Pardini SPBE .32 S&W failure to feed problem

[bullseyeshutr]

Greetings,

I'm having failure to feed with my .32 S&W conversion on the Pardini SPBE edition gun. 95% of time it is last round but sometime happens second or third round. The failure is the tip of the round hits top of barrel chamber and rim of round is still in the magaznie lips. Frequency is about every third of fourth string. Slow and sustained fire.

Happens with all three of my magazines.
Tried a roll crimp instead of taper crimp.
Charge is 1.5gr of N-310 this charge worked fine for several weeks before problem started.
I tried removing a few more coils of the recoil springs but don't think I should go any more light than it is. I had an extra spring to experiment with. This was the trick to eliminate the problem when I first got the gun. ended up with a spring with about 6 coils shorter.

Any ideas from someone who battled this problem?
Pardine VM is full so guess they are out at matches.

I'll try to attach a picture.

Thanks everyone,[/img]

[bdutton]

Greetings,

I'm having failure to feed with my .32 S&W conversion on the Pardini SPBE edition gun. 95% of time it is last round but sometime happens second or third round. The failure is the tip of the round hits top of barrel chamber and rim of round is still in the magaznie lips. Frequency is about every third of fourth string. Slow and sustained fire.

Happens with all three of my magazines.
Tried a roll crimp instead of taper crimp.
Charge is 1.5gr of N-310 this charge worked fine for several weeks before problem started.
I tried removing a few more coils of the recoil springs but don't think I should go any more light than it is. I had an extra spring to experiment with. This was the trick to eliminate the problem when I first got the gun. ended up with a spring with about 6 coils shorter.

Any ideas from someone who battled this problem?
Pardine VM is full so guess they are out at matches.

I'll try to attach a picture.

Thanks everyone,[/img]

I had the same problem when I installed the Dave Wilson barrel. I was able to solve the problem by tightening the crimp to the point where it was a pronounced taper. This and keeping the gun clean and lightly oiled.

The tighter crimp does not appear to affect the performance at 50 yards.

You can always stick with the normal crimp at 50 yards and deal with the feed issues in a single shot since time is not as important and then use the tighter crimp for 25 yards/sustained fire.

[karmel]

I had the same issue. I found that seating the bullet even with the shell casing eliminated the problem. Try seating the wad-cutter flush with the top of the case.

[GVJOHN]

I had the very same problem with the Benelli 32. My failures increased to almost one every 5 rds. The cure was a new recoil spring AND reducing the powder charge. In my pistol the velocity with 98 gr bullets needed to stay under 750 fps or I would get jams. This approach also worked for two other Benelli pistols. Cutting the recoil spring in my case would have led to 100% failures. I have considered a stronger than factory recoil spring or adding weight to the slide to allow higher velocity loads but fo now I'm staying with what I have.

[bullseyeshutr]

Thanks for suggestions. I measured the velocity of my current batch of reloads and found them to be 765 ft/sec where my last batch was about 735. A good chance my loads were a bit too hot compared to last batch. Wondering now if I was actually dropping 1.6 of N310.

Vladimir returned my call and we talked through all the variables. Bottom line is he is sending me new recoil spring and new magazine springs. I'm also reloading 1.4/1.5 of N310 along with 1.4/1.5/1.6 of WST.

I'll go back to the range and chrono graph the loads and start over with full length recoil spring and see if I can slow down the bolt and make the gun recoil less. I guess it does seem to have pretty good kick maybe a little more that before.

Thanks again for the input. I'll post again with my results.

-Tim

[Bob-Riegl]

OK, pardon the interruption....IMHO 1.5-1.6 gr of VVn310 is too much powder for the .32 load.. I lost two mags when I used this much of a load for 50 yar, that may cause your feed problem as well, with too fast cycling. The HP is designed for 25m shooting. My personal load is 1.2 gr VVn310 which performs beautifully up to and including 25m (or yards). And has done so for 10+ years now. JMHO....."Doc"

[fc60]

Greetings,

Your use of the chronograph to check your reloads is most commendable.

From my testing of the Pardini Factory barrels in 32 S&W Long, I found that the 100 grain H&N HBWC bullet sized 0.314" loaded in Lapua brass with 1.70 grains of Alliant Bullseye would deliver sub ten ring accuracy at 50 yards from a mechanical fixture.

The velocity with my components was about 725 FPS.

Cheers,

Dave

[oldcaster]

You need a stronger recoil spring or a lighter load. Even after buying a new spring from Larrys I couldn't shoot as fast as I wanted but it was improved. I am not so sure the current springs that can be bought for the Benelli are up to par. I would put the spring on a rod, measure how long it is and stretch it about an inch. If it improves and then goes back to failure, it is for sure the problem. Since it is a Pardini a new spring might do the job period.

[Greg Derr]

If you look at Fiocchi 32 SWL ammo or Lapua for that matter, you will see the bullets are seated just under flush and the crimp is a "roll crimp" the roill allows for a harder smoother surface for the ammo to transition from the magazine into the chamber. That is not to say that the OP's issue is all crimp. It verry well could be cycling too fast for the magazine spring to push the next round fully under the breech face.

[bullseyeshutr]

Thank you all who replied to my post. Since I had already tried the crimp I got out my chronograph and discovered the loads I was having problems with averaged 765fps. I looked up my test data from before and the loads were 734fps. So I suspect my electronic scale was off a bit this last batch and I ended up dropping I would guess 1.6gr N310.

So, I had some WST I picked up at Perry this summer and decided to try it out. Loaded 40 rounds each of 1.4/1.5/1.6 of WST and they all functioned fine and all seemed to shoot accurate or at least on call for my off hand hold. Velocities were 1.4 WST=643fps, 1.5WST=683fps, 1.6WST=723fps. Since all seemed to shoot equally well I reloaded 500 rounds of 1.4gr WST a very soft recoil compared to my previous hotter loads of what I thought was 1.5gr N310. I now have 100% reliability. My longest recoil spring I had left was 4 coils short and that is what I used for this test.

Bullet is H&N 100gr .314 HBWC factory Pardini .32 S&W barrel.
Loads are done with a Dave Wislon full length expander plug .315
Lapua brass federal 100 primer.
Redding profile roll crimp about .327
WST 1.4gr (I think) 643fps measured.

I'm greatfull I ran into this problem now as I discovered I was shooting loads much hotter than needed.

I would concur that no matter what powder or crimp the velocity that works needs to be under say about 740fps.

Thanks everyone, My next purchase is a good beam balance scale.

Good shooting to you all,

Tim Young

[oldcaster]

Tim, if you are into casting or might start, another bullet that will shoot as well as the H&N's are the Saeco #323. It is a 100 grain button nose wadcutter and will cast over .314. If you think you might go that route and would like to try some first, get back with me and I will send you some to try before you jump.

[bullseyeshutr]

Greetings Oldcaster,

I just purchased another 2000 rounds of H&N .314 HBWC bullets from Cibles Canada Targets. The price per round including shipping came out to about 15 cents each. I think it's time for me to learn how to cast these. I would like to take you up on your offer to try out the ones you make and if they shoot well for me at 25 yards I'll make the jump and buy the equipment.

Please contact me at timothyyoung@Q.com and we can communicate off line.

Thanks so much for the offer.

Regards,

Tim Young

[Gravy]

I have been having this exact problem for about 4 weeks. I have done extensive trouble shooting with clips, crimps (changing bullets (H&N, Lapua, & Meister), bullet seating depth, amount of crimp, and taper vs rolled). Normally, this is my favorite centerfire pistol. It just shoots on call and with hardly any movement.

But, earlier this year, my 32 S&W L Pardini started exhibiting other unreliability issues - bolt chatter, failure to eject (same jams as described here - https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t14472-th ... i-sp-be-22). Ultimately, I replaced the ejector spring, buffer pad, and recoil spring. And, the gun was back to cycling flawlessly in competitions.

Now, back to the recent stove pipes as others have described fixes for above, I have spent many hours over the last 4 weeks troubleshooting. But, nothing seemed to help. It turns out that I had a different issue. Perhaps the pictures will help others resolve a similar issue.

Here is a better look at the bolt face, showing the firing pin protruding and that should not happen.

All that work to no avail fixing nonissues. A broken firing pin was the culprit.

[David M]

Firing pin is broken