40 S&W 180 gr plated and WST

[Bullseye]

Last night I started to post this, all puffed up with pride.

I wanted to buy WSF and should have had my glasses on when I found a can of WST. I thought it was WSF. Oh well, I knew what I had last night when I loaded 26 cartridges with 5.4 gr WST. :banghead: NOT GOOD!
I got my load since I went with the data in Lyman 49 for 175 jacketed silvertip bullets. That was as I recall 5.1 to 5.7 with 5.7 being the best load.
So I decided a little heavier bullet would probably be max at around 5.4.

Then after I was all done, as usual, I double check what I did ( which is usually right on ) and it turned out that I probably made some fairly dangerous loads.

I looked around at a all the forum data I could find from experienced reloaders and I was probably at least a full gr too high over max.

The general range was 3.5 to 4.5. One fella seemed to know what he was talking about using plated 180 gr bullets and said that in winter the powder burned faster, and summer it burned slower. He called this an inverted temp sensitivity burn rate I believe. Regardless, I understood what that meant. He said he loaded 3.9 in winter and 4.1 in summer. So I decided to go mid range at 4.0.

So after pulling all my bullets and reworking the cases a little and feeding my tomato plants, I loaded these up.

I would like some feedback if any on this 4.0 WST load with RMR plated match 180 gr bullets. My OAL is 1.120. I have a modest taper crimp.
I feel pretty confident now that these are safe but hope they cycle a Sig Pro 2340 pistol. I am a Unique user 99.5% of the time in my pistols but wanted to use this stuff up and do some practice with my 40.

Thanks

 

[Walkalong]

WSF is dark colored and WST is light colored. Hard to mistake one for the other once you see both.

WST is much faster than WSF, so yes, you loaded some rounds that be a problem. Glad you double checked and found it.

I have given up on fast powders in .40 S&W, although they can certainly work.

 

[1KPerDay]

Hodgdon data is 4.4-4.9 with Berry's plated FP, so 4.0 may be a tad light. It'll probably work

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol

I like WST for .40 plated and have loaded a lot of 165 xtremes over 5.0 WST with great results. WST is becoming my "standard" auto handgun powder. Meters well, I like the largish volume and the light color, and it's pretty clean.

 

[Bullseye]

Thanks guys, I figured it would be light at 4.0 and just hope it will cycle in my Sig 2340.
I'll find out soon. If they are too light, I'll work up 0.2 at a time. Glad I didn't load up a couple hundred anyway!
I think that 5.4 load may have been a disaster. Glad I caught it too.
I'll update. This thread may be helpful to others down the road.

 

[LiveLife]

WSF is dark colored and WST is light colored. Hard to mistake one for the other once you see both.

Below are comparison pictures of WSF and WST - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=10094185#post10094185

 

[rabid wombat]

I am using 180 gr Coated flat point bullets with a charge of 4.6 gr of WST. I averaged ~950 fps with a SD of 14.7 fps. Min was 924 fps, while max was 968 fps. I choose this after testing 4.0, 4.2, 4.4, 4.6, and 4.8 gr of WST. For me, 4.6 provided the lowest SD and spread. All were fired in a Glock 23, for a total of 10 rounds each grain weight.

All the normal caveats apply - CHECK A RELOADING GUIDE, not liable, etc.

 

[Bullseye]

Thanks Wombat. Still haven't shot these. I'm waiting to go to the range and have another project to work on. Too hot but maybe tonight. I may jump right up to 4.4 next time I set up for 40's.


LATE EDIT: Back from the range. These 26 cartridges with 4.0 gr WST 180 gr RMR match copper plated bullets cycled fine and were fairly accurate. I could tell it was a mild load and going up to 4.4 would probably be no issue at all.
Shot 1 in the mag by itself to start, 2 12 round mags and the last one went in the bullseye as the last stray bullet. All were on paper at 7 yds.
I think that I can tighten the groups and add a little punch using 4.3 gr next time around.

Shot with a Sig Pro 2340. I was not disappointed in the least and for target practice this powder will do fine.