andyivan Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 How do I know which one I need? Fairly new to reloading so looking for some advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outerlimits Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 9 x out of 10 it won't matter. you could go thru the trouble of slugging the barrel, but it aint worth the effort. if it's lead, .401 in most cases...YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furrly Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 Buy sample packs of each and give them a run.. I learned the hard way.. Bought a case of 401, they didn't plunk in my sti unless I load very short,... 400 plunked perfectly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GringoBandito Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 I had a hell of a time figuring this out myself..I had 10K extreme .40 180 grains on hand and they would not safely make PF with my new barrel. I finally figured out that I needed a .401 diameter bullet and now I make PF without and pressure signs. The process sucked but I learned a lot along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
promtcy Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 Furrly's advice is your best bet. You would think it wouldn't make that much difference, but it can. Bullet profile can also make a difference. Barrels can be very different from one manufacturer to another. Match grade barrels can also be finicky. I can't use a truncated cone .401 bullet at all and even a RNFP .401 ends up being pretty short. But I can load a .400 RNFP out to 1.2 with ease. What firearm are you loading for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furrly Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 4 hours ago, promtcy said: Furrly's advice is your best bet. You would think it wouldn't make that much difference, but it can. Bullet profile can also make a difference. Barrels can be very different from one manufacturer to another. Match grade barrels can also be finicky. I can't use a truncated cone .401 bullet at all and even a RNFP .401 ends up being pretty short. But I can load a .400 RNFP out to 1.2 with ease. What firearm are you loading for? This ?.. Firearm does make a big difference regarding loading length Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzt Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 If you listen to bullet makers who specialize in bullseye bullets. All of the good ones recommend you slug your bore and measure it accurately. Some will measure it for you if you send it back. Most will say that for lead bullets, +.001" over bore diameter works best, but not always. Dardas in particular says that sometimes bore diameter is more accurate than +1. He, like Furrly, recommends you try bre size, +.001" and +.002" to see what is most accurate. I have three 40sw pistols. I shoot two of them on a regular basis. On one, the most accurate bullet is the Precision Gen2 @ .401. The Rainier plated is just as accurate @ .400". One the other, the Rainier Plated is hands down the winner, and much more accurate that the X-Treme, Berry's or even the Montana Gold JHP. The third pistol is my backup. I've tested all my normal loads through it and it works with all. That's really all I care about in a backup gun, even though it appears to be as accurate as the others. I did a lot of testing to come up with these loads. I didn't buy sample packs. I bought packs of 100 in twos or threes. It takes a couple hundred rounds to find out what powder charge and OAL works the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72stick Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 (edited) On 2/7/2018 at 9:07 AM, zzt said: If you listen to bullet makers who specialize in bullseye bullets. All of the good ones recommend you slug your bore and measure it accurately. Some will measure it for you if you send it back. Most will say that for lead bullets, +.001" over bore diameter works best, but not always. Dardas in particular says that sometimes bore diameter is more accurate than +1. He, like Furrly, recommends you try bre size, +.001" and +.002" to see what is most accurate. I have three 40sw pistols. I shoot two of them on a regular basis. On one, the most accurate bullet is the Precision Gen2 @ .401. The Rainier plated is just as accurate @ .400". One the other, the Rainier Plated is hands down the winner, and much more accurate that the X-Treme, Berry's or even the Montana Gold JHP. The third pistol is my backup. I've tested all my normal loads through it and it works with all. That's really all I care about in a backup gun, even though it appears to be as accurate as the others. I did a lot of testing to come up with these loads. I didn't buy sample packs. I bought packs of 100 in twos or threes. It takes a couple hundred rounds to find out what powder charge and OAL works the best. My STI .40 Edge likes the Extreme 180g hps much better than the Rainier 180g hps. I've done a good share of chrony testing over the years with powders and OALs with just taking the bell out of the case mouth. I haven't found any combo that tightens up the Rainiers. I have about 1500 of the Rainiers and I'd really be interested in knowing how you got the Rainier's to be the most accurate. It absolutely loves .401 cast PC bullets. My groups off a bag at 25 yrds are much tighter with cast PC bullets than any plated bullet. Edited February 9, 2018 by 72stick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzt Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 72, I didn't do a thing. I just load them to 1.126" on my progressive press and shoot them. The differences are noticeable. The Rainier 155gr and the Precision 155 coated go into the same hole at 15 yards from a sandbag rest. The best the X-Treme 155 RNFP can do is one 1" dia. hole, outside to outside. In 45 the differences are greater. Both my 1911s (45s) like Dardas cast bullets for bullesye. Both like the Precision 200gr TC and the 185gr Rainier HP. I do use a lot of X-Treme 185g in 45 for plate and pin matches. Once a year they have a great sale on them, so I stock up and load them all up. I shoot them whenever I don't need pinpoint accuracy. When we move back to 25 yards for pins, it's Precision all the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrymSIX Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 On 2/6/2018 at 10:19 PM, Furrly said: Buy sample packs of each and give them a run.. I learned the hard way.. Bought a case of 401, they didn't plunk in my sti unless I load very short,... 400 plunked perfectly Yup. Just went through this same process. Got a 500 pack of .401 bullets (got a little too excited to start reloading/hand loading) can't seat the .401s out past 1.135 Got 2 sample 100 packs of .400 bullets and have dummies that plunk and spin ranging from 1.15 to 1.18. My gun luckily functions reliably with factory ammo so I'm not going to bother seeing if it will chamber rounds out to 1.2. Going to load out to 1.18 and now just gotta decide if I want the snappier 165 feel or 180s. Just get small sample packs and see what runs in your gun. Once you figure out what works order in bulk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72stick Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 20 hours ago, KrymSIX said: Yup. Just went through this same process. Got a 500 pack of .401 bullets (got a little too excited to start reloading/hand loading) can't seat the .401s out past 1.135 Got 2 sample 100 packs of .400 bullets and have dummies that plunk and spin ranging from 1.15 to 1.18. My gun luckily functions reliably with factory ammo so I'm not going to bother seeing if it will chamber rounds out to 1.2. Going to load out to 1.18 and now just gotta decide if I want the snappier 165 feel or 180s. Just get small sample packs and see what runs in your gun. Once you figure out what works order in bulk. I was talking to my gunsmith about this issue with the .400 vs .401 and he suggested throating the barrel to accept the .401. Then you can run either bullet at 1.200 or anything in between. I've heard of throating 1911s but never knew why. Now I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchman195 Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 FWIW I have a STI DVC Classic and a STI Trojan both in 40 and both take .402 bullets @ 1.2 with ease. Also have a Scheumann (spelling?) barrel in a limited gun that takes the same ammo. Not sure if I really go that lucky but they all work with the same load. However that load will not fit in the shockbottle hundo guage at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtchevy841 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 .400 only in my new Sv. .401 have issues with feeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furrly Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 My svi does not run. 401 at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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