6" Composite Digital Caliper - For casual use
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-composite-digital-caliper-93293.html
http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/25548/catid/3/Dillon_Handgun_Case_Gages
Posted on 03/22/2013 3:31:35 PM PDT by Celerity
Hello all,
Today I got my .45 back from the gunsmith (hammer drop issues on a Bersa) and took it out to the range for the first time in about 6 months. (Wow.. gunsmithing takes a long time)
I purchased a box of range ammo - some garbage tulammo. I got to the range, and noticed the shells all had slight expansion, or bulges on the circumference of the bullet seat. I brought the box back, and opened another box of TulAmmo. Same thing. Some rounds have it, others don't. I decided to be "safe" and just spend a few extra bucks for the Remington offerings.
I got back to the range, and sure enough - the shells had a slight bulge. I decided to walk around and pick up some brass to compare other's shell conditions after firing. (No one at the range had any .45 to compare). I fired a few rounds, and everything went ok. I picked up my brass to examine at home.
When I got home, I unboxed my premium .45 and found that while they weren't bulged - They DID have some special marks or treatment on the casing right where the bullet seated.
Have I just been missing something for years ? Does the process of seating the bullet in the shell sometimes result in a slight expansion of the casing ?
A picture is worth 1000 words.
Yes,it does sometimes happen. As long as they chamber, they work for me.
My 1911 eats Tulammo like candy! No FTE/FTF. Cheap, etc. My Springfield will run anything.
Since the .45 headspaces on the mouth of the case, you can’t use a “rolled in” crimp on the bullet like you would find on a .38 Special, so a sung fit over the length of the bullet in the casing is important.
I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
You where able to find ammo?!
I have been in the service business for 40 years and this phenomena always amazes me. Some one can use a piece of equipment for years with no problem, then it breaks, they get it fixed and notices it is doing something new. Even know it has done it since day one, they think something is wrong. This is just another one of those cases. This is normal and I have been shooting 45acp for 50 years(Yes, since I was eight). Two favorite pistols, M191 and H&K P9s
I don’t have any problems finding ammo, large magazines, or rifles.
My area seems pretty insulated from the goings-on around the country.
We don’t even really have a price increase. Things have gone up about a dollar or so here and there, but my area just seems insulated.
I have a Makarov and an Fn Five-seveN as well. In my area, I must be the ONLY cat with these pistols, because buying ammo is plentiful and priced at 2010 ranges.
Getting .223 and 9mm seems to be heavily affected in my area though. The availability is sparse, but the prices aren’t gouging. When I visit Connecticut I find that most of those shops are complete highwaymen - And even the big boys at Hoffmans seem to have a problem wrapping their heads around whether to fatten up pockets or serve their loyal customers. Disappointing.
I’m on your gripe list :)
Yeah, of course I do things like that. My Bersa - while having such an agreeable frame dimension and trigger - Is NOT a mil-spec pistol that will last 10,000 rounds without issue.
I understand that. I made it to about 500 rounds before the thing’s sear just rounded off and the hammer started dropping (And dropping, and dropping, and making that single 3 second event the longest misfire event of my entire life). My confidence is shaken. I am now looking at EVERYTHING since getting this piece back because I’m just not sure I can trust it anymore.
today marks the first day of many where I will torture test this and try and build my confidence again. And as my first paragraph stated, I KNOW this firearm isn’t an heirloom, dead-reliable piece. It’s a cheap firearm. The overall package is just so good in my hand and I can manipulate and administer it so well that nothing has compared. Even a 1911 at any quality and price point. They are superior weapons, but this Bersa just works really well for me.
Cartridge dynamics and properties are something that I am only recently learning about. There is MUCH to know in the field of reloading and cartridge building. You should have talked to me the week that a .380 decided to break apart in my Beretta. No one saw me that week outside of the library, gun shops, and gunsmiths to discuss why it happened.
6" Composite Digital Caliper - For casual use
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-composite-digital-caliper-93293.html
http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/25548/catid/3/Dillon_Handgun_Case_Gages
Today I got my .45 back from the gunsmith (hammer drop issues on a Bersa) and took it out to the range for the first time in about 6 months. (Wow.. gunsmithing takes a long time)
A Bersa .45? I picked one up a couple Christmases ago. It was a purchase that came up unexpectedly. It's growing on me.
Have I just been missing something for years ? Does the process of seating the bullet in the shell sometimes result in a slight expansion of the casing ?
I see it sometimes with handloads. I've never seen it with factory ammo from any source, even "garbage Tula". (Which I don't shoot, only because for me it's worth while to spend a bit more to get reloadable brass.)
From your description I do not understand: Ammo from TulAmmo was bulged, before or after being fired? Ammo from other vendors was bulged, before or after being fired?
In all cases, before being fired. The spent shells were not any different.
I am not using +p or anything exotic.
In the picture above, I SEE the bulge that I’m talking about. I guess it’s not an unusual thing.
I’ve never seen a bulge like that and I’ve fired a lot of .45.. It looks like the brass is bulging just behind the end of the seated bullet where it isn’t supported. Best guess is an out of spec chamber: cut a couple of thousands too short and maybe a bit wide at that point. Does it do this to good quality ammo (I.e., Winchester, Remington, Federal)?
I’m a Colt man, myself though I have been known to favor the occasional Remington Rand or Ithaca.
From the Tula Arsenal in Russia?
At the present time the Tula Cartridge Woks is the leading Russian ammunition factory and the largest supplier of ammunition at home and abroad.
American manufacturers will sometimes anneal the case mouth. That accounts for the color difference.
Wouldn’t worry too much about that Bersa, especially if it’s been gone over at the factory. I have the 9mm version. That IS a military firearm, BTW...used by the Argentinian Armed Forces and National Police. It’s a license-built Mauser 88, basically...a good design.
Sounds like you got a bad one, which is surprising, because Bersas are rock-solid guns. I’ve put thousands of rounds through a 9mm without a hitch, and I have the .22 as well, which is a sweet shooter.
Conversely, I DID have a military firearm go into a “hammer drop” situation...a Tokarev variant. I traded up and my current Tok M70A is smooth as butta...a sweet shooting, reliable pistol.
The fact is, malfunctions can happen with any pistol, and you only find this out by shooting them. Now that the defective part has been replaced, keep shooting it like you said, until your confidence rises again. If you can find ammo, that is.
Which is why I don't like to use other people's computers. All I have to do is browse a few ordinary websites and then when the router gives out it must have been something I did.
It is Russian and goes bang every time I squeeze the trigger. The new UN treaty will probably block the import of all of the foreign ammo from the states. It may be a tad dirty but my guns run it quite well. And when available, it is cheap.
It turned out that the sear was angled, and always barely hung onto the hammer drop. The root cause was an improperly installed spring on the hammer assembly. which always lead to the hammer being slightly canted to one side. It wore through the sear like butter.
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