What Bullet Weight To Use In A S&w 610?

[Hog Sniper]

I have a S&W 610 with the 3 7/8 barrel. WHat bullet weight would be a good one to shoot Major? I am currently using Federal American Eagle 180 grains and it works fine...I recently read that Rob Letham was shooting the 165 grain Winchesters with good results and less recoil. (That was out of a 6 inch barrel though)..Has anyone shot the Winchester 165 grain and does it make major?

Thanks in advance..

[revchuck]

I ran five rounds through my 4" Steyr M40 and the white box 165s went 996 fps - that's a 164.something PF. The SD was single digit. You'd have to try it in your gun - it'd be close.

[Nemo]

Gary,

As my match chronos of late have showed I'm by no means a ballistics expert... However, if I was shooting a 40 revo I'd start with a heavier bullet, maybe a 200gr, trying to emulate the not-so-snappy feel of the 45.

Makes sense?

[mcb]

I am using Berry's Round Nose 180 grain bullets in my S&W 610 6.5 inch barrel. These are the only round nose 40cal bullets I have been able to find. The load real nice but the plating comes off occasionally. More often when I use Titegroup and similar fast powders. The bullets seem to like VV N340. They shoot more accurate and less plating coming off.

mcb

[SIX SHOT]

I am using Berry's Round Nose 180 grain bullets in my S&W 610 6.5 inch barrel. These are the only round nose 40cal bullets I have been able to find. The load real nice but the plating comes off occasionally. More often when I use Titegroup and similar fast powders. The bullets seem to like VV N340. They shoot more accurate and less plating coming off.

mcb

Magma Engineering in Queen Creek (crick) Arizona makes a wonderful 40 RN mould. From my alloy, wheel weights they fall out at 205 grs, are very accurate with a small amound of WST powder. These were available a while back from Chey-Cast in Cheyenne, Wyoming, don't know if they are still in business though. They recoil very soft.

My buddy Mike says they load slow so beware! Also, I'm picking Mike (one of the 3 Amigos) to finish top 3 at nationals.

Dick

[10mmdave]

I am using Berry's Round Nose 180 grain bullets in my S&W 610 6.5 inch barrel. These are the only round nose 40cal bullets I have been able to find. The load real nice but the plating comes off occasionally. More often when I use Titegroup and similar fast powders. The bullets seem to like VV N340. They shoot more accurate and less plating coming off.

mcb

Hey mcb !!

I just got 1K of those Berry RN's to try, care to share any more data and results ???

powders...power factors...brass and OAL ??

and to add, I just went thru a bunch of Rainer 200 grn Rnd Nose Flat points, the flat is

very small so with the brass and moonclips I didn't see a big reload problem.

Saw some 180 Rainers and that flat is even smaller so I plan to try those next.

I didn't get to do a bunch of testing but settled on a load of 4.1 of Bullseye in Winchester

40 brass and an OAL of 1.22.

4.1 of Titegroup should do the trick also.

[hopalong]

You also may want to try the Precision Delta 180 grn bullets.

they do have a flat nose, but a very small flat at that. I use them in my 646 with no problems.

Also a very accurate bullet in all my .40 caliber guns........6 shooter and others.

SAM

[Hog Sniper]

Thanks for the tips..(Just getting back from vacation).....

As soon as the gun gets back from Randy I will try some different loads...As for the American Eagles (Non Tox) I was shooting, man do those things shoot clean....After a few hundred rounds the gun still looks clean...

[Nemo]

I've been using the Precision black bullets in my 625 and like them a lot. In 40 all their bullets are Round Nose Flats (RNFs). I don't think the flat tips are big enough to cause loading problems. They make them in 155, 170, 185, 200 grains and have a 220 coming soon.

Good luck!

[mcb]

I am using Berry's Round Nose 180 grain bullets in my S&W 610 6.5 inch barrel. These are the only round nose 40cal bullets I have been able to find. The load real nice but the plating comes off occasionally. More often when I use Titegroup and similar fast powders. The bullets seem to like VV N340. They shoot more accurate and less plating coming off.

mcb

Hey mcb !!

I just got 1K of those Berry RN's to try, care to share any more data and results ???

powders...power factors...brass and OAL ??

Berry's 180RN

4.5grains of Titegroup

Fed Match Primer

OAL 1.135

Crimp 0.420

Mixed brass (Fed, Win, Rem)

V=928fps PF=167

I noticed this load dumps a lot of heat into the gun. It is also the worst for causing the plating to come off.

Berry's 180RN

4.8grains of VV N320

Fed Match Primer

OAL 1.140

Crimp 0.420

Nickel Remington

V=944fps PF=170

You could probably back this off a tenth. 4.5 grains of N320 miss major by a fraction V=913fps PF164.3

Berry's 180RN

5.4grains of VV N340

Fed Match Primer

OAL 1.147

Crimp 0.420

Nickel Remington

V=970fps PF=175

This one you would definitely want to back down a tenth or two but even this hot is was a smooth shooting load. All these loads were fired in a S&W 610, 6.5 inch barrel, Fluted cylinder. I was using my Chony Alpha Chronograph, although it seem to agree pretty closely to a friend CED Chronograph that most major matches use.

Hope that helps

mcb

[10mmdave]

Berry's 180RN

4.5grains of Titegroup

Fed Match Primer

OAL 1.135

Crimp 0.420

Mixed brass (Fed, Win, Rem)

V=928fps PF=167

I noticed this load dumps a lot of heat into the gun. It is also the worst for causing the plating to come off.

Hope that helps

mcb

Thanks for the data MCB, I'll try that 320 load fer sure (like the powder, hate the price)

Titegroup is a pretty hot burning powder from what someone has posted before, I've noticed

the same heat problem myself.

Thanks again.

[sargenv]

I'm working on the other side of the spectrum. Bear creek 140 RN's in minor with 3.8 of Ramshot Competition. When I run out of that I'm probably switching to PB (10 pounds of it) then maybe Red Dot (also 10+ pounds of it) and then to something else. I have noticed that the heavier bullets shoot softer all else being the same and I did work up a pretty hot load with the 140's with something like 8.5 of Power pistol. They were pushed to about 1350 fps and made major handily. The bullets got on steel at longer ranges right now and they were fun to shoot with no noticeable leading.

I have about 2k loaded right now for my anticipation of practice after the Plastic gun match this weekend. From here until maybe next year's Nationals (a worthy goal). I'm going to be shooting and practicing like heck. I'd like to make at least A by next year but time will tell.

Vince

[10mmdave]

I'm working on the other side of the spectrum. Bear creek 140 RN's in minor with 3.8 of Ramshot Competition. When I run out of that I'm probably switching to PB (10 pounds of it) then maybe Red Dot (also 10+ pounds of it) and then to something else. I have noticed that the heavier bullets shoot softer all else being the same and I did work up a pretty hot load with the 140's with something like 8.5 of Power pistol. They were pushed to about 1350 fps and made major handily. The bullets got on steel at longer ranges right now and they were fun to shoot with no noticeable leading.

I have about 2k loaded right now for my anticipation of practice after the Plastic gun match this weekend. From here until maybe next year's Nationals (a worthy goal). I'm going to be shooting and practicing like heck. I'd like to make at least A by next year but time will tell.

Vince

Hey Vince ?? what's "PB" powder ?? (or was that a typo for Power Pistol)

I used a ton of PP back in my pin shooting days, never did have much luck with reduced loads.

I got some of those Bear Creek bullets from the Big Dawg shoot last year, they don't produce

hardly any smoke with my Bullseye load (38 spcl by the way)

So care to share any load data ?? that 140 minor load sounds great, what are the particulars ??

(gun, brass, OAL etc)

[Delta Mike]

I get the plating coming off when I shoot Berry's and titegroup as well. Right now I am using the 180 Berry RN with 5.2 gr. of WSF.

DM

[revchuck]

Hey Vince ?? what's "PB" powder ??

I'm not Vince, but PB is an old IMR powder. "PB" stands for "Porous Base". It looks kinda like 231 with holes in it. It's also about the same burn speed, burns pretty cleanly and measures well.

[sargenv]

Yep, revchuck is correct. It is a more medium burn speed powder. Somewhere like Unique or maybe Accurate #5. I have a lot of it and want to burn it up. It is also very useful for loading mid range field loads for 12 and 20 gauge shotshells. It can crank up the velocity pretty good at lower pressures than something like Red Dot. Red Dot usually can push 1 1/8 ounces to about 1200 hitting the pressure ceiling of about 10,500, PB can crank the same shot weight to about 1275 maybe 1300 within the same pressure. If I loaded it to the same velocity as Red Dot, the pressure would be in the 7500-8000 range depending on hull type. If you like, I can give a report on it later on when I try using it. I may try loading a 180 Plated at minor for my Sig 229 with PB also.

Vince

[revchuck]

Vince - 4.3 grains of PB makes about a 130 PF under a 158 grain RNL in .38 Special in a 4" barrel...4.6 does also with a 158 grain Berry's RN. ES isn't anything to brag about, but it's not too bad. Real clean at those levels.

[sargenv]

Thanks, probably pretty similar with a 140 in a 6.5" bbl. I'll load to that level to start and then chrono, up or down..

Vince

[10mmdave]

Yep, revchuck is correct. It is a more medium burn speed powder. Somewhere like Unique or maybe Accurate #5. I have a lot of it and want to burn it up. It is also very useful for loading mid range field loads for 12 and 20 gauge shotshells. It can crank up the velocity pretty good at lower pressures than something like Red Dot. Red Dot usually can push 1 1/8 ounces to about 1200 hitting the pressure ceiling of about 10,500, PB can crank the same shot weight to about 1275 maybe 1300 within the same pressure. If I loaded it to the same velocity as Red Dot, the pressure would be in the 7500-8000 range depending on hull type. If you like, I can give a report on it later on when I try using it. I may try loading a 180 Plated at minor for my Sig 229 with PB also.

Vince

Sure Vince, post the load results, I can't speak for all but I like to see new data for use in

my fav-o-rite revo.

(and mods, if I'm out of line, just say so, revo reloading info kinda gets lost over on the

reloading section)

[TonyT]

I have used my 4 inch S&W 610 with relatively light loads - 3.6 to 3.9 gr. of WST behind either plated or jacketed 155 or 180 gr, bullets. It's a real tack driver with those loads.

I have a S&W 610 with the 3 7/8 barrel. WHat bullet weight would be a good one to shoot Major? I am currently using Federal American Eagle 180 grains and it works fine...I recently read that Rob Letham was shooting the 165 grain Winchesters with good results and less recoil. (That was out of a 6 inch barrel though)..Has anyone shot the Winchester 165 grain and does it make major?

Thanks in advance..