fast or slow burning powder for 40sw?

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mrefaat

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I currently load Bullseye for my 40SW, it is a fast burning powder. I put 4.9 gr under a 180gr copper-washed (closer to lead than to FMJ).
I found the recoil really snappy in my glock 22.

I have some Blue Dot left which I will try soon. it is slower so hopefully get a different result.

what's your experience? what should I try differently?

thnx
 
All depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
For a light target load, try heavy bullets (180 & 200 grain) and a quick burning powder like titegroup.
 
trying to achieve mild recoil.
so if I use a heavy bullet and a fast burning powder, should I be loading to the minimum powder grain?
 
if you want a load that has a soft recoil use wst winchester super target podwer. this is very good podwer i used to use it with a 200 grain lead bullet very good target load.
 
mrefaat said:
trying to achieve mild recoil.
so if I use a heavy bullet and a fast burning powder, should I be loading to the minimum powder grain?
Click to expand...

That would be a good place to start, with the goal to find what minimum powder will reliably cycle your pistol.
 
Bullseye is about the same buring rate as Tightgroup.

I generally use Tightgroup and sometimes the slower WW231. Bluedot is much slower still and if you don't keep your chamber pressures up you may find that it is quite dirty with lots of unburnt powder.

I know of some people that were using Clays with a heavy bullet (200gr) to make MAJOR in 40 S&W. They were relatively soft shooting loads but VERY high pressure loads and not recommended.

If you want a reduced load, then stick with faster burning powders.
 
Titegroup is a tad slower burning than Bullseye, but you shouldn't notice much difference in the recoil.

Blue Dot is WAY too slow for 40, I've tried, and after 100 rounds, I had a nice black trail in front of my shooting stand from unburnt powder dropping on the floor. And it was extremely dirty, and wasn't anywhere close of the published FPS.

Clays burns extremely clean, you'll have to play with extremely high pressure loads if you want to get close to major. Clays burns very quickly, so it gives high pressure peaks, as Sandroad said. Plus, it smells very bad...

From my exprience, a nice target load in 40 would be 4.1-4.2 grains of Titegroup behind a 180 grains bullet. I doubt it'll make Major, but it should be close. It's accurate and soft recoiling in my Sig. It might feel a bit snappier in your Glock, since it's a lighter gun (almost all loads will feel snappier in your Glock, that's one drawback of tupperware guns)
 
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I try to always use the fastest powder that will achieve the ballistics I'm looking for. Generally, I start by looking up the cartridge in a load manual, finding the bullet I'm interested in loading, then selecting the fastest powder listed that will achieve the velocity I'm seeking.

A lot of folks prefer selecting the powder that most completely fills the case for a given velocity, but I find I usually get better results the other way around. Using too slow a powder often results in a dirty burn or erratic performance.
 
4.1 grains of WIN 231 and a 180 grain bullet is a very soft load, works perfectly in a G22.

3.3 grains of Titegroup and a 180 grain bullet is also a very soft load that works perfectly in a G22.

I use the first one for IPSC, buddy of mine uses the second one for IPSC (we both shoot G22's). Either load works out to around 750 fps.
 
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