I received two new Mec-Gar mags yesterday and immediately went out to test them. I have the same exact problem, failure to feed a second round.
So, now going the possibly weak ammo route, I loaded up 5 rounds using Accurate Arms powder AA#5 loaded near max (according to the manual) which the manual indicates should be 1300fps out of a 6" barrel.
Let me preface this by saying I chronoed ammo from my only box of 30 luger, WW Super-X (which I believe is supposed to be 1220 fps) and it actually gave me a 1048fps average out of my 3-7/8" barrel, with one round at 981 and one round at 1080, the rest were in the 1020-1050 range.
My reloads, that I expected to be 1200 fps or more, averaged 1080, with a high of 1095 and a low of 1075. I used my original magazine and the first three rounds functioned successfully, with a failure to feed on the fourth round, which was the round chronoed at 1075. Also, firing the final round out of a mag fails to result in the action locking open on any of the three mags. But when cycled by hand, the action locks back perfectly. So it does appear to be a weak ammo situation not fully operating the action and it appears that I am going to have to up the load to well over 1100 fps. Since my AA#5 load is already near recommended max and it isn't making 1100 out of my barrel, I'll need to find a different load. I used AA#5 since I have lots of it, but I have other powder to try as well.
There seems to be a big velocity drop from a 6" to a 4" (3-7/8 really) barrel if the AA manual and WW specs are to be believed.
Anyone have any pet 30 luger loads they'd like to share that function well out of their 3-7/8" barrel Lugers?
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