What is the influence of overal length?

[LSP972]

Originally Posted by alterfritz

it doesn't look trivial.

It isn't. But its not rocket science, either. The key is paying attention to detail.

My newly acquired 1914 DWM is 100% reliable with both
Federal American Eagle 115gr ball and WW "white box" 115gr ball. It chokes consistently on my pet reload, which is a Precision Delta 115gr ball bullet over 4.2 of WST. This load functions fine in the other half-dozen 9mm pistols (all "modern") that my family and I shoot.

The type of malfunction I'm seeing in the Luger is a failure to feed. The cartridge OAL is 1.145"; the factory ball cartridges are 1.165". This is in line with Sieger's information above.

I batch-load by caliber; I would rather not constantly be changing tool heads, etc., on the Dillon. I'll load several thousand rounds before switching things. I shoot mainly .45, but my wife and grandsons can lay waste to an ammo can full of 9mm...

Anyway... next time I load 9mm, I'll move the OAL out by twenty thousandths, and use Winchester bullets. The Precision Delta bullet has a more shallow ogive than "standard". That could possibly be a contributing factor.

The point is, I'll have fun tinkering with my load parameters, trying to find one that works. And not only is rolling your own enjoyable, it makes tremendous economic sense these days. You have to buy your components in bulk to realize major savings, but the potential is there.

I frequent a "local" shooter's board. There are many posts of guys giving scouting reports on which store has ammunition, at what price. Lately, an undertone of desperation is creeping into these posts, as they are finding less and less available, at ever-increasing prices.