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Need 40S&W Loads with WST


Trimmy

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I am new to this site. I have been shooting a 1911 for quite some time. I recently started shooting USPSA (of season practice) courses at a local gun club. Well the 1911 required to many reloads so I bought a Blue Label G35. I am going to be shooting in production so I need to work up a minor PF load. I have been having a really hard time finding anything around here. I want to work up a good load from WST. It is the only powder I can consistently find at the two shops around my house. I have the following to build a good load from.

WST

180grn plated bullets from Xtreme

CCI Small PP

I want to stay with WST as this is the only powder I have consistently seen for sale at my local gun shop with reloading supplies. I do not mind going with a different bullet if it will give me more accuracy. I love this game after one session so I can see this becoming my new addiction.

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3.6 grains of WST loaded to 1.135 OAL will put you nicely into 135 PF with your bullets. You might want to get a 13 or 14 lb. recoil spring to go along with this for 100% functioning. Also remember when it's hot outside unlike it is now it may take 3.8 to keep you at 135, when the temperatures are cool 3.6 will get you there with no problem.

Edited by bowenbuilt
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As long as both guns are Gen 4 it will fit but you will have to experiment to find out if it's the one you will need. If it functions well you are all set. You also want to be very careful not to over crimp the X-treme plated bullets, just straighten the bell out of the case mouth but don't actually crimp the case into the bullet.

Edited by bowenbuilt
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3.6 grains of WST loaded to 1.135 OAL will put you nicely into 135 PF with your bullets. You might want to get a 13 or 14 lb. recoil spring to go along with this for 100% functioning. Also remember when it's cold outside like it is now it may take 3.8 to keep you at 135, when the temperatures go back up 3.6 will get you there with no problem.

Isn't WST reverse temperature sensitive, the colder the ammo the faster the bullet will travel?
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3.6 grains of WST loaded to 1.135 OAL will put you nicely into 135 PF with your bullets. You might want to get a 13 or 14 lb. recoil spring to go along with this for 100% functioning. Also remember when it's cold outside like it is now it may take 3.8 to keep you at 135, when the temperatures go back up 3.6 will get you there with no problem.

Isn't WST reverse temperature sensitive, the colder the ammo the faster the bullet will travel?

This is what I always heard also.

In order to stay production legal I would have to buy Jager's composite guide rod for my gen 4 correct?

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Isn't WST reverse temperature sensitive, the colder the ammo the faster the bullet will travel?

You are exactly correct WST in reverse temperature sensitive and some lots of it are off the chart heat sensitive. Please pardon my senior moment, I have corrected my post. I knew what I wanted to say but is was too late and I was too tired to even be posting.

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Here are my loads for WST and a G22

3.9g wst 1.130 165gr xtreme plated - 770

3.5gr wst 1.135 180gr xtreme plated - 700

These are for lead SNS moly coated, I thought plated felt better but might as well post em

Both @ 1.135

3.1 wst 175 swc - 717

3.1g wst 180L- 700

Also wst is reverse temp sensitive, don't worry about changing your charge really unless it's super hot outside then up the charge to maybe 3.7. The velocity change really is not that bad with minor PF. Also also, the glock is very forgiving with crimp and extreme bullets. Dont go to town on it but you shouldn't have an issue.

Edited by Russellhjoy
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I think I'm going to give 3.5, 3.6, and 3.7grn under my 180grn bullet a shot and see which is most accurate. I have ordered quite a few bullets from xtreme before and they are usually here in two days. I placed my order on Thursday the 23rd and the tracking number they sent me that day says delivery Friday the 31st.... That is the longest wait ever haha. Oh well I put in an order for Sevigny FO sights, Jager GR, 13lb spring, and some reloading equipment I needed so it will all be here and installed before I can shoot so I'll be running through the house doing dry fire drills.

Thank you for all your help.

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22-Jan-14 40S&W Mixed X-treme 180 FP plated WST 3.5 gr 733.89 fps Tula primer 1.135 oal 132 PF G35 37*F pretty accurate MINOR

22-Jan-14 40S&W Mixed X-treme 180 FP plated WST 3.9 gr 811.18 fpsTula primer 1.135 oal 146 PF G35 37*F MINOR, but a little too much

Edited by .45 ACP nut
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I too found that 3.6grns of WST under an 180grn SNS cast bullet (regular lead with lube) worked well, but produced a bit higher PF for me in an XD40 Tactical. I tried both the stock springs and a reduced power 15# and both ran 100% so it just depends on the "feel" you like as to whether or not you might need a reduced power recoil spring in your gun or you can reduce the load a bit more. I have found in the past that my XDs and Glocks generally like the same loads related to PF as far as function goes. My power factor was mid 140-ish with the 3.6 load @ 69 degrees on a slightly overcast day.

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With an OAL of 1.200 I had to use 5.5 gr WST to reach 171 PF with the X-treme 180's. (I like a little cushion.)

With Precision 185's coated lead I only need 4.9 gr WST to reach the same or even a little higher PF and it has less recoil.

I like the Precision 185's the best. Shoot just as well or better and are cheaper. I do think X-treme makes good bullets though. I use them from time to time.

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lasercast manual shows never exceed 4.6g WST for 180gr RNFP or truncated cone. OAL 1.135. This is for unsupported chamber service pistols. 4.6gr got 884fps in a glock M-22. They note on the bottom of the chart to use 1.125 OAL for the truncated cone.

I'm loading for major in a sig 180gr cast at 4.9 gr 1.150 OAL and get 170 pf in the winter. Their book says 5.0 max loaded short in supported chambers like my sig.

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4.2 grs WST, 200 gr Bayou, 1.190 COL chrono'd the other day 25 degrees out, went 177 PF. Same load chrono'd 178 Pf at the Area 7 Match last year in NH probably 70 degrees or so when we went to the chrono station!!!

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I would offer this on using WST for a match. Keep in mind as I explain this that I started with 452AA and then WST when it replaced it so I have been using WST for many years in 9mm and .45 ACP. It was my favorite powder and I used it for everything until....

So I am at my usual weekly practice session and I have a large plastic tubb of 124 practice rounds sitting on the shooting bench, it is 68 degrees and clear. My bucket of 9mm rounds were sitting in the sun on this 68 degree day for about 3 hours. The first shot went way south of minor to the point it would not operate the slide. I tried several more rounds with the same results. I carried the bucket of ammo in doors and let them sit for about 2 hours out of the sun. Afterwards every round made minor with no problem. All rounds in the bucket went back to normal. Just to make sure what I was seeing was not some other mistake I did the same thing at home the next day with similar weather conditions. Same results as day one. I called Hodgdon to inquire if there was something funky going on with WST or to see if something had changed as I was loading out of a brand new bottle. After the tech was through berating me for using WST in 9mm he said that yes they had seen some lot to lot inconsistencies' lately with WST in shotgun loads. So,sort of like Solo 1000 it might be a good idea to check a new bottle of WST before loading it for a match to find out if you happen to have stumbled on a bad lot that is extremely temperature sensitive, believe me they are out there!

Edited by bowenbuilt
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By my tests WST isn't very temp sensitive. Maybe 2pf from summer to winter. I saw bigger swings with S1000 (+- 5pf). The bigger issue seems to be my powder measure (hornady) changes drop weight with temp. During the winter I can start loading with the press at 20f and finish at 70f as the karosene heater in the garage warms things up. I ofen need to tweak the drop after 100 rounds. Also my seating die changes by a couple thousandths as the temp changes. Long story short, there are lots of varibles. Don't think to hard about just make sure to chrono before any major match.

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