Hello. I've been skulking for a few weeks now, trying to pick up as much knowledge as I can before showing my ignorance. I've been away from reloading for 10-15 years and with the price of boolits (make that bullets, boolits are inexpensive) being what they are I have taken up casting. Currently I am casting 158 gr. 38 spl. with an RCBS 2 holer, and 205 gr. 45 acp with an aluminum NIE. I'll have questions about that later.
Until I can get a mold for my 40 S&W I'm buying boolits from a local caster who has a nice fp 140 gr. that looks like it would be good for plates at the gun club. My question is what to put in the case. I've had two case head seperations with the .40 S&W, both in an older SIG 229 using commercial reloads I bought 15 years ago that are loaded with 170 gr lead fp. I'm looking for a clean load that is reasonable and will function okay in the weapon. I'm thinking of starting with 5.8-6.0 gr of WW 231. Can't find any loading info for this weight boolit so I'm extrapilating on the load based on published 135 JHP and 150 JHP loads. I'm using range pick-up brass. I'm not attached to 231 so any other powder would be okay. What's the thinking. Too much--too little, start lower? I just don't want another seperation. Thanks in advance for the help.