40 S&W and unique

[Delirious1]

I have lots of unique on hand and want to use it. The new formula

I've purchased speer 180 gr TMJ. Speer data from loaddata.com says starting load is 6 grains with max of 6.7. Seems high to me.

Anyone have practical experience with Unique and a 180 grain FMJ flat nose?
What loads have worked best for you? I am looking for a range of grains to load to try out myself.

I've only loaded,45 ACP 230 grain FMJ with Unique and settled at 6.1 grains

Looking for any other 180 grain experience with Unique....as I have ordered several but the TMJ is on hand.

Lastly, I have Unique. Not interested in other powders until I use up what I have.

[jersurf101]

I run 6.3 grains of unique with hornaday 155 grn xtp's. That data seems high to me as well. Just my 2 cents

[jepp2]

I haven't used Unique in my 40's (yet). But at the Alliant reloader's guide, they list 6.7 gr. for the charge weight. link

[Forrest68]

For Unigue I've seen as low as 4.6 to a max of 6.7, heard good results at 5.3, but I havent used this load data myself so use at your own risk. Personally I'd start some where around 5.0 gr and work my way up see what works best in my pistol.

[jepp2]

I've purchased speer 180 gr TMJ. Speer data from loaddata.com says starting load is 6 grains with max of 6.7. Seems high to me.

I ran the 6.7 gr. loading through QuickLoad with an OAL of 1.135". Your Speer bullet isn't included, so I ran 2 other 180 grain bullets:

- with a Zero 180 gr. TCFM the predicted pressure was 38404 PSI with a SAAMI max of 35000 PSI

- with a Hornady 180 gr. HP-XTP the predicted pressure was 51676 PSI

I would drop the charge weight considerably to start with. Chamber size can significantly change the pressure, but always safe to start low.

[Delirious1]

I've loaded up 5.2, 5.4, 5.6 and 5.8 Someone suggested starting at 5.2. So I'll see how it goes. I might load up a few more at 6 and 6.2 to see how primers look after firing. Most importantly for me is a smooth shooting gun to practice with. I don't need max speeds. Thanks everyone for your input. I do plan on calling both alliant and speer tomorrow to see what they both say.

[Strafer Gott]

The Speer load data is pretty right on. I've been using it for years. I don't recommend reducing starting loads that low as you probably won't get normal pistol function or stick a bullet in the bore. Stick with published data. Start with the start load. If that's all you need, there's no need to increase. Arbitrarily reducing start loads is one of the most dangerous reloading activities, and is a false practice. IMHO.

[Delirious1]

I called speer today and got the data. 6 grains to start.

I redid all my loads. The tech also explained that lower loads could also increase pressure because there's more space inside the case. Interesting.

[SL1]

Speer's manual #14 gives 6.0 start and 6.7 max with the 180 grain bullets, using CCI-500 standard strength primers and a COL of 1.120".

The Speer TMJ bullet is listed in QuickLOAD as being 0.630" long, while the Hornady 180 grain XTP is 0.661" long. So, seated to the same COL, the Hornady bullet is going to produce higher pressure.

Using default values for QuickLOAD with the Speer bullet, but setting the COL to 1.120" gives a pressure of 54,151 psi. But, that is probably due mostly to a smallish default case capacity. The program says that 6.7 grains is conmpressed by 32.6%. If the case capacity in QuickLOAD is adjusted to produce 35,000 psi with 6.7 grains of Unique with the Speer bullet, it showes 1.6% compression. But, changing to the Hornady bullet at the same COL produces 50,432.psi.

So, much like the 9mm, the .40 S&W requires care when substituting bullets.

But, I trust Speer's data. If you start at 6.0, you should be safe.

As for the tech telling you on the phone that "more room in the case will produce higher pressure," that sounds like baloney to me. Perhaps if the max charge is compressed it could deliver somewhat lower pressure than some lower charges due to slower ignition of part of the charge due to the the compression. But, going below start with Unique is highly unlikely to produce any sort of pressure spike. That powder is used for cartridges like the .45 Colt, where it has oodles of room at max charge weights and produces much lower peak pressure than the .40 S&W. So, unless you go low enough to stick a bullet in your barrel, I can't understand why that tech said that less than the "start" charge of Unique could produce higher pressures.

SL1

[Delirious1]

I did set col to 1.12. Thanks for the data. I will work up from 6.0. I did load up to 6.6. I'll examine my cases upon progressing