Pow'R Ball FTE Issue in Taurus PT709 Slim

Hello All,

I'm a newbie here at TGO and to handgun ownership in general. I recently became interested in handguns and just last week received my Carry Permit in the mail. Being that the next logical step was to pick up gun, on Halloween I bought a Taurus PT709 Slim, a couple boxes of PMC Bronze and a box of 20 Pow'R Ball SD rounds by Glaser.

I took it out to a friends property and ran the 100 rounds of PMC through it with no issues. I then switched to the Pow'R Ball but kept two full magazines + 1 for carry purposes; this left only 5 rounds of the Pow'R Ball to test them out. Of those 5 rounds I experienced 2 FTEs. I didn't have any of the PMC rounds left to test wether it was the gun or the ammo so I had to wait until today.

I picked up another 2 boxes of the PMC (come to think of it I should have switched brands) and experienced the same results, zero failures with the PMC. I again switched to the Pow'R Ball rounds and experienced the same as the day before; 2 FTEs per magazine. That is not the kind of reliability I expect from a SD round!

Has anyone else experienced issues with Pow'R Ball ammunition? I can say for certain that I won't be carrying it. If there is another PT709 owner here, what do they carry for a SD round?

Thanks in advance,
Alex

Alex:__________
Here is something to try. Take the Taurus down and inspect the barrel feed ramp with a magnifying glass very closely. Look and see if there are any small grooves, humps, or machining marks on the ramp. If there are. gently polish them out, keeping the ramp geometry the same (flat and straight- no humps of bumps). If you are worried about doing it your self, take it to a gunsmith. He can probably do it while you wait.
Hope this helps.
LEROY

Why are you dead set on using Pow'r Ball? You can try to "fix" your pistol to accept this round, or you can just use a round that works. Like PMC Bronze until you find a SD ammo that will extract correctly.

Thank you both for the replies.

Leroy: I will give the feed ramp a good inspection next time I take it down for cleaning. Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't any feed ramp imperfection affect the loading of the round into the chamber and not the extraction problem I experienced with the Pow'R Ball?

Savage: Where in my original post did you get that I am dead set on Pow'R Ball? Ideally I'd like to have a carry weapon that can accept any SD round. I figured the Pow'R Ball would have less likelyhood of feed issues due to them having a profile similar to a FMJ round. I plan to continue to shoot PMC Bronze for target rounds but need to find an SD round that works flawlessly with this gun.

My original question stands, has anyone else experienced issues with Pow'R Ball ammunition?

Alex:__________
You are exactly right!!. I see what you mean:

Leroy: I will give the feed ramp a good inspection next time I take it down for cleaning. Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't any feed ramp imperfection affect the loading of the round into the chamber and not the extraction problem I experienced with the Pow'R Ball?

Yes. I was too quick to see the "Failure to Eject". Take a close look at the extractor and the chamber. The ejector may not be hooking over the powerball round all the way to the bottom of the extractor groove in the corbon round; or it could be that the rim on the powrball round may be a little small. If it is an extractor problem; you will need a gunsmith to adjust it; my guess is that that is not it; but i dont know.

I would also inspect the chamber area and see if it is good, smooth and really clean. You may want to scrub it with a good bore solvent and really clean it up. I would follow the cleaning with the solvent with denatured alcohol to remove any oil. It could be that the powrball loads are really hot (I suspect they are). That may be causing the casings to really expand and conform to the chamber walls; causing the casing to stick in the chamber.
Any dirt or roughness in the chamber just locks it in and the extractor rides over the rim or the slide doesnt have enough momentum to extract the round all the way. I have had similar problems with magnum revolvers and hot loads. It generally stems from hot loads and a dirty or rough chamber. It makes the rounds hard to extract. My guess is that this may well be the problem. Taurus is a good product and not prone to problems with functioning.

Sorry for the confusion.
Hope this helps
Kind regards,
LEROY

I have put 150 rounds of Hornady Critical Defense through my Slim with no problems. I have shot several different brands of ammo and the only round it will not eject is Remington. These small guns do seem to have different personalities.

Thank you for the reply again Leroy. I will give the chamber/feed ramp a good inspection next take down for cleaning. I think that the next SD rounds I get will be the Hornady Critical Defense. I'll report back if I have any issues with those. If it was infact the +P of the Pow'R Ball that caused the FTE issue then this should solve it! Thanks again all.

Alex

Originally Posted by nascar22

I have put 150 rounds of Hornady Critical Defense through my Slim with no problems. I have shot several different brands of ammo and the only round it will not eject is Remington. These small guns do seem to have different personalities.

Oh, it's a sub-compact pistol? IME, they are more sensitive to having a firm, high grip on them than larger pistols. Plus the pistol just may need more "breaking in."

That said, it's a given that no all pistols like all ammo. When I got my Nighthawk, it even said in the paperwork they didn't recommend using Speer ammo in it. It seems to like everything else I've fed it just fine.

This is an example of why you need to practice some with the more expensive ammo you intend to carry. Better to find out on the range.

I wouldn't look to harshly at any ammo until I had 500rds though the pistol to thoroughly break it in. Was the Pow'R Ball ammo a lower projectile weight than the PMC? I've noticed with some Pow'R Ball ammo I've used the past that it was a good 20gr lighter bullet than typical ball ammo. I'm wondering if they lowered the bullet weight to help increase velocity without much pressure increase and maybe that can cause a FTE on a stiff gun? I'd say get some more rounds down range and try some other SD ammo. Some guns just don't like some ammo.

Originally Posted by ahaus

If it was infact the +P of the Pow'R Ball that caused the FTE issue then this should solve it! Thanks again all.

Ahhh, +P, the plot thickens.

All the more reason to check your grip on the pistol that it's both firm, high and straight. The +P may be causing more muzzle flip than the target loads and without the pistol having a firm resistance to recoil into, that could be causing your intermittent FTE problems.