Ready to load some 175gr .40 cal boolits

[ghh3rd]

I have several hundred 175gr boolits from my Lee 90431 mold cast and tumble lubed. Is one coat of the lube sufficient for .40 cal boolits to prevent leading? (One coat has been working OK for my .38's.)

Also, I just picked up some Accur #5 powder. The Lee 2nd Edition book says the powder range is 5.5gr - 6.1gr. I'd like to load up a couple hundred while waiting for the Lone Wolf barrel that I just ordered for my Glock 27. I'd like the lightest load that will shoot well.

Does anyone have experience with this combination of boolit, powder and barrel, and if so what was your 'recipe'?

Thanks,

Randy

[mpmarty]

Don't do it. Wait for the new barrel. If you MUST load and shoot these in the factory Glock barrel, use the lowest published load you can find. Your powder choice is OK but do not go above the minimum listed load. You are flirting with disaster. Google 'KABOOM' for more info on .40 Glocks.

[snaggdit]

I loaded some 40 Lee 175gr TC for my son and used 5.2gr Acc #5. Worked great in my Hi-Point. Gentle on the wrist. He is 12 and shoots these loads one handed a lot.

[snaggdit]

Oh, and I always use one coat of LLA in the 40. No leading issues.

[sleeper1428]

Don't do it. Wait for the new barrel. If you MUST load and shoot these in the factory Glock barrel, use the lowest published load you can find. Your powder choice is OK but do not go above the minimum listed load. You are flirting with disaster. Google 'KABOOM' for more info on .40 Glocks.

Marty, I respectfully have to disagree with you in regard to shooting lead boolits in stock Glock barrels. I got my first Glock, a Model 20 (10mm) back in the late 1980s and I've shot virtually nothing but cast boolits, lots and lots of them, since that time. I don't try to 'push the envelope' with my loads but I also don't limit myself to the minimum suggested charges. My second Glock was a Model 22 (40S&W) that I purchased in the early 1990s and it too has been fed a steady diet of cast boolits over the past 15+ years without a problem. Again, I don't go for the maximum loads but I also do not limit myself to the minimum listed loads.

Having said this, I have to tell you that I recently picked up Lone Wolf barrels for both my Glocks, basically because of the cut rifling and because of the tighter chamber cuts and minimal unsupported case in the ramp area, all items that ought to contribute to increased accuracy. But considering the fact that I haven't changed my loads for either of these 40 cal handguns and since I've never had any significant problem with 'Glock smilies', generally indicative of an overly 'hot' load creating higher than normal pressures, I can't say that the new barrels have resulted in the expected increase in accuracy. Of course this may well just be due to my being nearly 71 and having gone downhill as far as my eyesight is concerned!!

I know that some people have had a lot of trouble with 'Kabooms' when using cast boolits in Glocks but I'm inclined to think that this may be more related to overly 'hot' loads in combination with possibly some lead buildup in the bore, both conditions leading to the spiking pressures that create the 'Glock smilies' and the reported 'Kabooms'.

sleeper1428

[Shiloh]

I KABOOMED a Glock 22 in the early/mid 90's.

I was using a commercial 175 gr SWC sized at .401. with AA #5 I beleive it was 6.2 gr. This was out of the complementary loading guide, the only one available at the time. The max load listed was 6.6 IIRC.

The AA loading manual 1st addition has 6.1 listed as max. So does Volume 2
I have an FAC bbl, the now defunct Federal Arms Corp, on new mod. 22 There have been zero issues with this aftermarket bbl. I load 5.7 gr of AA #5 with the LEE 175 gr TLSWC and it cycles fine. I am going to put a LW bbl on another pistol. My buddy has several LW bbls. He has a 9mm, 10mm and a .40 conversion for the 10mm. These are Glock handguns. They are accurate and shoot anything he puts through them.

SHiloh

[Leftoverdj]

If I read Randy correctly, he wants to load ammo in anticipation of the arrival of his new barrel. He said nothing about firing it in a stock Glock.

I can't help much because I'm shooting a CZ, but one coat of LLA should be plenty. 5.5 grains of AA-5 should make a reliable load because because Lee starting loads tend to be a bit more than absolute minimums. It's plenty to cycle my CZ, anyway.

[sleeper1428]

If I read Randy correctly, he wants to load ammo in anticipation of the arrival of his new barrel. He said nothing about firing it in a stock Glock.

I can't help much because I'm shooting a CZ, but one coat of LLA should be plenty. 5.5 grains of AA-5 should make a reliable load because because Lee starting loads tend to be a bit more than absolute minimums. It's plenty to cycle my CZ, anyway.

I interpreted Randy's post just as you did, that is to say he wants to load some ammo prior to the arrival of his new barrel.

As far as loads go, in the loadbook for the 10mm/40S&W, published by Loadbooks, Inc., they show 6.2gr of AA#5 as a starting load with a maximum load of 6.9gr for a 175gr lead bullet. So your load of 5.5gr is, if anything, well below the minimum suggested and should be quite safe in a stock Glock barrel. By the way, in that same loadbook a starting load of 6.9gr of AA#5 with a maximum load of 7.7gr is shown for jacketed 170gr bullets. The test gun used for these loads was a S&W 4006 but I doubt seriously that S&W barrels are any stronger than Glock barrels. Personally, I've used 6.5gr of AA#5 behind my own 170/175gr boolits for years and as I said in an earlier message, I've never had a problem. But I always make sure to clean the barrel after each 200 or so shots or after a shooting session ends, which ever comes first, so I've never had to worry about lead buildup. And no 'Glock smilies' with that load!

sleeper1428

[ghh3rd]

Yes - was about to load some in anticipation of receiving the barrel (shipped today). I was going to measure the length of a commercial round and duplicate the length for my own loads.

Hopefully I'll get to load some before camping with my son's Boy Scout troop this weekend so I can shoot on Sunday evening (camping on the Air Force base during their air show).

I was thinking of loading my 400 primed cases with 50 of one powder load, 50 of the next step up, etc. so I can see what I think of each load. They are range pick up brass with mixed headstamps, so I guess I won't be able to guage very well the power effect on accuracy.

Does this sound like a good approach anyway?

Randy