.40 cal recommendations

Ruddog13 said:

I've only been reloading for about a year, all rifle. Gonna try my hand at pistol and I have a 9mm with 135gr rn, .40 with 180 fn and a 38 special with hollow points. Not sure of the powders. I've looked at all the manuals but asking for a few good recipes of you have them. Thanks in advance guys, I do appreciate it.
Rudy

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I like Universal, HP-38, and AutoComp

Pretty much any non-magnum pistol powder you have will work for those. I like WST if you can find it. W231/HP-38 is well liked. Unique is very good IME. Red dot/Promo works great IME. Check your loan manuals or online data from the powder manufacturers, obviously.

As always AA#5 is my go to for 40. If you can find some.

I would start with the .38 as it will be more forgiving, especially if you have a .357 to shoot them in at first. Simpler to do a revolver round than an auto which may frustrate you at first. Even now, the autos give me a hard time now and again.

Unique works phenomenally in my 9mm, but I will say up front that it is quite dirty until you start getting up the higher end of the load data.

In those 3 cartridges, most all pistol powders and some shotgun powders will work.
I've used HP-38/W231, Titegroup, Silhouette, CFE-Pistol, and Autocomp in all 3.

For the .40cal, Longshot for full-power loads.

I've been using HS-6 for 9mm with 124gr hp and 165 gr fn in .40 cal. I've been pleased with it so far, especially in the 9mm.

I’m using Longshot in 9MM and .40 with good results.

Unique, titegroup, W231/HP38 and Power Pistol. Lots of other stuff will work, but I have had good success with all 4 of these. Be careful with Titegroup as it is really easy to double charge a case because of the density. 38 Special will be a little easier as a starting point, but, if you are already loading rifle, pistol should not be an issue for you.

Ruddog13 said:

Gonna try my hand at pistol and I have a 9mm with 135gr rn, .40 with 180 fn and a 38 special with hollow points. Not sure of the powders.

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There are lots of options with powders but it would help to know if you want a light target load, mid range, competition, or full power load. The other thing is do you want one powder for all three or are you able/willing to have multiple powders?
Faster powders work well for the light loads, slower powders for the heavier loads. Start with .38, it’s a great cartridge and there’s published load data available for just about any combination you want.
IMR Target, Red, Bullseye, N320, WST, AA2 and Titegroup will give you light loads. ASP, W231, W244, N330, WSF, and Universal will cover the mid to heavy range. AA5, N340, Power Pistol, CFE Pistol are also for heavier loads. Good luck.

One powder for all 3 ctgs that you list.....Unique. Data is available in practically all manuals. I load calibers from 32-20 to 45 acp with good results.

38wcf said:

I load calibers from 32-20 to 45 acp

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Very versatile. I load all the way up to 44 mag with it.

Vihtavuori N320 in 40S&W under a 180gr is my favorite load. I have used that for years in USPSA competition. You will be hard pressed to find a cleaner burning powder than Vihtavuori.

I like to get the best out of each load I assemble. HP 38 for 9MM. Red dot/promo for 38. And #5 for 40 S&W. I specifically purchased the #5 for the loads in the 40.

I have tried a lot of powders using published loads, and they all work fine. It really depends what you want to get out of your loads. I like Longshot, and it has its place, but it is not something I want to shoot every day. My go to load for now is a W244 load with 180gr RNFP bullets. It is very accurate and it shoots well out of my P229. So, W244 is another powder to look at.

I don't own/reload a 40 S&W but I do load 9 handgun cartridges. All work quite well with Universal, 32 ACP through 45 Colt.

I'd recommend finding a load that looks good to you in your reloading manual(s) and then search for the listed components. Many fewer headaches and quizzing forums for load data...

HS6 and Titegroup. Titegroup, for some reason, is always a couple dollars cheaper per pound than anything else.

Ruddog13 said:

I've only been reloading for about a year, all rifle. Gonna try my hand at pistol and I have a 9mm with 135gr rn, .40 with 180 fn and a 38 special with hollow points. Not sure of the powders. I've looked at all the manuals but asking for a few good recipes of you have them. Thanks in advance guys, I do appreciate it.
Rudy

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Bullseye, Red Dot, Ramshot Competition, Accurate No.5, Titegroup, HS6, WST, W231, Universal and of course, Unique. Pick one, those all make good working loads for any of the calibers named. You can always count on Bullseye and Unique in any pistol round.

Power Pistol and #5 always do the best in 40 for me, with 165 to 180gr plated bullets.
I do have some Ramshot Competition and Zip, but haven't gotten around to seriously trying them yet. Competition is rebranded Winchester Action Pistol all that data applies. I had some WAP yrs back and it did pretty good in the M&P
Zips around the same speed as TiteGroup, which I have but never tried in 40, so it's performance I imagine,, would probably be close with same weight projectiles