Powder and operating pressures for .40 S&W

[gamestalker]

For the .40 cal., do Blue Dot and Power Pistol typically operate at higher pressures than HS6 and Longshot using 155 gr JHP and 165 gr. JHP?

I'm currently unable to get to my informational books cause my Son and his Wife are living in my reloading romm until their house deal closes next month.

Thanks and Happy New Year!
GS

 

[Bovice]

Pressure is a function of powder charge, seating depth, and burn rate. Are you asking about the burn rate?

(Hint: I've loaded thousands of .40 and Universal is by far my favorite powder for 165 and 180 grain rounds.)

 

[Otto]

For the .40 cal., do Blue Dot and Power Pistol typically operate at higher pressures than HS6 and Longshot using 155 gr JHP and 165 gr. JHP?

At the starting load or maximum? At the max they're all between 22k-23k PSI.
I prefer Universal.

 

[jim243]

Accourding to Lyman Reloading Handbook 49th Edition.

At starting loads, yes they are higher pressure. At max loads, no they are the same or or just under HS-6 for the weights you listed.

Otto

Max PSI for the 40 S&W is 34,000 PSI, I think you were refering to C.U.P. which is around 22,000 to 23,000 CUPs.

Jim

 

[FROGO207]

I presently am shooting 140 grain TCFP (IDP#7 from Missouri Bullet) in my 40 cal's a lot, and really like Hp38/231 for an accurately functioning lower pressure load. I have shot a boatload of them and would highly recommend the combo for any lead load target shooting/plinking you wold want to do.

 

[gamestalker]

Thanks for the HP38 / 231 information FROGO207, but I'm inquiring about the max pressure estimates for JHP's 155 gr and 165 gr in comparison to HS6 and Longshot at the max end.

Jim243, CUP or PSI works for me as I'm not intending to take those estimates as "etched in stone", just too many vaiables to do that. I just simply need some baseline numbers as comparison until I can get my books dug out of my occupied reloading room. I don't have an interest in Universal, but thanks anyway.

As for burn rate, that does have some relativity here, but I also like to know peak estimates in the pressure curve before I give a new powder a run.

GS

 

[kerreckt]

I have reloaded a lot of .40 using using Berry's 165gr HBTP on top of 4.9 gr. Titegroup and CCI 550 primers. It is an accurate, enjoyable load for me. I tend to lean toward Titegroup for most of my 9mm, .40S&W and .45acp loads.

 

[Mr.Revolverguy]

For the .40 cal., do Blue Dot and Power Pistol typically operate at higher pressures than HS6 and Longshot using 155 gr JHP and 165 gr. JHP?

I'm currently unable to get to my informational books cause my Son and his Wife are living in my reloading romm until their house deal closes next month.

Thanks and Happy New Year!
GS

Blue Dot and Power Pistol are good powders for 40S&W because it is a high pressure round and both powders burn cleanly at the 40S&W pressures. I started out loading 40S&W many years ago with HS-6 because I was trying to getaway with 1 powder for both mid-load 357 and 40S&W. I found HS-6 works great for 357 magnum mid range load 1100FPS but in 40S&W it was dirty and had a little more snap than normal which lead to me not shooting very accurately. I found Power Pistol to be less snappy and very clean in 40S&W even at the minimal loads per Lyman 48&49.

I use X-treme plated bullets and have found with 40S&W more than any other caliber that crimping affects accuracy greatly. Recipe I was using

C.O.A.L 1.125
Crimp 0.421 = Shotgun Pattern
New Crimp 0.423 = very accurate at 25 yards can keep 12 shots under 1 1/2 inch group.

Ok I have rambled enough this morning I hope this data helps you out but I would definitely stick with Power Pistol.

Titegroup worries me in 40S&W so I am not comfortable with it anymore. It is being reported on forums like these that titegroup is the most used powder when the famous Glock Kabooms happen.

 

[kerreckt]

Titegroup tends to have a small charge weight so it would be easy to double charge if you are being careless. I believe the "Glock Kabooms" are most likely caused by a lack of attention during the reloading process. That is speculation on my part because I am not a Glock shooter and I never have had any problems using Titegroup. I only reload when I am by myself and have no interruptions. I never try to "multitask" when reloading.

 

[rcmodel]

Max pressure allowed is no different based on powder choice.
All the reloading data is going to stop at or below the SAAMI 35,000 PSI limit for the caliber.

What is different is the velocity you can get out of various powders at the safe max pressure.

Go to Hodgdon website and compair velocity & pressure for all the powders they have data for. You will see they are all very similar pressures at Max charge.

But the velocity can be quite a bit different at the same or similar pressure.

rc

 

[cowtownup]

Mr. Revolverguy... You have crimp and New Crimp listed as .421 and .423 respectively. Can you describe how you set your dies for this crimp and exactly how you measure that?

I probably should start a new thread, but I'm going to ask here for now...

Can I use load data for a Hornady 180 gr hollow point bullet on a Nosler 180 gr. holllow point?