generic plunk test question

When loading for pistol calibers.

So, if I plunk test in a removed barrel from a semi-auto, it will obviously fit in that barrel, but might not in others. However, if I get a chamber gauge that is cut to SAAMI specs, and it fits properly in them, it should fit in any barrel that is theoretically cut to SAAMI specs?

I have a number of 9mm pistols, and will have 2 10mm pistols.

For revolvers, getting a gauge I assume would be a best practice, because every bore in every cylinder, in every revolver might have a variance. So at least a round that fits properly in a chamber gauge should have the best chance to fit everything?

I want to be safe, and don't want surprises with poorly fitting rounds at the family range 2 hours from my home.

I don't quite understand exactly what it is you are asking. The whole point of a plunk test is to determine if your reloads easily and fully fit into your gun's (or guns') chambers, nothing else. Remember that your reloads may or may not meet SAAMI-spec cartridge dimensions. I am not sure where one could find a SAAMI-spec chamber gauge. It would not be the same thing as a headspace gauge, the purpose of which is to test only chamber length (from the breech face to the datum point of the chamber).

Determine, by which ever means you can, which pistol has the least amount of freebore/leade (between the chamber's shoulder & the beginning of the rifling) & load all related ammo to that spec, if practical.

Case sizing shouldn't be an issue for straight walled handgun ammo. The COAL", which is largely a product of how deep the bullet is seated, as well as the bullet's contour & where it's ogive is, is usually the problem.

All of my 9mms have a generous freebore & I don't have to pay any special attention when handloading traditional bullets for them.

Same for my 3rd Gen 10mms. They're generally loaded to max. SAAMI length for that cartridge.

My 1911 Colt Mk.IV Series 70 has a very short freebore, in comparison to my 3rd Gens, & I load a special shorter COAL" just to be used in it. All my other 45ACP is loaded longer.

Revolvers are a different story. Max COAL" mainly comes down to throat diameter -vs- bullet diameter. If the bullet diameter is smaller than the throat diameter you can load it's length as long as the cylinder length permits.

I don't have/use a gage for my semi-auto pistols & I see no reason for using one with a revolver.

I do use a cartridge gage for bottleneck rifle cartridges, especially for my AR-15, which is paramount.

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Magazines can be more restrictive than a chamber in some instances: here OAL can make the difference... Interestingly I see this most often in 380 ACP.

Reloading specific ammo for each barrel would be the ultimate, but in the handgun calibers I have found the Lyman Ammo Checkers to be invaluable and use them quite often in many different steps of he reloading process. Sometimes an individual round just doesn't feel right: a quick drop into the ammo checker usually confirms or denies a problem. I commonly also use the plunk! test with multiple barrels if I'm planning on loading up a large quantity of ammo.

If while setting up my dies for expanding an expanded test case won't fit it is usually a pretty good indication that there is too much flare. Lead and coated bullets can require more expansion but this also necessitates more crimp. IMHO, incorrect (usually OVER-)expansion is the most likely source of related reloading problems as far as chambering is concerned: obviously powder problems are more serious, but that's a whole 'nother issue.

I do use what I consider to be the more precise Wilson Case Gauge for 357 SIG: It also confirms that the OAL is within spec. This is true for most bottle-necked rifle cartridges as well.

Cheers!

P.S. I guess I just really like my reloads to work and sincerely dislike having to take my ammo apart. As a diagnostic exercise it can be enlightening: otherwise it is a royal PITA!

I found my P226 required a .005 shorter COL than my 6906 due to a shorter leade. Not wanting to reset my 9mm dies, I use the shorter COL in both guns. The 6906 could not care less. Case sizing has never been a problem with either gun.

Another vote for the Wilson cartridge gages. Best chance to fit any gun you buy. (There are instances of undersized chambers not meeting SAAMI chamber specs. There are chamber reamers available to cure this particular problem once and for all.)

You can waste $$ on a Guage or................

just adjust your die to get the ammo right.

"My 1911 Colt Mk.IV Series 70 has a very short freebore, in comparison to my 3rd Gens, & I load a special shorter COAL" just to be used in it."

That's the case for my 9x19 Colt barrel. Loading to max COAL, 9mm loads with FMJ-RN bullets will not quite chamber completely. I can pound on the slide with my hand to make the slide lock up, but that's not something I want to do. So deeper bullet seating is needed. I have to do that for all my 9mm loads as I need them to fit all four of my 9mm pistols interchangeably. I have a SKKY with a chamber that will accept considerably longer 9mm loads, in fact even longer loads than will fit into the magazine.

Mostly, you are correct in thinking a chamber gage will fit all, But.... some guns have a shorter chamber, like a CZ for example.... and might not pass the plunk test even though it passed the chamber gage. What I do, is check the gun barrel with the shortest chamber, and set the OAL for that setting to use on all others.

I've never found a need to use a gauge in anything but ARs and I use one in an AR only because it's the easiest way to tell if a resized case or loaded cartridge is within spec.

With handguns, it's easy to tell if a cartridge will fit. It's already been covered here. It does take a little experimental work, but one time only. If you don't get 100% feeding and chambering reliability, you've got a problem that's almost always traceable to sizing, crimping, or overall cartridge length. Take your time and make up some dummy rounds. If you have several guns in the same chambering set your OAL for the one with the shortest chamber, if necessary. Avoid mixed brass; it usually works but if it doesn't, you've created another headache of your own making.

KLYDE said:

The waters have become muddied here. Set your OAL to the shortest chamber???

I usually set my OAL to what the loading manual lists for a given load.

I think the OP wanted to know if one of his reloads fits in the Max SAAMI Gauge....will it fit in all of his guns of the same caliber.

I would think the answer should be yes. If not I'd be returning the gun to the manufacturer.

In reading the posts above it seems that some members have guns that won't chamber SAAMI spec ammo. I was waiting for clarification from them.

Klyde

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If that's what you understood, I explained it poorly. I usually keep OAL just under maximum magazine OAL. Some chambers may have slightly different lengths, but any difference should be slight and should be pretty close to book and spec figures; certainly no great variance.

However, some bullets, because of their design will not allow seating to maximum recommended OAL for the cartridge. I have not personally run across chamber length variations of any consequence with regard to handgun cartridges, but I see it regularly with rifle cartridges where chambers and throats can vary a good bit.

I have at least a half-dozen semi-auto handguns chambered in .45 ACP. The same OAL for any particular bullet works fine in all of them. Same for my three 9mm semi-autos. I only shoot cast bullets in handgun cartridges, but what applies to cast applies to jacketed with the one exception being bullet diameter. Some guns can handle larger diameter bullets than others and for best accuracy, require larger diameter bullets. However, the oversize bullets must chamber freely. If not, they're too big.

Racer X said:

So, if I plunk test in a removed barrel from a semi-auto, it will obviously fit in that barrel, but might not in others.
However, if I get a chamber gauge that is cut to SAAMI specs, and it fits properly in them, it should fit in any barrel that is theoretically cut to SAAMI specs?

Click to expand...

KLYDE said:

I think the OP wanted to know if one of his reloads fits in the Max SAAMI Gauge....will it fit in all of his guns of the same caliber.

Click to expand...

No guarantees. Too many variables.

As I & others have tried to detail, with straight walled pistol cartridges, if the case is properly sized & crimped, an empty case will easily chamber into the usually generously cut factory chambers without any issues.

The vast majority of problems arise with the shape/style of the bullet loaded in the case & how far it protrudes into the barrel (COAL") & where the rifling starts in the barrel (freebore/leade).

The case check gages I've bought do not check for the later.

Doing a plunk test in your barrel does, if you know what to look for.

Virtually all my 3rd Gems () have leades/freebores that measure .100" or greater & can easily accept cartridges loaded over the max SAAMI COAL", because of that, even though it won't fit in the magazine & is thus not usable.

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KLYDE said:

I usually set my OAL to what the loading manual lists for a given load.

Click to expand...

That's a good starting point but you still should plunk test it in your pistol before continuing to load more of them.

It's the point they used. You can use your own, with adjustments & the understanding of what those adjustments affect.

I tend to load all my pistol ammo to the SAAMI max COAL" for that cartridge if it otherwise works properly in my pistols. You load what works for you.

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KLYDE said:

I would think the answer should be yes. If not I'd be returning the gun to the manufacturer.

Click to expand...

Good luck with that.

Manufacturers have to load their ammo conservatively & try their best to insure their loaded ammo works in the vast majority of guns it can.

You're handloading for your specific pistol. You can load it longer or shorter & make any adjusts needed or desired that still work in your pistol.

Not mine, yours.

If you want to load for any pistol you have to load it like the manufacturers do, conservatively.

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OP,
Have you taken a new round from any manufacturer and used it to perform a plunk test in all of your weapons?

I only have 1 pistol and 1 rifle so I've not had to deal with this issue.

all one needs to know about coal is right here, while this was written for the CZ it works with any barrel,
How to Determine Max OAL for a CZ Pistol

Racer X said:

When loading for pistol calibers.

Click to expand...

Geeze, guy specifies pistol caliber ammo in the first sentence and we have lengthy posts on gaging bottleneck rifle cartridges.

OK, pistol caliber cartridge gauges are supposed to establish SAAMI acceptable ammunition with respect to case dimensions. If the round doesn't drop into/out of the gauge, it might cause issues in your particular handgun. Doesn't mean it will. As some have noted, if your particular barrel has a short leade, you may need to use a somewhat shorter OAL for ammunition used in that barrel. OR, you might get a skilled individual to gently apply a "throating reamer" to change the leade. Back in the day, this used to be a standard operation for 1911's that were going to be fed a steady diet of SWC ammuntion.

It can get puzzling if you have a couple different handguns in the same caliber if one has a chamber toward minimum dimensions and you got the more generous chambered one first. Just set up to produce ammo for the tighter chamber.

I reloaded revolver ammo for 30 years for 6 guns with no problems then started reloading for a semi-auto (45 ACP) and thought I needed a cartridge gauge. I fought my methods and equipment to get handloads to fit the gauge. Finally I skipped the gauge and fired 200 rounds, absolutly trouble free. I now have 10 semi-auto handgun cartridge guns and plunk test my handloads. Only one gun was the "odd man out", a Masada 9mm that required a .007" shorter round, which still works fine in my 3 other 9mm pistols. I put the case gauge in a drawer, somewhere, and just plunk test. Of my 10 semi-autos, US and foreign made, none have SAAMI minimum or sub minimum chambers...

WR Moore said:

Geeze, guy specifies pistol caliber ammo in the first sentence and we have lengthy posts on gaging bottleneck rifle cartridges.

OK, pistol caliber cartridge gauges are supposed to establish SAAMI acceptable ammunition with respect to case dimensions. If the round doesn't drop into/out of the gauge, it might cause issues in your particular handgun. Doesn't mean it will. As some have noted, if your particular barrel has a short leade, you may need to use a somewhat shorter OAL for ammunition used in that barrel. OR, you might get a skilled individual to gently apply a "throating reamer" to change the leade. Back in the day, this used to be a standard operation for 1911's that were going to be fed a steady diet of SWC ammuntion.

It can get puzzling if you have a couple different handguns in the same caliber if one has a chamber toward minimum dimensions and you got the more generous chambered one first. Just set up to produce ammo for the tighter chamber.

Click to expand...

It doesn't hurt to mention rifle cartridges for the purpose of comparison and how they differ from pistol cartridges with regard to what we're talking about here. It's obvious that many have no background in this area. Drifting a bit off topic to illustrate a point isn't a bad thing.