180 gr 40 sw help

[digbmx4130]

180 gr berrys.

I know Berrys work best with low to mid-range jacketed data. I have been reading load them the same as lead. So I am unsure on whats a good starting point and OAL.

I would like to use w231/hp-38. I also have bullseye and titegroup.


Thanks

 

[digbmx4130]

I went with a starting load of 5.1 grs and my oal is 1.22-1.27 with mixed brass. Does everything seem to be ok?

 

[Rule3]

Sounds OK to me. I have loaded them with between 4.5 and 5.0 HP 38 at 1.125. It should be a pretty mild 40 SW load. They are the flat nose yes??

I shoot more 165 grs so I cannot be more help but I had the above in my notes

 

[digbmx4130]

Yeah, these.

40 caliber plated pistol bullets

 

[Rule3]

Yes, your load sounds fine.

 

[Skip Sackett]

What are you shooting them out of?

W231/HP-38 is the absolutely fastest powder I would ever use for the 40S&W being shot in a firearm with an unsupported chamber.

Personally, Unique and above is better. Less pressure, more velocity, win/win.

I built my 40S&W round around SR4756 and an 180gr Berry's Plated HP. I got just under 1000fps and had pressure in the 28,000psi range, according to the manuals. To do the same thing with a faster powder would have put the pressure much closer to cartridge maximum, something I didn't want in my Glock 22.

Longshot was the only powder that was better in the velocity/pressure data than SR4756 and I didn't have any when I started building my loads.

In a fully supported barrel, or a revolver, use whatever powder you want. Semi-auto, choose wisely!


FWIW

 

[Rule3]

What are you shooting them out of?

W231/HP-38 is the absolutely fastest powder I would ever use for the 40S&W being shot in a firearm with an unsupported chamber.

Personally, Unique and above is better. Less pressure, more velocity, win/win.


FWIW

Unique is #31 and HP 38/W 231 are #29/28. Anything above is faster ????? So "Unique and above" are all faster

Burn Rate

 

[Skip Sackett]

Perspective!

Unique is #31 and HP 38/W 231 are #29/28. Anything above is faster ????? So "Unique and above" are all faster

Burn Rate

You and I are just looking at the same chart with different glasses. I mean UP as in up the chart toward slower powders, you mean UP as in lower numbers.

I mean that slower is better in the 40S&W IF you are shooting them in a firearm that has an unsupported chamber.

Clear as mud?

 

[Rule3]

Up is up, down is down.

Actually you mean up in numbers as the higher numbers on the chart are slower powders.

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“I know you believe you understand what you
think I said, but I am not sure you realize that
what you heard is what I meant.”

 

[TSQUARED]

I respectfully disagree with the prvious poster who stated that you cannot use fast burning powders in 40 S&W. For mild loads, ca. 725 to 800 fps, with 155 to 180 gr plated or jacketed bullets I have obtained excellent results with WST and American Select.

 

[Skip Sackett]

I respectfully disagree with the prvious poster who stated that you cannot use fast burning powders in 40 S&W. For mild loads, ca. 725 to 800 fps, with 155 to 180 gr plated or jacketed bullets I have obtained excellent results with WST and American Select.

My statement is qualified by "in unsupported chambers". One thing I left out is that for light target loads they MIGHT be ok but I have no desire to have a KB by trying it.

Been there, done that with published data. Once is enough!

 

[32dgrz]

I'm a fan of the slower powders
WSF is my choice for 40's
Shoots much like Unique but meters much better.

 

[dcxplant]

My statement is qualified by "in unsupported chambers". One thing I left out is that for light target loads they MIGHT be ok but I have no desire to have a KB by trying it.

Been there, done that with published data. Once is enough!

How do you know if you have a pistol with an unsupported chamber?

Thanks

 

[epj]

Insert a cartridge case in the barrel, ( removed from the gun) and look at the bottom side. A fully supported case will be surrounded with metal, while an unsupported case will have some of the case visable at the bottom. In general, most ramped barrels are fully supported.

BTW, I am using a 175 cast bullet over 3.5 gr. of Clays. This makes a good range load.

 

[Skip Sackett]

Insert a cartridge case in the barrel, ( removed from the gun) and look at the bottom side. A fully supported case will be surrounded with metal, while an unsupported case will have some of the case visable at the bottom. In general, most ramped barrels are fully supported.

BTW, I am using a 175 cast bullet over 3.5 gr. of Clays. This makes a good range load.

That is the exact load that KB'd my BHP!
Another forum member had the same thing happen, same load, same gun.

Please be careful!

 

[Rule3]

How do you know if you have a pistol with an unsupported chamber?

Thanks

Glocks and Browning HP (in 40) are two of the most common.

The Glock in 9mm is supported as is the BHP

Here is a good picture from a site that is not a forum so it should be OK to post. I wish I had a 38 super. Shot one at the range and really liked it!

http://38super.net/Pages/supported.html

 

[David Sinko]

Just what are you trying to achieve with your load? I have handloaded thousands of .40 S&W for my Glock 35, with all brass being range scrap. The Glock .40 is what "unsupported chamber" is all about. I handload strictly for match use, loading both major and minor. When I load .40 minor I use 3.1 grs. of Clays with a 180 gr. plated bullet, the Frontier I believe. Clays is a very fast powder but as long as I don't double charge a case, 3.1 grs. of it will go thousands of rounds with plated bullets and no cleaning. For .40 major I use 5.1 grs. of SR7625 with the same 180 gr. plated bullet. This load also performs very well with boring monotony.

I might add that I have never ever shot a single cast bullet out of my Glock 35 and I plan to never try it with my stock barrel.

The .40 S&W is the one and only cartridge I don't load hot. Speer 180 gr. Gold Dot and 180 gr. RNFP factory loads do 1075 FPS out of my Glock 35. I feel that trying to exceed or even duplicate this with handloads using questionable brass is just too risky. This is all the performance I expect in the .40 S&W. But less than full throttle loads are safe and easy as long as you use common sense and careful loading practices.

Dave Sinko

 

[epj]

That is the exact load that KB'd my BHP!
Another forum member had the same thing happen, same load, same gun.

Please be careful!

I can't see that load blowing up a gun unless something else was wrong. The Lyman 48th edition lists loads with this bullet from 3.3 to 4.0 grains of Clays. At the top end, pressure is about 20K psi. Not even close to a max load for the .40 S&W.

 

[Skip Sackett]

Hey, I stand corrected. 3.5gr is what Hodgdon recommends, I used 3.9gr.

That was the same load that another forum member duplicated and had the same results with the same firearm.

Sorry for the confusion but.....

When I called Hodgdon and told them what Lyman had published, he said, look at our maximum load. It think it was 2007? The Hodgdon "magazine" data sure 'nuff listed 3.5gr as maximum!

The Hodgdon tech was pretty surprised because he had been recommending the Lyman manual to others for years and years!

What it did do was blow out the case. Jammed the gun up pretty good too. Magazine was forced out of the bottom of the gun BUT, since it was an all steel pistol, nothing else much happened.

Clays is a good powder for either revolvers or low end plinking rounds in calibers where pressure is not an issue. At least, in my opinion. If you take that and $5 to your local Starbuck's store, you can get 1 cup of coffee!

 

[m657]

re: 40 reloading 180g in general:

OP: don't mean to step on the question you posed. I've loaded thousands of 40s with a variety of recipes mostly with hp38/w231....., and NEVER once felt comfortable in an auto....never been around a live KB but somehow that sticks in my mind every time I pull the trigger.

But that's just me.

However, for the S&W 610 nearly any 180 is a fine load and I have no qualms using nearly any published recipe in either cast or FMJ....