Longshot in .40S&W

[Rangefinder]

Working up a J-word load for a friend in 5.7, not happy with the performance I'm seeing with longshot and switching powders. SO... I have a pound of longshot to toss over to the other cartridges I load for--.40S&W is the most used. Anybody have some favorite loads for Longshot in .40S&W they'd care to share? I cast 180gr TC, 175gr SWC, and 160gr. SWC HP.

[Ronbo256]

I've only used Power Pistol and Herco in .40 smith, but a quick perusal of Hodgon's website shows a starting load of 6.5 grains for a J-word bullet weighing 180 grains. I'd email Hodgon and ask if I were looking for a cast boolit load.

[Rangefinder]

Yup, got the same info there--cast is about all I feed my .40 these days. I'm not a fan of picking up a powder that isn't readily a cross-over for other calibers, but I suppose it comes with the territory at times. Was just wondering if anyone had a pet load to burn it up on. On the bright side pressures all look pretty good for a equal load of cast vs J-word. Higher velocities with lower pressures.

[tacklebury]

I've done some heavy Longshot loads in .45 acp for my Ruger blackhawk. Was an article in Handloads.com that got me looking at it. I borrowed some though and kick was atrocious, so I dropped back to my Unique loads.

http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=41

[parrott1969]

rangefinder, be careful with that 5-7 FN. I have loaded quite a few and find it a tedious carteridge to load for. Blue dot gave me good performance in a PS-90 and I used small rifle primers. That crappy laquer coating flaked off on several pieces of brass but it did not seem to effect function.

[JeffHolt]

FWIW,
Hodgdon will not provide load data for lead in .40 S&W. According to their ballistics testing they showed abnormal and erratic pressures loading lead.

For that reason they do not recommend loading lead projectileswith their powders.

I spoke with Mike at Hodgdons some time ago about this very issue.

LongShot witha jacketed bullet in .40 S&W? Loud, proud and flashy very good velocity at a lower pressure.

[Rangefinder]

rangefinder, be careful with that 5-7 FN. I have loaded quite a few and find it a tedious carteridge to load for.

Man, that's the understatement of the year! SO touchy! Longshot looked good on the data sheet, but at .3gr over starting load I'm already getting primer flow-back without action function. It's recommended to put a moderate crimp on it even without a canelure and I have another series ready with a stiffer crimp--but I don't like what I'm seeing on pressures already. No one within 300 miles has any True Blue or Accurate #7, so both of those are out. Next best option with reliable data is Blue Dot or Universal. You'd never catch me owning one of these things personally. I'm OCD about my reloading, but this one makes even me a little nervous.

[Rangefinder]

I suppose I should clarify (or rather, open up the options). I cast for .32ACP, 38 Spl, .357, .40S&W, 32 Win Spl, 7.62x39, 7.62x54, and load J-words for 6mm Rem, 7mm Rem Mag, and .223... And I really hate having a powder around that really doesn't have much purpose for me.

Parrot>> what's your spec's on your 5.7 Blue Dot load? My next run is either Blue Dot or Universal. I'm leaning more to Universal because I have Hornaday .40gr V-Max with data. But I'll be happy to get input. I'm not liking working a cartridge where the difference between a solid running load and blowing the slide off comes down to .2 grains...

[Rangefinder]

All righty then... I bit the boolit (pun fully intended) and loaded up a magazine-worth of 175gr SWC over 6.6gr. Longshot for my .40S&W to see how they felt and ran along-side Hodgdon's data for jacketed based on 180gr. It was a touch snappier than my regular load, which was nice and expected since it's bumping velocities up almost 200fps from what I'm normally shooting. But at 10 yards they ran a REALLY tight group and felt really smooth on every follow-up. I think I may have found my new pet-load! Just for kicks I loaded some of my 165gr. HP's over 7.2gr. to see what they did on a wet-pack and water jug. According to book, these should run in the 1130fps. range. Chrony went to velocity heaven some time ago, so no way to be sure in a pinch--but I'm going to have to adjust my alloy a tad for these--I lost most of the nose, but the hole was IMPRESSIVE!

So, all that being said...

Longshot data for .40S&W:

175gr cast SWC, TL in LLA
Start 6.6gr for around 1000fps Max at 8gr. for 1150
pressure estimations from 25K to 32K on that spread


165gr HP SWC, TL in LLA
Start 7.2gr. for about 1130fps and Max 7.8 for 1185
pressure estimations from 29.6K to 33.4K on that spread


Without a chrony I can't say anything about the rumors of pressure variations using Hodgdon powder on cast. But what I can say is the consistency on grouping says there wasn't any more than any other powder I've played with in the .40S&W and it really ran well. If I had to guess, it's a liability CYA claim.