Which .40 bullet mould?

[Prospector]

I'm going to be acquiring a Glock .40 Gen 3 soon and I'm in the process of getting stuff I need for moulding bullets for it. I see that Lee (my preferred manufacturer) makes 2 moulds in that calibre - 90433 and 90690. I like the look of the 90690 as I don't think I need all those grooves shown in the 90433. I'm open to suggestions as to which one is "better" and why. I currently reload 9mm and .45. I'm not planning on coating the cast bullets with anything other than Lee Allox. Thanks for any ideas you may have. Hover your mouse over the pictures to see which is which. BW on both is 175 gr.

 

[trevj]

Buy them both. They are cheap!

Supposedly the multi-grooved bullets are more inclined to hold the Alox, but I know a couple guys shooting regular grease groove bullets with a layer of that mule snot on them, and they are happy enough.

 

[Alex McKr]

I have the 90690 mold and like it. Easily holds plenty of lube in the grease groove, whether liquid alox, or through lube die. Only caveat when lubing with Lee liquid alox is that, after loading, it is best to wipe excess dried lube off the exposed bullet. Otherwise the excess lube tends to scuff off in the chamber and, after 50 rounds or so, the build up grows to the point where the slide won't go fully into battery ,resulting in an FTF (failure to fire). No such problem when lubed through a lubrisizer.
On a related note: I do use a 9mm Lee bullet featuring micro-grooves. Works well. No problems ever, whether lubing with liquid alox, or lubrisizer. Same procedure after loading....wipe micro-grooved bullets clean, if using liquid alox. So....if you choose 90433, it should perform equally well. My personal preference was for 90690....for no other reason than I already had lube/size dies for it.

 

[BattleRife]

The premiere forum for cast bullets is over on gunloads.com, and those guys have used up a lot of bandwidth discussing some items that are very relevant to your question.

For one, the Glock is finicky with bullet sizing, and the results if you get it wrong can be downright dangerous, which is why Glock refuses to endorse the idea of using cast bullets at all. It can be done, but you really have to know what you are doing, and be prepared to invest in things like custom moulds and sizing dies to get it right.

And next, casting for the .40 S&W is also inherently tricky, if you are hoping on attaining factory type ballistic performance. The high pressures and hard drawn cases mean that careful powder selection, specialty loading tools, hard alloys, and generous amounts of just the right lube are necessary.

If you just want a mild plinking load a lot of the above issues go away.

 

[kg]

I've been using the standard one with Liquid Alox or substitutes, in a NP40. Too long and too heavy for the caliber but accurate when the planets line up. I don't like lowering loads in the caliber as you quickly end up shooting at 38Sp levels.

Mine has a bevel base which helps a lot for loading, since the molds "fins" at the base; like many others I have from LEE (I don't size bullets).

I would probably buy 90470, 145 grs 2 cavities now (don't like the nose tho).

 

[Prospector]

Thanks for all the input guys. I'm going to go with the 90690. Now I just need to find a recipe for this with 700-X and LRN (lead round nose) bullets. THe Hodgdon site only shows one for a plated bullet. I looked on Gunloads.com and didn't see one for 700-X.

 

[kg]

Thanks for all the input guys. I'm going to go with the 90690. Now I just need to find a recipe for this with 700-X and LRN (lead round nose) bullets. THe Hodgdon site only shows one for a plated bullet. I looked on Gunloads.com and didn't see one for 700-X.

Weight?

If you mean the 175 TC I use 4.3 to 4.7grs, with Canam's small Rifle primers, said to be the same as the SP's. Front driving band barely showing in order to fit in the magz.

 

[hatman1793]

Some LEE molds have a deserved reputation of being crappy & unable to fix. The TL or tumble lube bullets are problematic to start with & mostly cast undersize bullets. My 158grain, 200grain 45acp & the 90402 TL 125 molds all proved to be losers. Kiss C$85.00 each goodbye. Okay, there is one exception: the TL 148grain FWC mold #90294. It casts the best wad cutter bullet out there.

LEE never really got on the 40 bandwagon with only 3 molds. The TL mold is to be avoided & the 2 cavity 145 might have potential but really, LEE, you cannot make this a 6 cavity unit???? The one you picked is the best of the three but still inadequate.

40S&W really shines with the 155 grain semi-wad cutter bullet. Magma Engineering makes a great mold but its a 2 cavity Mold. Without spending a fortune on a custom LEE unit for >$350.00, or some other custom mold maker (without stakeholders) its a lost cause.
I gave up on 40 cal as the 180 grain bullets recoil just as much as 45acp. That is until my pal Glen aka the ProjectileKing.com started stocking the delightful Campro 155 grain FCP TC bullet. Welcome back to 40!!!

 

[Prospector]

Most of my shooting is on either the 25 yd or 50-yd range so it doesn't need to have max amounts of powder. I usually try the lowest load that is recommended. I'm hoping for good results casting bullets for it so we'll see what happens!

 

[Prospector]

Weight? 175 gr for both those bullets.

If you mean the 175 TC I use 4.3 to 4.7grs, with Canam's small Rifle primers, said to be the same as the SP's. Front driving band barely showing in order to fit in the magz.

Thanks for the info on load data. I'll try 4.4 to start (my electronic scales only display even numbers.)

 

[hatman1793]

You might start at 4.0 grains of 700X. A very versatile & energetic powder, 4.0 grains in a 45acp case with a cast 200grain SWC is target quality, economical & mild. Easily carried over to 40S&W, the lighter 175 grain cast bullet should easily make the cut.

Want a little more oomph? Move up to 4.2 to 4.4. Once you exhaust your now expensive 700X inventory, I suggest you try Alliant’s PROMO powder. A very close burn rate to 700X, it costs alot less but the downside is its only sold in 8 pound containers.