40 S&W Reloading Dies

[Lj1941]

Lee 4 Die Set

I have been using Lee Dies since I discovered them. I use 4 die sets with the 9,40 & 45ACP. I also load 9x18s (Makarov) with a 3 Die set. No problems even with cut down 9s to make them 9x18. It is your money but Lee works fine for me.

 

[KansasSasquatch]

I use a Hornady sizing die, Hornady seating/crimping die, and Lyman taper crimp die. I don't use an expander at all. I've used the expander die that came with my Hornady set but found it unnecessary. I don't crimp with the Hornady seating/crimping die because unfortunately my set, all I could find at the time, came with a roll crimp.

 

[GLOOB]

My Glock 40 has the tightest chamber of all my guns. Right at the case mouth, anyway. And there's some funky thick 40 brass out there. If you find any S&B brass, do yourself a favor and put some calipers to it. It's strangely thick and is one of the only handgun cases that I put in the garbage.

No opinion on dies. They all have their minor quirks and tolerances. My Lee 40SW sizing die happens to be exceptionally tight to where it's problematic for non-jacketed bullets. But the one bonus of Lee dies is you can get the 4 die set for only a little more, and the FCD can come in handy for debulging cases.

I have too much .40 range brass to worry about salvaging any that has been stressed enough the sizer won't handle it.

If you have enough, then that settles it. But if OP has access to police range brass, he can know it's once-fired. And that could be a gold mine, even if it needs to be debulged.

 

[Walkalong]

Good point. I can't say that with mine.

 

[mgmorden]

Lee makes an "U" sizer die (for Undersized) that I'd recommend. It sizes the brass down a little smaller than normal to make sure it chambers and can help with the "Glock buldge" (they also make a "buldge buster" die that can help this as well).

I've gotten the Lee U die even though I already had a Hornady die set for .40S&W.

If I had to buy over again, I'd probably assemble a set piecemeal. Lee "U" sizer die, Lyman "M" expander, and whichever seater you like best.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/687452/lee-undersized-carbide-sizing-die-40-s-and-w

 

[TfflHndn]

I use RCBS dies (carbide), but crimp with the Lee factory crimp die. I have an after market barrel on my Sig P229 that is very tight and won't chamber fully unless I FCD them. If you have any concerns about chamber fit, crimp with the FCD and you should be okay.

 

[gojones]

I've been loading 40 on a progressive and use the Redding Pro carbide series. I do use the GRX but probably do not need to. If after resizing, a case does not fit in the chamber or case gauge, I chunk it. Very rare for this to happen however. I have the dual ring carbide sizer also but probably not needed either. The 40 is very easy to load. I only started loading the 40 about mid 2013 and over bought on dies simply because of things I read about on the forum. Has turned out to be rather straight forward though and any die set should work.

 

[BSA1]

bds,

I don't want to spend money on a department issue weapon to convert it to 9mm and I have no interest or use for the 40. I already reload 22 different calibers and need to buy 30-30 dies so I can reload for it. I may invest in night sights after I talk to our armorer. Maybe I can talk him out of a set of night sights.

How well do plated bullets work?

 

[LiveLife]

How well do plated bullets work?

While I shot matches with Montana Gold jacketed bullets and practiced with various plated bullets, I was never able to get close to accuracy of jacketed bullets with plated bullets.

For me with typical "regular" plated bullets (around .004"-.008" thickness of copper plating), accuracy fell as I worked up above mid range jacketed load data. Since slower burn rate powders don't produce clean burn and optimal accuracy below high range load data, I used faster burn rate powders that still produced accuracy at lower charges with the regular plated bullets.

That all changed with the advent of "thicker plated" bullets. First came PowerBond bullets with thicker plating then Berry's Manufacturing released hollow base thicker plated bullets that surpassed my reference Winchester FMJ loads.

I don't think there's an industry rule as to how thick of plating is considered "thick plated" by the various bullet manufacturers. Lately, I have been very happy with Rocky Mountain Reloading's Hardcore Match thicker plated bullets with .012"-.014" copper plating. Unlike some plated bullets with softer core, RMR's HM bullets have harder 11-12 BHN lead alloy core which I consider to contribute to greater neck tension instead of being squished during crimping for more consistent chamber pressures (hence the "hardcore" and BTW, RMR offers 5% THR discount with thehighroad5 code).

With RMR's HM bullets, I have been able to produce sub 2" shot groups at 25 yards with factory Glock 22 which is on par with 1911 territory (and this I have not been able to do with other brand plated bullets) - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=9924922#post9924922

Here are target pictures of RMR HM 180 gr RNFP with Herco and BE-86 loads

I even had fellow THR member Dudedog verify the shot groups - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=9646469#post9646469

 

[vaalpens]

The thicker plated bullets are good to go and I have also seen sub 2" grouping at 25 yards. My shooting is not as good as bds, but I get lucky once in a while also and is able to see the true performance of the bullets.

The bullets loaded in this test were Xtreme 165gr CPHP's, which also has the thicker plating.

 

[BSA1]

Thanks guys. That is a big help.