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Old 03-31-2011, 12:26 AM
ShrinkMD ShrinkMD is offline
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Default 952 break in?

I have been having trouble with my 952, with multiple times locking up the pistol and needing to hammer out the round with a dowel. I put 100 rounds of factory through it which seemed ok, maybe one or two times the slide needed a nudge to go completely into battery. Then I started using my handloads (mixed cases, 124 LRN bullets, either Bullseye 3.4 gr or Power Pistol 5.0 gr) and I have had lots of times the slide needed a nudge, or got completely stuck.

I have played with different sizing dies, seating lengths, adjusted the crimper some more. Still having problems.

So here is the funny (and hopefully getting better) part. I ran 100 rounds which I had gauged EACH round, and almost all slipped in and out, a few needed the tiniest nudge in or out, but all seated completely into the Wilson 9mm gauge. I again had a few which didn't go into battery, and one or two stuck which needed the dowel. Then I had a few other boxes of loads which I did not gauge. By the last box or so, I think they all went flawlessly.

The pistol now has 700 rounds on it, 250 of which were this last time out at the range. Do you think it just needed some breaking in? I've never had a gun require that yet, all of my other semi autos have been good to go out of the box (well, the 10/22 needed the exact edge extractor, but don't they all??)

Do target pistols need a little more time to catch their stride?
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Old 03-31-2011, 07:01 AM
RGPM1A RGPM1A is offline
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I occasionally have had the same issue as you. Every time it happened it was with one of my reloads - never with factory ammo. In my case each time it happened it was because of one of three things: the OAL was too long, the OAL was ok but the bullet wasn't seated deep enough, or the case was bulged from the bullet seating process.

The first issue was easy to fix - just make sure you find the OAL/case trim length your gun can chamber for each bullet type you use.

The second issue was solved by using the barrel chamber to find how far each bullet type should be seated to be set back just enough to not have interference with the rifling of the barrel.

The third issue was solved by making sure the mouth of the case was properly belled before seating the bullet and the taper crimp die was properly adjusted.

Hope this helps.

BTW I always inspect every round with the barrel after they are reloaded and before a match. Haven't had a problem since.
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Old 03-31-2011, 07:23 AM
ShrinkMD ShrinkMD is offline
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Yeah, that is the QC process I had been working on. The funny part about the other day was that I had made a batch of 200, only shot 50 a different day with one or two problems, then made another 100 with more taper crimp (which all gauged nicely), but when I was shooting I shot the older 150 last, and they are the ones which ran better.

I can't wait to get back to the range and try the same recipe, hopefully the gun is more "broken in" and not "broken." Otherwise I will test some more factory, and if still having problems might send it back in for a check up.
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Old 03-31-2011, 08:28 AM
RGPM1A RGPM1A is offline
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You might also check that the diameters of the bullets you are using are correct. For jacketed bullets it should be 0.355". For lead 0.356". Sometimes with cast bullets they are sized incorrectly. I have received some over the years that were undersized and some that were oversized by as much plus or minus 0.002".

BTW I doubt there is something break-in related wrong with your gun. Maybe the chamber is cut incorrectly but I would doubt it. I have never seen or heard of anyone getting a 952 stinker that had feeding or ejection issues. There are many reports of accuracy issues but I am convinced it is due to the heavier trigger compared to a model 52 or from people not patient enough to find the right bullet and load the gun likes.

Last edited by RGPM1A; 03-31-2011 at 08:32 AM.
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Old 03-31-2011, 11:27 AM
Carnage_7 Carnage_7 is offline
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Use your pistol barrel as your case gauge initially to make sure the cartridges drop in and out freely and spin around freely.
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Old 03-31-2011, 12:23 PM
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JamesArthur60 JamesArthur60 is offline
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I never had such issues with mine. I've never tried reloads and sampled at least five different factory brands before finding one that seemed the most accurate. Seems strange especially for a custom built gun.
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Old 01-04-2016, 01:35 PM
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Ed Fowler Ed Fowler is offline
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My 952 has not had any problems, I believe this is because when I started loading 9mm for my P 210 I found it had a tight chamber and required careful reloading. Once I learned how to reload for them, I have had no problems since.

My other 9mm will accept rounds the tight chambers will not.

I feel the tight chamber is a big part of the accuracy we can expect from a target pistol. My target pistols have taught me a lot about reloading!!
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Old 01-04-2016, 03:23 PM
Sevens Sevens is offline
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Posters note that this is a four (nearly five) year old discussion, so the original poster has very likely not returned to discuss his problem or how it all turned out.

I also ran in to a similar problem and I already had nearly 25 years at the load bench before the first time I had to deal with it. It was also with 9mm, my Springfield Loaded Stainless, and I traced the issue down to my barrels chamber is on the small side of SAAMI spec. Factory ammo did fit fine, although with no looseness of any manner whatsoever, but my handloads were very hit & miss.

The discouraging part was that I had been crafting 9mm handloads for more than a decade and had successfully run them in somewhere near two dozen different 9mm handguns without any kind of an issue -UNTIL- I ran in to this new pistol that wouldn't accept them all the time.

My solution was to purchase a new 9mm sizing die. And no, I didn't wear the other one out... the newer one just happened to be just a hair smaller. My logical conclusion is that there exists a tolerance range that these dies are produced within and my pistol's chamber crosses over in to that range of tolerance.

I would have to assume at this point that the chamber in that one pistol is ever so slightly under-spec in dimensions. I still have the Springfield Loaded Stainless 9mm and it has been a fantastic handgun, but it is not quite up to the ability of my Tanfoglio Elite Match. And I would expect a Performance Center Smith & Wesson 9mm to out-shoot either of these pistols. I genuinely hope that one day I can finally add one to my stable.
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Old 01-04-2016, 04:36 PM
malph malph is offline
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I own more than ten 952s. I have quite a bit of experience with the gun and have put a lot of rounds down range through them. I never experience the need to "break in" the gun as you describe. Of the 952s I've had, one developed the old "hammer follows slide" syndrome. This occurred though after many tens of thousands of rounds. Another had an issue as delivered from the PC with a stiff safety and a little bit of creep in the trigger. That same gun also had an issue with the briley bushing seeming not glued correctly to the gun and working it's way free under recoil.

In all, one problematic gun that had issues that should of been caught prior to it being shipped and one gun that developed an issue after it had many, many rounds shot out of it.

Overall, my experience with the gun is that it's very reliable with just about any factory ammo.
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Old 01-04-2016, 05:03 PM
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Ed Fowler Ed Fowler is offline
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It warmed up to 22 f. today and I got to shoot my new (to me) 952-1.
100 rounds, not one malfunction. I find it extremely accurate, makes me feel guilty if a round is outside of its main group.

Bases on a sample of two P210's and one 952 I have found them very close to equal with the load I developed for my P210 Legends.
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Old 01-04-2016, 06:37 PM
Barrie Barrie is offline
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I found with my 9mm that 3.4 was not quite enough for a new gun with strong springs in it. Yes it was mainly my reloads that gave me problems as well. I upped my powder measure to around 4grams and had no problem on cycling after that. I would suggest increasing your powder load slightly to 4 grams.
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