Hodgdon CFE pistol powder for 40s&w ?

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Johnnn01

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Just scored some Hodgdon CFE pistol powder and did some research and it is supposed to be a little on the slower side as far as burn rate goes.
So I am thinking this would be a powder that might be good for
P+,, heavy loads???
 
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CFE Pistol

It is,in fact, the only pistol powder I have found in the last year also. Seems to do well. I`ve compared loadings on the Hodgdon chart and it is typically #1 or 2 as far as velocities. Compares very well with my former(and still) favorite Universal Clays.
 
Just my opinion here, but I wouldn't try and load .40SW in +P and I have never seen any load data for it for +P. It's already a high pressure round.
 
I have an old box of corbon and they are listed at 150 gr, +P, 1200fps
And I want to make those.
With CFE on the hodgdon site they state Maximum Loads weight 150gn nossler HP bullet at 1267 fps.
And I like the nossler HP.
I am thinking perfect coppy of the corbon
 
If you load with Longshot you don't need to use +P pressures in the 40 caliber with a 155 grain bullet to get 1200 fps. In fact a midrange load of Longshot will yield 1200 fps with a 155 grain Hornady XTP. If you don't mind fighting a compressed charge you can get 1283 fps at the top of the range.

As others have suggested it's not advisable to try and push the 40 caliber too hard. Partly because there are still a goodly number of semi's out there that are slightly lacking in chamber support for the 40 caliber. The other part is that excess pressure can increase the rate of wear on the various components in a semi.

Personally I regard CFE Pistol as a Target/Range load powder because it's just a bit too fast for optimum performance with the 40 caliber. If you want to build hand loads that duplicate the ballistics of a Self Defense load scout around and locate some Longshot. It is out there if you take the time to look for it. BTW, Longshot was originally developed as a Shotgun powder so if you have a shop that caters to shotgun shooters nearby you may find Longshot on their shelves.

PS; I carry a High Energy Speer Gold Dot that has a 165 grain bullet at 1150 fps. My practice load for this ammo is a 165 Grain Extreme Heavy Plate Hollow Point loaded with 7.5 grains of Longshot for 1150 fps from a 4 inch barrel. The only negative to Longshot is that it meters just about as well as Unique, which means it meters poorly. So every single charge thrown gets run across a scale to confirm/adjust the charge weight.
 
much ado said:
It is,in fact, the only pistol powder I have found in the last year also. Seems to do well. I`ve compared loadings on the Hodgdon chart and it is typically #1 or 2 as far as velocities. Compares very well with my former(and still) favorite Universal Clays.
Click to expand...

Have you ever chronographed your loads? I get no where near the listed data on Hodgdons website for velocity out of my M&P40FS with topend loads pushing 165CMJ bullets.
 
Chrono?

Must admit have not chronographed lately. Just got the CFE Pistol Powder and glad to get it. My basis is that the test 40 S&W barrel is 4 inches with a closed chamber vs. (for example) in 357Mag they use a 10 inch barrel. WOW! How many 10 inch barreled 357 revolvers will you see vs the 2,3,4,5,and 6 inch barrels in more common use. My comparison of 40S&W is based on Hodgdons loadings only. Do the other powders achieve the listed velocities and CFE Pistol is the only one that does not do as listed??? Was speaking in relative terms vs. other powders listed on the Hodgdon site.
 
Johnnn01 said:
Just scored some Hodgdon CFE pistol powder and did some research and it is supposed to be a little on the slower side as far as burn rate goes.
So I am thinking this would be a powder that might be good for
P+,, heavy loads???
Click to expand...

I have a shooting buddy who shoots .40 (I don't), he didn't like CFE Pistol, he said it was too "snappy" for him. I like CFE pistol for both minor and major PF in 9mm. I had some Titegroup (that I didn't like for 9mm loading) so we traded. Now we're both happy. I think what I'm trying to say is that CFE will work for .40 but there are better powders.
 
What would be a good powder for a heavy load 40 S&W that will meter well in a progressive?
 
I use HS-6 for my 40sw loads because I like a little slower burning powder for this cartridge. Not sure why your looking for heavy loads and not sure what this means. With normal loads you can get over 1000fps with this cartridge, how fast are you wanting to push this round?
 
I have only used it in 38, .357 and 9mm.

In all three................it did not do well in the light target loads.

9mm started grouping at 4.9 with a 124gr and 5.5grs with a plated 115gr Rn.

The .38 special 158gr Lswc did not do well until 4.8grs of powder.....

It did do well in the 357 with medium to maximum amounts of powder, though.
I have a post on the loads with a picture.....

It seems to fall in line with how Unique power works. The more
powder you put into the case, the better it shoots.

Some of my best groups were with a maximum load of CFE powder.
With my chrony they were all well below velocities that came with maximum pressures.
I believe the Hodgdon data has a "Safety area" built in for the safety of the shooter.
 
Chrony mis-information

Nevada Ed,
As I said earlier in this post I think the mis-information is due to the barrel lengths that Hodgdon uses...10 inches for 357 and 7.7 for 38 special. Those barrel lengths just don`t jive with what`s on the street (for almost everybody). John
 
Longshot will NOT meter well in a progressive, to play it safe you have to assume that the total variation will be as large as +/- 1/2 grain. BTW, I've run a 50 pc. capability study on Longshot in an RCBS Competition powder measure and the Standard Deviation was 0.17. Multiply that by 3 and you have the 6 Sigma range of variation. Note, H110 will meter with a Standard Deviation of just 0.03, so that is a powder that meters wonderfully.

Alternates to Longshot that meter well. Accurate #7 is one possibility and like all the Accurate Handgun powders it meters about as well as H110. Another potential is Vihtavouri 3N37. I use this powder for my 38 special target loads and it meters very well. However, Vihtavouri is one of those powder suppliers who "hype" their data by using exceptionally long barrels. My 38 special load should be clocking at somewhere around 1000 fps per Vihtavouri's data but running the load across a chronograph yields only 800 fps.

PS; I've chronographed my 165 grain load featuring Longshot and in this case Hodgdon's data jibed darned near exactly with what I measured with my chronograph using my Sig P229.
 
Thanks for the powder advice.
I am loading for a sig p229 with a 4" barrel, and a 40 s&w carbine with a 9" barrel.
Just looking to make some barn burners for plinking,,,,
I like the big splash, the longer barrel should be better!
 
This is the kind of thread that has gotten members shown to the door.

All I will say is there is no such thing as a +P .40SW in any loading manual and SAAMI doesn't list it.

Talk about this is dangerous.
 
Maximumbob54 said:
This is the kind of thread that has gotten members shown to the door.

All I will say is there is no such thing as a +P .40SW in any loading manual and SAAMI doesn't list it.

Talk about this is dangerous.
Click to expand...

I was wondering about this. I didn't think there was any such thing as .40 S&W +P. Or another interpretation is .40 +P is the 10mm.
 
I like Auto Comp in the 40, I bought a pound and gave it a try.
I liked it so well went back and bought an 8 pound jug of it.
Burns very clean in the 40, not sure how it will burn in a lower pressure round like the 38 special.
 
johngalt said:
I was wondering about this. I didn't think there was any such thing as .40 S&W +P. Or another interpretation is .40 +P is the 10mm.
Click to expand...

or 400 corbon :D
40 S&W isn't one you really want to squeeze that something extra out of.
this thing is already operating at pressures akin to magnums.
 
I don't load 40 but I did use CFE in 9mm from minimum to
maximum loads and it is a high energy powder that takes up
very little space in a case.
Bullseye and w231 were just under the volume of CFE in this little case.....

With my little 3" barrel this powder did much better with the
124gr plated bullet than the smaller 115gr bullet.

It also got better with the heavier bullets in a 38 special case
but my best accuracy was with a 357 magnum 125gr with the maximum loading
however it was only getting 1221 fps, not the full1450 factory speed.
Getting to 1450 fps would probably be over the top in pressures?

All loads did well at near +P 38 loads or standard 9mm Luger and I did notice the maximum
loads starting to get larger groups in my test loads.
I ever took a few 38 special cases with an over load and shot them in my L frame revolver
to see what might happen. Groups did not improve .............

Seems this powder likes the top end of its loading pressures
and a little goes a long way. It is a nice powder, I just hoped
that it would fill the cases up a little more volume wise but one
has to realize that it is a very small diameter powder.

Good luck with that 40..........
 
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