.40 S&W reloading

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plane_dr

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I'm going to be reloading .40 S&W for the first time. I've been reloading 9mm and .38 special for over a year now and have my loads down pat for those. I just acquired a Para Ordnance P16-40 Limited pistol and want to reload for that too.
Anybody out there reload their own .40 S&W? Looking for advice on powder and bullets. I will mostly be doing standard target shooting on avg 25 yd distance and eventually get into IDPA with this pistol. Maybe even try it for PPC once instead of my revolver. Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
I use 180gr bullets of various type with 4.7gr of Titegroup powder. That gives me about 950 fps which is good enough to cycle my Glocks and Sigs and doesn't have any more recoil than necessary. You can go hotter than that but I find the increased recoil tiring and makes shooting less accurate.
 
I use hp-38/ 231 with a 180 DRG lead. 3.7 gr. FPS is avg.725 putting it right in range for idpa power factor around 127000ish. Its close but always makes it. Shoots beautiful with stock glock 22 internals. Even went as low as 3.2 grs and still cycled no problems. Had many guys tell me its not fast enough to make power factor...really?....do the math! It's called lite .40 loads or powder puffing.
 
Currently i'm running 5.2 grains of unique under 180 grain berrys plated. I'm getting about 950 fps out of my G22 with that load. Recoil is quite managable, and i've had people comment that it feels just like factory, if thats what your going for.

I like the plated bullets as it makes cleaning a little easier, and they're about the same cost for me as lead as I am not set up to cast my own yet.
 
5.3 gr VV N340 (N340 meters well, burns very clean and works good for 9mm too). pushes 180 fr Frontier plated round nose flat point bullets to around 950 fps. COAL 1.126-1.128. About 4,000 rounds in a Gen 4 G22 zero malfunctions and groups very tight, SD under 10.
 
I use 4.9 Grains of Hodgon Longshot for Minor over a 175 Grain bullet for 750 FPS

I use 4.9 Grains of Hodgon Titegroup for Major under a 175 Grain bullet for 1100 feet per second.

If anyone is using 180 grain AIM projectiles they are actually 175 Grains.
 
I have the same Para and find it not fussy to load for.

I have found the DRG 180 gr lead Flat Point feeds perfectly and shoots tight groups. The AIM plated bullets also works well, but does not group quite as well for me.

For best acuracy, use a medium speed powder (231 and 7625 or Unique) and start low and work up in 0.3 gr increments, looking for the load that gets the best group. I have done this with a number of pistols and found that each will have a clear winner load. The group will be half the size of most other groups.

Unique is a flake powder and does not meter well out of some powder throwers.

231 is a bit dirty.

IMR7625 meters very well and is very good for everything except full power loads. If you don't find enough data on it, use Unique data. They are similar in speed.

My 40s like 4.5 to 5.0 gr of 7625 with a lead 180gr. My 45s like 6.2 gr. with a lead 200gr.

Does your pistol have an adjustable rear sight? If not you not only have to find an accurate load but a load that will shoot to POA. This may mean trying different weight bullets.
 
If you want a very clean burning, good metering powder give Vhitavuori N320 a try. It is much like titegroup but cleaner. If you use 4.7gr with a 180 gr bullet will give you Major PF with a normal COL of 1.125". You can also use it in a .45 and a 9mm..

RDG
 
rdgietz said:
If you want a very clean burning, good metering powder give Vhitavuori N320 a try. It is much like titegroup but cleaner. If you use 4.7gr with a 180 gr bullet will give you Major PF with a normal COL of 1.125". You can also use it in a .45 and a 9mm..

RDG
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Note, VV is a very nice powder, but if you are using plain cast bullets it won't make much difference. The lube burning off the bullets makes the load smokey/dirty anyway.

231 is dirty when used for low pressure loads.

Titegroup is very common, meters well, reasonably clean.

Clays is clean, but a very fast powder. Suggest to only use for low power loads, and it won't be forgiving of any reloading errors.
 
I've been loading 3 grains of clays for a power factor of close to 130 out of my baby eagle. The minor loads using tightgroup were much dirtier with grater extreme spread. Have only loaded for minor.
 
Aero_Plane said:
Bro is that chrono'd? seems wicked low to pf 14500.
Click to expand...

Yes it is. i can load the same bullet with 3.7 of 231 and get almost the same results. it is loaded to 1.125" in an M&P. I tryed this to duplicate the 231 load velocity wise as i find clays burns a little cleaner and "feels" softer in recoil. This is my load for ODPL matches and i tried to get closer to 125000 but found that slowing down any more and accuracy went into the toilet.

they chronoed about 802 fps average so actually a 180X802 = 144 pf
yea i was surprised they were that fast too as it seems like shooting a .38 wadcutter from behind the gun.

Also clays is a very fast powder and in this case in a small case volume even .1 grains makes noticable velocity differences.

Andy
 
Interesting....i think i might just give that a try! Thanks for the info, hard to find guys that like to go low....real low! lol seem like every one likes the 4.5plus range.... not sure why?


ampegor said:
Yes it is. i can load the same bullet with 3.7 of 231 and get almost the same results. it is loaded to 1.125" in an M&P. I tryed this to duplicate the 231 load velocity wise as i find clays burns a little cleaner and "feels" softer in recoil. This is my load for ODPL matches and i tried to get closer to 125000 but found that slowing down any more and accuracy went into the toilet.

they chronoed about 802 fps average so actually a 180X802 = 144 pf
yea i was surprised they were that fast too as it seems like shooting a .38 wadcutter from behind the gun.

Also clays is a very fast powder and in this case in a small case volume even .1 grains makes noticable velocity differences.

Andy
Click to expand...
 
VV N320 and Lead cast

SandRoad said:
Note, VV is a very nice powder, but if you are using plain cast bullets it won't make much difference. The lube burning off the bullets makes the load smokey/dirty anyway.

231 is dirty when used for low pressure loads.

Titegroup is very common, meters well, reasonably clean.

Clays is clean, but a very fast powder. Suggest to only use for low power loads, and it won't be forgiving of any reloading errors.
Click to expand...


I have shot VVN320 behind a 147 grain lead cast bullets (9mm) and it is much cleaner than other powders i have used such as SR4756 when shot with lead... That being said... any powder shot with lead cast bullets will be more smokey than with plated... Also VVN320 is a fast burning powder and care must be taken not to over load and exceed pressure recommendations...

RDG
 
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