FortyFive:
I've had my best strings of luck with both S&B and Federal American Eagle. They, along with Black Hills (IIRC) are on WC's recommended list for IDPA/practice ball loads. The problems (EDIT: referring to the two malfunctions this last weekend) all occurred during IDPA, with the FTF during a double tap and the PSL during a single shot.
With each type of ammo I got to about 700-750 rounds with no malfunctions. With the S&B I don't recall what it was that started it (possibly a weak wrist stove pipe by my friend? -- my records are at home), but I decided to try it without the shok-buff. Turns out that changed the timing of the gun and I had *very* frequent premature slide locks with S&B. I think I have that resolved, but I made it about 700 rounds with Federal AE until these two malfuntions this weekend.
georgek:
Thanks for the info. I tried to call Dillon but they're not open yet.
Do you have a product number for this gauge? I couldn't find it on the net. How much are they and what do they measure? Do they measure OAL as well as crimp? I can measure OAL, but haven't figured out a way to determine if a round has the proper crimp.
barbrady and Anthony:
Yeah, I've heard that ball ammo is inconsistent in OAL as well. WC says that S&B, Federal AE and Black Hills are the best "promotional" ball they've found.
But, with Anthony's comment about requiring zero malfunctions in 1,000 rounds, that what I was trying to do with the Federal AE. And I made it up to about 708 rounds (actually, I believe the malfunctions occurred at around 575, as I fired another 150 or so rounds that day with no problems).
So, now the question is, what is the most consistent 230 grain FMJ available? I don't want to have to spend $20 a box to get it, which is why I have been shooting Federal AE.
I shoot frequently and like to load my mags up after a shooting session and leave them loaded til I hit the range again. I don't want to unload Hydra-Shok from the mags and put ball in them as it needlessly cycles the mag springs. Because I had been having good luck with Federal AE, I felt comfortable keeping that as the ammo I use for home defense. (And no, I don't want to get into a ball v. HP debate here. :smile: )
Would you recommend against using Federal AE for home defense? I'm doing this because I want my home defense load to be the load that I shoot A LOT of rounds with, both so I'm used to the POA and other characteristics of the load, I know the reliability in my pistol and I don't needlessly wear my mag springs. Realistically, I can afford to shoot thousands of rounds of Federal AE a year, but wouldn't want to do the same with Hydra-Shok due to the expense. I guess I was hoping that I would get through a case of AE without any problems (that was my goal after getting it back from WC in July).
So, I guess here'e what I'm left with. I put pencil to paper (okay, I cheated and used a calculator) and 2 malfunctions out of 708 rounds is still 99.72% reliable. Is that good enough? Intellectually, I guess it seems like an acceptable reliability for any machine. Particularly when I can perform malfuction drills as fast as I can. But my gut says NO WAY! I want one of those guns (like the recent CQB's) where people feed them the most cruddy rounds they can find and the gun chews them up without a hiccup. I have a WC 1996A2 and am wondering whether I have a lemon. My friends new Kimber CC has been more reliable than my WC, even including the break-in (though he had one FTF with the same case of Federal AE this weekend).
Here's what I'm doing now. Last night I measured the OAL of all my Federal AE rounds. (BTW, this is a major PITA using a dial caliber and chamber check -- barrel out of gun.) All the chamber checks were fine and the OAL was between 1.26-1.27. Most rounds were right at 1.265, which is just about ideal. Should I be worried about the fwe (probably 30%) of the rounds that are at the extremes (1.26 and 1.27)? Should I be separating those and seeing if I get malfunctions with them? Also, what can I do to check the taper crimp?
And at some point AM I HAVING TO SCREW AROUND TOO MUCH WITH A $1,400 PISTOL? I don't know what to say to the guys at WC (great customer service, BTW). I feel petty calling them up with 2 malfunctions in 708 rounds.
Thanks everyone. Grrrrr. This sucks because this is a very accurate pistol and I like it a lot.
EDIT noted in text.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: JacRyan on 2001-10-17 11:01 ]</font>