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DialONE911 · August 17, 2001, 01:35 AM

.40 S&W

First off, be very careful with your over all length. This caliber can develop very high pressures from seating the bullet too deeply. Work up carefully from the listed starting charges and inspect fired cases for any signs of over pressure.

You don't say what weight bullet you are loading, but I would recommend beginning with a light bullet, since you will have a larger degree of safety with lighter bullets. Personally I like Nosler's 150 grain jacketed hollow point.

Second, practice making dummy rounds without powder or primer until you can consistently produce properly seated and crimped rounds.

Here's my recommendation for setting up the crimping stage.

1. remove the seater from the crimping die (assuming the RCBS 3 die set).

2. screw the lock ring to the top of the crimp die.

3. screw the crimp die into the press a few turns.

4. place a factory round into the shell holder and run the press to the top.

5. screw the crimp die down until it just lightly touches the factory round.

6. remove the factory round.

7. screw the crimp die down another full rotation.

8. secure the lock ring to set the die at this setting.

9. reinstall the seater into the crimp die.

Now you start loading dummy rounds. First, load one and measure your over all length, adjusting the seater until the round reaches the desired length. Usually 1.12 - 1.135" (for .40 S&W)

Then, drop the dummy round into the chamber of your gun. If it doesn't drop freely with a thunk, you may have to tighten up the crimp and readjust the seater.

If you are shooting jacketed rounds, this should work. But if you wish to load lead bullets, you should seat and crimp in separate operations. Personally, I use a Lee factory crimp die as a fourth station and just use the RCBS die to seat the bullet and remove the belling.

Be careful, .40 is a great round, but it doesn't leave much margin for error when reloading. Spend some extra time and re-read your loading manuals, double check every suggested powder charge and make sure you completely understand what you are doing every step of the way.

August 17, 2001, 01:35 AM	#12
DialONE911 Senior Member Join Date: June 7, 2000 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 214	.40 S&W First off, be very careful with your over all length. This caliber can develop very high pressures from seating the bullet too deeply. Work up carefully from the listed starting charges and inspect fired cases for any signs of over pressure. You don't say what weight bullet you are loading, but I would recommend beginning with a light bullet, since you will have a larger degree of safety with lighter bullets. Personally I like Nosler's 150 grain jacketed hollow point. Second, practice making dummy rounds without powder or primer until you can consistently produce properly seated and crimped rounds. Here's my recommendation for setting up the crimping stage. 1. remove the seater from the crimping die (assuming the RCBS 3 die set). 2. screw the lock ring to the top of the crimp die. 3. screw the crimp die into the press a few turns. 4. place a factory round into the shell holder and run the press to the top. 5. screw the crimp die down until it just lightly touches the factory round. 6. remove the factory round. 7. screw the crimp die down another full rotation. 8. secure the lock ring to set the die at this setting. 9. reinstall the seater into the crimp die. Now you start loading dummy rounds. First, load one and measure your over all length, adjusting the seater until the round reaches the desired length. Usually 1.12 - 1.135" (for .40 S&W) Then, drop the dummy round into the chamber of your gun. If it doesn't drop freely with a thunk, you may have to tighten up the crimp and readjust the seater. If you are shooting jacketed rounds, this should work. But if you wish to load lead bullets, you should seat and crimp in separate operations. Personally, I use a Lee factory crimp die as a fourth station and just use the RCBS die to seat the bullet and remove the belling. Be careful, .40 is a great round, but it doesn't leave much margin for error when reloading. Spend some extra time and re-read your loading manuals, double check every suggested powder charge and make sure you completely understand what you are doing every step of the way.