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Blue Bullets / .400


jschweg

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I'm going to be starting to load 40 for the first time and plan on using Blue 180's as I've loaded tons of Blues for 9mm and love them.

 

With 9mm, they offer a special .356 profile which I have had to use as they are far more accurate in my barrel. Enough people have preferred the .356 obviously for them to offer that alternative profile.

 

With 40, they only have one profile in .400 which is undersized like all of their default bullets.

 

That being said, I haven't seen any complaints on the 40 forum about this at all in comparison with the 9mm forum.

 

Is this just not really an issue with 40? Sorry if this is dumb, I really don't know anything about this caliber yet and all the other cast bullet manufacturers typically size to .401

 

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This is going to be barrel/gun dependent. I have shot both .400” and .401” diameter bullets through my .40 cal Limited Gun. I could not tell a difference in accuracy between the diameters. These bullets are my own cast bullets so the only difference was diameter after sizing. My barrel slugged .395”. I ended up sizing to .400”.

I suggest give them a try.


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.400 is not undersized, .401 is oversized. .356 is oversized too. Unless you specifically have problems with .400 or .355 (inaccuracy or low muzzle velocity) there is no reason to use oversized bullets.

 

 

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I'm going to be starting to load 40 for the first time and plan on using Blue 180's as I've loaded tons of Blues for 9mm and love them.
 
With 9mm, they offer a special .356 profile which I have had to use as they are far more accurate in my barrel. Enough people have preferred the .356 obviously for them to offer that alternative profile.
 
With 40, they only have one profile in .400 which is undersized like all of their default bullets.
 
That being said, I haven't seen any complaints on the 40 forum about this at all in comparison with the 9mm forum.
 
Is this just not really an issue with 40? Sorry if this is dumb, I really don't know anything about this caliber yet and all the other cast bullet manufacturers typically size to .401
 
Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
 

Buy some sample packs of .401 and test them in your gun/barrels. It may or may not make a difference for you.

I tested mine with BB, Acme, and a few others and ended up going with Ibejiheads .401. Better consistency (weight, dimensions), better over the chrono (SD, ES), and more accurate.
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.400 is not undersized, .401 is oversized. .356 is oversized too. Unless you specifically have problems with .400 or .355 (inaccuracy or low muzzle velocity) there is no reason to use oversized bullets.
 
 
I was always under the impression that when dealing with lead or cast bullets that generally these are oversized to seal against the barrel properly since it's a softer material.

Pretty much any other manufacturer of coated bullets uses .356 and .401 for 9mm and 40 respectively.

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8 minutes ago, jschweg said:

I was always under the impression that when dealing with lead or cast bullets that generally these are oversized to seal against the barrel properly since it's a softer material.

Pretty much any other manufacturer of coated bullets uses .356 and .401 for 9mm and 40 respectively.
 

Yes. A number of bullet makers offer a variety of sizes precisely so you can find which one works best for you.

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37 minutes ago, jschweg said:

I was always under the impression that when dealing with lead or cast bullets that generally these are oversized to seal against the barrel properly since it's a softer material.

Pretty much any other manufacturer of coated bullets uses .356 and .401 for 9mm and 40 respectively.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 

 

You're not dealing with bare lead bullets though. 

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I bought a sample pack of .400 blue bullets and .401 ACMEs. Both we’re acceptable accuracy for our game but .401 significantly more accurate. Minor price difference so I stuck with .401 ACME838157653b5971213168ee6afc7623bd.jpgd11b71de5627b878e754031038a4b01b.jpg
That's what bugs me about Blue. I love their bullets, but if you are only going to offer one size, I would think that the .401's would shoot better in the majority of guns given they are cast.

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I haven’t noticed any accuracy differences with blues. I used to buy a local company bullet that’s .401 and switches to blues specifically because they have a smaller bullet. I find case gauging isn’t such a pain due to the smaller bullet diameter. Also, I found that I can use a little less powder to make PF. Yes, it’s small but every little bit tends to add up over time. 
 

They have been accurate enough for me. If I can bench the gun and hit the A zone at 50 yards with a fist size group, I’m good. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
8 hours ago, Superkaratemonkeyfighter said:

But I bet that with coated lead the majority of people use .401. Could be wrong. 

Excluding the “ its good enough accuracy for me people “

 

 

They do. But it depends on the actual diameter the manufacture's sizing die produces. Slug test your barrel with a pure lead slug.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I use blue bullet 180gr 40 and absolutely love them. I bought sample packs of several companies and for me these were the best. my SV would not run most .401s. Blue bullets ran 100%. For my gun .400 is the only bullet that runs 100%. Now jhp Montana gold and precision delta are top notch. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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