First time reloader

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applegatemachine

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Hi I'm Brad and I'm knew to reloading. I am a powder purchase away from reloading my first shell. I need advise on a common powder I can use for the materials that I have already purchased. I am reloading .40 S&W and Ive bought small pistol primers and 140 gr bullets from Missouri Bullet company. I need to know some recipes from some common powders I might be able to find when available. PLEASE HELP! And thank you for the membership I look forward to using this forum.
 
Do you have any manuals? I don't load .40 so I can't really help there, but i would buy a manual or 4 if I were you. Welcome to the forum, these guys will point you in the right direction, their aint much they dont know.
 
Hi Brad,

With the state of supply or the absence of same, the selection of powder will be what you can get localy or order (and pay HazMat fees).

As stated, read your book/s. Get more than one. This will give you an idea of what powders are used in .40 S&W with lead 140 bullets. With this as a general reference, look for a pound of powder. Try it out, if you don't like it or the way it functions, you can move to another.

This sounds like I'm not willing to help, but I don't know the powder availability in your area. Some good 'covers a wide spectrum' powders are 231/HP38, Titegroup, Unique, Bullseye, the 'Dots' and a gillion and a half others. Everyone soon has a favored powder. Also look online at the powder manufactures web pages.

Always error on the side of safety.
 
Welcome!

I'd seriously look into spending your first $20-30 on a reloading book. That will give you the ins-and-outs of reloading, at least one perspective, also a number of recipes including cast that might include your 140gr.

The .40 S&W is a neat cartridge, and VERY powerful - but of all the handgun cartridges it is also one of the least forgiving. Also, you need to make sure your barrel FULLY supports the case head before you get into reloading for it. I'd also look into the Lee Bulge Buster kit, provided you also have a Lee Factory Crimp Die.

As for recpies - look on major powder manufacturer's websites (I use Hodgdon and Alliant) - they will list the CURRENT powder charges (max on Alliant, max/min on Hodgdon), and there is enough information there to easily get you going.

In the case of getting loads for your MBC bullets - I'd e-mail/call Missouri directly - most bullet companies will have some idea of what works and what doesn't, and may be able to offer you a couple of popular loads.
 
Yes, I will echo get a manual. Also look online (bullet and powder manufacturers) for recipes.

Are any powders available there locally? Lots of powers can be successfully used with that cartridge. See what you can find then look for some recipes.

Titegroup, Clays Universal, VIHT N-340, Power Pist, AA No. 5, Blue Dot, to suggest a few.
 
There are many good manuals, but there is general agreement here that the Lyman #49 is the best all around manual. If your LGS don't stock it, then you can buy it off Amazon. Be aware it comes soft cover and hard bound, with the latter being about $5 more.

A book will give you lots of loads and background on reloading. Using the book as "home base", you can then consult the web pages of the powder makers for powders that are not covered. Once you get the book you can copy the 40 cal page for 150grn bullets and see what listed powders might be available locally. One pound of powder is going to load about 1500 cartridges, so you won't need multiple pounds of the same powder.

I would suggest Win231 (aka Hodgdon HP-38), IMR SR-7625, or Win WSF. All 4 of those can be found on the Hodgdon load data web site. Of the 4, your local dealer probably will stock at least 1. Best of luck and let us know how it goes.
 
Thank you everyone for your info. I purchased a pound of Long Shot powder and I have a recipe for it from the Hodgdon reloading web page. I ordered a caliber specific manual for .40 from Midway yesterday since I wont be loading anything else for a while or at least until I get the wife a 9mm. But as many of you stated I will be getting more manuals because I see the need for them as well. I also have a good friend that's holding my hand as I go for now. LOL I wouldn't have picked the most unforgivable cartridge for my first if that wasn't all I owned. Glad to become a member and looking forward to learning more.
 
40 s&w is not the most unforgivable cartridge. It has a very strong case and I personally think its the best overall cartridge. There is a reason its so popular. There is a lot of internet hype and you can't believe it all. I've seen more .45 1911's blow up than any other gun! Double charges are unforgiving.
I have never used longshot but i think its on the slower side.
I use that same 140gr bullet. Probably load and shoot 5-8 thousand per year and I have had quite a bit of success with it. I've loaded it with Red Dot, 231, Universal, and Bullseye. In my opinion faster powders work better with lighter lead bullets. Right now you use what you can find so I understand why you bought what you did. Its also the reason I have used so many different powders and primers this past year. Availability.
I would like to advise to start out with lighter loads and work up.
 
Yea, Sexybeast is right, start low and work up, I dont think that has been mentioned yet in this thread..

Also Applegate, what book did you get if you dont mind me asking? .40 is going to be my next caliber I think , and I love reading all I can.
 
But as many of you stated I will be getting more manuals because I see the need for them as well. I also have a good friend that's holding my hand as I go for now. LOL I wouldn't have picked the most unforgivable cartridge for my first if that wasn't all I owned. Glad to become a member and looking forward to learning more.
Click to expand...

Good. The Sierra and Lyman manuals are my favorites. They have a lot of good info on the process of loading in addition to the recipes.

The .40 isn't that bad. True, it is a high pressure round that isn't as forgiving of certain things but as long as you are a careful loader, you shouldn't have any problems. We loaded for .30-06 and .40 when we first started and have never had an issue. We did read the manual from start to back before ever starting. Just remember, the listed data is not a mere suggestion. It is what you should follow exactly. If you decide you need more power, don't hot rod it, just step up to a more powerful round.
You'll like it here. These guys were life savers when I started and you'll find a wealth of knowledge here.

Welcome to THR and to loading.
 
Thanks again everybody for the quick response. Potatohead I bought the Loadbooks USA from Midway. Go there and look up reloading manuals and its in the second row down. Also I just decided to check this thread today because I thought it would send me an email alert if someone answered my question. That's why I was slow getting back to it. Ive also read the KABOOM M&P 40 thread as suggested by my friend to try and learn what to look for in weak brass casings. I carry an M&P 40. But I also have an S&W 40VE Sigma that I will be testing my rounds out on before I shoot my EDC. And I also need to check and see if that barrel is supported like the M&P is.
 
LIKE they have said GET you a reloading book LYMAN 49 LEE is a good one also I have one from all powder makers and bullets. They should be your Gide in all reloading. DO NOT let any one tell you any different. GOOD LUCK
 
Thanks.
Thats great that you will have someone walk you through it. Wish I would have had someone and I wouldnt have had to ask so many darned questions probably. Everyone here will really help you. The reloading forum is a little different than some of the other forums on THR. Their seems to be a more supportive vibe and Walkalong keeps us on the straight and narrow!:evil:

FYI If you are new to how some of this works (like me), Hornady's manual has a helpful section on headspace.
 
I would suggest you buy at least one instruction manual, Speer and Lyman both have a very good step by step instruction, there is a whole lot more to to reloading than buying a book with load data.

Longshot just happens to be my favorite pistol powder, .40 cal included. It fills the case well, and is on the slow side for burn rates in the .40 cal..

Check each finished case for good neck tension by giving it a push against the reloading bench. .40 can produce sky high pressure spikes if set back occurs, so make certain of neck tension.

GS
 
I use a lot of Hornady bullets, so I got their manual. This is a nice manual, full of good info and a "Reloading Step by Step" section, plus data.
 
Lyman has excellent data, Lee has a LOT of general reloading info in it that makes it worth the purchase price.

Keep immaculate logs of EVERYTHING. Powder type, powder charge, brand, type and weight of bullet, brand of primer, cartridge OAL, you name it. Then when you go to the range, keep records there. Accuracy (or lack thereof), felt recoil, feeding issues if any, etc. This way, when you begin tweaking your recipe to match your needs best, you have an accurate baseline of where you started, what you changed and the effects that change had. As an added bonus, when you have that "Eureka!" moment, you know EXACTLY how to replicate the load.

Considering the time you may lose "chasing your tail" by guesswork, the five minutes per reloading session to write things down is a no-brainer. To me, anyway.

I have about 70 pages of notes and load work-ups filed away from finding the perfect load for my .308 that does double duty as a long range and hunting rifle.
 
Brad, I've probably done 10k rounds in .40. What everyone else has said, .40 is not a forgiving cartridge. Buy the books, heed the cautions, start small.

I DO like longshot in .40. Use it alot.

In my Glock G22, it burns extremely clean.
In my partners SR40 Ruger, it leaves unburnt flakes in the barrel after only 5 or 6 rounds.
Is the Ruger chamber a thou looser tolerence? Not sure.
Tighter crimp solved that issue.

I DO like longshot powder but again, it is VERY important that you remember... the greater majority
of KABOOMS occur with reloaded .40. READ the books, start with smallish charges, observe brass CLOSELY for signs of overpressure, discard brass that the primer goes into the pocket too easily.

Better safe than sorry!!!!! ;)
 
My first powder purchase was listed in my Lee reloading manual that agreed with the size and type of bullet I had already purchased: WSM (115 grain FMJ). In retrospect, that's not a bad place to start (but there are other manuals and many good resources on the internet for reloading other than the manual you currently have). Whatever you buy, Buy no more than one pound of powder and load the lightest powder load in the listing - it reduces felt recoil when you shoot, it maximizes the number of rounds you can load and it familiarizes you with the process - and process: consistent loads, are really the key to good reloading. Over time, try different powders but you have to start somewhere - pick any powder, use it all - and be a scoial shooter - seek out other reloaders and ask their opinions. How does your gun feel when you shoot? How consistent are your groups? In the end, reloads are a very individual thing: what makes me happy may not work for someone else.
 
You can go to Western Powders on here and they will send you a free reloading data guide book 5.0 edition. IT has some very GOOD info & pictures in it to help people get started in reloading.
 
Yes, buy a manual. The most economical easiest to meter powder is bullseye. It can also make a mess if you double charge. If you are not using an automatic powder measure, unique will give good results. Two basic rules... the guys who wrote the manual are smarter than you are and try not to hang out with folks who say things like "can you make me some hot loads?" .
 
I would also recommend using a powder with a low density until you get the hang of things. This means that a given weight uses a lot of case capacity. Makes double charges a lot easier to notice and some powders will overflow the case if double charged.
 
You know I was about to start a thread, but I feel like I can ask my question here without derailing anything, and hopefully the answers will contribute to both my question as well as the original poster's: I have been 'thinking about' reloading for a few years now, and the only thing that kept me from buying a press last tax season was that the availability of materials seemed really low. Are things still that scarce, or are they starting to come back out of it?
 
Components: Things are better than last year but not as good as before the school shooting that started all of the panic.
Equipment is back in my opinion. Somethings may be sold out because of hunting season.
 
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