40 S&W Brass

[cpt-t]

Need some help on reloading 40S&W brass. I have been warned that 40 S&W brass will have a bulged place at the base of the case if fired thru a unsupported barrel like a Glock making them un safe to reload. I have a 5 gal bucket 1/2 full of range brass that was probably fired thru a 40S&W Glock and I will be shooting my reloads thru a 40S&W Glock. I understand reloading for a 40S&W is a little tricky and it takes a special type of resizer to eliminate the dangerous bulge. I have looked at and measured a bunch of my brass and can`t really see any thing wrong, with them. But maybe I just don`t know what I am looking for. I understand it takes a special resizing die for the 40S&W. What do You Guys use, any help will be gratefully appreciated. For I am darn sure not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it come to reloading.
ken

 

[Jlr2267]

My experience reloading 40 brass is that if you can't see a bulge, it ain't enough to worry about. Resize them with a standard sizing die and don't load to max and you'll be fine.

Also, using a lighter bullet (165gr or 155gr) gives a little more room for error. Those 180's really stuff the case.

 

[dwhite]

What JLR2267 said. If you can't see it, it should not be a problem.

Never had any special problems loading .40. Just don't get crazy with the pressure and you'll be fine.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[MrBorland]

How "hot" do you plan on loading them? For my M&P40, I load .40S&W with 180gr plated bullets and standard dies to pretty mild levels (for competition; approx 750 fps). All my brass is range pickup - I've never even looked for The Bulge and have never had an issue.

Also, AFAIK, the M&P40 has a supported chamber, so I'd guess a bulged case would have issues chambering, which I've not experienced, so I'm wondering how many of the cases I've loaded were even bulged to begin with. No doubt a fair number were shot through a Glock before I grabbed them.

 

[joem1945]

If there is any doubt about the case get a max length case gauge from L.E. Wilson. After you decap and size them they should drop in the case gauge. If they don't scrap them.

 

[JohnhenrySTL]

Most of my .40's I've acquired have been range brass. I have never once come across that problem.

 

[Grumulkin]

Ditto. In addition I shoot a Glock and it hasn't bulged any case for me.

 

[PCCUSNRET]

I have been given a lot of 40 S&W from local police that showed a slight bulge. Once resized in a regular RCBS, Lee or Redding sizing die this brass easily fit in one of the L.E. Wilson case gauges. I have found some that had an excessive bulge that resulted in a crease in the brass, these went to the scrap bin.

 

[cpt-t]

Thanks alot for all your help guys. So if I can`t see a bulge or feel a bulge I will be alright. I plan on using 155gr plated Fat Point bullets from Berry`s and WIN 231 powder my lyman reloading manual says the suggested starting point is 5.3 grs of WIN 231 at 877 FPS and max is 5.9 grs of WIN 231 at 1053 FPS. I will shooting these 40 S&W reloads out of my Sons long barreled Glock 34`s & 35`s and His Kel-Tec Sub 2000. All I really want is for the reload to make the action cycle. Or would 5.6 grs of WIN 231 at mabey 950 FPS be better, I don`t need any squib loads the leave a bullet lodged in the barrel. I will be using a Dillon Square Deal reloading press if that makes any difference. I hate to be a a big wuss about this but I just want to be sure I don`t hurt my Son with one of my reloads. Again, thanks for all Your help, I really appreciate it. This is just a really great Forum and I like it very much.
ken

 

[CodeSection]

Personally, I would start out with the 5.3 grs and load 20-25 rounds and try them out and see how they perform and cycle. Generally, squib loads happen when there is no or very, very little powder. Starting at the lower grains per the manual is the recommended procedure.

Good luck!

 

[Reefinmike]

I had a gen3 glock 22 for a very short while and never experienced any buldged cases. Yes, lee does make a push through bulge buster die. It will hide the problem but the brass will still be weakened. Not worth the risk in caliber notorious for cartridge failures aka kabooms. 1x brass is 3 cents a piece. Much cheaper than busted frame and hand.

 

[gojones]

When I first started loading 40. I created a bulge by over crimping. Not realizing at first that I was the culprit, I bought the Redding dual ring sizer. I now use this sizer regardless even though I have never seen a bulge from range brass. I was so certain that Glock shooters automatically ejected bulged cases, that I over reacted. My son shoots a Glock and has never had a bulged case. I just don't see them at the range. Have read a lot about them though.

 

[RealGun]

40 S&W is used in high enough volume for me to warrant use of a progressive press. Once you encounter some brass that doesn't have the Glock pimple, but is ballooned nonetheless, and note how it won't gauge, you consider solutions. It matters a lot if you have more than one brand of gun in 40 and have to set a standard with a gauge, preferring not to tailor or reserve ammo for a single gun.

The issue for the progressive is that ballooned brass will have too tight a fit in small case feeder tubes, and 40 runs poorly in the large tubes. Fully resized brass just runs better in the press. The solution there is to run all the brass through bulge removal, so it runs like new brass, yet without the galling on the expander.

Bottom line, I run ALL of my fired brass through the Redding G-Rx. I also have a Lee Bulge Buster, which can fill the gap for loaded ammo that won't gauge or chamber. It also works on 45 ACP. The Redding is sized only for 40 and won't do loaded ammo. 'Sure beats pulling bullets and starting over, not to mention tossing the brass.

Sizing dies simply do not get close enough to the case head because of the shellhollder/shellplate and the radius on the mouth of the die.

 

[fouled bore]

I hand sort all of my range brass and scrap all with the bulge. Below is .40 (left) and .380 (right) with the bulge.

 

[RealGun]

I hand sort all of my range brass and scrap all with the bulge. Below is .40 (left) and .380 (right) with the bulge.

Brass can be what I refer to as "ballooned" without having the Glock pimple. It still must be processed with bulge removal tooling to preclude any heartaches while reloading or later attempting to chamber the rounds.

 

[ljnowell]

I load them just like any other caliber. As long as there isn't a guppy belly, it's good. I've never found one either.

 

[hds1959]

I load 10 to 15 thousand 40 sw a year. I never have had any problems with the brass, just be sure and use a carbide sizer die. It helps out very much . GOOD LUCK

 

[Swampman]

In my personal experience, older Glocks are far worse about bulging brass than more recent iterations.

 

[Kp321]

^^^^^ This. The Gen 1 Glocks in 40 were the ones with poor chamber support. Corrected in later revisions.

 

[bbqreloader]

I load 40 SW and after sizing, I case gauge each shell. Those that don't fit get run thru a Lee Bulge buster. I can recover almost 90% that dont fit. A little extra work, but it fills downtime that I have in between loading.

 

[RealGun]

I load 40 SW and after sizing, I case gauge each shell. Those that don't fit get run thru a Lee Bulge buster. I can recover almost 90% that dont fit. A little extra work, but it fills downtime that I have in between loading.

I would do that but figured it was more efficient to just process all the brass with the Redding G-Rx before even thinking about loading. The controlling factor on the Hornady LnL AP is whether the 40 brass will reliably pass through the case feeder's small size down tubes. Large doesn't work very well for me. I need the full length of the brass processed for size before it even gets to the sizing step.

 

[gojones]

I also have been using the Redding G-Rx as RealGun.