thermobollocks Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 So, I am trying to come up with a usable major load for my 5" M&P. The last time I loaded .40 was like 3 years ago for a Glock 23, and I remember only being able to squeak out about 860 fps from a 180 grain plated bullet using Titegroup. I imagine two more inches worth of barrel is going to go a long way, but, am I screwed with this particular powder/weight combo? I have about a thousand 180 grain Xtreme flat-points sitting around, but I don't have a particular attraction to any given weight as long as I can make PF without losing any fingers. In 9 minor, I dig the 147s but I understand it's tougher to make PF with fast powders -- I imagine this might be the case with 200s in .40. I understand folks have more options open with the longer chamber that some of the custom guns can support. Would it be worthwhile to have a KKM/Storm Lake/whatever chambered long, or would I run into magazine limitations? I also have Silhouette, Power Pistol, Clays and Bullseye available, has anyone had remarkably good or crap experiences with these? I imagine if Titegroup is on the edge, Bullseye will be similar, and Clays is not going to happen. I know half of y'all are probably going to tell me to get some WST/WSF/Universal, and believe me, I would if I could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nghthwk1911 Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 I use 200gn Bayou .40S&W with 3.9 of TG 1.130OAL in my M&P Pro 5in, and make 170PF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Power Pistol is all I use. I've had great results with it and no problem making major out of shorter barrels. Complaints about muzzle flash in low light conditions are a legitimate issue but not something that I have found to impact my shooting. I find smoke from lead bullets to be more of a distraction personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted October 29, 2014 Author Share Posted October 29, 2014 Power Pistol is all I use. I've had great results with it and no problem making major out of shorter barrels. Complaints about muzzle flash in low light conditions are a legitimate issue but not something that I have found to impact my shooting. I find smoke from lead bullets to be more of a distraction personally. I've had great experience with Power Pistol in 9, especially if I'm potentially going somewhere where I'd rather not fail chrono . My 135+PF load is a little punchy but quite accurate, and I'm more worried about reloads in Production or movement in 3-gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 I've only tested one load with 180's and Bullseye and that was 5.5g of Bullseye and it was HOT. Avg velocity of 1055 for a PF of 189.9 so obviously you can dial it back quite a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted October 30, 2014 Author Share Posted October 30, 2014 (edited) I've only tested one load with 180's and Bullseye and that was 5.5g of Bullseye and it was HOT. Avg velocity of 1055 for a PF of 189.9 so obviously you can dial it back quite a bit. How was your brass? My go-to load for this gun has been 155 grain SWCs with 3.2 gr Clays for Production use, and the brass lasts forever. Obviously I probably am not going to see the same thing with major. Edited October 30, 2014 by thermobollocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 How was your brass? My go-to load for this gun has been 155 grain SWCs with 3.2 gr Clays for Production use, and the brass lasts forever. Obviously I probably am not going to see the same thing with major. I don't know. When I saw that it was way hot I didn't bother to check. I do think you will go through the brass faster with major loads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgj3 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I would bet that you can get there safely with Bullseye and 180's in the .40. May not be ideal, but I bet it will work. Load 'em as long as will fit in the mag. 1.16-1.17 or so. Work up from around 3.5 grs and chrono. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash74 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 In my stock barreled Pro 40 I have no issues making major PF using the Extreme 180gr HP bullets. 5.3gr HP38/W231 loaded to 1.160" gives me a PF of 168. The only pressure sign is the primer just starts to flatten. Using factory ammo I get much more flattening on the primers. I am unfamiliar with the powders that you have, but if they have similar burn rates to W231 then you should have no issues making major. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted October 31, 2014 Author Share Posted October 31, 2014 Are you able to load the HPs longer than the FPs without getting squished in the chamber? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrayfk05 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 (edited) Depends on the ogive, you cannot say that HP can be loader longer than FPs in general.Differs from bullet to bullet. Also, it is case capacity which determines pressure. You can have a longer loaded round which generates more pressure because the bullet is longer overall. Edited October 31, 2014 by xrayfk05 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted October 31, 2014 Author Share Posted October 31, 2014 Depends on the ogive, you cannot say that HP can be loader longer than FPs in general. Differs from bullet to bullet. Also, it is case capacity which determines pressure. You can have a longer loaded round which generates more pressure because the bullet is longer overall. Constrained specifically to the Xtreme 180s, I meant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash74 Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 Are you able to load the HPs longer than the FPs without getting squished in the chamber? The hollow point have virtually the same profile as the flat point since Extreme uses uses a rounded bullet with a flat point versus a truncated cone. However, I have found I am limited to mag length in the M&P. I can fit 1.160" in my mags without malfunction. My chamber will take longer, but I have no idea the max length since I stopped when the cartridges stopped fitting and feeding from my mags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted November 1, 2014 Author Share Posted November 1, 2014 Awesome, thanks. This gets me pointed in the right direction for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camazama Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 I just tested Bullseye and Xtreme 180s in my M&P40 5" today. I used 4.6gr of Bullseye, X-Treme 180gr RNFP, CCI primers, with an OAL 1.13. During this testing, I shot a total of 20 rounds (5 per test/4 tests). Minimums = 937.7fps/168.786pf Maximums = 994.9fps/179.082. The average fps was 969.0083 and the average pf was 174.7826 (standard deviation 3.3851). They grouped well at 7 yards even with the target trying to take flight in 35+mph wind gusts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted November 23, 2014 Author Share Posted November 23, 2014 I was able to chrono some, all with Xtreme 180 grain FPs loaded to 1.135" OAL. I found out I can seat to mag length and still be able to chamber, but I kept it at SAAMI just so I don't have to tinker with too much at once. I may find down the road I want to experiment with some mag length .40 and Clays, but not right now. This was all with a factory 5" Pro barrel, 10 shot strings. In case anyone's curious my range is at about 6000 feet above sea level, and it was 60 degrees out. 5.3 gr Ramshot SIlhouette Lo: 784.5 Hi: 847.4 Avg: 815.3 ES: 52.89 StDev: 21.49 PF: Nope 4.6 gr Bullseye Lo: 892.2 Hi: 930.8 Avg: 915.8 ES: 38.63 StDev: 11.4 PF: 164 4.3 gr Titegroup Lo: 892.6 Hi: 930.0 Avg: 912.3 ES: 37.38 SD: 14.69 PF: 164 as well So, with about 20 degrees and/or 0.2 grains of powder, Bullseye and Titegroup will probably be right where I need them. Silhouette was a little odd, StDev and ES were way off. For reference, 4.4 grains of Silhouette behind a 147 grain plated bullet my average is 915 fps (134 pf) with far better ES/SD. It may be that particular powder likes to be closer to max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsk Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 I use the 180 Xtreams with 5.5 of WSF makes 171PF at 1.135. Accurate and reliable as well. Oh yeah this is out of a 5in M&P pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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