quote:

Originally posted by joedjr:
[QUOTE]If the slide was not locked it would have almost blown the slide backward off of the frame.

If it was locked and the pressure was normal the lock up of the barrel and slide would still be normal.
If the pressure was excessive the locking features and the chamber would probably be damaged.

The slide was open after the shot in question but could not close because the next bullet jammed it from closing due to the casing being stuck in the chamber.
The locking features and the chamber due not appear damaged but I will know soon.

quote:

Originally posted by tnekkcc:
Chambers and ammo are typically made at the small end of the sloppy SAAMI tolerances.
The top of the ammo tolerance range is the bottom of the chamber range.
Ammo to chamber fit is then usually 1/2 of the total possible ammo to chamber sloppiness.
The 40sw is the exception.
The rear of the 40 sw chamber is .4274" + .004".
The rear of the 40 sw cartridge is .424 - .005".
We would expect a chamber slightly more than .4274" and ammo slightly more than .419" for a sloppiness of .0084".
But Glock 22 40sw pistols made 15 years ago had chambers that were larger than .4314".
The brass was being worked is a plastic deformation hysteretic loop of more than .0124"
So your brass wore out 33% faster?
That is not what happened here.
The die carbide ring has a taper and the shell holder has a height, so the brass does not get worked all the way to the extractor groove.
Normal reloading has no effect on the brass where this one failed.*
The head and the body appear to have been made separately, poorly welded together, and separated again.


* I built a 45acp target rifle with .469" straight chamber. Brass had to be forced through a carbide die with hammer and punch to get sizing at the web. Grinding the carbide with diamond to get rid of the taper is not enough. The shell holder must be taken out.

The head and the body made seperatley poor weld

This is why I put so little stock in any reloading site.

If you can't dazzle them with brillance you baffle them with BS.

quote:

Originally posted by Hunt-ducks:

quote:

Originally posted by tnekkcc:
...

The head and the body appear to have been made separately, poorly welded together, and separated again.

...

The head and the body made seperatley poor weld

This is why I put so little stock in any reloading site.

If you can't dazzle them with brillance you baffle them with BS.

a) You miss quoted when you left out the word 'appear'.
b) You misspelled "separately'.
c) You misspelled 'brillance'.
d) You went negative.
e) Sell your stock in a forum where that happens

Slight HiJack:
PTI

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:
If the slide was not locked it would have almost blown the slide backward off of the frame.

Saw an early US military 9mm Beretta put its slide into the shooters head years ago.
(I know they supposedly fixed that, hasn't changed my desire not to shoot one.)

Though it would appear the failure is due too the unsupported area of the case and a weak case, perhaps over-pressured.

I blame the gun (jokingly ,of course)

quote:

Did the gun fire locked up or was it unlocked?

How does a gun fire when not locked? We are talking Beretta - a properly designed and made gun. Even my relatively cheap Star could not fire in the unlocked condition. The hammer will simply strike the slide, assuming the trigger could even be operated - no? Remember that a Beretta barrel drops down in the unlocked position so the primer is not even aligned with the firing pin. Or does it unlock before dropping down? (Apparently it has happened so...?)

Thank You very much to all the information everyone has offered. Though I have been shooting and hunting now for 40 years it certainly does not make me an expert at reloading. I have loaded about 500 rounds so far. One thing I did do was read 3 different books/manuals. I know this doesn't make me an expert but I have no one else to help me so was relying on the manuals to teach me.
When I started to reload the 40 S&W I really only wanted 6.0 of the unigue. What happened was when I was dropping the powder it slowly creped up on me. I did weigh almost every other round or so and know it was never more than 6.5. That was probably my 1st major mistake. I didn't realize that these 1/10 increments made such a big impact.
My second mistake may have been the seating. I crimped the bullet like the manual said, but maybe not quite enough. It said turn 1/8 to crimp I did 1/4 more. When I went and checked the seating today, I logged the number and than tapped on some of the tops of the bullets with a small tap hammer and some did move down a bit. This also may contributed.
Also, it may have been the brass. I bought the brass on line as once fired. I checked each case visually and they seemed fine.
What I will do in the future when the gun comes back is load at the start and weigh every load, make sure the crimp is tight and buy new brass.
Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks again guys for all the help.
Joe

quote:

Originally posted by joedjr:

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks again guys for all the help.
Joe

Unique is a flake powder that can bridge in the Uniflow. I'd switch to a spherical( ball) powder like Accurate #9. But first I'd find out why the Uniflow "creped up" from 6.0gr.

I've been using mine for 35 years. Mine has a few different sized metal drain tubes that screw under the metering drum body. If yours is the same, use the one with the largest inside diameter hole for your 40 auto. That will help prevent powder bridging if you've got pounds of Unique to use up or don't wish to switch to an easier flowing powder.

Don't throw in the towel on this reloading hobby cause of one slight setback. If it was easy, a caveman could do it? But you must have your head in the game at all times.

quote:

...but I have no one else to help me...

What are we, chopped liver? Asking for help after you've gotten in too deep isn't the time. Ask first, then act on the best advise.