Well I've started my latest adventure in reloading, the .40 S&W. I loaded up 50 rounds of Berry's plated 165gr TC and 180gr TC both over 5.3 grains of Universal Clays and headed out to the gun club to try them out. I also took along 100 rounds of 165gr Winchester "White Box" as a control and comparison.

I took all of my .40 S&W Sigs and put 15 rounds of each load through each pistol. The guns are 226 SAS, 229 SAS, and 239 Gen II SAS. All shooting was done offhand at 50'. Shots were fired in 5 round strings roatating through the 3 different loadings in each string.

I have to say that I was surprised by what seemed to be a lack of reloading data for the .40 compared to other handgun cartridges. Most of my manuals are relatively recent and there really wasn't that much of a variety to choose from.

My first surprise at the range was that I had significantly smaller groups with the 239. Literally my groups with the 239 were about 1/2 the size of what I was able to shoot with either the 226 or 229. Maybe not all that surprising since the 239 was the last gun I shot during my range session. I think I'll repeat the experiment but reverse the order and start with the 239 next time.

Both the 226 and 229 seem to have a strong preference for the 180 gr. handloads. Groups were significantly smaller than my 165gr handloads and slightly smaller than the Winchester factory loads. My 165gr handloads grouped slighly larger than the Winchester factory loads.

The 239 was justt the opposite and liked the the 165gr handloads better than the 180gr. Both handloads grouped slightly tighter than the Winchester factory.

What does all this mean? I really have no idea except that it was a fun way to spend some time at the range. I'll probably be experimenting more with the 180gr loadings in the future. I was just really amazed at how much better I was able to shoot with the 239 this afternoon.