40 cal, oal ?

[yancey]

I have loaded several different caliber handgun loads over the year's, and in all this time i have never tried the 40 cal. I have just purchased the lee 401-175-tc and sized to 401.I have been reading the post on the board and have seen most of the seating depth's in most pistols are running around 1.135 or better.I have made up several dummy rounds and have done the barrel test and the best oal i can do is 1.103 . My big ??? is , should i take caution with this Oal ?

[parrott1969]

I have run into the same problem. Yet to get back to loading the 401-175 but when I do my plan was to reduce the starting load by 1 grain and work up from there.

[sargenv]

I would be careful with such a deep seated bullet. I'd definitely make sure I backed off from the max load of your powder by I would say 15% and then work your way up when pressure doesn't show itself. If you are utilizing powders like Unique or slower burners, it will likely be ok to start at 10% under max (or a listed minimum load) and then add more powder in steps until you get a good load. Personally I seat my 40 cal stuff to as long as 1.260" in the Revolver and 1.250" in a 1911. When I seat them for my Sig 229, I seat them to just under magazine length which is 1.140". The 40 cal is like 9mm. It is sensitive to deep seating pressure wise.

[truckmsl]

Why 1.103? If you're having issues loading normal length with an aftermarket barrel, send it back and have them open up the leade diameter to fit your boolits. I had to do this with both Lone Wolf barrels I purchased. 1.135" is a normal OAL for heavier bullets in .40.

Short OAL and heavy boolits in .40 reduces the margin of error and can result in problems(Kaboom) if any set-back occurs during feeding, especially with fast powders.

[Firebricker]

With the Lee .40TC I had to make the OAL as long as my chamber would accept or it would jam. Not sure off hand what that OAL is but I will measure one later if I can find one. I switched to the Lyman 175 TC it has a smaller meplat with rounded edges and haven't had any malfunctions with it. FB

[yancey]

I figured i was too close for comfort with the oal. I might just try a different boolit.
" Thanks folks for your help and reply "

yancey

[Armorer]

I shoot the Lee 175 TC but I have recently acquired a Lyman 401043 that I like much better. The rounded nose seems to feed better in my PT-100. If I could ever find another of these in a 4 banger at a good price I would get this one HP'd.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_150464daf848f9683d.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=596)

[yancey]

Thats one i will keep in mind of. thanks