New Reloader - 9mm & 40S&W

[Sabroso84]

Hello all,

I am new to the world of reloading, working on finishing up the "ABC's of reloading" now and already have the itching to go out and buy my press. I plan to start small with a single stage press reloading 9mm (shot out of an all steel Jericho 941) and 40 S&W (Sig Sauer P229).

As far as gear is concerned, I feel pretty confident in the equipment I will be purchasing, however the one area I am all ears is for a good starter powder for 9mm Luger and 40 S&W (don't need to be the same powder for both, I am more than willing to use different powders for different calibers). I will be doing my first few batches with pre-cast boolits and then moving to cast my own.

Please share the powders/recipes you would recommend to a newb looking to reload 9mm and 40SW.

Thanks!

EDIT: I forgot to mention, that with the current shortage, a powder/recipe that is "easily" obtained, thx!

[leeggen]

type into the search eng. on this sight: Loading for the 9mm Luger or Loading for the 40S&W
you will find the imformation requested. we will help you along the journey into the 9-40, but you will need to do some searching for powder loads. Are you going to shoot jacketed or lead cast?
CD

[tazman]

In most instances you can use the same powder for both 9mm and 40S&W.
Since we are talking semi-autos here, I recommend a Lee classic cast turret press. It can be run in single stage simply by removing the indexing rod(very simple). It is also capable of significantly greater production which you will find handy for feeding hungry semi-auto pistols. I have loaded thousands of rounds with mine and am quite satisfied with the quality.
For powder, a lot depends on what you can find available. There is a long list of pistol powders and shotgun powders that will work in both calibers.
The new CFE pistol is a great powder from Hodgdon if you can find it and it works well in a lot of cartridges besides the ones you name.

[Low Budget Shooter]

Tazman is right about going with a turret press. Reloading for semi-auto pistol with a single-stage press is very time consuming and complicated compared with using a turret press. For me, when I started several years ago, it only became fun and fruitful when I got a Lee turret press.

[Garyshome]

Start with the .40, 9mm is a pita because of the taper.

[Low Budget Shooter]

As to powder, I don't know what's available in your local stores. One powder will work fine for both 9mm and 40S&W, and there are many that would do fine. Unique and Universal come to mind as the first two I would try if I were you, if I had a choice.

[Petrol & Powder]

WELCOME ABOARD !!

Tazman is right on the money. There are a lot of powders that will work for both 9mm & 40 S&W; but in today's climate it is difficult to find any pistol/shotgun powder.
I've loaded 10's of thousands of 9mm rounds and probably at least a few K of 40 S&W. For the 9mm my absolute favorite powder is WSF, but good luck finding any of that. My second choice would be Hodgdon CFE only because there is some chance of finding that powder and it meters very well. There are about a dozen other powders suitable for the 9mm, including but not limited to: Unique, AA#5, Bullseye and WW231, just to name a few.

The 9mm Luger cartridge operates at fairly high pressures with small case volumes and therefore works best with fairly fast burning powders. I'm not a big fan of heavy 9mm bullets, jacketed or cast, but there are others that don't share my opinion. Personally, I would stay in the 115-124 gr range for jacketed 9mm and under 130gr for cast.

The 40 S&W works with most of the same powders as the 9mm.

If you can find WSF powder, buy all you can !!!
For a 115gr FMJ 9mm, I would go with 5.4gr of WSF. If loading cast bullets you can drop that charge weight just little bit but you really don't need to. Seat your bullets so that they; 1. are within specs , 2. will chamber and function through your guns.
I stay in the 1.130" to 1.160" OAL range, depending on the gun; generally closer to the 1.160" OAL if the magazine will tolerate. Remember, when dealing with the small case capacity of the 9mm - seating the bullet deeper in the case decreases case volume and increases pressure.
For CFE, I would defer to Tazman but I think Hodgdon's data is just fine.

As for a press, Well that's a pot of coffee and a long discussion.

Tazman is right, a single stage press will work for handgun cartridges but drive you insane in short order.

If you're reasonably mechanically inclined.......A Dillon 550 or 650 will produce a lot of cartridges quickly and they are solid machines that will last. Some folks say you should always start with a single stage and that's not bad advice. However, most pistol cartridge reloaders will "outgrow" a single stage press quickly. I would never be without a single stage press but I acknowledge the limitations of that design.

A turret press is an excellent compromise between a single stage press and a progressive press.

There are a lot of great cartridges and guns in the 9mm (.355") and .357" family. (9mm, 38 Special, .357 magnum). The vast majority of my handgun shooting/reloading falls within that range. They don't consume a lot of powder & lead. They don't produce a lot of recoil & report. There are some GREAT 9mm and 38 Special guns out there that are very accurate !!

Good Luck and report back.

[Rick O'Shay]

You are doing the right thing by starting with a single stage press. I have a single stage, turret, and a progressive presses. Learn on the single stage. The turret is my favorite. The progressive can be a pain sometimes but will produce a lot of ammo.
Good luck finding pistol powder. If you have trouble finding any i'm sure someone here could help you out.
Enjoy your new hobby.
Rick.

[clum553946]

Get a good single stage, you will use it later for your rifle rounds when you go to a progressive!

[waltherboy4040]

Lee classic cast turret, or you will regret not buying it.

I use green dot in 40 and 9 with cast or fmj loads.

[Jupiter7]

Another vote for the lee classic cast turret.

My favorite powder for 9&40 is AA#5 for producing standard power loads, it doesn't download well. Bullseye works great in both for lower end loads and cleans up near the middle.

[texasbilly]

As many of the respondents have stated, there are several powders that work well in both the 9mm and the 40S&W. Here is something to consider - since both handguns have short barrels, you might want to stay with fast burning powders. This insures that you get the most from the powder charge before it all blows out of the barrel. I have found that Bullseye is very good for this purpose, but WW231 is even better. As a result, I load 9mm, 40S&W, 38 Special, and 45acp with WW231, and I have never had problems. Of course, right now the problem is finding it on the dealer's shelf.

[MT Gianni]

I like power pistol for auto loads 9mm, 40, & 45.

[Armand]

May I recommend trying VV N 340? Works in 9 mm, works in .44 Mag ( not full power loads )

Charges slightly above Unique, VERY clean burning. Standard primers.

Hermann

[tazman]

Due to lack of powder available in quantity in my area I have used a number of different powders to load 9mm, 38 special, and most recently 40S&W.
The powders I have used in the last 10 months to load 9mm are WST, WSH, 800X, Herco, Green Dot, Bullseye, Red Dot, AA7, Titegroup, sr4756, CFE pistol,and Titewad. All of these powders work well with the proper load/boolit combination.
Yes, I realize that is a lot of shooting. I still have some of the powders left and I have quite a bit of ammo stockpiled so I can shoot when I don't have time to load. I have been going through about 300 rounds a week since the second week of January. By my estimation, that is right at 12,000 rounds. Until I just now figured it up I wasn't really aware it was that much. It has been a lot of fun.
A quick calculation tells me that is about 8-9 pounds of powder and about 250 pounds of lead.