Any Owners of a Kimber 9mm SS Target II? Reloading question?

[Mechanic Bob]

I am reloading for the above mentioned Pistol.
I have found it will not accept my 115 GR LHC. So I now use a 124 GR FMJ.
I have loaded rounds as follows, using TiteGroup powder. 124GR FMJ bullets
4.0g, 1.141" OAL
4.2g, 1.151" OAL
4.4g, 1.151" OAL

My issue is every now and then, it will not eject the spent brass, then the next round gets hung up in feeding to the chamber the slide will close only about 80%.

Loading the clip with 7 or 8 or 9 rounds.

Most typical it happens if I fire three shots, then it hangs up.
There are other random hang-ups. Not always after the third shot.
BUT, sometimes after the first shot, sometime to the next to the last shot.
Always the last shot gets ejected.

I did a very deep clean on the gun. I mean it is clean and lubed!

My son stated he never had a problem with factory loads, but I question how well it was cleaned after he used.

I will be going back range to test the different loads again, but just wonder if anyone else has seen or experienced similar issues?
DO YOU THINK is the the reloads or the gun is just finicky?

I have not had any of these issues with the loads in other 9mm pistols.

[Transom]

First thing I think of if you are not getting good ejection is that the load is too weak but hodgon shows those at or above max so pretty sure that is not the problem.

I would check the extractor tension with the cases you are using and see if the ejector is in good shape. If they work in everything else maybe there is something wonky with the pistol.

[BrianKF]

If the cases are sized correctly then it may be the grip you are using. I have a Springfield 1911 A1 target in 9mm and once when shooting my 115 GR plated HP reloads, loaded a little light, I let a friend shoot it and it would jam/failure to eject on him at times.

We came to the conclusion it was the slide slightly rubbing on his hand. I myself have never had an issue with this gun or ammo shooting a few thousand rounds of this load. My Springfield has a fairly light recoil spring in it imo compared to my other handguns.

[Transom]

Yeah that is a goo point. Never had that happen personally but I have heard of folks rubbing the slide.

[acesover]

Why does the OAL change with the higher powder charges? Just wondering.

[Mechanic Bob]

The Speers Reloading book shows the max for the TiteGroup at 4.4 When checking the Hodgon site, they did not show the listing for that specific bullet. In general, I always load at the bottom load specs as I am shooting for fun.
I can feel the difference between the 4.0 and 4.4 loads.
Issue happens at all loads. So I am leaning towards it maybe be an issue with the ejector. Hence a deep clean of the pistol.
Not a grip issue as the issue has occurred with both my son and me shooting the pistol. Hands and fingers are well below the slide.
Different OAL was I hand loaded the 4.0 rounds on a different press. 0.01" in OAL is not an issue when with the low charge and the only time I trim the cases, is if I load to shoot them in my revolver. (Depth of the round in the cylinder is dependent on the length of the brass, when shooting the 9mm.)

So the two thoughts I have are: Dirty Ejector or I need to see what Brass is not being ejected. (Being reloads, I have all sorts of brass.)

I will take 30 round of each load to the range. See what happens in the Kimber. If I have an issue, I will shoot the same load in another 9mm pistol.

If I have an issue with the Kimber, I just tell my son, he has to use factory loads!

[BrianKF]

One other thing to try if you haven't already is to take a few (or all since multiple case brands) loaded rounds and manually drop them in the barrel and see if they stick or not. I would even press on the round slightly to see if it sticks. Chamber sizes vary greatly between my 9mm's. If that's good and your confident the trim length is ok then the ejector is a good place to look as you said.

[Mechanic Bob]

Thanks for the suggestion Brian.

That Kimber, it is my son's, has been one finicky SOB!
There has been, maybe, 200 rounds through it, maybe?
I will report what I find after the next visit to the range.

[Mechanic Bob]

Tested it this morning.
Conclusion: Shoot Factory rounds through it!

Shot rounds through another pistol and no issues.

[adchunts]

You may have already resolved the issue, but I always start with the magazine when troubleshooting feed problems on semi autos. More often than not, a good mag solves the issue. If that doesn’t fix it, then I go down the rabbit hole.

[mean_dean]

Only issue I had was feed jams picking up the next round, this was on factory loads. Polished the feed ramp and works wonderfully now!

[Mechanic Bob]

Well my son has talked me into one more try!
I will trim the cases to Spec. I have to look up the spec.
Load 4.2 gr of TiteGroup
OAL = 1.151"
124GR FMJ

[Transom]

I have never known anyone that had to trim a 9mm case but I would make sure they are in spec.

[BrianKF]

Make sure and drop a few in the barrel chamber to be sure they don't fit tight. I do this with my Springfield 1911 A1 target. Especially when loading on my progressive press as I almost had an issue once with the die not sizing far enough down the case.

Most people I imagine don't trim there 9mm brass but I trim mine after there resized for the first time. I mostly trim so I have a more uniform taper crimp. I only trim each case once during it lifetime of use.

Good luck and hope you get it worked out.

[Quillback]

How many rounds have you run through it? Doing some internet searching and it looks like Kimber recommends replacing the recoil spring after 1500 rounds. Do a search on the pistol model recoil spring.

Stainless Target II 9mm--recoil spring | 1911Forum

[Big Al]

"then the next round gets hung up in feeding to the chamber the slide will close only about 80%".

A friend of mine had given me a lot of 9mm reloads. They were so tight going in the chamber, I had the same problem. Actually had one round that I could not get out of a Glock and had to bring it to my gun guy to get it out. What we found out was the casings were not sized properly. The diameter was too big. If your casings were used more than once, I'd can them.

[Transom]

9mm casings should easily be able to be sized down again and again and again. Now if they were loaded way too hot the head can expand. The most common issue with hand loads not fitting a chamber has to do with a bulge somewhere caused by something during the seat or crimp operation.

Guppied brass fired from a 40 or a 10 can cause issue too.

[BrianKF]

9mm casings should easily be able to be sized down again and again and again...

I agree. I've got some on there third loading now with no issues. I've got some 32 H&R mag on there sixth loading. I keep track of # of loadings. I'm thinking after six loadings I'll retire those and break out another batch.

[Mechanic Bob]

Spent round, the BRASS DOES NOT EJECT! Then the next round being fed, gets stopped from feeding into the chamber, because the spend brass has only backed out about 1/4".
NO issues with the round feeding into the chamber other than the spent brass being in the way.

[acesover]

Have you tried replacing the extractor? It sounds like the extractor is slipping over the base of the spent round. It is a 1911 style weapon, should be fairly easy to get another extractor and replace it to see if that may be the problem.