40 S&W or 45 Auto
- Thread starter oldreloader
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LiveLife
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I have reloaded a lot of 9mm, 40S&W and 45ACP loads (about several hundred thousand) and size does matter in this case:
- 45ACP cases are much larger and easier to pickup from the floor/ground
- Larger case/surface area with similar thickness of brass takes less effort to resize (similar to bending a longer section of paper clip vs shorter section)
- Larger sized primers are easier to detect and pickup (especially those occasional loose spent primers)
- The larger bullet is definitely easier to handle
- The availability of 45ACP bullet types and load data far out pace that of 40S&W (it seems, with each passing year, there's less and less powder to use for 40S&W)
- I tend to stick with 1.125" OAL for mostly common TCFP nose profile of 40S&W but have much greater flexibility of 1.200"-1.275" OAL for 45ACP to "fine tune" the load and my pistol/barrel will feed/chamber this OAL range
- I have some accurate 40S&W loads, but they are not as accurate as 45ACP loads
- My range sessions often run over 300-500+ rounds and slower "thump" recoil of 45ACP is easier on the hand/wrist than the sharp "snap" of 40S&W
- Yup, after 300-500+ round range session, I gotta pick those darn spent cases
- 45ACP cases are much larger and easier to pickup from the floor/ground
- Larger case/surface area with similar thickness of brass takes less effort to resize (similar to bending a longer section of paper clip vs shorter section)
- Larger sized primers are easier to detect and pickup (especially those occasional loose spent primers)
- The larger bullet is definitely easier to handle
- The availability of 45ACP bullet types and load data far out pace that of 40S&W (it seems, with each passing year, there's less and less powder to use for 40S&W)
- I tend to stick with 1.125" OAL for mostly common TCFP nose profile of 40S&W but have much greater flexibility of 1.200"-1.275" OAL for 45ACP to "fine tune" the load and my pistol/barrel will feed/chamber this OAL range
- I have some accurate 40S&W loads, but they are not as accurate as 45ACP loads
- My range sessions often run over 300-500+ rounds and slower "thump" recoil of 45ACP is easier on the hand/wrist than the sharp "snap" of 40S&W
- Yup, after 300-500+ round range session, I gotta pick those darn spent cases
How about luger? I've never heard of anyone fragging a 9mm. With many common pistol powders, you couldn't even fit enough in the case to blow up the gun. You can't even use Unique on some progressive presses, because powder spills out. And some 9mm's are so overbuilt, they can withstand the pressure of shooting underwater without damaging the barrel. How's that for a barrel obstruction?
A new reloader can start on any pistol caliber and be successful, and I am not saying there is a huge difference, or that others calibers are hard to reload. I am just saying that in my opinion the .38 Spl and .45 are about as easy as it gets and are good ones to start with. That is my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.
I started on .44 Mag & .45 ACP, then .38 SPl & 9MM. I never had any real trouble with any of them, just a few learning curves at first. The .38 Spl and .45 ACP are a little more forgiving while we are learning.
I started on .44 Mag & .45 ACP, then .38 SPl & 9MM. I never had any real trouble with any of them, just a few learning curves at first. The .38 Spl and .45 ACP are a little more forgiving while we are learning.
Steve Koski
Member
Goob,
9mm is also extremely easy to reload for. As you said, virtually impossible to double charge, but it can be done. I've heard of blown up 9mm guns due to overcharges.
Only 3 dowfalls to 9mm as a newbie reload that I can think of.
1) NATO/military crimped primers and berdan primers causing problems priming and broken decapping pins on occasion. Can be frustrating.
2) It is noticeably harder to size 9mm cases than the larger .40 and .45. The force on the handle is roughly double.
3) COL issues aren't as dead simple as the .40. In .40 land, anything between 1.125 and 1.135 will feed in any gun, regardless of bullet profile. In 9mm the bullet shapes and lengths are so radically different you can end up with ammo that won't feed. Start with common round nosed 115 or 125 FMJ's and you're almost sure to succeed.
Other than that it's a wash.
Koski
9mm is also extremely easy to reload for. As you said, virtually impossible to double charge, but it can be done. I've heard of blown up 9mm guns due to overcharges.
Only 3 dowfalls to 9mm as a newbie reload that I can think of.
1) NATO/military crimped primers and berdan primers causing problems priming and broken decapping pins on occasion. Can be frustrating.
2) It is noticeably harder to size 9mm cases than the larger .40 and .45. The force on the handle is roughly double.
3) COL issues aren't as dead simple as the .40. In .40 land, anything between 1.125 and 1.135 will feed in any gun, regardless of bullet profile. In 9mm the bullet shapes and lengths are so radically different you can end up with ammo that won't feed. Start with common round nosed 115 or 125 FMJ's and you're almost sure to succeed.
Other than that it's a wash.
Koski
Steve Koski
Member
Hunt,
Be ready for some weirdness. Things can get strange at the outer limits. I had some malfunctions (failures to feed) at the top of my load development. Probably due to the gun contortion into pretzel like shapes for a nanosecond.
Koski
Be ready for some weirdness. Things can get strange at the outer limits. I had some malfunctions (failures to feed) at the top of my load development. Probably due to the gun contortion into pretzel like shapes for a nanosecond.
Koski
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