Reloading the .40 S&W

[RGVshooter]

The only "kaBoom" I know of was a reload a guy picked up & stuck in his Glock 23 Gen 4. He KNEW it was a reload, he knew it was a overcharged round intended for a .40 race gun. The noticeably much louder blast resulted in a damaged extractor & slide lock, oh and a piece of brass case in his thumb.

I've reloaded for both my Kahr CW40 & my G23 gen4 (not the kaboom guys gun, this one is mine) Here are two recipes that worked for me.

(This load came straight out of Speer #14 manual, approximates a law enforcement load, "40 lite")

For general target/plinking:
165gr FMJ flat point (I used Berry's plated)
5.0grs TiteGroup
COAL 1.120"

For a reduced load for steel plate matches or something with easier recoil I really like this recipe that I found online from a guy who wrote an article for action shoooting using .40s&w. This load cycled perfectly thru a all stock Glock 23 & 22 gen 4's, no modifications, just bone stock. Other pistols may differ however. Recoil felt like a 9mm. I chrono'd this load & got a 5 shot average of 733fps @PF of 131.9. .40s&w minor lol. But i like this load a LOT.

180gr Hornady XTP
3.2grs TiteGroup
COAL 1.135"

The most important thing to me when reloading .40s&w is to clean & inspect your cases for cracks along the mouth and case head/rim. On a rare occasion you may find one that is cracked vertically from the case mouth down, but in my experience I found those on cases that have been reloaded multiple times. For reliability, adjust your seating die just enough to leave a tiny shiny ring around the edge of the case mouth. You just want to get that flare out of the case mouth from the expander die. 40s&w just like 9mm, .380, 32acp etc head space on the case mouth but for smooth reliability I recommend just a hair of a crimp, don't over do it cause too much crimp can cause a case to get stuck in the chamber just as much as not enough crimp.

EXPERT TIP!!

Use nickle plated brass for your reloads, that way they're easier to find & you know you're picking up/inspecting your case's for your next reload.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

The Deluxe Lee 4 die set with the factory carbide crimp die is a bad choice with oversized cast bullets. The carbide ring in the base of this die will size the case again and reduce the cast bullet diameter.

I agree. I removed the carbide ring on my 40 S&W Lee FCD as it was too tight even on some plated & jacketed bullets.

That said, I have Lee's Deluxe 4-die sets for many other cartridges & only the one for the 41 Mag FCD was too tight also, necessitating removal of it's carbide ring too. The other ones I don't have a problem with.

.

 

[rsrocket1]

When I used to shoot bare lead bullets (tumble lubed in 45/45/10), I would cast and size to 0.402" and load with only 3 dies skipping the FCD. However, now that I powder coat my bullets, I don't worry about gas cutting the lead and I size to 0.401 and use the Lee FCD. Pulled bullets still measure at 0.401" and I get no leading in my M&P40 which has a tight chamber and throat. The slightly smaller bullet feeds better and never hangs up in getting the slide to close unlike when I wasn't ironing the case down by not using the FCD. (quadruple negative?)

Maybe I should just say it feeds better with the FCD, I get no swaging of PC bullets and zero leading.