How to unjam a semi auto handgun.
 

Hope this is the right forum. I am a long time reloader, last month I reloaded some 45acp, first time I have reloaded this cal. The Hornady manual said little or no crimp, on the third firing, the pistol an Springfield XDS jammed hard. would not fire and the slide was jammed shut. I took it to a gunsmith and he unjammed it for me
(thx Bills in Robinsdale) but I did not see how it was done, it only took a minute or so. I have taper crimped all of 45s I reloaded but if this happens again how do I unjam my Springfield? Any help wound be great?

Not really enough info to triage the malfunction. If it locked closed, was it down on a live round, or did it refuse to eject an empty? Was it closed fully into battery, or did it jam itself ALMOST closed on a live round? (The latter of which would possibly imply you've over expanded and belled the case too much, so it failed to chamber, and lodged the bubble in the chamber). Was it locked tight in battery, or would it operate any distance? Is it a new pistol and these were your first rounds, or is it a known operational pistol? Have you tried firing some factory ammo since then to see if it replicates the same malfunction? Have you measured any of your reloads for dimensional tolerance?

Most often, a pistol that's stuck in battery is cleared by either pressing or whacking a brass rod down the barrel. Pretty high risk proposition for a pistol closed on a live round. But it's also rare that a pistol will get stuck fully closed into battery on a live round.

After firing and ejecting 2 rounds the third round chambered but would not fire. The slide would not move at all. The slide looked to be in the firing position. It is a fairly new gun, has less than 1000rds shot. When the gunsmith unjammed the gun and gave me the round that had jammed, the bullet was at least a quarter of an inch longer than the other rounds I had reloaded leaving me to believe that it was a lack of crimp that caused this issue. I have not fired the gun since then. When I first reloaded these rds they chambered just fine in my gun. Also reading my Speer reloading manual they DO recomond a taper crimp but my Hornady manual said little or no crimp. Hope this helps

Happens to me a lot just pull back on the slide real hard, if that doesn't work I don't know what to do. Part of the reason I'm a fan of archery, bows don't jam

If the bullet had jumped crimp that far, then it most likely was jammed into the rifling and wasn't letting the slide close fully into battery - hence, no fire. Of course, being jammed into the rifling, it'd be difficult to extract, so the slide would feel hard jammed. AND of course, a quick tap with a rod down the barrel, the smith could knock it free in a heartbeat.

All cartridges need some level of crimp tension. Autopistol rounds should not have a roll crimp, but they still need enough taper crimp to hold the bullet in the case.

It's a bit odd, however, if you had such light neck tension that the bullets jumped the crimp within 2rnds, I would have expected it to have little enough that you'd have simply pulled the bullet and left it in the rifling when you tried to extract it. Must have just been enough crimp to stop you from pulling it by hand, but not enough to hold strong in the case.

Try cycling a whole magazine through the action by hand. I always do this on new calibers I reload for. Do it with several mags, ensure it cycles, and inspect the brass afterwards. It doesn't take much recoil to unseat a bullet if you scimped on the crimp. You probably need a medium taper crimp but check another published source. That could be the problem based on information I received.

did the bullet have marks from the rifling? adjust your crimp
RR

I would try and cycle a few mags full through the gun as previously suggested.
But it also appears to me that your crimp isn't sufficient. If your first and second round went off and cycled the action OK, with too light a crimp your 3rd rounds bullet likely moved out of the case from the recoil of the previous 2 and when fed into the chamber the bullet came in contact with the rifling just enough to appear to be in battery but couldn't fire.

did you take the barrel out and just try to drop a loaded cartridge in the chamber ? if it's jamming that hard seems like it's might not sized properly or enough taper crimp ? just guessing not trying to insult your reloading ability !