Just found a used SW 40 M&P for a price I couldn't pass up. Any new information or more experience in the molds? The other threads I've found recommend the Lee 175gr TC.
How about powder? I've got most of the popular ones on the shelf. Bullseye, Tightgroup, 231, Red Dot, Universal, etc....
I Am Descended From Men Who Would Not Be Ruled
Fiat Justitia, Ruat Caelum
Subscribing. A 40 cal will most likely be my first mold purchase.
I've had decent luck with the limited loading I've done (friends guns) with the Lee 175 and Autocomp, I don't have the data right in front of me but they were moderately light loads but worked in f/s Glock and HK pistols.
The Lee 175 TC and 231/HP-38 work for me.
LEE 175 and 5.5 grains of Power Pistol works very well in my .40 Shield
I have the Lee 175 tc 6 cavity, got it in trade from someone here. One of the easiest casting molds I have, bullets just fall out. I don't even have a 40, just cast them up for a friend.
"Is all this REALLY necessary?"
Power Pistol I don't have, 231-hp38 I do.
I Am Descended From Men Who Would Not Be Ruled
Fiat Justitia, Ruat Caelum
Lee 401-175-TC, not the tumble lube version. My example makes better boolits than commercial casters do.
Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.
Id like to try some before buying a mold. Want to trade?Originally Posted by Fishman
I Am Descended From Men Who Would Not Be Ruled
Fiat Justitia, Ruat Caelum
Miha had a hollow point 180 grain mold I got in Brass. It is a work of art.
On every question of construction let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.
Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, June 12, 1823
I'll be the voice of dissent and say that the Lee 175 was a disaster in my M&P 40. I had to seat the bullets way too deep to get them to plunk in my barrel. The few I tried gave awful groups. I scrapped the rest and ordered the RCBS 180gr.
Just cast 100 boolits tonight and they came out beautiful. Lubed and sized them, loaded up 20 or so rounds over 4.7grs of Titegroup. They plunk in my M&P barrel perfectly at the specified 1.125 COL.
Attachment 190301
Attachment 190302
Tight Group is a good powder choice for 40 S&W.
Joe
"That's bold talk for a one eyed fat man" Lucky Ned Pepper
I use the Lee 140 or 145 (whichever) with 4.0 Bullseye. Great paper puncher.
I shot the Lee 140/145 (whichever) bullets with WST powder out of a Glock 22 with Hi-Tek coating, all worked fine.
Ordered the Lee 175 6 cavity last night. This will be my first mold. Fingers crossed that it works well.
I was dissatisfied with the performance I got from the Lee 175 TC. I get the results I want form the Lyman 401043 (170 gr) and 401654 (150 gr). WSF and Red Dot/Promo are my go-to powders for 40SW.
Lee 40-175-TC atop 4.7 grains of WW-231 is a good duplicator of the W-W/WWB 180 JHP load my shop has carried in 40 S&W since the caliber's adoption c. 1994. OAL seated and discretely taper crimped is 1.130". Runs in all of my lands & grooves 40 S&W barrels quite well. I have yet to try it in Glock OEM 40/10mm barrels.
I don't paint bullets. I like Black Rifle Coffee. Sacred cows are always fair game. California is to the United States what Syria is to Russia and North Korea is to China/South Korea/Japan--a Hermit Kingdom detached from the real world and led by delusional maniacs, an economic and social basket case sustained by "foreign" aid so as to not lose military bases.
Dissatisfied with groupings?
The 45 ACP spoils pistol shooters ROTTEN with its intrinsic accuracy and lead-friendliness. The 40 S&W is a service pistol--I have no idea what the ammo will do for grouping when fixture-fired, but none of the several pistols in the caliber I now own or have owned were Camp Perry-capable. They have run 3"-3.5" at 25 yards very reliably, and I can keep all hits inside the "8-bottle" of a B-27 target at 50 yards if I do my part. That is good enough for me, 'cause it is a goblin popper in my world.
I don't paint bullets. I like Black Rifle Coffee. Sacred cows are always fair game. California is to the United States what Syria is to Russia and North Korea is to China/South Korea/Japan--a Hermit Kingdom detached from the real world and led by delusional maniacs, an economic and social basket case sustained by "foreign" aid so as to not lose military bases.
Not a fan of the 175 / 200 grain boolit loads for the 40 S&W to little velocity for the weight of the boolit, easy shooting for sure but not what I want all the time in a 40.
So a year or so ago I lucked into a GB Lee 150 grain TC 6 banger mold with Blue Dot this make a pretty nice SD load should I ever need on, might work on small game and maybe a deer, if it trips over my feet, who knows.
I've also found Lee's 145 grain SWC mold to make a very nice target load with super target powder, this load shoots the equal of my tuned 1911 but my 40 is not a pocket pistol either.
Think you might try lighter boolits in the future
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