Author Topic: problem with .25 acp conversion (Read 874 times)

Birddog1 · « **on:** September 04, 2005, 02:59:13 PM »

Some time ago I bought the .25 acp conversion for my Encore. Today was the first time I took it out to try it. But, I ran into a problem out of the gate. I had the gun loaded and primed with the .25 acp case but I couldn't pull the hammer back. No matter what I did I couldn't get the hammer back. So I put my original breech plug in and no problem. I put the .25 acp back in again and it did the same thing, although this time I was able to eventually get the hammer pulled back but I had to break open the gun several times and slam it shut, I did this 3 times. Any ideas?

astrix · « **Reply #1 on:** September 04, 2005, 03:36:32 PM »

The .25 acp brass is sometimes a hair too long
when new and was probably not allowing your
gun to lock-up properly and not allowing you
to cock the hammer.

Redhawk1 · « **Reply #2 on:** September 04, 2005, 05:31:52 PM »

I just trimmed about .002 to .004 off all my cases and it worked great. I have not had any more problems. It is amazing how just a little bit will not let the gun lock up. I think the 25 ACP conversion is not cut deep enough and causes the problem in some of the conversions. Also like you did, I shut the gun hard and it would lock and allow me to cock the hammer. But I did not like having to slam the gun shut each time. But once you did that the gun would lock up easily with the same case that was hard to lock up.

You can contact Cecil at Precision Rifle and let him know of you problem and see if he can either send you a new one or fix the one you have.

Keith Lewis · « **Reply #3 on:** September 05, 2005, 08:14:23 AM »

I found a similar problem with my Omega and trimming the brass fixed everything. I believe they make the plug a little tight to assure that the brass will seal and not cause blowback. If you slam some home a couple of times it usually fixes things also. Trimming is a little more sophisticated.

Birddog1 · « **Reply #4 on:** September 05, 2005, 03:54:18 PM »

OK, so how do I trim the cases? I don't reload so do I have to buy special equipment? If so, I think I'm better off to just sell everything and stay with the 209 primers.

poncaguy · « **Reply #5 on:** September 05, 2005, 03:55:35 PM »

After reading your post, I test fired my Omega Z5 with the 25 ACP conversion......no problem!

astrix · « **Reply #6 on:** September 05, 2005, 04:38:42 PM »

1 quick swipe with a fine file on case mouth will do the trick if
necessary. :wink:

Keith Lewis · « **Reply #7 on:** September 05, 2005, 05:40:30 PM »

Quote from: Birddog1

OK, so how do I trim the cases? I don't reload so do I have to buy special equipment? If so, I think I'm better off to just sell everything and stay with the 209 primers.

Lee makes some very reasonable case length trimmers if you want to do a really good job. Otherwise the file on the case mouth is OK but chances are you will lose some squareness of the case mouth which might cause a little blow back. If you have access to a drill press you can spin the case in the drill press and lightly touch it down on a piece of wet or dry sandpaper on a flat surface to make a nice surface. I reload so I have all the stuff to trim.

Redhawk1 · « **Reply #8 on:** September 06, 2005, 01:08:55 AM »

astrix and Keith Lewis, both have great suggestions and it will work. You only need to remove very little. Remove a little and try it and keep doing it tell you get the gun to close without having to slam it shut.

Birddog1 · « **Reply #9 on:** September 06, 2005, 09:03:35 AM »

Cecil Epp just emailed me about the problem, he said they are designed that way for a tight fit and you are supposed to slam the gun shut to form the cases. If it doesn't work the first time, open and slam it shut again. I don't know, but I'm just not crazy about slamming my gun shut all the time.

Redhawk1 · « **Reply #10 on:** September 06, 2005, 05:09:38 PM »

There is always option B. trim the cases

Keith Lewis · « **Reply #11 on:** September 06, 2005, 05:42:00 PM »

The way I did mine was I found a couple of cases that did work OK and measured them for over all length. I then trimmed my cases to the same length leaving just a slight bit more brass to make up for the first initial closing. It is difficult to "slam" an Omega shut. I can see how you can do it with an Encore but the Omega just does not lend itself to a "slam type" closing. Once I did that I had no more problems and no blowback. I can load a lot faster with the conversion as the brass is a lot easier to handle than the stock 209 primers. Unloading the shot brass is easier too if they tend to stick you have more to grasp.