what to watch out for in reloading 40sw

[noylj]

My thoughts on my experience with .40S&W as a non-competitive shooter:

The ONLY KB I have ever had was in .40. I have been loading since 1978 and have NEVER had anything close to a KB before.

I believe I know the reason and it relates to breaking the rhythm of reloading. It was not a double charge and it should not have ever happened. It happened while working up various loads in 10-round increments and that means no real reloading pace.

I have long had a rule: If I need to pause in reloading, I either work off all rounds on the shellplate before I leave or I clear the shellplate and pour out the powder in any charged cases when I get back. I work each of these cases individually around the press.

I do believe that the .40 is a very unforgiving round and I consider Clays to be the MOST unforgiving powder I have ever loaded. It gets darn spooky as you work up to max and I have seen/felt a large increase in recoil, case expansion above the extraction groove, and flattened primers with only a 0.2gn increase in charge weight. It seems like it has a hockey-stick pressure curve.

I would like to know how many KBs the action shooting crowd have with 180-200gn, or even heavier, bullets and fast powders in the name of competitive gamesmanship.

I know that I wanted to shoot in a local competition, but they would not let me shoot any .40S&W reloads. They had recently had a KB on the line and simply banned .40 reloads. Since I can't afford factory ammo and only had handloads, I never competed.

AA5 is about as fast a powder as I see using in .40, except for trying target loads in the 700-800fps range with 155-175gn bullets.

My favorite "heavy bullet loads" are a 170-175gn L-SWCs and 6.7-7.8gn AA7, 5.1-5.8gn Power Pistol, 4.0-4.8gn 231/HP38, and 4.5-5.0gn Red Dot.

Edited May 12, 2011 by noylj

[JayJayJay]

what kind of chrono did you get Jay?

I hope I got it right cause I paid $132.79 for a Shooting Chrony Beta Master (has a remote). Did the new guy do good?

I also orderd a Lone Wolf barrel from Dillion for only $99. I keep hearing that the Glock barrel is not fully supported so I guessed I just better play it safe and get it. Did the new guy do good by getting the after market Lone Wolf barrel?

Also ordered 6 lbs of TiteGroup but I may have to wait cause it is on backorder. Did I do good?

Edited May 12, 2011 by JayJayJay

[mda]

Mark... THANK YOU! This is huge for me as I've been getting confused with jacketed vs. lead and the whole OAL thing for days now. I did get the association that for super soft shooting = CLAYS + heavy bullet (like 180). One quick question though, I still have a good 4 pounds of W231. Should I just sell it and buy CLAYS (and were talking about regular CLAYS right?)... or would I be fine with w231 assuming I find the right powder charge?

Win231 is slower burning then Clays and will be fine for 40 S&W. My book for a 180 FMJ start with 4.5 gn to max a of 5.0 gn for about 950 FPS. With lead or moly start about 0.5 gn less and work up. Lead and moly tends to require a little less then jacket due to Leads/molys lubricity(lower friction

)when compared to copper.

MDA

[ummagawd]

Noylj... Your post scares me lol. But thanks for the heads up on clay (and watching increments).

Thanks for clearing that up MDA. I thought I read that moly or plated would star between lead and jacketed. But il start low.

I guess I should stick with w231 for now. Even though it seems that a common super soft minor recipe always included using clays.

I'm going with bear creek 180gr due to a local hookup. Hopefully I'll do good

[ummagawd]

Jay, can't comment on the chrono yet but can say yo did good on the lone wolf. The only thing is that some lwd barrels come too tight go the point that some have had to had gheirs reamed out (like mine).

[Mark R]

ummagawd...just wanted to let you know I also replaced the stock Glock barrel in both my G22 and G35 with Lone Wolf barrels. If you order one, call Danny at Lone wolf and tell him you plan to shoot reloads...the LW barrels and chambers have very tight tolerances...Danny will "open up" the chamber a little and smooth and polish the feed ramp giving you better performance with reloads.

The Clays minor load I listed earlier is very "Soooofftttt". Try a pound of clays and see for yourself. I'll bet you put the 231 up for a while. Also 231 is way dirty IMO.

Just remember...Clays and short OAL in major do not mix well. Clays, short OAL (1.120), and minor are fun to shoot.

Edited to add: Oh, I verified...the Precision Moly bullets I use, are in fact, 185 grains...not 180 like I stated in my previous post.

Edited May 12, 2011 by Mark R

[ummagawd]

You know what Mark... you've convinced me. I'll try out a pound of clays. Where is everyone buying their clays? (PM me if its inappropriate to post that here)

The LWD barrel I have is actually already reamed out! (I got lucky ). SO I feel a little safer with this barrel and a KB scenario.... but still spooked:surprise:

[Mark R]

Don't worry about minor loads...it gets hairy when you go major with clays and short OAL that Glocks need. I use Clays in major but load LOOOONNGGG for Para P16.

Good luck...let us know how it turns out for you.

[JayJayJay]

ummagawd...just wanted to let you know I also replaced the stock Glock barrel in both my G22 and G35 with Lone Wolf barrels. If you order one, call Danny at Lone wolf and tell him you plan to shoot reloads...the LW barrels and chambers have very tight tolerances...Danny will "open up" the chamber a little and smooth and polish the feed ramp giving you better performance with reloads.

I ordered the Lone Wolf off the Dillion Precision web site cause it was only $99., so now what do I do? Is the issue with the resizing die? I have the Dillon die on there now but do have a LEE U resizing die that seems to make the cases a bit smaller\tighter.

[Mark R]

If you get the barrel and install it and you have fed and extraction problems, remove the barrel and send it to Lone wolf with a note on what it's doing...they will make good on it.

Mine was having the bullet leave the magazine and the bullet was jamming up into the barrel hood. polishing the ramp and throating the barrel fixed it...at least that's what Danny at LW said. It has run flawlessly since.

[D roc]

Sounds like I should have used clays instead of bullseye. I load 180 laser cast with 3.0gn of bullseye at 1.135 oal and wow so light. I wanted to use some titegroup I bought but couldn't get an accurate powder charge. All I can say is thanks handgun gunner magazine for such a great load recipe.

[ummagawd]

that out of a glock D roc?

[ummagawd]

so I've located a local store that sells clays... and my caliber conversion kit came in the mail today from dillon!!

but I also got an email from prevision that they're backordered for 3 weeks!!

I don't want to wait that long!!! I need to hunt a local store carrying some lead...

[Paul-the new guy]

Also ordered 6 lbs of TiteGroup but I may have to wait cause it is on backorder. Did I do good?

Well.... That will load about 12,000 rounds.... I have only been loading about 6 months and I like to try different things. I have tried Tite group, it was a little dirty for me but very nice shooting in 9mm minor with 125 grn MG's. I tried WST, I like it in both my 9mm and my .40's Seems to be cleaner than TG to me with about the same felt recoil. (I am not an expert) I just got done with a pond of N340. I only loaded .40 with it and I got very accurate results with a PF in the 155-160 range, Not quite the minor load I was looking for but still managable. I just ordered 4 pounds of N320, because powder valley had it in stock I am ready to load a few thousand rounds! 6 pounds is a lot of pistol powder amigo...

[D roc]

Ummagawd-

Yes thats out of a glock

[D roc]

I ordered my laser cast from midway and got it in two days if that is fast enough for you ummagawd

[D roc]

Why is it that multiple people joked about me loading 40 minor. I was at a steel match and I wanted to use my 40 minor loads. I loaded them mainly to shoot production in USPSA, but since I loaded 500 I decided to give them a try today. People kept saying are you loading minor to save powder, should have went major loads, can't believe you are shooting minor loads. I told everyone of them that my plan is going minor out of my g35 for production during a USPSA match. I dont get the problem. I figure if I could shoot mostly alphas why does it matter. My loads are running at about 730 fps and it is smooth as can be.

[blueeyephil]

I load 40 minor using Clays. I don't have a crony yet, but plan on ordering one this week. I've loaded 2 Lee bullets that I have cast as well as 1000 Precision Molys. I've been loading for 30 years on single stage, not 40s, but got a progressive this year. I've tried to be careful, but I've had 2 stuck bullets due to light powder load and one heavy load that blew an extractor off my SIG. Didn't hurt anything else so I don't think it was a double charge. I bought a RCBS powder check/stop die but haven't been able to try it yet as I'm out of bullets. Just go slow. I agree with the poster who said that the 38 can be just as easy to kaboom. Just put 3gr of Bullseye in a 38 and see how much room you have left. I like the Lee Factory Crimp. They aren't that expensive and worth it. Oh and to the guy that is getting crap for shooting 40 minor on steel, it's probably from the guys shooting 9mm that want you to shoot major and be at a disadvantage. If you shoot 40 in USPSA you can shoot minor in production and major in Limited 10. Good flexibility.

[Mark R]

Why is it that multiple people joked about me loading 40 minor. I was at a steel match and I wanted to use my 40 minor loads. I loaded them mainly to shoot production in USPSA, but since I loaded 500 I decided to give them a try today. People kept saying are you loading minor to save powder, should have went major loads, can't believe you are shooting minor loads. I told everyone of them that my plan is going minor out of my g35 for production during a USPSA match. I dont get the problem. I figure if I could shoot mostly alphas why does it matter. My loads are running at about 730 fps and it is smooth as can be.

It's probably because they have more recoil in their 9mm's than your 40 minor loads. They might be a tad jealous.

[ummagawd]

Yikes the clays are getting me worried. I also read that at sub 2.8gr on a dillon powder measure with clays, that you start to experience "bridging" which I understand to be a light load. With that said, does the RCBS check die help with both light and heavy loads? How's it compare to the lee FCD(or are they 2 different things with 2 different purposes)?

[D roc]

I had some VERY light loads feed during the steel match that made name have to strip down the Glock to make sure it didn't get stuck in the barrel. You could barely hear the primer go off and you saw a puff if smoke. I loaded sone rounds last night and measured every 5 rounds and out of 50 loads i had 15 that loaded at 2.9 gr. Now my oal was surprisingly all over the place. I was going for 1.135 but I was getting 1.134-1.14. I'm assuming that was the reason for the Very scary light loads due to the pressure. These were all loaded using a lee pro 1000. Do y'all have any input on what cause the painsy powder puff loads. I rather not hear I shouldn't have bought a lee

[D roc]

Even with the powder puffs I was able to hit a steel plate at 35 yards.

[Mark R]

My minor loads with Clays are 2.6 grains with 180 moly Precision loaded to 1.130" OAL...power factor is 130ish (2.8 grains all else same yields a 140 PF). Never had a problem with the load. BTW...I use a 12 pound recoil spring in both the G22 and the G35.

Oh...and I reload on a blue machine. Never a problem with powder drop/charge or OAL. Bridging is non-existent from my experience.

[ummagawd]

Doc, from what I've been reading, you might want to clean your dies (your seating one to be exact). Over time, it gets gunked up and dirty. Or the seat die could be loose but I'm sure you've checked that already.

Mark, good to hear you're all good on the blue machine. That's what I'm using

But I did hear that on the dillon powder measure and clays, that you should polish the pathways that come into contact with powder, with clays (and light loads). In addition, they say to never let the powder go less than half full.

[D roc]

Thanks both of all for the advice. I'm going to try and convict a guy I work with to sell me his dillon that is collecting dust. He bought it from a sheriffs dept and you turn on a switch and it starts spitting out rounds. It is horribly accurate.