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.4 vs .401


andyivan

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I had a hell of a time figuring this out myself..I had 10K extreme .40 180 grains on hand and they would not safely make PF with my new barrel. I finally figured out that I needed a .401 diameter bullet and now I make PF without and pressure signs. The process sucked but I learned a lot along the way. 

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Furrly's advice is your best bet. You would think it wouldn't make that much difference, but it can. Bullet profile can also make a difference. Barrels can be very different from one manufacturer to another. Match grade barrels can also be finicky. I can't use a truncated cone .401 bullet at all and even a RNFP .401 ends up being pretty short. But I can load a .400 RNFP out to 1.2 with ease. 

 

What firearm are you loading for? 

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4 hours ago, promtcy said:

Furrly's advice is your best bet. You would think it wouldn't make that much difference, but it can. Bullet profile can also make a difference. Barrels can be very different from one manufacturer to another. Match grade barrels can also be finicky. I can't use a truncated cone .401 bullet at all and even a RNFP .401 ends up being pretty short. But I can load a .400 RNFP out to 1.2 with ease. 

 

What firearm are you loading for? 

This ?.. Firearm does  make a big difference regarding loading length 

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If you listen to bullet makers who specialize in bullseye bullets.  All of the good ones recommend you slug your bore and measure it accurately.  Some will measure it for you if you send it back.  Most will say that for lead bullets, +.001" over bore diameter works best, but not always.  Dardas in particular says that sometimes bore diameter is more accurate than +1.  He, like Furrly, recommends you try bre size, +.001" and +.002" to see what is most accurate.

 

I have three 40sw pistols.  I shoot two of them on a regular basis.  On one, the most accurate bullet is the Precision Gen2 @ .401.  The Rainier plated is just as accurate @ .400".  One the other, the Rainier Plated is hands down the winner, and much more accurate that the X-Treme, Berry's or even the Montana Gold JHP.  The third pistol is my backup.  I've tested all my normal loads through it and it works with all.  That's really all I care about in a backup gun, even though it appears to be as accurate as the others.

 

I did a lot of testing to come up with these loads.  I didn't buy sample packs.  I bought packs of 100 in twos or threes.  It takes a couple hundred rounds to find out what powder charge and OAL works the best.

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On 2/7/2018 at 9:07 AM, zzt said:

If you listen to bullet makers who specialize in bullseye bullets.  All of the good ones recommend you slug your bore and measure it accurately.  Some will measure it for you if you send it back.  Most will say that for lead bullets, +.001" over bore diameter works best, but not always.  Dardas in particular says that sometimes bore diameter is more accurate than +1.  He, like Furrly, recommends you try bre size, +.001" and +.002" to see what is most accurate.

 

I have three 40sw pistols.  I shoot two of them on a regular basis.  On one, the most accurate bullet is the Precision Gen2 @ .401.  The Rainier plated is just as accurate @ .400".  One the other, the Rainier Plated is hands down the winner, and much more accurate that the X-Treme, Berry's or even the Montana Gold JHP.  The third pistol is my backup.  I've tested all my normal loads through it and it works with all.  That's really all I care about in a backup gun, even though it appears to be as accurate as the others.

 

I did a lot of testing to come up with these loads.  I didn't buy sample packs.  I bought packs of 100 in twos or threes.  It takes a couple hundred rounds to find out what powder charge and OAL works the best.

 

My STI .40 Edge likes the Extreme 180g hps much better than the Rainier 180g hps. I've done a good share of chrony testing over the years with powders and OALs with just taking the bell out of the case mouth. I haven't found any combo that tightens up the Rainiers. I have about 1500 of the Rainiers and I'd really be interested in knowing how you got the Rainier's to be the most accurate. 

 

It absolutely loves .401 cast PC bullets. My groups off a bag at 25 yrds are much tighter with cast PC bullets than any plated bullet.

Edited by 72stick
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72, I didn't do a thing.  I just load them to 1.126" on my progressive press and shoot them.  The differences are noticeable.  The Rainier 155gr and the Precision 155 coated go into the same hole at 15 yards from a sandbag rest.  The best the X-Treme 155 RNFP can do is one 1" dia. hole, outside to outside.

 

In 45 the differences are greater.  Both my 1911s (45s) like Dardas cast bullets for bullesye.  Both like the Precision 200gr TC and the 185gr Rainier HP.  I do use a lot of X-Treme 185g in 45 for plate and pin matches.  Once a year they have a great sale on them, so I stock up and load them all up.  I shoot them whenever I don't need pinpoint accuracy.  When we move back to 25 yards for pins, it's Precision all the way.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 2/6/2018 at 10:19 PM, Furrly said:

Buy sample packs of each and give them a run.. 

I learned the hard way.. Bought a case of 401, they didn't plunk in my sti unless I load very short,... 

400 plunked perfectly 

 

Yup. Just went through this same process. Got a 500 pack of .401 bullets (got a little too excited to start reloading/hand loading) can't seat the .401s out past 1.135 

 

Got 2 sample 100 packs of .400 bullets and have dummies that plunk and spin ranging from 1.15 to 1.18. My gun luckily functions reliably with factory ammo so I'm not going to bother seeing if it will chamber rounds out to 1.2. Going to load out to 1.18 and now just gotta decide if I want the snappier 165 feel or 180s. 

 

Just get small sample packs and see what runs in your gun. Once you figure out what works order in bulk. 

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20 hours ago, KrymSIX said:

 

Yup. Just went through this same process. Got a 500 pack of .401 bullets (got a little too excited to start reloading/hand loading) can't seat the .401s out past 1.135 

 

Got 2 sample 100 packs of .400 bullets and have dummies that plunk and spin ranging from 1.15 to 1.18. My gun luckily functions reliably with factory ammo so I'm not going to bother seeing if it will chamber rounds out to 1.2. Going to load out to 1.18 and now just gotta decide if I want the snappier 165 feel or 180s. 

 

Just get small sample packs and see what runs in your gun. Once you figure out what works order in bulk. 

 

I was talking to my gunsmith about this issue with the .400 vs .401 and he suggested throating the barrel to accept the .401. Then you can run either bullet at 1.200 or anything in between. I've heard of throating 1911s but never knew why. Now I know.

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  • 1 month later...

FWIW

I have a STI DVC Classic and a STI Trojan both in 40 and both take .402 bullets @ 1.2 with ease. 

Also have a Scheumann (spelling?) barrel in a limited gun that takes the same ammo. Not sure if I really go that lucky but they all work with the same load. 


However that load will not fit in the shockbottle hundo guage at all. 

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