40 S&W cast bullet loads?

[Kleanbore 1]

Looking for a mild load for the 40 S&W with a 160gr RN lead bullet. Have plenty of bullseye and accurate #5 powder. Seems hard to find data for lead bullets in this caliber. Plenty of data for jacketed. Waiting for your response. Thanks

[BigAlofPa.]

How many loading manuals have you checked? Lyman's 3rd and 4th cast additions are a great source.

[tazman]

You can safely use data for 170-180 grain boolits. This data will be slightly lighter than that for 160 grain boolits but will work fine.

[bangerjim]

My load data books have tons of loads. Also check the maker's website for loading charts. Print them off and build a loading reference book like I do.

I load lots of 40 S&W.

bangerjim

[WinchesterM1]

I use 3.8 grn of clays over the MP 165-penta hp
267163

[dragon813gt]

You can use the Alliant data for Bullseye w/ 155/165 Speer GDHP bullets. You will not find a lot of loads for lead bullets. Use jacketed data and like always start at the bottom and work up.

[BC17A]

I load 165gn coated FP from 6.4gn to 7gn of AA#5. You can safely load the 160RN with the same provided you work up as required.

Here's the latest from Accurate
267215

[Kleanbore 1]

Thanks all.

[Sleeping Dog]

When "working up", when do you stop? I have a 173grain hollow point from NOE -- I really like them. There is little load data for cast, especially for 40 cal. I will use W231, 700-x or WST. I don't mind starting at the bottom (about 4.1g) and going up. I'm not sure when you've gone too far. I've tried to "see" flattening and cratering of the primers, but so far, it all looks the same.

In general, do lead bullets need more or less powder than jacketed? How about hollow point?

Any hints?
Thanks

[cwlongshot]

Im not a fan of #5.... most of my 40 loads now are HS6 or PowerPistol. Most of my bullets are the LEE175 Traditional lube groove bullet.

CW

[mvintx]

When "working up", when do you stop? I have a 173grain hollow point from NOE -- I really like them. There is little load data for cast, especially for 40 cal. I will use W231, 700-x or WST. I don't mind starting at the bottom (about 4.1g) and going up. I'm not sure when you've gone too far. I've tried to "see" flattening and cratering of the primers, but so far, it all looks the same.

In general, do lead bullets need more or less powder than jacketed? How about hollow point?

Any hints?
Thanks

When I work up a load, I start pretty much at the bottom. If I get start getting close to the max...say within 2 to 5 tenths of a grain, I stop there. If I can't reach an acceptable standard of accuracy by that point then I either abandon that powder or loosen my standards somewhat.

Regarding the amount of powder between jacketed and cast. I'm a big fan of Power Pistol as well. My 9mm practice load is 5.8 grains behind an Xtreme 124 grain plated. It has just about the same recoil and performance as my 'carry' ammo which is Federal 124 HST. It's a pretty 'snappy' load at about 1,100 fps (Glock 19). A Lyman 356402 (120 TC) with 5.8 grains Power Pistol runs about the same velocity. The bullet weights aren't the same but they're close.

I'm still experimenting with cast boolits in .40 but nothing outstanding to report yet.

[stubshaft]

AA #5 is my go to powder for the 40 S&W. My pet load is 5.6grs. behind a Berry 165gr bullet. It shoots POI in both my Kahr CM-40 and Steyr M-40.

[popper]

Just use jacketed data. I prefer the HP38/WW231 for 40 and save wst for 9mm sub compact.

[everybodydiesintime]

I was using 5.8 grains of #5 under the lee tumble lube 175 grain powder coated.cycled fine and felt ok but wasn't the most accurate now i'm looking into bullseye powder for the same 175 grain lee bullet.

[bigboredad]

When I want a light load with that bullet weight I load 3.5gr of bullseye.ymmv

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