leam Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I'm looking to reload a Sig in .40 S&W with the largest lead bullets I can find. 3.9" bbl, needs to make IDPA power factor (FPS X bullet weight in grains) of 125,000. So a 185 grain bullet only needs about 675 Feet Per Second. What's a good powder for this sort of load? I need something for year round shooting, mostly outdoors so it can't be sensative to temperature or damp air. Thanks! Leam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Clays, but you will probably need to spring it down to get it to run under about 150 power factor. Start at 3 grains and increase charge until the gun runs to start. When you spring it down you can work down until you get what you want. A 40 at 140 power factor with 180 grain bullets is softer shooting than a 9mm with 147's at 130 power factor to me, so don't get close the the bottom and you don't have to worry about not making power factor. I would look for something in the 140-145 power factor range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revchuck Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I just loaded some 180 grain Hornady swaged 180s over 3.2 grains of Clays for use in my .40 M&P. It's really soft, and works with the factory recoil spring (M&Ps seem to be good about that). It went 764 fps, for a 137 PF. I really doubt you'd need to go lower than that. The search function is your friend. There are a lot of other loads for minor PF in this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Burtchell Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 (edited) Clays or Titegroup. Alot of folks will make major with a 180gr bullet and then use the same exact load just substituting a 155 gr bullet for minor Edited January 2, 2008 by baerburtchell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leam Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Thanks! I happen to have some Clays handy and was loading 3.5 under a 175 till 1AM. Today's tasks include shooting to make sure I'm still happy with the plan, and then ordering some different bullets of the largest I can find. I have a newer SIG model, the SP2022, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of parts variety for it yet. So I'm stuck with factory specs until it becomes popular. Now I'll go off and Search for Clays... Leam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddy_fuentes Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 If you like big and slow, take a look in the Winchester loading catalog at the loads for 200 grain bullets. I was loading the 200 Precision Moly at 700 fps for a soft..........140 power factor. It is using WW 231 which is a little temp sensitive but when you are well over the power factor floor it won't make any difference. It could be reduced even lower if you wanted to work with it, but I was shooting it in Production with a Glock 22 and it was soft enough that I didn't experiment. Buddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airedale Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I loaded 3.0 gr of Clays under a 180 gr lead for Mrs. Airedales S&W 646. It chronos at (avg)750 fps out of the 4" barrel for a PF of 135. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I just loaded some 180 grain Hornady swaged 180s over 3.2 grains of Clays for use in my .40 M&P. It's really soft, and works with the factory recoil spring (M&Ps seem to be good about that). It went 764 fps, for a 137 PF. I really doubt you'd need to go lower than that.The search function is your friend. There are a lot of other loads for minor PF in this forum. That load sounds very appealing. What OAL and crimp was used? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leam Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 (edited) 3.5 of Clays under a 175gr LSWC wasn't bad, recoil wise. It was cold outside, mid-upper 20's, so that may have lightened it up a bit. Off to find some 180's or larger that are round nose or truncated cone. The narrow ramp of the SIG isn't fond of the LSWCs. Leam Addendum--Had a couple of problems where the gun would try to re-chamber the spent case. In that i'm using a stock spring in the cold, would the 3.5 Clays perhaps be too light? Edited January 2, 2008 by leam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glk21C Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 vv320 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisStock Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 4.1 Grains of Ramshot Zip pushing a 180GR cast lead TC at 855fps is a nice Production load for my M&P .40, 4.4 grains takes me up to 950fps for Limited. Meters nicely, burns cleaner than Titegroup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revchuck Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I just loaded some 180 grain Hornady swaged 180s over 3.2 grains of Clays for use in my .40 M&P. It's really soft, and works with the factory recoil spring (M&Ps seem to be good about that). It went 764 fps, for a 137 PF. I really doubt you'd need to go lower than that.The search function is your friend. There are a lot of other loads for minor PF in this forum. That load sounds very appealing. What OAL and crimp was used? OAL = 1.12", crimp = .421". Mixed brass, Remington 1-1/2 primers. Be advised that these bullets have been discontinued by Hornady, but standard cast bullets should chrono pretty close. Cast bullets may lead due to the low pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Yes, if it is re-chambering the spent case the load is nowhere NEAR powerful enough to operate the gun as it is. Work up within published data until the gun runs 100% reliably weak hand only. That is the bottom. When you figure out how to get springs for it you can work down from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Throwin Lead Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 I use cast lead out of a M&P 40. I make 135 power factor using 3.4 gn of WST , winchester SP primers OAL 1.125 using mixed 1x brass. Shoots soft & accurate. Using 4.0 TG and Precision 185 I get a 150ish PF. Same primer & OAL as listed above. Very accurate load. I'm told that Solo 100 is a good powder for cast. I have a pound on the bench but haven't had time to work with it. I spoke with the ballistician from Accurate powder he gave me the following info for Solo 1000 with a 180 gn lead bullet: Low load: 3.9 (ca 760 Fps) Start load: 4.3 grains (ca 870 ft/p/sec) Maximum load: 4.8 grains (ca 980 Ft/p/sec). Note CA means calculated not test fired Some things I have found developing loads. Plus or minus a few tenths in powder can make a huge difference in accuracy. It would be a good idea to take the info that is being posted here, reference it to a load manual to know the powder limits and then make 10 rounds 2 tenths less, then 10 more .1 less, then 10 at the recipe, 10 more at .1 over and finally 10 rounds at .2 over the given load. Get some sandbags or a good rest, set your targets up at about 10 or 15 yards, take aim & shoot the targets for each load preferably over a chrono and decide from there. Basically you are firing 50 shots off a benched rest to prove accuracy and PF for that range of powder/bullet. You want the POA to be the same for each shot so that you can get a good representation of the groups for each 0.1 increment. Tinker enough and you may find the sweet spot that you and the gun likes-conversely you and the gun may not like brand x powder or bullet and decide to try brand y powder and bullet. It's all about developing a load for your weapon. What shoots well for me or Joe shooter may really suck for you. Good luck & have fun safely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemo Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 Out of my M&P40 Bullet: Precision 185 gr Primer: WSP Powder: Ramshot Competition - 3.5 gr OAL: 1.150 Power Factor: A Soft Shooting 135 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 3.5 of Clays under a 175gr LSWC wasn't bad, recoil wise. It was cold outside, mid-upper 20's, so that may have lightened it up a bit. Off to find some 180's or larger that are round nose or truncated cone. The narrow ramp of the SIG isn't fond of the LSWCs.Leam Addendum--Had a couple of problems where the gun would try to re-chamber the spent case. In that i'm using a stock spring in the cold, would the 3.5 Clays perhaps be too light? I have a thread on the GLOCK area about my G20 failing to extract. I was shooting 175LSWC and I think the "step" on the LSWC in the mag was pulling the spent case out of the extractor before it was ejected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leam Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 I have a thread on the GLOCK area about my G20 failing to extract. I was shooting 175LSWC and I think the "step" on the LSWC in the mag was pulling the spent case out of the extractor before it was ejected. Interesting...hadn't thought of that. Loaded up some 180 gr Truncated Cone Flat Points last night, 10 rounds each from 2.9 to 3.6 grains of Clays with an OAL of 1.120 and Winchester Small Pistol Magnum primers. Brass is exclusively "whatever I pick up off the range" brand. Will take them out, keep them warm, and see if I can chrono them today. If not, I can still check the function of the lighter loads with the factory spring and one possibly lighter weight. Once I get the lowest PF that still functions I can up it from there to see if accuracy is affected. Drat! That means I have to do more shooting...woe is me... Leam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 I have used WST with excellent results with both cast and plated bullets in my PO16-40. For the lighter loads I had to get a lighter recoil spring. I'm looking to reload a Sig in .40 S&W with the largest lead bullets I can find. 3.9" bbl, needs to make IDPA power factor (FPS X bullet weight in grains) of 125,000. So a 185 grain bullet only needs about 675 Feet Per Second. What's a good powder for this sort of load? I need something for year round shooting, mostly outdoors so it can't be sensative to temperature or damp air. Thanks! Leam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Batt Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 I really like WST for moly coated bullets because there's less smoke than with some of the other fast powders. I've heard that the same is true for lead bullets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leam Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 Today was good. Practice day using the 175 LSWC's that had issues before. Warmer by about 30 degrees, no issues feeding a spent case. DIdn't have a chrono handy so haven't tested the different loads yet. Leam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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