I don't own a .40 S&W, but a close friend & a grandson-in-law has one. They don't reload & don't practice much. Recently I was able to get a classic Lyman AA turret press from a forum member (excellent condition) & thought I'd make it a dedicated .40 S&W press. For dies I chose the Dillon because I use them exclusively with my 2 550s. For an exp. die I'm using a Lyman M die from my .38-40 set & I'm using my Little Dandy (hand held) to do the powder measuring. I settled on 4.7gr. of HP38 & the Lee 401-175 with CCI 500 primers. Luckily I didn't mass produce, but loaded 25 in Winchester cases.
After sizing I gave all cases the "plunk" test in my friend's Tarus 740 "Slim" (they passed) & after loaded "plunked" them again. I then loaded 18 (3 mags. full) of mixed head-stamped cases
that sometimes give me problems loading 9mm: CBC, S&B. That 18 also included PMC, Fiocchi, GECO, Perfecta, HRTRS & WMA. Loaded, they all passed the "plunk".
I intended to shoot the 18 as a test & mass produce if they were OK. The problem surfaced before the shooting could take place: I was unable to load them into the magazine. The 1st. round went in OK, but the 2nd round was very difficult. When I attempted to load the 3rd.round, the 2nd, round would wedge & prevent the loading. Withdrawing the attempted loading of the 3rd. the 2nd. round would not rise up into feed position. I had to bump it several times to dislodge #1 to get them out of the magazine. I tried different head stamp reloads & they all did the same thing.
I then loaded the mag (with some difficulty) with my friend's factory ammo (Fiocchi HP, weight unknown). The design of the magazine is such that the #1 goes in OK & the loading of the #2 is only possible by forcing the forward part of #1 down which cocks-up the rear of #1. Even though the loading was difficult, it was possible with factory ammo.
I did some measuring & the head of his factory loads measure .417-41750. Immediately forward of the extraction groove they measure .420-.42050. The Win. reloads measure .415-41575 at the head & .422-.424 forward of the extraction groove.
OAL of the factory loads is 1.115. OAL of my reloads average 1.118
Federals @ head=.420 & forward of extractor=.425-.42650
PMC=.420 head & .424 forward of extractor
Fiocchi heads=.417 & forward of extractor=.42750
GECO heads=.417 & forward of extractor groove=.426
Perfector= .417 heads & forward of extractor groove=.423
CBC heads =.418 & forward of extractor groove=.425
S&B heads =.421 & forward of extractor groove.42450
HRTRS heads=.42150 & forward ofextractor groove=.423
WMA heads+.417 & forward of ext. groove=.425
The dimensions of the factory ammo & the reloads are slightly larger forward of the extractor groove, but I find it hard to believe that this slight difference makes loading the magazine impossible...……..unless the magazine is on the tight side of the specs. I realize that the Dillon dies are radiused @ the bottom to facilitate use in a progressive press: would a tighter sizing die be the solution?
Has anyone out their experienced anything like this? All opinions are welcome.
Thanks,
Henry