Hello.... I am new to guns and experienced an issue today. hope i can get some feedback.
I have gone out shooting every week now for about a month. I have used multiple brands of FMJ for target practice with no problems. I picked up some hollow points for defense. I shot about 20 through the gun with no issues. When I went to the range today I started manually unloading the hollow points out. When I stripped the first round the second one would get stuck.The magazines are 10 rds and the first 5 do this the last 5 do not. It happens with both magazines. It does not happen with the FMJ. I tried another brand of hollow points same thing.

You do not state what type of gun you are using.

Older guns (such as a 1911 for instance) were never intended to shoot hollow point ammo and if it is an older gun or design it might not reliably function with them.

I have also seen newer guns that don't like certain hollow points either.

I carry a Revolver and so I don't need to deal with this issue, but there have been times in the past where I have used a Colt 1911 Gov't Model for carry and always loaded Factory 230 grain Ball Ammo just for this very reason - 100% reliability.

Even though RN - Ball ammo won't expand at least you know it will function when you need it to. I would ONLY carry and shoot ammo that feeds and functions 100% of the time and would be less worried about expansion.

I know I am in a Smith and Wesson forum(I bought a shield and love it), but the gun i am talking about is a Beretta PX4 Storm Subcompact 40 cal.

The gun SHOT the rounds OK, but when you operate the gun manually, the rounds do not feed right? Is this what you are saying?

If so, I'm not surprised. The gun is made to operate full force from recoil and spring rebound. When you start hand operating the slide and being "gentle" it often causes misfeeds in ANY semi-auto pistol.

Just shoot it, and if it works, it's fine. If you want to unload a magazine without firing the cartridges, remove the magazine from the gun and strip the cartridges out of the magazine by hand.

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Science plus Art

No.... i mean, that when you unload the magazine when it is not inside the gun after stripping a bullet the next one does not move up.

I assume OP was trying to unload his magazine with his thumb, with the magazine removed from the pistol.

If that's the case, if the HP ammo has exposed lead, this isn't unusual in smaller calibers (eg 32, 380).

I can't speak for 40 cal, but in smaller calibers, this seems unrelated to function when actually firing the pistol.

That said, not all ammo will work reliably in all pistols.

Don't be surprised if any given ammo doesn't work reliably in YOUR pistol.

It doesn't matter if it works in MY pistol.

All that counts is that the ammo works all the time in YOUR pistol.

So are you saying that it will seat properly when I am shooting even though it is doing this. I tried 2 different brands of hollow points hydra shock and critical duty. They both did it. It will get expensive to keep trying with no luck

Ian, not sure how new the storm is but as a couple of the other posters said some guns are real testy with hollow points depending on the feed ramp. With 40 cal I would stick with the 180 FMJ and keep on trucking. Just my opinion.

Good luck Pete

It has about 300 rounds through it. Had it about a month. Again being new to guns I have seen a lot on the forums about not using FMJ for self defense because of over penetration.
is that not accurate?

Ian, My best advice would go to a local range, try to find out if someone can help with your concerns. That person will be able to determine what is causing your mag problem. I think this will help you avoid a little confusion.
Good Luck
Stay Safe
Jim

First question. ....just curious but why are you unloading the mags?

Second. Have you taken the mag apart? There might be something on the spring that causes it to catch inside the mag. Once it clears that it starts to feed fine (your last 5 rounds). Thus might not happen while shooting because it might be so insignificant that the force of the slide going back and forth and the "explosion" of the powder frees it up.

If the mag is out of the gun and not cycling/feeding the rounds up its usually a mag/spring issue. Might have some gunk in it or out of spec

Does the gun still feed the ammo when shooting it? That is the primary concern. If so, the technique used to manually strip ammo from a mag can cause this. You need to push down with your thumb on the base of the round at the rear and push down and forward, just as the slide would do. If you push down or just forward from the middle of the round it may push them down nose first and they will hang up.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244