Went on a little journey today...

[375supermag]

Hi...

I decided to take a break from working overtime on Saturday to attend a local gun show today.

My son and I went with the intention of him buying some after-market magazines for the AR15 he just built. While there, I thought I would search for someone selling Hornady progressive presses to see if I could make a deal better than what Amazon has them advertised for.

FWIW, I am not "completely" sold on the Hornady over a Dillon 650, so I was not intending to buy today.

In the meantime, I was perusing the vendor tables for whatever firearm might catch my eye. While I saw a few that piqued my interest, nothing in my price range caused me to reach for my wallet.

My son did find a bundle of 4 AR15 mags for $30US, so he was pretty pleased.

After we left the show, I decided it was time to go on a little gun shop tour across 3-4 counties to see if I could find something interesting. After a few hours and some conversations with some gun shop clerks, I managed to find a Hornady progressive press for $470US which is still about $40US more than Amazon will sell me one with two-day free shipping even with tax included. I think we will do some price comparison between the Hornady and Dillon 650, but we are getting close to pulling the trigger on a progressive press (very close).

Anyway, while going through all these discussions, it occurred to me that I haven't bought a new gun for myself in sometime...the last one was a used Ithaca M37 pump-action shotgun in 12ga. last fall.

So, with some "helpful" advice and prodding from my son, I started looking seriously at new and used revolvers and semi-autos.
A Uberti cattleman with brass grip frame, case hardened sides and blued barrel and cylinder caught my eye. They list at $421 in .357Mag and .45Colt with a 5-1/2" barrel. I was all set to buy one in .45Colt, but my son started reminding me that I have quite a few SA and DA revolvers in both calibers and it wouldn't be wrong to try something different. Meaning a semi-auto in a different caliber and maybe in a plastic gun.

Now, don't get me wrong....ain't nothing wrong with plastic guns ( I guess), but I really prefer steel. So much so that even though I own over 50 firearms and around 30 or so handguns, there isn't a single one that isn't made of steel. No plastic or tupperware for this here dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist, no sirree.

So anyway, I started to look at S&W, Sig-Sauer, Glock, Springfield XDs, etc. full-sized plastic semi-autos. I don't really need another carry gun, so whatever I buy isn't going to be a compact CCW weapon. After an hour or so of comparing makes and calibers, I came to the conclusion that pretty much all of the aforementioned manufacturers and a few others make what are all pretty much ugly to look at, but quite functional polymer-framed semi-autos that would fit my criteria...a full-size semi-auto, shooting a minimum of 9mm caliber(but preferably a caliber, .40S&W, .357Sig or 10mm, I didn't already own) and a frame-mounted safety at a price point below $700US. I figured if I spent more than that, I would just as soon spend my money on a platform(1911) and caliber(.45ACP), that I already knew well and reloaded for. Either that or I would just buy the aforementioned Uberti and call it good.

And that is how I ended up with my first polymer-framed semi-auto...a S&W M&P in .40S&W for $545US tax and all.

When this day started, I didn't even know I needed a polymer gun or a new caliber and certainly not a .40S&W. And now I am kind of excited to get it over to the gun club and run some rounds through it.

I suppose I will need to buy a set of dies and start building up a supply of brass and bullets.

And no, this gun will not replace my 1911s in .45ACP as my carry gun. It was bought primarily as a range toy to test out a new-to-me cartridge (.40S&W) and to see if I can make the leap from dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist to a 21st century shooter without to much pain or discomfort.

FWIW, I very nearly bought a Glock in 10mm. I may end up having one of those in the not-so-distant future provided this new-fangled plastic gun doesn't cause me sleepless nights and/or buyer's remorse. That pretty Uberti SA in .45Colt is tugging at my heart strings big time.

[lefty o]

i think you'll be happy with the cartridge. the 40 does alot of good things despite what alot of stick in the muds say. you'll find its a tad snappier than a 45acp or 9mm, but its not bad.

[Low Budget Shooter]

My daughter's M&P has been great and given us no trouble.

[Oreo]

One thing's certain: There is no cheaper, easier to find brass then 40sw. Not even 9mm. 40sw goes for $0.03 per case. 40sw brass basically goes for scrap value with the cost of shipping being the biggest problem.

Besides that, once you're set up to load 40sw, 10mm can use all the same dies and tooling, but you will have to buy starline brass.

Glock is supposedly coming out with a longslide 10mm. That would be the sweet ride to have.

[Ia.redneck]

That sounds like a GREAT day! I've shared those days with my son too, quality time!
I bet you'll like that S&W, they are good guns. Oreo beat me to it, the brass is CHEAP!

[375supermag]

Hi...

I actually have some .40 brass. Nobody seems to pick it up at the club, so I have been picking it up just in case I ever needed it. I have it in a high-dollar storage container I found once upon a time (a plastic Folger's coffee can...no, I don't drink coffee, either). I actually have about 1/2 a box of factory ammo that somebody gave me at some point in time.

Not the first guy to ever scrounge brass for a cartridge they didn't own, I'll wager. I suspect I'll be stopping by the LGS one day in the next week or so, to pick up a set of dies. I'll need to do some research on bullet styles and weights before I start reloading for .40 S&W. A couple hundred rounds or so of factory ammunition will be a good start toward breaking this weapon in and will provide a good start to an adequate brass supply.

I can see where adding another caliber to reload for is going to make the acquisition of a progressive press more and more necessary. I am up to about a dozen different handgun calibers and finding time for all of that reloading is becoming difficult. Just maintaining inventory of brass, bullets, primers and powder is more and more time consuming.

No range time this weekend, though...weather reports indicate snow, ice and freezing rain tomorrow.

My son did some research and apparently there are 9mm and .357Sig barrels available for this pistol that are a drop-in fit. I may be trying one or both out if I decide I like the pistol enough to warrant the expense. The idea of 3 calibers in one pistol with a simple barrel switch is...intriguing.

[Oreo]

Allow me to suggest the MiHec/Oreo 190gr WFN/HP group buy mold. It is in it's 4th run now iirc, and currently taking orders.
Sign-up thread (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=264983)
Results thread (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=171093)

357sig is a 40sw necked down to a 9mm, basically. So yea a barrel swap is all that's needed for a full, oem reliability conversion. IMHO it's not worth it though unless you already shoot a lot of 357sig.

The 9mm conversion isn't factory reliable the same because of the difference in case head diameter. A barrel swap will get you range reliability but you shouldn't depend on the gun like that.

[contender1]

I chuckle at such stories, as it can mirror some of mine.

Congrats on the new gun.

I resisted the 40 S&W caliber for a long time. Then, I had won a Springfield GI 1911, as well as a gift certificate for a barrel & bushing of my choice from Bar-Sto. Follow that with another certificate for a set of sights from XS-sights, I decided to convert my 45 GI to a 40 S&W. I bought the slide, the extractor & ejector, and had it all put together. I too had been scrounging brass for a while, so that wasn't an issue.
Next, I found a S&W revolver, a 646 model in 40 S&W.
So, now I have a pair of 40's.

I have a Dillon SDB dedicated to 40 S&W. (I own 4 Dillons, and use them a lot.) So I can relate to your thoughts easily.

Now, I want to offer a few thoughts on the 40 S&W.

First, range pickup brass MAY have been fired in a Glock. As such, it'll have a base bulge that normal re-sizing dies won't remove. I purchased a Redding push-through sizing die to remove the Glock bulge. WELL worth the $$.

Next, purchase a chamber check gauge to check your loaded ammo. I shoot competition, and I don't need a jam due to a ill fitting round. A gauge is CHEAP insurance against this.

Now, go enjoy that caliber & gun!

[375supermag]

Hi...

I suspect I will be buying a Redding push-through sizing die, although kind of pricey for the carbide unit. The chamber check gauge will probably be bought at the same time as a carbide reloading die set.. I searched a couple of manufacturers and they are reasonably priced and will be a useful addition.

Thanks for the advice...much appreciated.

[Oreo]

The older glocks left a case bulge but the newer ones don't so much. I loaded thousands of rounds with all manner of mixed scrounged brass. The Lee carbide dies are cheap and got it done fine. Never had a stoppage in my 3rd gen G23. That was before I started casting though so you'll want to consider a taper crimp die instead of the factory crimp die. A Lyman M-die may be in order for case mouth expanding.

[contender1]

I'm currently wrapping up my brass work on a 5 gal bucket of 40 S&W. Here is my process;
Pick it up off the range, from all kinds of unknown guns.
Tumble clean it.
Inspect each case to weed out any unwanted headstamps, as I only use certain ones. And I'm looking for any damaged brass to scrap.
Place a quantity in a shallow cardboard box, spray with case lube.
Run all of the cases through my Redding case bulge sizer. And yes, mine is a carbide one. But, due to the many bulged cases I've found, it makes the job a lot easier when you have thousands to do.
Run the cases back through the tumbler to remove any case lube residue off & further polish them.
Place cleaned brass back in a clean 5 gal bucket for when I need to actually reload them.

I do the same thing for my 45 ACP brass, except that I have 2 full 5 gal buckets to work with.

In all the years I've been shooting USPSA competition, I haven't had any ammo issues. This is due to the attention to details I place upon my ammo.

To go further, I also "shake & listen" to my brass when I grab a handfull. If there is a split case, it will have a higher pitch "ringing" to it when it's being shaken next to similar cases. I culled 4 cases a few weeks ago in 45 ACP. All 4 were from a small batch of nickle plated brass. The "ting, ting, ting," ringing alerted me to a bad case.

And when I finish loading my ammo, I use my case gauge on each & every case. I load a lot of match ammo on my Dillon 650, and my Dillon SDB's. Once you get a method of doing it, it goes faster than you'd think!

[LAH]

After a few thousand rounds you will probably love the S&W M&P platform.

[DLCTEX]

We have loved our M&P's from the start. Never a fff or any other problem that wasn't operator error. They are all in 9mm.