40 s&w & aa#5

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lturford

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I've loaded a few test rounds for 40 S&W with Berry's 165 FP at 6.6 and 6.8 with a 1.13 OAL. Western Powder lists Rainier RNFP 165's at 6.5 to 7.6 @ 1.125 OAL. So I should be at the very bottom for this load plus I'm a little longer in OAL. I'm concerned with the way the primers have a crater or crescent ring around them. Should I back off even more and if I do I'd be below the starting weight. Any insight is appreciated.
 

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Hi there, with AL rimless cartridges reading pressures by primer appearance is terribly ineffective. Even seasoned reloaders often struggle with reading pressures by primer appearance.

With that said, based on appearance, those look to be very much on the low pressure side. As for the crescent around the FP indent, that looks more of an over sized firing pin channel, but could also be a characteristic of low pressure. Also note the over all features of the primers are rounded off, no sharp formed or flat surfaces. And out toward the edges of the primer pocket, there is almost no primer flow being exhibited, which would most certainly be present with higher pressures. And although primer flow to the edges of the pocket isn't as defined on rimless cartridges, and as what might be observed with a rimmed revolver cartridge, there would still be some obvious and defined flow characteristics in this regard.

So, considering the data and oal both suggest a resulting lower pressure load, I would personally feel I'm observing lower pressure, not high.

As for a more effective method for reading these type cartridges, how far the brass ejects upon firing, and velocities delivered over a chrony are often far more reliable means of making a determination.

Hope this helps.

GS
 
How old is that load data? If you google 40SW + kb + AA#5, you will find a curiously large number of hits.

I would try to cross reference multiple load data and also compare primer marks with other loads in the same gun.

IME, FWIW, Rainier 155 gr plated 40SW bullets create significantly higher pressure than Berry 155 gr plated.
 
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Thanks GS. I appreciate the feedback. With those charge weights I couldn't see how it would have been too hot of a load. Your low pressure scenario make sense. With primers being hard to read I wanted some input. Brass was ejecting nice out of a Stoeger Cougar. That gun always puts them in a nice little pile. I'll work up a few more loads and see how they look.

GLOOB, Load data is Western Powders 5.0 edition. I think it's been out a year or so. No additional data posted on .40 S&W posted in the expanded section.
I have a few manuals Lyman 49th, Modern Reloading 2nd ed. although that is just reprints of other publications as well as the Powder manufacturers. Cross referencing the data is always a must and done more than once to confirm. Thanks for the tip on looking at the markings from other loads. I know I have other powders loaded as well as some lead. I'll take an assortment next time out and look at them.
 
I put 6.5 grains of AA#5 under Berry's 180 grain bullets, which is getting close to max pressure also.

Your primers look fine to me, all of them. Your firing pin hole is on the large side, but that's the only observation I can really make. 40s&w is a high pressure cartridge.

Edfardos
 
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