Posted: 6/29/2009 11:21:02 PM EDT
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I'm having a peculiar problem. When I chamber a round, then extract it, the bullet comes out looking like the one on the left:
http://i41.tinypic.com/2w5spit.jpg I'm sure it's not a good idea to fire the round when the bullet's pushed that far into the casing 
Is this attributed to the round or the pistol? I'm not repeatedly chambering the same round over and over. The 1911 is an army issue Ithaca from 1943, the ammo, steel cased Twin Cities armory non corrosive circa 1955ish |
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Quoted:
I'm having a peculiar problem. When I chamber a round, then extract it, the bullet comes out looking like the one on the left: http://i41.tinypic.com/2w5spit.jpg I'm sure it's not a good idea to fire the round when the bullet's pushed that far into the casing
Is this attributed to the round or the pistol? I'm not repeatedly chambering the same round over and over. The 1911 is an army issue Ithaca from 1943, the ammo, steel cased Twin Cities armory non corrosive circa 1955ish Setback ammo can occur with repeated rechamberings in modern guns and ammo. I'd bet it's the ammo. |
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Setback is a near-inevitability with respect to repeat chamberings.
My general advice: 1. If you don't know the OAL of your round of choice on sight, set aside one cartridge in your box of carry ammo to compare after carrying ammo for a while. 2. Do NOT drop the slide upon or slingshot the round in your weapon when you load it with carry ammo. These practices are perfectly fine for reloads and range use where you practice reloads, but the assumption is you are dropping the slide on a round that's about to be chambered once then sent out the barrel. 3. DO gently ride the slide on carry ammo that you intend to keep for a while and rechamber. 4. Do NOT chamber the same round every time. In a week of handling, it's not uncommon to clear and chamber 3-10 times. in 30 days that would be 12-40 times on one bullet. 5. DO circulate the ammo by chambering round 1, then when clearing, strip 7-8 out of the mag and put round 1 at the bottom of the mag, to evenly cycle all 8 rounds. 6. DO ask around about different carry ammo. one additional factor is rechambering strength. I have roughly treated Hydrashoks and they withstood 3 years of continuous carry abuse before I discharged them and cycled in fresh ammo. I have "heard" Winchester Ranger ammo (a very good defensive round) is rather sensitive to rechambering whereas Speer Gold Dot is fairly stable with careful cycling. 7. Do NOT fire a bullet with noticable setback ever. This could cause a very dangerous situation and cost you a firearm, life, or limb. If you adhere to these steps, you can carry the same ammo safely for months or even years as I have in the past. ETA: If the weapon is doing this on ONE chambering with the ammo in question, I would strip the antique ammo out (should be saved for collector purposes anyway) and try FMJ from 1-2 companies. It could be a weak taper on old ammo, or it could be an odd OAL, or both. If it is doing this with 1-2 brands of new FMJ, it may be a tight chamber and I'd have a smith check out the Ithica. |
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Put a better crimp on your reloads.
Since he doesn't apparently reload, that ain't going to help. He's shooting surplus military ammo: the ammo, steel cased Twin Cities armory non corrosive circa 1955ish
If this is happening consistently with the TC ball ammo, suspect improper storage and that something has happened to the lube/sealant between the brass and the steel. When you have disparate metals like that side by side you will have much faster corrosion because of the galvanic effect. Since cartridge brass is often 70% copper, this doesn't happen with copper-jacketed rounds in brass cases. This is basically copper-on-copper and ideal for long-term storage. The fact it is in steel cases is probably the root cause of your problem. Shoot the ammo in a revolver if you have one. If you do reload, pull the bullets and junk the cases/powder/primers and then you could reload the projectiles in new brass cases. With ammo that old, suspect the ammo, not the gun. Does the gun have an original magazine with it, the old GI type with the gently tapered feed lips? It should feed this ammo very smoothly and not create this problem. If you are using a modern magazine, try a proper GI magazine or a genuine Colt magazine with hybrid feedlips. Cylce/eject some and see if you are getting bullet set back. Shooting older military ammo in old army guns with GI magazines is usually quite fun - the system is working as designed and is quite smooth and reliable. I do this periodically. If even GI magazines can't load this without set-back, the copper-steel interface must be terribly corroded or weakened. |