IDPA .40 load

[bluemeanie]

 I've made a few batches of .45's for my g21, and I think I'm ready to start loading .40's for the gun I'd rather shoot (a G22 with a wilson barrel). I have a Dillon 650, but have no dies,  brass or bullets for .40, so this is a pretty clean slate.

 I'd like this load to meet the mpf of 125,000 for SSP, run the gun reliably (tuning suggestions would also be appreciated), and (duh) be easily controllable.  

Thanks in advance,

Steve

Forgot, I have some univ. clays and win. sm pistol primers on hand. are these primers too hard for a reduced pwr striker spring?

(Edited by bluemeanie at 9:35 pm on Feb. 6, 2002)

[Nik Habicht]

I've not had problems with Win. small pistol primers and reduced power striker springs in my 9 mm Glocks, but YMMV.  Load some (maybe 100 for starters) and try them.  If they all go, load some more; feel comfortable when 1000 have gone off without a hitch.

[bluemeanie]

Thanks Nik,

 I ordered some 180 gr plated rn fp. I only have to push them to 6-hundred-something, so I'm gonna try a pretty mild charge of universal clays. Do IPSC major loads use clays rather than universal clays? How do the burn rates differ, and are there any mistakes in particular to watch out for in producing pressures that are too high?

[Patrick Sweeney]

Not the powders or bullet you have, but a couple of loads I have loaded a bunch of and had good luck working various guns are:

4.2 gr Bullseye  140 Dillon cast, 1.135", 950 fps, 130PF

3.9 AA#2 155 Dillon cast, 1.138", 881 fps, 136PF

And they cycle most guns.  The softest load I have for a 180 is:

5.6 WAP, for 806 fps, 1.135" and a 145PF

Good luck

[bluemeanie]

 Thanks. I happen to have some bullseye on hand, too.

I was really excited to find that my 200 gr swc's in the .45  could be made to shoot so soft in my .45, and I'm hoping to acheive something similar in the smaller, easier-to-handle gun, and still stay within the rules.

  What's the rule of thumb on bullet weight, charge weight, recoil, and power factor/floor? By the book (hornady) my .45 loads are on the soft end, and sweet to shoot. I just got lucky with the very first load I tried, though.

(Edited by bluemeanie at 12:50 pm on Feb. 11, 2002)

[Patrick Sweeney]

There are a lot of rules of thumb.  The only one that might apply here is that wimpy loads generally run dirty, due to inefficient combustion.

Once the weather gets warmer, I'm going to run Titegroup through a bunch of calibers and see if I can load up wimpy IDPA/Steel stuff in a bunch of calibers.

20 degrees and slick ice from last nights freezing rain are not the conditions I like to shoot in.

[Flexmoney]

There is a thread over on GT that is of interest (using TG).

http://glocktalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60576

[bluemeanie]

 As my high school spanish teacher would say, moo-chos grassy-ass. Got my components and dies/conversion kit in today. Will be working on some .40 loads soon, though I've decided to finish "cutting my teeth" on .45 acp. My technique and familiarity with the machine needs some work while I'm still dealing with a more forgiving cartridge.

 Flex, you will be tickled to know my collection of loading manuals is growing by leaps and bounds. I looked in on the GT thread, found a nugget or two, affirming that I'm on the right track with the 180 grn.

 Nuggets are getting harder and harder to find over there, though.

[TDean]

"..Nuggets are getting harder and harder to find over there, though..."

Boy is that a true statement!  I remember GT when it was only 1500 members strong....what now 15,000?

[bluemeanie]

I still like GT (I don't catch much flack for shooting a glock over there). I know there are experienced shooters and people with tech backgrounds who post on the board. There's just a little different feel here. You weed out a lot of opinion when you take self defense out of the mix and conentrate on shooting...and movies..and zen,,,and stuff.

[Flexmoney]

bm,

Now that you have all those reloading manuals read ...might as well check out Jeff Maass' load page:  http://home.columbus.rr.com/jmaass/ipscload.htm

Sounds like you are well bitten by the shooting/reloading bug.

(Edited by Flexmoney at 1:53 am on Feb. 15, 2002)

[bluemeanie]

 Ohh, yeah. I'm off of work for awhile, and I find that on days when I'm around the house all day, I can't stay away from the press for very long.  The "problems" I've had have created some good recreation in making adjustments, so I don't get frustrated as quickly as I do when doing mechanical work that I have to do.

  The manual library keeps on growing. Thanks.

[ranger]

I would recommend AGAINST using CLAYS in 40 S&W in a G22. There are three Clays powders - Clays, International Clays, and Universal Clays. "Plain" Clays is specifically not recommended for 40 by Hogdon becuase of its unique burning characteristics - it goes mild to wild very fast. Universal Clays is a better choice out of the three Clays.

[mike4045]

I would recommend not trying to load small charges of fast powders. You could run into a pressure problem. I know from exp. that AA#2 at 4 gr is a problem. I use AA#5 with a 140 gr lead bullets and make about a 150 PF. I have not seperated any case heads with this load. I have with the 4 gr load of #2.

I plan to try #7 and titegroup to put together a load for a prod and IDPA. I don't go much below the 150 pf, because I like the gun to snap . I hate a load that makes me feel like I am wainting for the cycle to finish.

Until I get a new load worked out I will be using my 180 gr major load for all shooting.

Mike4045