40 s&w load with titegroup

My go to target load for all my 40's is Berrys 180gr RS over 4.5gr of Titegroup. It shoots great and Im not the only one who thinks that. Several friends have shot it in their pistols and they liked it over a few other powders I was tinkering with. A friend actualy switched his target load to Titegroup after shooting some of mine.

I run titegroup in 40 and 9mm and run it all in the low to middle range. If memory serves, the 40 I loaded was 4.4 and we had zero issues with it. I am a titegroup fan.

Titegroup is sold by Hodgdon and there is data on their website. ersonally I would opt for a slower burning powder such as WSF for loading 40 S&W full power loads.

My 180gr .40S&W powder of choice is HS-6.

IMO, Lyman reload manual just plain sux. The bullets they list are never the ones I have, and their powder choices are limited. They seem to favor those who cast their own bullets (waste of time to me) and show kinda odd cast bullet weights. Since Titegroup is a product of Hodgdon, I would go to http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp , and look at their load data.

4.0 Titegroup makes a nice soft accurate load for me.

4.7 Titegroup with 165 Rainier HP works great in my Glock 22. (950 fps plinking load, good accuracy)

beatledog7 said:

My 180gr .40S&W powder of choice is HS-6.

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Yep same here, 6.3grs works great for me

ImjinScout,

It's amazing how much variance you find regarding HS-6 in 40S&W with 180gr JHPs. Hodgdon says max is 6.9gr. Hornady says max for their XTP is 7.3gr. Lyman says max is a whopping 8.0gr.

Whose data are you using? 6.3 should be pretty soft, right?

I like using TiteGroup in my .40 S&W and in my 9mm.

I just did some test loads this week in .40 S&W using Precision Delta 180 gr. jacketed flat nose bullets. I shot them out of my Sig Sauer P226 Elite with a 4.4" barrel. These were fired outside when the air temperature = 36 deg F. Results were:

4.2 gr TiteGroup, 180 gr. JFN, OAL = 1.125, FPS = 844.9
4.7 gr TiteGroup, 180 gr. JFN, OAL = 1.125, FPS = 925.0

Earlier, I did some test loads with my Glock 23, using a KKM Precision barrel instead of the factory barrel. I used Rainier 180 gr. hollow point, flat based bullets. These were fired outside when the air temperature was approx. 65-70 deg F. Results:

3.8 gr. Titegroup, 180 gr. HPFB, OAL = 1.125, FPS = 856.0
4.2 gr. Titegroup, 180 gr. HPFB, OAL = 1.125, FPS = 891.7
4.5 gr. Titegroup, 180 gr. HPFB, OAL = 1.125, FPS = 933.6

YMMV, these were my results. Oddly enough, when my Sig was new, I tried using some 165 gr. bullets with 4.2 gr. of TiteGroup. This load would work well in my Gen 4 Glock 23, but would not cycle the action of the Sig reliably; I'd get a lot of stovepipes. Upping the load to 4.7 solved the problem, but now that the Sig is 'broken in' it seems to shoot everything well. Still feels like a heavy recoil spring though, but it works just fine!

Lee 175 gr TC bullet, 4.7 gr of Titegroup, OAL was towards the max that would feed in a BHP. No pressure signs, no snappier than factory stuff. I use a lot of Titegroup.

That said, IMR 800-X was the best performer I found for the 40 S&W. BUT it meters like hockey pucks.

beatledog7 said:

ImjinScout,

It's amazing how much variance you find regarding HS-6 in 40S&W with 180gr JHPs. Hodgdon says max is 6.9gr. Hornady says max for their XTP is 7.3gr. Lyman says max is a whopping 8.0gr.

Whose data are you using? 6.3 should be pretty soft, right?

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Funny thing you mentioned that beatledog, when I first started loading the .40S&W I had worked up to 6.7gr to get my FNX to cycle reliable. At the time I was seating and crimping with the same die. I then noticed that some of my crimp diameters were getting a little bit bigger, I think around .425, but was not getting any set back. After reading some info here I decided to buy a separate crimp die and then set my crimp diameter to .422.

Off to the range and wow those rounds with 6.7 seemed a little hot to me, way different than before with the larger crimp. So I decided to work up some new loads and that is how I arrived at 6.3/6.4grs. Guns cycled fine and accuracy was good. I did learn that the crimp can affect the load and the charge weight. 6.3/6.4 is not that soft in my guns, FNX and S&W4006 so this is where I ended up. But you are correct some of the data I have seen look to be a little high, can't imagine 8.0gr.

So for my .40S&W I load to 1.125 COL, crimp of .422 and 6.3/6.4grs of HS-6

Another vote for HS-6, 6.5gr behind a 180gr lead RNFP OAL 1.120 shoots great in my PX4, 7.6gr behind 165gr Rainer TCFP plated bullets OAL 1.125.

I tried Titegroup but it wouldn't cycle my PX4 consistantly, lots of stovepipes, until I got near max. This was before I had a chrony so I don't know how hot they were. I just know if I had to load near max published data with a fast powder like titegroup I was asking for trouble.

This being said it seems to work in other guns, maybe now that mine is broken in it would work in middle of the road charges but I really like HS-6 so titegoup will get used up in.38 special +P loads.

i am a titegroup fan but only about a year into reloading and mostly reloading for snubbies (3" or less) in .38sp, .357M, .44SP or .45 LC.

What I can add to this specific dialogue is that 4.4 of TG under a 356 diam 124 gr plated hp w/ CCI small standard primers failed to cycle (FTE,FTF or stovepipe) all but 2 of a 13 round test batch in a glock 32 in 357 Sig.

ymmv

Titegroup can be made to work and work well for target ammo in .40. I just hate how hot it makes the gun. Shoot some ammo with titegroup and then grab the slide. It's going to be really hot.

With that said, 4.6 grains of titegroup with a 165 grain FMJ (X-Treme plated bullets) shoots softly and is plenty accurate. My OAL was 1.130. That's what I used to shoot, and it did ok. This is the starting load according to Hodgdon. I never chronographed it, but I'm pretty sure it was slow for 165 grainers. I wanted more velocity without heating up my gun like a radiator, so I switched powders.