1911 Ltwt. Commander 9mm brass problem?

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bocash3

Bearcat
Joined
Aug 27, 2017
Messages
38
Location
Western NC
Howdy

Recently took out the Ruger 1911 Lightweight Commander in 9mm.

I was running my reloads with 125 gr. cast RN and my favorite load of Titegroup.
For the first time since shooting this piece, I had 3 shells fail to chamber.

My brass is a mix of all brands and none have ever failed to function.............until this outing.

All 3 of the brass that failed to chamber were S&B (Sellier and Bellot or however you spell that).

All brass are always full length sized in the same RCBS dies.

I kept the 3 suspect shells and brought them home to the reloading bench.
Stripping the Ruger, I took the barrel alone and alternated dropping reloaded shells into the chamber.
ALL went home except these three S&B rounds!! They stopped dead about 1/5th inch from being fully chambered.

OK..................so does S&B have thicker bases - - or possibly thicker walls at the case mouth? Why did they not resize like all the other brands?

Any clues here? I will now pick through all my empty and reloaded shells and discard the S&B's.

Anyone else have this problem with S&B?
 

Get Wood

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jan 16, 2017
Messages
200
Location
Mid Ohio.
bocash3: I Wounder If They Would Do The Same With A Jacked Bullet ????? Because All I Run In 9mm Is Jacked And Range Brass & So Far Over The Yrs. NO TROUBLE ...Just Saying....
 

Pat-inCO

Hawkeye
Joined
Oct 17, 2009
Messages
5,922
Location
In the AZ oven (Phoenix basin)
My first question is . . . how many other S&B do you have in there?
If it is only one or two, would be one thing, but if it's a hundred or so,
then I would think someone got in a hurry doing the resize and didn't
get the ram all the way up.

I do a tumble to remove range dust/dirt, full length resize, tumble again
to get them polished, then clean the primer pocket. I then run them
through a Dillon Square Deal "B" to load. Never had a problem.
(Doing unnecessary work? Don't know, but never had a problem)
 

bocash3

Bearcat
Joined
Aug 27, 2017
Messages
38
Location
Western NC
THANKS for the 2 replies.

I think I figured it out today. I "miked" the top of the S&B shells (the loaded ones). I miked them
at where the middle of the bullet is seated.

Then I miked 6 more rounds of the same loads with brass by Rem. Win. and others.

The S&B miked about 1 1/2 thousandths more in total diameter!!! And apparently the Ruger 1911 Commander barrel is sensitive to a loaded round that is ever so slightly larger in diameter.

Next step: to see if those same rounds will easily chamber in the Springfield, Smith 5906, and Smith 439.
IF they do, I will separate all the loaded S&B rounds out of the some 2,000 I have loaded and use those in the latter 3 pistols.

IF the above does not work, I will pull out All of the re-loaded S&B rounds and either toss them or pull the bullets and toss the empty cases.

I have never run into this before. It is obvious to this old woodsman that S&B have cases with slightly thicker case walls.

Y'all be good and take care, Bo
 

Bayouhunter

Single-Sixer
Joined
Nov 23, 2010
Messages
388
Location
South Alabama
Those three cases may have the glock bulge. A slight bulge that full length sizing doesn't always remove. I've run across that bulge quite often when reloading mixed brass I've bought in bulk.
 

cas6969

Buckeye
Joined
Oct 11, 1999
Messages
1,215
Did they eject okay, or did they stay in the chamber when you pulled the slide back?
 

bocash3

Bearcat
Joined
Aug 27, 2017
Messages
38
Location
Western NC
cas said:
Did they eject okay, or did they stay in the chamber when you pulled the slide back?

All of the reloads I used that were stamped S&B would not go into battery!! They were loaded right along with Rem, Win, Fed, and others. Only the S&B would not fully chamber.

Thicker brass at the case mouth? Tight chamber? I don't know the answer, but will never reload S&B in that particular pistol again. Just for the heck of it, I may try them in my Springfield RO, Smith 439, or Smith 5906 and see what happens. It may be best just to throw any and all S&B brass away just in case I ever need to protect myself with those loads for some reason.

Y'all take care, Bo
 

dickn52

Bearcat
Joined
Jul 3, 2017
Messages
67
My experience with S&B 45 ammo was similar. The primer holes were very tight. The brass would resize, but with difficulty. S&B is a superior product, but for whatever reason they make pistol ammo big.
 
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