40 Open

[yigal]

On 5/21/2018 at 1:50 AM, bjones6686 said:

My boss has a lathe so putting the barrel in a lathe and centering the bore would be easy. He does this all the time on rifle and pist barrels that he is threading for brakes/comps. He has all the fancy tools and could help me.

i want a boss like yours .

[muncie21]

The concept of an open .40 is mildly interesting. I reload so can work out the load to maximize the comp.  However I don't hear much about mags.  Who's making big sticks in .40?

[Matt1911]

21 minutes ago, muncie21 said:

The concept of an open .40 is mildly interesting. I reload so can work out the load to maximize the comp.  However I don't hear much about mags.  Who's making big sticks in .40?

From what I've read here, SVI and MBX both make .40 big sticks. 

[bjones6686]

11 hours ago, yigal said:

i want a boss like yours .

Yea he is a great boss. Was my gunsmith for many years before I started working for him at his other business. Both businesses are on the same property. The job has a lot of perks. I get to shoot all kinds of guns. Gunsmith work at a little bit of a discounted price. 

[bjones6686]

2 hours ago, muncie21 said:

The concept of an open .40 is mildly interesting. I reload so can work out the load to maximize the comp.  However I don't hear much about mags.  Who's making big sticks in .40?

MBX makes 170mm 40cal magazine's. I used to own a couple and they ran flawless in all my 2011's. 

[zzt]

11 hours ago, bjones6686 said:

MBX makes 170mm 40cal magazine's. I used to own a couple and they ran flawless in all my 2011's. 

 

Ditto.  Same with their 140s and SI Gen1 tubes.

 

BTW, for you guys experimenting with loads to make the comp work, here is mine.  My main 40 Open wears a 4-chamber, 5-port comp and two 3/16" poppels.  10.2gr Major Pistol powder under a 155 (i use Rainier and Montana Gold) makes 172PF and shoot flat and soft.

[Furrly]

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/77202

[ChuckDC]

I have a .40 Open Para with a C More on it been thinking of changing to .357 Sig just need to figure out what barrel and comp and where to get one shouldn't be tough to do. I built this beast with help from Charlie Granger years ago since he isn't playing anymore that I know of. Any ideas???

[zzt]

15 hours ago, ChuckDC said:

I have a .40 Open Para with a C More on it been thinking of changing to .357 Sig just need to figure out what barrel and comp and where to get one shouldn't be tough to do. I built this beast with help from Charlie Granger years ago since he isn't playing anymore that I know of. Any ideas???

 

Why on earth would you do that.  In 40 you can push a Nosler 135 JHP to 1360+ fps or a 155 to over 1200 fps with no effort and staying within standard SAAMI pressures.

[ChuckDC]

On 1/22/2009 at 5:26 PM, ChuckS said:

When did you start shooting open? Late 2003

Was 40 your first caliber in open? Yes

Why did you choose 40? I had a couple limited guns in .40, mags in .40 and since I live in Ca, mags are an issue. This was just after 9mm major was given the nod and it was still scaring folks back then.

What make is your gun? Para frames and STI slides

Who built it? Wil OHara, Corona, Ca

What barrel length, comp and optic are you using? 6 in Tribrid II with a 5" slide on one and 5" Kart with an EGW 8 chamber in the other. Bevenized Docter on both.

Do you run a big stick, and what capacity are you getting? 26+1 and 27+1

What have you settled on for a load? Started out with N-350 and then tried N-340 with a 135 gr bullet. 350 didn't burn completely. Tried Silhouette and it worked well but still did not quite burn fully. So, back to N-340 with Rainier 135 gr or Nosler 135 JHP. Using about 8.1 - 8.2 gr for +175.

What's your open classification? B

Where do you live? SoCal

Later, I built my Open .40 on a Para frame I had Sri slide Clark barrel  Dawson Awesome comp originally had ta Tasco Optima200 cut onto   The slide. Went .40 because of the California mag situation was running Limited with a P16optimas died repeatedly so I. Have a C more now. so I had mags been thinking of going to.357 Sig with a new barrel andcomp maybe one of the newer slide ride dots if I coul do so without a new slide being necessary I’m out of  CA  CA land now 

Chuck

 

[shred]

On 10/30/2020 at 1:54 PM, zzt said:

 

Why on earth would you do that.  In 40 you can push a Nosler 135 JHP to 1360+ fps or a 155 to over 1200 fps with no effort and staying within standard SAAMI pressures.

This.  9x25 Dillon (I shot one for years) died out and .357 Sig doesn't do anything it didn't except maybe cheap brass if you happen to have a huge stash.  Maybe bullets are cheaper than .40 if that's important.

[Fishbreath]

This seems like the place for it: I chronoed some test ammo in my 3D printed Open Glock project (KKM barrel, SJC compensator), and here's my recipe.

 

Xtreme 155gr plated (easy to find)

8.7gr 3N38 (all I could find)

1.134" OAL

~170PF

 

It's primarily going to be a range toy, or something to break out when I want to take a break from having to shoot everything 1 for 1 in revolver, so I'm not optimizing much, but it seems to work the compensator pretty well.

[Hunter91]

On 1/22/2009 at 8:14 AM, splashdown said:

To date there have been 13 people vote for 40 in G-Man's poll, "What caliber is your open gun?"

I know there have been a few threads in the past, but I'd like this to be a place for us all to come together to compose a shapshot to answer the who, what, where, when, why, and how's. So, some questions, then I'll answer myself:

When did you start shooting open? Was 40 your first caliber in open? Why did you choose 40?

What make is your gun? Who built it? What barrel length, comp and optic are you using?

Do you run a big stick, and what capacity are you getting?

What have you settled on for a load?

What's your open classification?

Where do you live?

My answers:

I had a limited gun and put a 6" top end on it with the idea I'd reuse the 5" top end someday for an open gun. After finding little bits of information scattered all over this forum I decided to go for it. I primarily chose the 40 for financial reasons. I had the major components that were already fit to my frame. I get to use the same mags and dies in the press as my limited gun. In the end, I saved a few thousand dollars by going with 40. If I had the money, I would've gone 9mm, but i'm doing this on a poor man's budget.

I decided to have Gary Natale (gansguns) do my 40 top end. I just received it back from him this week and haven't shot it yet. I decided on his Model 5 comp with bleeders in the last two chambers. I thought it looked cool and he said it would work fine. My optic of choice was the Trijicon MS03, 8 MOA dot with a JV Dynamics frame mount. I chose the Trijicon to keep the dot low (don't like the high up C-more) and for it's lifetime warranty. Pics can be found in the gallery.

I'm interested to find out who the rest of you are, mainly just to learn more about it because I'm so new to "the dark side."

Thanks,

splash

I've only met one person who shot a 40 open. I think with the recent changes and reliability of 9 major (mainly cost efficiency) is why everyone is changing over.