Wolf Match Target Failure to Eject

I am new to Bullseye and normally shoot CCI Standard Velocity in my Ruger MK III target pistol. I have also found that Wolf Match Target will shoot very well AFTER running 5-10 rounds thru the pistol. When starting out with Wolf Match Target I get several "failure to eject" rounds during the first 5-10 rounds. After this I can shoot the Wolf all day with good results. This has happened numerous times. Is it possible the "film" on the Wolf Match Target is somehow causing the failures to eject?

Wolf is a little "oily-feeling". I always run 30 rounds through my Marvels before using them in a match. Then they'll run 300 rounds trouble-free before I clean them.

I have a S&W model 41 that consistently fails to eject the first round of Wolf each day and is okay the rest of the day. Wolf (and SK) are the only two ammunitions that give me this problem but it groups better than CCI for me so I use it an put up with this, One drop of oil on the first round will cure it but since the first round is slow fire I just put up with it.

Wolf Match target is what I shoot.  No issues here but when I do switch brands of ammo I always clean the chamber with a chamber brush and then run a "de-brushed" snake* through the bore. I also make sure to shoot a 10-20 rounds before going to a match.

- Dave

*I remove the brushes in all my bore snakes.

Wolf Match has worked great for me.
Don't clean the barrel unless accuracy drops. I run a dry patch through the barrel to inspect for leading after I switch brands.
Don't you always run some rounds through the barrel before a match?

I have not previously been running rounds thru the barrel before a match. Tried it last night and my scores seemed to improve a little. Will do it from now on and see how it works out.

Wolf and SK are famous for weak cycling.  Could you have a little heat sink into the gun which warms the following ammo.

SK match is rated at about 1,050fps while Aguila SV is about 1,150fps, plenty enough to make a difference in cycling.  Even a 50fps decrease can easily make a difference.  If you have a failure to cycle on the first couple of rounds you are likely just getting the lube warm on the slide.  I can cause failure to eject just by changing the type of lube I use.  Larry

I was running Wolf Match Target in a 41 and would have failure to eject  and sometimes failure to extract. But was hit and miss. Finally after a match with more issues than I'd ever had all at once I said forget it. Switched to CCI Standard and haven't had a jam yet in 500 rounds so far. But I will say that at 50 yards I feel like the Wolff might group tighter. At 25 yards I see no difference. 

Another friend of mine says he is getting an inconsistency in felt recoil using Wolf in a GSP. Says the Ammo quality or consistency could be poor so he's switching to CCI. 

Not sure what the Wolf Ammo problem was. I shot good with it though when it didn't jam. Even tried the lightest recoil spring. Still had issues.

I have 4 different recoil springs for my pistol.  Thing is you get to the point that the cocking of the hammer is the biggest force in the cycle, after that there is not much you can do.  Larry

my ruger mkll never liked the wolf/Sk stuff, cci was no issues at all

It's a bummer that the wolf has cycling issues sometimes and with other shooters guns because I feel like it's an accurate round not just for myself but again I hear of good accuracy reports from others as well.

Tim:H11 wrote:It's a bummer that the wolf has cycling issues sometimes and with other shooters guns because I feel like it's an accurate round not just for myself but again I hear of good accuracy reports from others as well.

might try wiping the bullets off good getting all the oily residue off,  removed they should work better, but they are a weaker round than cci so if they don't function 100% you might try a weaker recoil spring.

DavidR wrote:

Tim:H11 wrote:It's a bummer that the wolf has cycling issues sometimes and with other shooters guns because I feel like it's an accurate round not just for myself but again I hear of good accuracy reports from others as well.

might try wiping the bullets off good getting all the oily residue off,  removed they should work better, but they are a weaker round than cci so if they don't function 100% you might try a weaker recoil spring.

They don't cycle 100% even with the weakest spring available from Wolff Gun Sorings.

then its time to move on to something that will shoot.

wolf match target is SK std Plus.. my 41 eats SK std plus and pistol match without issue. both my std S&W barrels and a Clark.

don't swap ammo and just leave the chamber wet.. if you clean the chamber then shoot a few rounds and leave it.

Std Plus is 1085 FPS while pistol match is 1050.. CCI is 1070 or at least that's what they advertise

I have the same issue with SK Standard Plus and my Ruger Mark III. The very first round after cleaning sometimes will fail to eject. Then it functions perfectly for a few hundred of rounds until I clean again. I know about it, I expect it and since we always start with slow fire, it's no big deal. I stick with it because it gives me great accuracy,it recoils very mildly, it's available locally for cheap, and it's never given me an alibi in 7,000 rounds. It always fires. It's just that very first round.

Yep withbwolf its best to use a lighter spring with th 41 or a Nelson type conversion unit. 
In fact i use mostly wolf target or tac22 with lighter spring. 
Cci 035/032 use std spring weight.

You can pretty much use the muzzle energy published to tell what kind of a spring you will need.  On my pistol I can tell if the energy is getting marginal to cycle if the slide hold open does not engage on the last round.  For it to latch in, the slide has to be moved further back than it does to eject and load another round, so when it stops functioning every time I know to move to a slighter softer spring.  Larry

Chronographed from a Marvel Precision.  Each average is from 15 to 25 shots fired in 5 shot strings.

SK Std Plus   avg 929fps

Wolf MT   avg 976

CCI SV   avg 932

CCI functioned flawlessly.  Wolf and SK had several cycling failures.

Also chronographed in a model 41 tested the same way. 

SK Std Plus  avg of 30 shots 922fps

I had to hand cycle 50% of the SK
CCI was not chronographed in the 41 but does cycle faithfully.
41 barrel is a 7" shortened to 5.5"

Chronograph set about 8' forward

My conclusion is that velocity is not the measure that compares cycling.  Somehow the pressure curve does. 
Another thought (maybe original) is there might be a brass case difference in SK and Wolf that makes for a different seizing on the chamber wall.  Then the case releases and "blows back" at a lesser pressure resulting in weak cycling.

I'm sure that the pressure pulse shape does have some effect on cycling, the pressure shape was one of the reasons the 17HM2 had problems in some automatics.  Mostly though it is muzzle energy for your barrel length, for rounds loaded for a pistol they will likely burn a little faster to use up the powder in the shorter barrel, and every load is different, then there are the faster but light bullets like the 36gr HV rounds, faster but not as much energy to get them there.  To know the problem for sure you would likely need to do a little high speed video of the action to see what really causes the failure.  Larry

For straight blowback guns like most 22s it is momentum not muzzle energy.  Momentum is mass times velocity.  The velocity of the bullet and powder times their masses equals the velocity times the mass of the case and slide combined.  

Some Euro ammo is very soft shooting and that can affect the whole cycle.