help with 40 S&W COL

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jim8115

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I just bought a XD 40. I have a bunch of 180 grain cast flat points. I usually set these at 1.125 with 5.0- 5.3 grains Unique , but to get them to chamber in the XD I have to go all the way down to 1.090. Is this safe? Or do I need to trash these and find another bullet? I have a few 170 grain black coated bullets from precision, and they chamber fine at 1.125, but they dont have a shoulder like these 180's


JIM
 
I am loading my lee 175 grain tc cast bullets at a col of 1.098 in order to get them to chamber. What type of powder are you using? I am getting around 830 fps with 3.8 grains of bullseye. You should be fine just work the load up.
 
Some chambers require a shorter OAL on some special shape bullets. Remember, the XD is made in eastern Europe where they don't have anything but RN. So to answer your question, 'yes' it may be required.

Is it safe? Yes, if you can find a load recipe for that weight lead bullet that uses an OAL that's shorter than what you intend to load to. In other words, find a load at something like 1.070" so you can then load them at the longer length of 1.090". Don't ever go shorter than the published recipe.

You'll soon find out that not every bullet can be reloaded into every chamber. While it may be technically possible, the resulting OAL may end up so short as to result in miss-feeds or FTFs making it unrealistic. However, you won't know this until you try.

Best of luck.
 
"Is it safe? Yes, if you can find a load recipe for that weight lead bullet that uses an OAL that's shorter than what you intend to load to. In other words, find a load at something like 1.070" so you can then load them at the longer length of 1.090". Don't ever go shorter than the published recipe. "

Thats the problem. Almost all data uses 1.125. The shortest I have seen is 1.100, for a 175 cast
 
I am loading my lee 175 grain tc cast bullets at a col of 1.098 in order to get them to chamber.
Click to expand...

Each bullet has an individual ogive shape that makes each bullet brand/weight a special case unto itself. Just 1 or 2 extra thousandths of an inch is all it takes to mandate a shorter OAL in some barrels. After all, it's the bullet-to-barrel fit that determines OAL.

Here's a cartoon showing the 2 most popular issues with fancy bullet ogives in the CZ pistol, which has a similar short throat barrel.....
Bullet%2520Shapes.jpg

Hope this helps. ;)
 
You'll soon find out that not every bullet can be reloaded into every chamber.
Click to expand...

zero.jpg

My CZs hate the bullet on the left and love the bullet on the right. Like me, you'll just have to be more selective in your bullet purchases.
 
You should be ok with 5.0g Unique @ 1.090". If you want to load higher, work your way up. With such a deep seating, you won't be able to reach the same max velocity as you did with the shallower seated bullets before reaching max pressure, but for plinking, they should be fine so long as they aren't too short to cause feeding problems.
 
rfwobbly said:
Don't ever go shorter than the published recipe.
Click to expand...

Why not? This is the reason that you work up loads even pistol loads. Find the max seating depth and work up from minumum powder charge watching for pressure. This is where a brass catcher comes in handy as you need to see your brass.
 
Update

Just FYI, for anyone else that is interested. 180 Gr truncated cone cast
I was able to get them to work at 1.090. I loaded some up with 4.5 grains 231 @ 1.120, a load that I knew to work.
Using a different gun, that will feed about anything ( Hi-point carbine) , I chronoed that load- AVG 1036 FPS
Then, I tried 4.0 GR @ 1.105 - AVG 952 FPS
Then 4.0 @ 1.090 - AVG 950 , surprisingly no increase from 1.105

Using the velocity figures, I figured that my pressure should be safe.
Shot them from the XD, they averaged 850 FPS.
Have shot several hundred so far, only had 2 misfeeds, both blazer brass. Not sure why, but all-in-all a success
 
Posters will get better and quicker answers if they post details of gun, bullet mfg # or mold #, etc. along with the problem. Someone here has probably used the same components and can give a direct answer. We all can also learn from generic answers. Like muddydogs says, seat far enough off the lands that bullet tolerances don't cause a jam and it fits in the mag and feeds OK. Subtract the bullet length from the powder filled case depth and you know if the load is compressed. Then you can play with the OAL and load to determine best performance.
 
I have always used the chamber, magazine fit, reliable feeding/cycling, and operating pressures determined by what the brass looks like as my guide. And with regard to the powder charge, working up from a safe published minimum range is how I stay out of trouble. This method hasn't failed me yet, and I've been doing it this way for decades. Each firearm has it's own operating characteristics, which really makes published OAL's simply a refrence point by which to start from, nothing more.

And regarding the XD's and XDM's, I currently load for both in .40 cal. and each has it's own best functioning OAL that is slightly different from one another.
GS
 
I agree gamestalker. The 180gr TC's that I'm loading has a very long bearing surface with a short and wide ogive. For the finished round to pass plunk test I had to drop my OAL back to 1.105". With Precision Delta FMJ TC's or Berry's TC, and RSFN plated bullets I set my OAL to 1.130" for my XDm with great results. I can get away with 1.135" in both chamber, and mags, but they didn't perform well for me. My W231 pet load for plated bullets has always been 4.1gr of 231 under a Berry's 180gr RSFN @ OAL: 1.130". I based my lead load off the min recommended charge per Hodgdon's load site for FMJ and dropped the charge by 15%. I knew this would make up for the added pressure of a shorter OAL. I started at 3.6gr of W231 figuring my XDm would not function. Little to my suprise I was pleased with its performance. 3.8gr of 231 felt like a factory round with some minor case swelling like a typical factory load would do. I'm not looking for upper end loads, just a light load for IDPA practice to use at the farm when the wife and I practice. I never shot the loads I did with 4.0gr, and 4.2gr. I plan on pulling them Saturday evening.
 
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