Extractor, recoil spring, or does my hand loading suck?
Posted: August 23rd, 2010, 6:38 pm
I've been hand loading for my P64 using cut down 9mm Luger cases, AA #2 and the Meister 95 grain lead bullets, .965 OAL. I have the 22lb recoil spring on my P64, never shot it with the stock spring.
So at 3.6 grains (the starting load) of AA #2 I get failure to go into battery pretty consistently. The gun is just slightly out of battery. I find that the extractor is sitting behind the case, not engaging the rim like it should. Drop the mag (or else I get a double-feed), rack the slide (round stays in the chamber) and the extractor snaps over the rim allowing me to continue shooting.
Running a 3.8 grain load of AA #2, I find myself wearing some powder. There is noticeable blowback of unburned powder. Not tons, but enough to make me stinky after a range session. No failure to go into battery like I've described.
So this weekend I loaded up 50 rounds using 3.7 grains of AA#2. I had no blowback of unburned powder, but one hangup of the extractor like I've described.
So is the recoil spring too strong for these light loads? Is the spring not allowing the slide to recoil far enough back to generate the force needed to chamber the next round correctly?
Or is there something wrong with the extractor? Is it too stiff or something?
And why can't I get near the 4.0 grain max of AA #2 without wearing a lot of powder? Seems the stronger recoil spring should hold the breech closed longer.....
I may switch back to the stock spring and see if I have problems with the 3.6 grain load. Any other ideas?
So at 3.6 grains (the starting load) of AA #2 I get failure to go into battery pretty consistently. The gun is just slightly out of battery. I find that the extractor is sitting behind the case, not engaging the rim like it should. Drop the mag (or else I get a double-feed), rack the slide (round stays in the chamber) and the extractor snaps over the rim allowing me to continue shooting.
Running a 3.8 grain load of AA #2, I find myself wearing some powder. There is noticeable blowback of unburned powder. Not tons, but enough to make me stinky after a range session. No failure to go into battery like I've described.
So this weekend I loaded up 50 rounds using 3.7 grains of AA#2. I had no blowback of unburned powder, but one hangup of the extractor like I've described.
So is the recoil spring too strong for these light loads? Is the spring not allowing the slide to recoil far enough back to generate the force needed to chamber the next round correctly?
Or is there something wrong with the extractor? Is it too stiff or something?
And why can't I get near the 4.0 grain max of AA #2 without wearing a lot of powder? Seems the stronger recoil spring should hold the breech closed longer.....
I may switch back to the stock spring and see if I have problems with the 3.6 grain load. Any other ideas?