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Old May 18, 2009, 11:52 PM   #1
jewelryguy
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help with handloading .40 S&W (new reloader)

I am new to relaoding, need sem help.

I have a glock .22. After much research I replaced barrel for better support and lead cast capable with a lonewolf after searching long and hard to find one in stock soemwhere.

Started out with 170 gr T. cone cast bullets from missouri bullet.( i like cast because cost is less and not on backorder right now) Made some dummy rounds, they wouldnt feed right, lip on cone always gets caught on top of barrel at leats 1 our of every 4 feeds, so cant use them except to shoot one at a time to avoid throwing 500 bullets away.

So i order teh regular .40 cast form missouri, they came int oday, i made soem dummy rounds. They feed right everytime. Problem solved.

I have a Lee 4 touret, never reloaded before. I hace every thing set up, have poweder measure thing all set up right, practiced loading soem dummy rounds, 15-20, i feel confident in what i am doing now after several hours of research and setting up dies, reading instructions etc.

Kepp in mind how power load sdont interest me. My primary interest is being able to load cheaper than store bought, and low recoil quick target aquisition for some local competitions i sometimes compete in. Want to keep it around 900+ fps, that way i figure i use less powder since its so hard to get.

So heres what i have:

PMC small pistol primers
180 Gr missouri cast bullets
Once fired blazer and remington brass
Ramshot Sillhouette pistol powder ( only thing i could find in stock anywhere)

So here is question i have

Nowhere is there a recipe i can find using the materials i have, i did not have the luxury of buying exactly what any particular recipe calls for because nothing is in stock. So i had to take what i could get my hands on

Questions:

On ramshots website they have a recipe for the following:

5.5 grains powder,180gr JHP, winchester primer, COL 1.135 = 920fps

1)so what happens if i follwo this recipe, usa my 180 grain case, pmc primer, will it be safe? will i get 920fps?

The biggest question i have is the recipe above says COL 1.135, they have anotehr recipe with differnet type of powder than i have using a 180GR cats lead cone bullet saying overall case length shoudl only be 1.120

keep in mind im not using cone, i have regular flatnose .40 cast now

So which is the right length? for what i have 1.135 or 1.120?

Anyoen out there an experienced .40 reloader?

I know that too long a case can be very dangerous if slide remains open even slightly when you fire. I guess shorter is better? If i go with 1.120 just to be safe is there any danger?


is 1.135 for hollowpoints because they are a longer bullet?

1.120 is the shortest i have seen published anywhere for a .40 catridge.

Can anyone with knowledge respond?
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Old May 19, 2009, 01:42 AM   #2
Shoney
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You might try looking at loads for Winchester WAP. WAP is packaged and distributed by Ramshot as Silhouette.
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Old May 19, 2009, 10:29 AM   #3
RickV
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I have loaded a lot of 165g FMJ FN using 1.120 OAL I used W231 powder. The reason for the different COL is the shape of the bullet Flat vs Ball (round). The Ball will go further into the barrel due to its shape before contacting. Strip down your gun and make a dummy round at 1.120 (no powder or primer) use your barrel as a guide if the round drops in you will be good. Also the receipe you posted was for JHP not cast I would start out a little lower maybe -10%. I know with my M&P 40 I had to use a heftier load to get the gun to cycle properly.
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Old May 19, 2009, 10:42 AM   #4
jewelryguy
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1.120

the dummy rounds i made were 1.120

they drop in barrel fine and seem to cycle well though i havent shot any yet
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Old May 19, 2009, 10:45 AM   #5
jewelryguy
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does Overall length affect accuracy?
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Old May 19, 2009, 11:38 AM   #6
RickV
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OAL will not effect accuracy as much it will effect pressure. When I referred to cycling I meant when firing the gun that the shells ejecting correctly ie no stovepiping.
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Old May 19, 2009, 01:07 PM   #7
jewelryguy
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im loading some now and headed to range

if you dont hear back you knwo what happenned
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Old May 19, 2009, 01:09 PM   #8
Don P
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From all I have read, it takes a bit more powder to move FMJ and copper coated bullets down the barrel and a little less to get lead down the barrel. In my opinion you could reduce the charge weight for FMJ by 10% and use that weight for lead and still be in the safe range as long as the bullet weight is the same. 180gr. FMJ - 180gr lead cast
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Old May 19, 2009, 02:51 PM   #9
RickV
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Quote:
im loading some now and headed to range

if you dont hear back you knwo what happenned
Good Luck
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Old May 19, 2009, 04:49 PM   #10
jewelryguy
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Back from range, shot 20 rounds, all fired, very little recoil

ended up using 5.2 grains of powder

Had 3 jams, seems a though though bullet ctahcing on upper lip of barrel, not sure if this is related to bullet being lead cast or tolerances too tight on loanwolf barrel. Anyone had any ideas?

could be that maybe it was pushing slide back far enough, which in turn not enough forward force to chamber round, i speculate this because with normal factory 1100 fps second round empty shell goes 6 feet off to the side. These reloads the casings fell on my arm and down beside me.

so i may bump up to the 5.5 grains and see if that helps

if not ill have to send barrel to lonewolf to have them open it up some at the top
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Old May 19, 2009, 04:51 PM   #11
jewelryguy
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also some of teh rounds were slightly less than 1.120 overall length

seems very hard to get each exact for some reason, all the ones i made varied slightly but i made sure none were over 1.120
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Old May 19, 2009, 07:14 PM   #12
RickV
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Glad to see you made it back in one piece . In my earlier post I mentioned that I had to "Beef Up" my loads to get my gun to cycle properly I would guess that is your problem also. As for OAL as long as the differences are not major you should be OK +/- .003 shouldn't be a problem.
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