New .40 S&W loader. (I think I'm prepared)

rg1 said:
I would not load 40 S&W without a push through sizing die. When I just a few years ago started loading 40 I bought quite a bit of once fired brass. Had trouble with many cases that were fired in large chambers and were swollen enough my sizing die wouldn’t size down far enough. My Redding Carbiide GR-X push through die set sizes the entire length of the case. Still need to carefully inspect 40 cases for “guppy belly” damaged cases. I run all cases through the GR-X then size with my regular die set. Expensive Redding die but worth every penny!! My fired cases in my PX-4 pistol and Berreta Storm Carbine does not swell brass but my purchased fired cases had plenty of brass needing a push-thru sizing!
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I'll go through the cases this weekend and see what I have. Ive only looked at about 5. My dies arrived. Will size some and see how that goes.
 
1KPerDay said:
I’ve never found a single .40 that didn’t size down in my standard dies FWIW. And I only shoot range pickup brass
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I’m in the same camp. Perhaps we’re just really lucky, and that doesn’t run out. The .40 brass I picked up was after the local LEs got done, and some Nats. My dies were RCBS and later Dillon.
I’d suggest @Shivahasagun just gets the dies and tries to load before venturing in to solving problems that might not be present. An “M” style expander helps immensely with coated bullets. No trimming, no fuss, no muss. Just flare with flair.
 
bigpower491 said:
They aren't. Invest in a nice CANVAS tarp if you're worried about losing em. I shoot bulk pickup brass, if I recover 70% of em, cool.
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Last time out I found my nickle brass but the regular brass was all mixed up with the 9x19 and .380 on the ground.

So, when I saw this fired and cleaned nickle I bought 1k.

I probably should get a tarp but I move around when I shoot.
 
I checked out about 300 ct of the fired nickel brass I have and partially set up my new Lee dies.

- All of the cases I examined were Win / Winchester. (As in I saw no other make)

- No "guppies" or "smileys".

- Many were somewhat "swollen".

- Even swollen ones could be pushed fully into my PX4 chamber.

- The PX4 .40 has excellent chamber support.

- I had no trouble sizing the brass.

- Putting the light case lube on a gloved hand and stirring it into the cases is easily worth the extra minute. Cases slide into the die noticeably easier and the lever takes considerably less effort to pull.

I'm normally resizing my dry tumbled and polished brass and that's pretty easy, too.

But these cases were washed and dry. The press runs easier with just a little lube.

- Post-sizing cases plunked easily into my PX4...with room to spare. But I don't have bullets yet.

I need to measure the bore again because I forgot what it was. I'm sure I'll get .401 " bullets but I'll check anyway.

I want good neck tension and low pressure. My carry ammo is 165 gr so I'm looking into coated 155-170 gr bullets.
 
Get yourself one of the Redding GR-X die. Not cheap but it will take that bulge right out of the case. I used one when I was reloading 40 S&W and ended up just running all my 40 cases through it.

WB
 
Shivahasagun said:
I checked out about 300 ct of the fired nickel brass I have and partially set up my new Lee dies.

- All of the cases I examined were Win / Winchester. (As in I saw no other make)

- No "guppies" or "smileys".

- Many were somewhat "swollen".

- Even swollen ones could be pushed fully into my PX4 chamber.

- The PX4 .40 has excellent chamber support.

- I had no trouble sizing the brass.

- Putting the light case lube on a gloved hand and stirring it into the cases is easily worth the extra minute. Cases slide into the die noticeably easier and the lever takes considerably less effort to pull.

I'm normally resizing my dry tumbled and polished brass and that's pretty easy, too.

But these cases were washed and dry. The press runs easier with just a little lube.

- Post-sizing cases plunked easily into my PX4...with room to spare. But I don't have bullets yet.

I need to measure the bore again because I forgot what it was. I'm sure I'll get .401 " bullets but I'll check anyway.

I want good neck tension and low pressure. My carry ammo is 165 gr so I'm looking into coated 155-170 gr bullets.
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Sounds like you are off to a great start. I have always had an easier time seeing the holes a FN bullet makes, especially when using shoot-n-sees. Might seem like a small thing but when you’re shooting at 25yds in a low-light drill, it’s nice to see where you’re hitting.
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
Sounds like you are off to a great start. I have always had an easier time seeing the holes a FN bullet makes, especially when using shoot-n-sees. Might seem like a small thing but when you’re shooting at 25yds in a low-light drill, it’s nice to see where you’re hitting.
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Me too.

Pretty much all .40 bullets are flat-nosed anyway.

I'm not interested in the sharp-edges truncated-cone style though. Those just seem like an invitation to feeding problems with no benefit I'm aware of. Well, maybe a sharper hole than a more rounded flat-nose.
 
What weight bullets will run closer to POI of my 165 gr HST carry load?

Keep in mind theyll be mildly loaded.

Safety takes precedence though I don't want set-back. Leaning towards the 170 gr coated im seeing as common.
 
I've had a Kahr K40 for more than 20 years. It has a really tight chamber. Most of my brass came from LE qualification brass pickup. And, most of those were shot thru Glocks. The Glock bulge was a real thing for me. I had to get a LEE Bulge Buster. Easy to use and it solved the problem for me. I haven't tried coated bullets yet, but the Berry Plated stuff worked just fine.
 
I’m not sure how closely a different technology bullet will match POI but if you want to try a coated bullet, Blue offers sample packs and forum discounts:

They have 180s as well. Who knows, a slower 180 coated may be closer to your faster 165 jacketed.

I also noticed an Obit on their web page for Barry DeWalt, one of the founders. They grew that business to a major player in the competitive world.
 
My favorite “just enough to cycle the action” .40s&w load is Bullseye at 3.9-4.3gr. That’s good for the 180gr Lee TCFN sized .401” and lubed with Lee Liquid Alox.
It’s also quite accurate. Runs just over 800fps.
 
Shivahasagun said:
I ended up ordering Summit City coated
.401" 180's due to previous use of their bullets and price.
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I shoot 155gr jacketed through 180gr lead lubed with a recently acquired Taurus PT100 and within the 25yds of an indoor range lane the POI vs. POA will shift about four inches. Most of my loads were developed using a Springfield XDm 4.5”. The Taurus is fixed sight and has a completely different feel. Once I have shot up all the old XDm ammo it will be new load development time.

You can probably expect to see a shift in center on the vertical. I would be surprised if it was more than 3-4 inches. Definitely well within the mid thorax for a CoBM hold.
 
I thought I'd decided what powder and charge I was going to use but I went to load some .40 and apparently I never settled on anything.

Wanted to load some with 700x and some with HP38. I couldn't find any data for my 180 gr lead bullets and powders I have.

I'm just reloading practice ammo here.

Can someone remind me how to start with "copper plated" data for use with coated lead?

I'm thinking 4.2 gr 700X and 4.4 gr HP38.
 
Shivahasagun said:
I thought I'd decided what powder and charge I was going to use but I went to load some .40 and apparently I never settled on anything.

Wanted to load some with 700x and some with HP38. I couldn't find any data for my 180 gr lead bullets and powders I have.

I'm just reloading practice ammo here.

Can someone remind me how to start with "copper plated" data for use with coated lead?

I'm thinking 4.2 gr 700X and 4.4 gr HP38.
Click to expand...
I don’t know of any hard and fast rules regarding interpolation but your loads pass the sanity check. My thinking is, plated is higher friction than lubed or coated so plated gets midrange lead loads to start. Coated gets the same as lubed to start.
I always start low but not low enough to stick a bullet - I hope. 🤞
 
I started to load up 30 700x at 4.2 gr but ran out of time for today and only got ten done. I hadn't set up my dies completely, either so I used time doing that.

No problems. 4.2 gr of bulky 700x looks like alot in the case and not leaving much room for the 180 gr bullet.

OAL plunked fine at 1.13. Most are in the 1.125-1.3 range. One went weird and is 1.122.

I used a dipper but have to add little bits because a .5cc isn't big enough. Weighed each load. Just trying to use up some 700x.
 
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