure, but it's usually 2% or less of rounds that fail to drop in and out freely. Any that fail to do that never get loaded into a magazine.

[olstyn]

Have someone mill the bottom to make it shorter

Mill the bottom of what, and how would that help?

[busdriver]

Yup, it'd be more convenient/much faster to be able to use a hundo vs plunking each round in my barrel individually.

Have someone mill the bottom to make it shorter

No case gauge will solve the OP's problem, all they check is the dimensions of the post loaded case and if the bullet is set straight. None of them account for rifling leade.

Bullets all have slightly different ogive shapes, and the leade is a different length on just about every chamber. So depending on where the rifling starts and the specific ogive shape, you'll get a different max COAL for a given bullet when you move it between barrels. You will also get some variation on OAL as you load. My guess is the OAL you're loading to is very close to the max that will fit in your barrel. What you need to do is determine max OAL that will plunk in your barrel, then take another .010 or so off that number to account for variation in loading, then use that number as your max.

Once you've done that, the leade is removed as a variable to worry about and you can use the hundo.

If you're loading for multiple guns, just load to the shortest OAL among your various guns.

Edit add: You need to do this for every bullet you intend to load, they are all different.

[olstyn]

Bullets all have slightly different ogive shapes, and the leade is a different length on just about every chamber. So depending on where the rifling starts and the specific ogive shape, you'll get a different max COAL for a given bullet when you move it between barrels. You will also get some variation on OAL as you load. My guess is the OAL you're loading to is very close to the max that will fit in your barrel. What you need to do is determine max OAL that will plunk in your barrel, then take another .010 or so off that number to account for variation in loading, then use that number as your max.

Yeah, been there, done that. Max OAL with the MG CMJ rounds is ~1.13" and I'm loading them to 1.12" but still some that fail in the barrel at 1.12" pass in the hundo.

[Hambo]

Unsure, but it's usually 2% or less of rounds that fail to drop in and out freely. Any that fail to do that never get loaded into a magazine.

When you gauge, them, correct? Do they chamber in your pistol or do you discard based on the gauge?

Assuming they don't, I'd want to know why because it would bug the crap out of me. Are you using cast bullets? Coated? Mixed brass? The only time I've had this problem is with 150gr SWC in 9mm. My OAL is as long as will chamber reliably. Finding that point given slight bullet/coating differences took a little work.

[busdriver]

Yeah, been there, done that. Max OAL with the MG CMJ rounds is ~1.13" and I'm loading them to 1.12" but still some that fail in the barrel at 1.12" pass in the hundo.

First, I'm assuming you've measured the failed rounds to verify the OAL to eliminate that variable. Like wise, try painting the bullet ogive with sharpie to see if it's rubbing. I doubt MG changed things on you, but making sure that isn't the problem means you can move on to other troubleshooting. If this is old hat to you, I apologize for the "no shit Sherlock" advice.

Now for the goofy: This may sound stupid but make sure your chamber is clean, sometimes gunk builds up in the corner at the end of the chamber where the front edge of the case seats. If a piece of brass is on the long end of acceptable, that gunk could prevent it from "plunking," although it would probably chamber fine. One way to clean that gunk out is to cut notches in end of a piece of brass to make an annular scraper. Or just use a pick of some sort to scrap it out.

The only other thing I can think of is your chamber is right at SAAMI min spec (or smaller) while the gauge is just a bit bigger. According to the manufacturor the shockbottle gauges are cut to the small side of SAAMI spec but not right at precisely min, so the chamber in your problem gun could be tighter and still be within spec. If that is the case, by far the easiest option would be to ream the chamber.

[olstyn]

When you gauge, them, correct? Do they chamber in your pistol or do you discard based on the gauge?

I'm using the gun's barrel as a gauge. I'm sure that some of the rounds that are right on the line in terms of dropping into the chamber, but not spinning freely/dropping back out would work, but I'd rather be safe, so they get pulled.

Assuming they don't, I'd want to know why because it would bug the crap out of me. Are you using cast bullets? Coated?

As stated earlier in the thread, Montana Gold jacketed (most recently, 124 grain CMJ), but probably switching to some sort of coated when I run out of the MGs.

Mixed brass?

Yes.

[GuanoLoco]

I've found that I have to seat 124's (like ACME 124 RN) down to 1.06" in my Stock 2 barrels, where I can load at 1.095 for Baypou 135's. Lighter bullets are shorter, but also are being loaded deeper and may cause more issues. The ACME 124 flat points (conical nose) don't run any different. I plan to get by barrels reamed (probably just throated) so I can load longer.

I'd suggest trying a different weights/profiles, like the Bayou round noses, and seeing if you could load longer.

BTW last night I did a large reloading session and I think I convinced myself that I am getting far fewer CG failures at a (Dillon) taper crimp of 0.378 vs. 0.379 (measuring tightest across multiple rounds) at the case mouth.

[olstyn]

First, I'm assuming you've measured the failed rounds to verify the OAL to eliminate that variable. Like wise, try painting the bullet ogive with sharpie to see if it's rubbing. I doubt MG changed things on you, but making sure that isn't the problem means you can move on to other troubleshooting. If this is old hat to you, I apologize for the "no shit Sherlock" advice.

It is old hat, but you can't know that, and it doesn't change the validity of the advice; if nothing else, a newbie reloader might read this thread and learn from it. To be honest, I don't recall whether I measured the most recent crop of failures, so since I haven't gotten around to pulling the bullets, I'll be sure to do that check sometime soon just to be sure.

Now for the goofy: This may sound stupid but make sure your chamber is clean, sometimes gunk builds up in the corner at the end of the chamber where the front edge of the case seats. If a piece of brass is on the long end of acceptable, that gunk could prevent it from "plunking," although it would probably chamber fine. One way to clean that gunk out is to cut notches in end of a piece of brass to make an annular scraper. Or just use a pick of some sort to scrap it out.

That's a reasonable idea. It *has* been a long time since I cleaned that gun. OTOH, I know it's a super tight/short chamber regardless of how clean it is, so it *probably* won't make a difference, but it can't hurt to be sure.

The only other thing I can think of is your chamber is right at SAAMI min spec (or smaller) while the gauge is just a bit bigger. According to the manufacturor the shockbottle gauges are cut to the small side of SAAMI spec but not right at precisely min, so the chamber in your problem gun could be tighter and still be within spec. If that is the case, by far the easiest option would be to ream the chamber.

Much like CZ, Walther chambers are typically on the tight end of the spectrum, so this is IMO the most likely scenario, unfortunately, which is why I started this thread in the first place.