what am I missing about .40 S&W reloading

[Sarge]

6 minutes ago, glc said:

I use the EGW case gauges, and they have always passed the plunk test too.

That's really all that matters.

[MikeyScuba]

Do any of you get a few rounds not passing due to a crooked bullet?  It's still happening 2 different bullets.  I'm using a 650 with a redding seating die and a floating toolhead.  It's not that many (5-6%) and I use them for practice and they go bang.  I just started using the U die but that's not helping either.

 

It's not a huge issue, it just bugs me as I don't have issues with 9mm.

Edited November 27, 2018 by MikeyScuba

[Sarge]

2 hours ago, MikeyScuba said:

Do any of you get a few rounds not passing due to a crooked bullet?  It's still happening 2 different bullets.  I'm using a 650 with a redding seating die and a floating toolhead.  It's not that many (5-6%) and I use them for practice and they go bang.  I just started using the U die but that's not helping either.

 

It's not a huge issue, it just bugs me as I don't have issues with 9mm.

What expander/funnel?

[MikeyScuba]

Uniquetek custom powder funnel -had major sticking issues (which it fixed)

 

http://uniquetek.com/product/T1582

Edited November 27, 2018 by MikeyScuba

[Sarge]

10 minutes ago, MikeyScuba said:

Uniquetek custom powder funnel -had major sticking issues (which it fixed)

 

http://uniquetek.com/product/T1582

Hmm. Just for giggles put the Dillon funnel back in. Yeah it may stick a little but see if it cures the off center bullet issue

[MikeyScuba]

Will do.

[dlightning]

I recently added a Mr powderbullet funnel. I have not had the crooked bulletYet     

[anbrumm]

On 11/25/2018 at 10:00 AM, buckaroo45 said:

I strongly suggest running the brass thru a Redding GR-X resizing die to eliminate the "Glock bulge" and a chamber checker after the round is loaded. It saves a LOT of irritation when a round won't chamber when running a stage.

 

This all the way. It's a little bit of a pain having to push thru size each piece of brass, but the amount of issues dropped drastically. If you have the coin you could always look into a rollsizer as well. If I loaded the volume/had money for it I'd get one for the time saving.

[candiru]

Do any of you get a few rounds not passing due to a crooked bullet?  It's still happening 2 different bullets.  I'm using a 650 with a redding seating die and a floating toolhead.  It's not that many (5-6%) and I use them for practice and they go bang.  I just started using the U die but that's not helping either.
 
It's not a huge issue, it just bugs me as I don't have issues with 9mm.

Make sure you’re getting enough case expansion (not just mouth flare) so the bullet base consistently drops deep enough to be stable.

[sc68cal]

+1 for the EGW u-dies. It'll knock out all case bulges. I've never had a case that didn't gauge in my Hundo due to a bulge, or if I did, it's happened so infrequently that I don't remember, out of probably 3000 rounds.

 

I've had a lot more difficulty with crimped primer pockets from once fired 40 brass, since my 650 doesn't swage them and I don't swage them in my Super Swager. They're infrequent but still rather annoying, so I pull them out of the primer seating stage and throw them away instead of dealing with them.

[muncie21]

11 hours ago, anbrumm said:

 If you have the coin you could always look into a rollsizer as well.

My brother, if I had coin- I'd have 12 vestal virgins reloading for me; using virgin, never fired brass of course.

[anbrumm]

23 minutes ago, muncie21 said:

My brother, if I had coin- I'd have 12 vestal virgins reloading for me; using virgin, never fired brass of course.

Haha i feel ya. I think the rollsizer would be amazing, but 1800 is a hard price to overcome. At least for the volume I shoot. 

[Bimmer]

Cost, and light-shooting training/target rounds.

 

My cost is <13¢/round:  <9¢/bullet, <1¢/powder, and ≈3¢/primer. 

 

I can't find brass-cased factory ammo for less than double that. 

 

I load mine very light:  4.5gr of Unique under a 155gr SWC.  They're accurate and reliable and very soft shooting.  (My local matches don't chrono.)  I get no leading and no case bulging.

 

 

 

[mushroom09]

This may have been said already, but remember not to compare your reloads directly to cheap, brass-cased ammo from the large manufacturers. In my opinion, the ammo I load for my open gun is comparable in quality and consistency to very good factory ammo that costs much more than the cheap stuff. Therefore you’re not comparing 15c reloaded to say 25c bought from a store, you’re comparing your reloads which work perfectly in your gun to high-end high-precision factory ammo. When you start to compare apples to apples with reloaded ammo the amount you save starts to become greater, with the added benefit of tuning a load to your specific gun.