New to 40. 700x viability & bullet mold recommendations

[Reefinmike]

Hey all, I bit the bullet on a cheap g22 trade in and get to go pick it up tomorrow. I am of course going to be reloading for it. I have almost 2 pounds of 700x left that I would like to use to load up some 40 cal so that I can reserve my meager amounts of hp38 and bullseye for 38, 380, 45 and 357. How do you guys like 700x for application in 40 using mainly tumble lube lead (will powdercoat if needed) or even copper plated bullets? Using the lee pro auto disk, 700x meters horribly for anything under 4.5 grain, but meters well in the ranges listed for most 40 loads.

Also, any favorites on lee tumble lube bullet molds? any suggestions on alloy/ need to quench? I have a couple hundred pounds of ww ingots and maybe 50 pounds of pure soft lead ingots. If it comes down to it, I'll just powder coat them to avoid leading. bullet weight isnt important but I was thinking that heavier tumble lube bullets( slower) would probably give me the best chances against barrel fouling.

 

[Walkalong]

My results with plated and 700X in .40 have been erratic. It may like lead. It like lead in general.

 

[vaalpens]

I just picked up some Hodgdon 700-x to try out and loaded 5 rounds to see what I have. I loaded Xtreme 165gr. CP HP at 1.142" COL with 4.6gr. of 700-x. My grouping at 10yards was 1.5" and the holes were well defined so I did not see any tumbling. The recoil felt good to me, but the POI was just a tad low. I am definitely going to work up some loads using 700-x to see where it takes me.

 

[bocefus78]

Subscribed.
I have 4lbs of this stuff to burn up. Too fast for 44, to flakey to measure in 9mm quantities (under 4 gr) in my lee pro auto disc w/ ACB.

.40 is my only selection left so I hope to see some positive experiences here.

 

[Walkalong]

It will make great .44 Spl power loads in your .44.

 

[ljnowell]

700x makes great 45 acp and 38 special loads. I find that #5 works much better for 40. If I were going to go to a really fast powder I would rather use #2 in 40.

As long as you watch your powder drops closely you will make good accurate ammo with it, I'm sure, it's just not optimum in my opinion

 

[dwhite]

Don't try to hot-rod it and it'll work great. I've burned
a lot of it with lead bullets in .40 in my STOCK GLOCK
BARREL with very good accuracy. It's fairly clean too.

Again, don't try to make 10mm loads with it. Target to
mid-range loads it works.

It's fluffy enough to make a double charge very noticeable.
Keep an eye on the powder level in your cases. I had best
luck measuring it with a home made dipper.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[[email protected]]

I cant speak for 700x powder, but I never had any luck with the TL style bullet in anything I tried it in other that full wad cutter 38 specials. I just never could get them to drop big enough for proper fit with the bore. You can TL non TL design bullets, like the Lee 401-175-tc.

 

[rsrocket1]

700-X is a little big in the flake category, but if you measure carefully, you can get very good results with it. I like 4.5 g for a good mid range load which is excellent for target shooting. If your bullets cause leading, you can clean it up in about 45 seconds with a couple of strands of Chore Boy wrapped around a snug fitting bore mop. You can also use medium Bronze Wool.

I like the Lee 6 cavity 401-175-TC mold. With a bottom pour pot, you can cast about 500 in a little over an hour. I used to tumble lube the bullets, but my M&P40 barrel tended to lead slightly in the middle of the barrel. The mop/Chore Boy cleaned it up nicely but I didn't like the idea of it leading regardless of how little.

I have since gone to powder coating my Lee 401-175-TC and get zero leading in my M&P40 and Sig SP2022. I do size the bullets but that's so I can seat the bullet out farther. Before that I was seating to the edge of the cone and reducing the charge by 0.2 grains.

 

[vaalpens]

My results with plated and 700X in .40 have been erratic. It may like lead. It like lead in general.

Walkalong, can you please elaborate on your statement that 700-X in .40 is erratic.

The reason why I am asking is that this weekend I tested my first loads in 700-X and Bullseye with .40, and came away impressed with 700-X. I tested the 700-X with loads from 4.5gr to 4.8gr and the grouping was all below 2", with some below 1" at 10yards. Recoil and ejection pattern was very good.

 

[Walkalong]

Accuracy wise, it had a very narrow window. In my opinion, the medium burn powders are much better suited to the .40 for accuracy. 700X likes lead much better than plated.

 

[vaalpens]

Accuracy wise, it had a very narrow window. In my opinion, the medium burn powders are much better suited to the .40 for accuracy. 700X likes lead much better than plated.

Walkalong, thanks for the response. That is interesting about the narrow window since my grouping did not change much between loads, which necessitates me to still test a broad powder range over 10 and 15 yards. Normally I narrow it down to about 2 or 3 loads when testing at 15 or 25 yards. Following are the groupings I had at 10 yards. Even the POI was where it should be:
4.5gr - 1.7"
4.6gr - 0.9"
4.7gr - 1.4"
4.8gr - 1.25"

The above difference I think is more attributable to my shooting skills, thanks to the load difference.

For my next round of testing I will probably test from 4.6gr to 5.1gr. Hopefully the next rounds will give me a better indication where the sweet spot might be, but so far, any of the above is a passing grade in my books.

 

[Walkalong]

Maybe it was just my shooting.

I like Universal in .40.

 

[vaalpens]

Maybe it was just my shooting.

I like Universal in .40.

Walkalong, no, it is not your shooting. It is probably my lack of experience and not being finely tuned yet to know what is the best brew. I think you are correct regarding the narrow window for faster burning powder since I also started testing some Bullseye in 40. Bullseye did give me a narrow window and I was not very impressed with Bullseye. It could also be the plated bullets I am using and maybe Bullseye will perform better with a jacketed or lead bullet in 40.