Least recoiling powder in .40 S&W?

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Josh45

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Hello everyone, Had a question regarding .40 S&W
I know that the .40 is a snappy beast in nature to begin with.
Being that we can and do reload for it, I was hoping to make something with less recoil or less snappiness for this particular caliber.

I am using 180 Gr FP bullets. I am looking to get better hang of this gun and the caliber. I know I need to practice more to get efficent with it but wanted a lighter load to do this with.

I have the following powders on hand available to use.

BullsEye
W-231
Blue Dot
Pistol Power
TiteGroup
AutoComp
Universal
Unique
Herco

I mention all these powders I have on hand because I have noticed them mentioned in my manuals. I wanted to see what everyone else was using to make some light target loads to get better with this firearm.

I also have 155 Gr, 165 Gr and 200 Gr bullets to use.
I am also looking for a load for SD using HST 155 Gr HP in a Taurus PT-940, BBL '4. Any info with a decent good load with that is appreciated as well.

Thanks for taking time to read and share your knowledge with me about this.
 
I use 4.5 Gr W231 with 170-180 grain cast or plated. Gives me 850-900 FPS from a XD40. Very easy to shoot.
For SD loads with 155 Grain XTP, i use 6.0 W231, gives me 1090 FPS
All are set at 1.120

JIM
 
I use 4.5g AA2 under my 180g bullets for IDPA for ~875fps (AA2 & W231 are very similar). It is a soft shooting load, but not so soft that I have to mess with recoil springs in my glock 22. Faster powders like Clays and Bullseye will likely need a softer spring to work in an otherwise stock pistol.
 
Heavy bullets (180's or 200's) with a fast powder will give the least felt recoil for identical PF.

You want to use either BE, W231 or TG of the powders you listed. My pick would be TG.

A ~800 fps load with the 180's you're shooting should run the gun and provide low felt recoil.

Watch for setback and for double charges. You don't want either with a fast powder or it'll ruin your day.
 
I use AA5 with 180 gr bullets provides a push back recoil similar to 1911 45acp less snap then standard loads in 40,more accurate + better feel.:D
 
I also like Acc5 for 180 grain plated bullets. I use bullseye for my cast loads and it seems to have a little more snap to it. Unique has been good to me but it can be dirty if it is downloaded.
 
1KPerDay said:
Search BDS's posts here about the use of Promo/Red Dot in .40 ... it has worked well for me. Disclaimers, etc.
Click to expand...
This is true but I need to add that there is no published load data for 40S&W and Promo (as indicated by Alliant, I used Red Dot load data by weight) so use the following load data at your own risk.

If you are looking for least recoiling powder in 40S&W, it may depend on the charge range you are loading for. For full-power loads, slower powders like WSF/AutoComp will provide less snappy recoil than faster powders. For lighter target loads, faster burning powders can provide mild-to-moderate recoiling loads that are still accurate and cleaner burning.

My favorite low recoiling 40S&W is 180 gr bullet with W231/HP-38 around 3.8-4.2 gr range.

Interestingly, 3.8 to 4.1 gr of Promo also produced mild to moderate recoil loads that were accurate (3.5 gr reliably cycled the slides of G22/G27 but accuracy was all over the 8x11 copy paper target) - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=6509911#post6509911
 
I don't load light stuff, but I do load a lot of high performance self defense loads. For my SD loads I prefer using HS6 or Longshot and 155 gr. or 165 gr. JHP's.
GS
 
Been wanting to pick up HS-6. Read it is great in heavy bullets in the .40.
Ended up getting AutoComp instead. As my brother was putting half of the money up for reloading supplies, We both decided on that.

Looks like W-231 and the AA powders is what everyone likes to use best for light target loads. Which is what I am looking for regarding 180. Thanks for the helpful hints and tips.
 
I shift from faster powders like Bullseye, Titegroup or 231 to HS-6 or AutoComp when I go from 165gr to 180gr bullets in .40 cal.
 
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I know the .40 S&W pistols have a rep for snappy involuntary wrist action, and My Kahr lives up to that, but my new favorite piece is a Ruger SR40. I was flat amazed how that pistol tames the recoil of the .40, and I wondered how they did that, using the same factory 180gr flat nose ammo that I have felt the famous .40 wrist snap with the Kahr, and even a longer barreled Glock. (Winchester, Blazer, Independant....and even HP Gold Dot)

When telling others about it, they've told me that the Smith & Wesson M&P in .40 is similarly easy to shoot. I'm told the reason is the special spring design common to both pistols. Just thought you might want to know that other factors evidently affect the .40 S&W recoil.

I loaded up some of my own ammo (5.8gr. Unique under 180grn Hornady XTP's and the result was similar to the sweet shooting factory Winchester ammo I had to compare my loads to. It shot nearly identical elevation-wise to the factory load. I was very pleased with that load in the Ruger. I started with 5.5gr. and it shot low. 5.8 showed no pressure signs at all, so I'm betting I can go to 6grns. of Unique, but 5.8 shoots so well, why increase the recoil if you don't have too.

Unique is slower burning than Bullseye, and its felt recoil is way better because of it. You already have some Unique....try it.
 
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Just be careful, Titegroup in .40 has a reputation for KaBooms. Small charges of fast burning powder are a recipe for disaster, IMO.

I use Power Pistol and am very satisfied with its performance. Better than HS-6 in every measurable respect. It is not for light loads, though.

If I wanted reduced loads, I would try something like Unique, because it behaves better and is fluffy.
 
Light charge of a fast powder. Bullseye and W231 are your best bets. In my experience, a starting charge of W231 feels more or less exactly like shooting my regular 9mm loads.
 
From your list I would go with Tightgroup under a 180gr bullet. I have loaded with W231/HP38, and WST for 40s&w. I use to think W231 was soft til I tried WST. I load 3.9gr of WST under 180gr Berry's RSFP with a OAL:1.128". This has been a very good load for IDPA. I am going to start testing Tightgroup myself. Just be careful. It to double charge Tightgroup. I would not go above medium charges. Keep it low and you should be good.
 
40S&W + Titegroup = "Rut Ro" :uhoh: :D

Seriously, Titegroup produces accurate loads but has narrower load range and can be spikey so be careful to verify accuracy of powder charges especially at near/max charges and check your neck tension/bullet set back (feed/chamber round from the magazine and measure before/after OAL). If you are off "a bit", your mid-range charge can be max+ charge in a hurry. If your load experiences bullet set back during feeding/chambering, max++ chamber pressure for a potential KaBoom. Regardless of scale type used, $27 check weights are cheap insurance against KBs.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=7993973#post7993973

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=603597


If your mixed range brass has been reloaded multiple times and has weakened/thinned case wall/web, look out! Running these cases through Lee Bulge Buster or Redding GR-X dies won't restore the thinned case wall back to original thickness. ;)
Ever notice a sharp resizing mark on your case? The picture below shows what it could do to case wall - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=7992423#post7992423

10mmsmilied.jpg 40SWWEBTHINNING.jpg
 
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Thats one thing I do not like about TiteGroup.
It has at most a window of .5 Gr from start to max charges. Very narrow and not for the beginner. I know .40 is a caliber you must be careful with do to its pressure being raised easily.

I did make some rounds with it but at start charge and verified each charge. I only made 5 rounds with it. We will see how it fares.
 
Light charge with fast powder using heavy bullet will get it done.
Click to expand...


Yep. Go about 3.5 grains of Bullseye with a 175-180 grain bullet. I tried 3 but had some cycling issues in my Sig 2022 but 3.5 cycled great. Soft recoiling and accurate. When I get home from work, I'll PM you an article about light recoiling .40 loads. It helped me a lot when I was getting my wife shooting the .40. She didn't like the snappy recoil at first but she can shoot these just fine.
 
I bought an XD40 last year despite the 40's reputation for snappiness. I've loaded 180's with HS-6 and HP-38 and been very impressed with both. I've exceeded some max data with the HS-6 and none of my loads have been snappy. Even the max+ with HS-6 felt like a stout 9mm.
 
Could it be possible the firearm itself is in need of new springs? I don't think I should be getting this much "Snappy Recoil" out of this gun. I did use some light charges last time but even they were snappy at least. Those were loaded with Power Pistol with 180 Gr bullets.

The gun is a Taurus PT-940. I think I may need to get a factory recoil spring unless someone knows where I can get a spring kit for it?
 
Could it be possible the firearm itself is in need of new springs? I don't think I should be getting this much "Snappy Recoil" out of this gun. I did use some light charges last time but even they were snappy at least. Those were loaded with Power Pistol with 180 Gr bullets.

The gun is a Taurus PT-940. I think I may need to get a factory recoil spring unless someone knows where I can get a spring kit for it?
Click to expand...

IMO it's in the design of the gun, I went through a couple brands before finding two I felt comfortable with in 40,a Browning high power, second best is a CZ40B, both feel better in regards to recoil with the 40cal.
However as I posted before the AA5 powder seems for me to give necessary power while providing less snap.
 
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