Loads for 40 S+W

[gab909]

Just got my conversion kit in the the 40 smith from Dillon. Anyone have a favorite powder in this caliber. I picked up some Dillon Extra Hard 155 gr RNSW lead bullets for $ 60 for a thousand. Was hoping for a Unique (since I load that in 45) 800X, longshot, or AA #7 load since I have a little bit of that stuff laying around. I have been digging around in some of my manuals and not having too good of luck coming up with a starting load. HELP

 

[rbernie]

One of my favorite cast loads for 40S&W is 6gr-6.5gr of Unique under a 155gr bullet.

 

[edfardos]

6.5 grains of AA#5 under a berry/rainer/xtreme plated 180grain bullet. Anyone chrony this load? It's indistinguishable from factory ammo imho.

--edfardos

 

[Snowbandit]

Load data I have shows a minimum 4 grains and maximum 8 grains Unique for 165 grain bullets. I loaded some 165 grain Berry's over 7 grains last week and they seem plenty stout. No excess pressure signs and they averaged 1140 fps on the chronograph out of my FN. That's about 100 fps faster than Winchester white box ammo. Excellent accuracy, burns clean and surprisingly low flash.

 

[Blacklabelz]

One of my favorite cast loads for 40S&W is 6gr-6.5gr of Unique under a 155gr bullet

This.

I load 6.0 - 6.2 for my Beretta and HK and they both perform flawlessly.

 

[codefour]

+1 for 6.2 grains Unique.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Was hoping for a Unique (since I load that in 45) 800X, longshot, or AA #7 load since I have a little bit of that stuff laying around.

From what I'm told the three other powders you listed are better for loading the 40 S&W than Unique. I have personally used Longshot and it works well in the 40 as well as the 10mm. AA#7 is also supposed to be a great choice for the 40 S&W also.