need advice on minor .40sw Clays MG JHP 180gr

[tAcTiCaL_D]

just joined the club and bought the 550b from Brian today. A couple of questions just need a starting point to load .40sw MINOR with Clays with MG 180gr JHP. Also what primers do you recommend.I bought new starline .40 brass (small primer) and What OAL. I'm shooting a glock 23 ( i believe the barrel length is 4")

thank you very much in advance!!

Edited July 14, 2011 by tAcTiCaL_D

[The_Vigilante]

The OAL will depend on three factors: the barrel in your Glock 23,the actual bullet itself, and the magazines. Just going to have to use trial and error to find the best OAL for your pistol. You want the cartridge to drop in your barrel freely, move around freely while in the chamber, and drop freely. The barrel is your ultimate case gauge. Load it as long as possible. As far as primers are concerned any small pistol primer will work. If you need to go cheap try Wolf. I use Federal almost exclusively.

Edited July 14, 2011 by The_Vigilante

[MarkCO]

DON'T load as long as possible in a Glock. 1.135" will run almost all of the time, but with JHPs in Glock magazines, the edges can catch here and there and cause malfunctions.

My load is a 180 MG CMJ over 3.4 grains of Clays at 1.130". Out of a G35, I get 142 PF. From your G23, you should be right at 130 PF. Nice and soft. I use mixed brass and WSP primers.

[kevin c]

For my stock 23, I have used MJ 180 JHP's over 3.2 to 3.3 grains of straight Clays, COAL at 1.135", Win or Fed small pistol primers. This has run well with stock springing, comes in at about 135 PF, and is as light a recoiling load as you might want.

The same load works for my G35's with stock barrels and light springing.

Of course, L.A.Y.O.R.A.R. (load at your own risk and responsibility).

[noylj]

Make up two inert dummy rounds and load to the longest COL that fits your magazine and feeds and chambers. Use the two dummy rounds to load the magazine and verify function.

Too many take the minimum COL in the manual as the target COL. If you are using Clays, do NOT even consider trying to determine a max load or reduce the COL under the manual's COL. In fact, except for low pressure .45 Auto at 750fps, I don't consider Clays to be a "safe" powder. It seems to have a hockey stick like pressure curve and needs to be respected.

Still have no idea why Clays and TiteGroup are so popular.

[legacy]

Make up two inert dummy rounds and load to the longest COL that fits your magazine and feeds and chambers. Use the two dummy rounds to load the magazine and verify function.

Too many take the minimum COL in the manual as the target COL. If you are using Clays, do NOT even consider trying to determine a max load or reduce the COL under the manual's COL. In fact, except for low pressure .45 Auto at 750fps, I don't consider Clays to be a "safe" powder. It seems to have a hockey stick like pressure curve and needs to be respected.

Still have no idea why Clays and TiteGroup are so popular.

I'm loading .40 minor to 1.135 for my Glock 22. From what i've seen the main reason people are using Clays is because of the low price point compaired to other powders. I'm currently using Winchester WST and have had good luck, but i'm concerned about its sensitivity to temperature change.

[SV limited]

I load 3.0gr of Clays 1.150 for my m&p pro 4.5" 128-130 pf.

[Paul-the new guy]

Make up two inert dummy rounds and load to the longest COL that fits your magazine and feeds and chambers. Use the two dummy rounds to load the magazine and verify function.

Too many take the minimum COL in the manual as the target COL. If you are using Clays, do NOT even consider trying to determine a max load or reduce the COL under the manual's COL. In fact, except for low pressure .45 Auto at 750fps, I don't consider Clays to be a "safe" powder. It seems to have a hockey stick like pressure curve and needs to be respected.

Still have no idea why Clays and TiteGroup are so popular.

You need to make more than 2 because they don't hang up and cause problems till they get down deeper in the magazine. as the flatten out they take up more space and will get stuck. Never used Clays, can't help you there. WST is nice and N-320 is good too. I liked N-340 also

[Joe4d]

I wasnt happy with the accuracy I got with clays and minor 40, You are running a stock gun with stock chambers in a platform designed for 9mm length rounds no reason not to just follow straight SAMMI book specs on your OAL's. with reduced charges a bit to get where you want.