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Favorite recipe .40 maj.


DJM725

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What’s your favorite recipe for .40 major? Primer, powder type and grains, oal. Specify gun type also (2011, Glock, CZ, etc.) Tell us why it's your favorite, ex: low recoil, less sensitive to temperature changes, etc.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I reload based on price. Moly bullets (Bear Creek) are cheaper than jacketed. Moly bullets also allow me to use less powder than jacketed to get to my desired PF. Free brass is collected on the range at major matches. Powder choice is also based on price (Ramshot Competition vs. VV N320 for my Limited gun). Now that I have loads that I know work for me, I buy powder in bulk (8 lb).

We are, after all, only punching holes in paper at an average distance of 15 yards.

So, my recipe? 180 grain Bear Creek, 4.1 grains Ramshot Competition, Fed or Win SP primer, mixed brass, 1.170 to 1.180" COL. (This is for my 6 inch Limited gun. Increase that charge weight to 4.5 grains in a 5 inch gun.)

Edited by splashdown
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ditto what splash down said, I use a 185 gr Precision Moly over WST which smokes less than TG, Prefer winchester primers, but will use CCI or Wolff, they all go bang.

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Glock 35 / Federal once fired brass / 4.2 grains TiteGroup / CCI primers / OAL 1.125 / crimp .20 / Montana Gold FMJ 180 grain 40S&W. I don't have a fav yet. I am new at reloading and this is my first load that I made major.

Edited by JayJayJay
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VV 320, 4,8 grains, 1.18 OAL. Mostly Zero 180 gr. Clean burning. Accurate! Money is not a deciding factor ever. The barrels I use this load in are: Schuemann, Kart, and Nowlin. I have tack drivers, not a dog in the bunch.

I do not deal with lead, because of the smoke and ITS LEAD! Moly and Platted bullets just do not perform as well as Zero or MG in my guns. I do not waste my time experimenting.

If money is an issue, buy a .22 conversion unit for high volume shooting.

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For my XDM I use in Limited, I load Titegroup 5gr behind Rainier 165gr JHP to 1.125" using Federal SP Primers and range brass. Makes major with managable recoil for me and the groups are good.

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New favorite, Bayou Bullets 200g RN over 3.9g WST at 1.185 LOA in a KART 5" barrel, 170PF

I honestly prefer this load over the old favorite in the P16-40.

Old Favorite, Montana Gold 180g JHP over 4.7g N320 at 1.185 LOA in a KART 5" barrel, 170PF

Mixed Brass and WSR primers.

Edited by dugout
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I've just switched over to the 180 grain Bayou Bullet (they average 178 grains on my scale), with N320 powder at 1.17 inches. I am playing around with the powder, as the 4.6 grains that I was using with another coated bullet isn't making major with the new bullets. I'm going to try a little more powder tomorrow and see how that works. I'm guessing that I'll need 4.9 to make major and have a little cushion left over.

I'd love to shoot jhps, but can't bring myself to spend the extra money on them.

The Bayou Bullets seem to smoke much less than any other non-jhp bullet that I've used. I've tried bare lead, and was unhappy with the smoke, then went to moly coated lead (much less smoke than bare lead), and have settled on the Bayou. As soon as I get my load dialed in, I think I'll be sticking with the Bayou for a long time.

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Glock 24, 185 grain Precision Moly, 5.1 grains of WSF, 1.129 OAL. I have gone as low as 4.9 WSF, and they were soft shooting, but I also have a Glock 35 and with 4.9 grains they were just under major. The extra .2 grain allows both the 35 and the 24 to go major with the same load.

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Steyr 4" barrel, 4.8 gr Solo1000, 180 gr lead/moly/plated, 1.125" OAL, 172-174 PF, SD ~11 fps.

I had high lead levels a year ago and am now steering clear of bare lead bullets, though I believe the real problem was being too casual about breathing in dust when handling the tumbler media.

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1fng wrote: "...I'd love to shoot jhps, but can't bring myself to spend the extra money on them..."

I still think that 200gn is too heavy for .40, but agree a bit on the price.

About the only reasonably priced jacketed bullets that you could get in a timely fashion would be Montana Gold.

Their .400 200gn bullet is:

.40 /10mm 200gr. CMJ (is that a plated bullet?)

$149.00/1000

$313/2250 (eq. to $139.11/1000

Zero Bullets (if you can ever get them) are priced at"

40 S&W 200gn JTCFM

$122.0/1000

Don't know Bayou's prices, but Precision's Moly-Koted 185gn bullet is:

40185 RNF

$ 98.00/1000

$225/2500 (eq to $90/1000)

Now, for me, if I could get the Zero bullet, I would be tend to spend the additional money (of course, at those prices, I am more likely to stick with cast bullets as smoke is not an issue, nor is "clean").

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  • 2 weeks later...

My major match load uses Hornady HAP 180 gr jhp over 4.7 grains of N320, Rem 1X fired case, Fed SR primer, 1.180 oal. Makes 171 pf at sea level here; we'll see what it makes at Area 1 in a few weeks. For practice/local matches I use the BBI 180 gr. at the same OAL with whatever powder, primer and cases I have on hand. Got 8lb of Solo 1000 I havent had a chance to play with.

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  • 5 weeks later...

My major match load uses Hornady HAP 180 gr jhp over 4.7 grains of N320, Rem 1X fired case, Fed SR primer, 1.180 oal. Makes 171 pf at sea level here; we'll see what it makes at Area 1 in a few weeks. For practice/local matches I use the BBI 180 gr. at the same OAL with whatever powder, primer and cases I have on hand. Got 8lb of Solo 1000 I havent had a chance to play with.

My N320 load chronoed 168.6 at Area 1. Gonna increase the oal to 1.2" and up the powder charge to 4.9-5.0 as I've been having occasional failures to feed. I think the gun likes a longer oal.

Just tried out some Solo 1000; 4.8 grains at 1.2" oal equates to 166 pf and a very soft major load for local matches and practice with BBI 180 gr molys. So far Solo 1000 feels almost the same as N320...

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