Makin .40 bullets!

[Intel6]

I got my BT .40 swage die at the end of last week and had some time over the weekend to play with it. I was really interested in this die because I am a 10mm nut and wanted to make heavier .40 bullets for my 10mm’s, any bullet over 200 grains being considered “heavy.”

So after annealing and cleaning some brass I started messing around with the .40 die. I was able to make the standard 195gr. JHP but I wanted to get to the 200+ grain mark. I have lots of different cast bullets of different weights and sizes around. I figured that the 200+ bullets in 9mm cases could not be a HP since there is limited case room for lead. I changed out the HP pin for the FP pin and went back at it. In no time I had a 213 gr. SP bullet which seems to be about the limit with a 9mm case. I started thinking about the 9mm case as the limiting factor and realized I had both 9x21 and 9x23 cases on hand to try. The 9mm being 9x19 meant I would have a few more mm of case to put lead in and I could get a heavier bullet. I quickly grabbed some used .38 super and .38 Supercomp cases, while I do have 9x23 cases for a USPSA open class gun they are hard to get and since Super/Supercomp cases are basically the same and more common I decided to use those.

I used a 155 gr rifle bullet as a core and backed out the die a few turns. I ran the case up into the die and turned it down until I got a complete bullet. In this case, there was still some room at the end of the case (need heavier core) so I trickled in some lead shot in and ran it back through the die to fill out the tip. I put it in the scale to see what it came out at and was surprised to find I had made a .40 cal 240 grain JHP. I have to do some measurements to see if I can shoot this in my 10mm autos but I know I will be shooting it in my 10mm revolver where I can seat the bullet out longer.

Since these things are always better with pics I attached one below. I grabbed some factory .40 bullets I had and put them in with the bullets I made for length comparisons.

Neal in AZ

L to R:

Nosler 135 gr. JHP
Federal 155 gr. JHP (pulled from Border Patrol issue ammo)
Montana Gold 165 gr. JHP
Swaged 195 gr. JHP
Hornady 200 gr. XTP JHP
Montana Gold 200 gr. FMJ
Swaged 213 gr. JSP
Swaged 240 gr. JHP

[BT Sniper]

Awesome! :swagemine:

Very profesional looking bullets. Glad I could help and be a part of it. Nice pic too.

Good shooting, we'll be watching for results. You know the 40 S&W case makes a very nice 40 cal jacket too........ and we know that case can hold enough lead for 250+grain bullets.

Swage on!

BT

[BT Sniper]

From the looks of it I bet with a little more lead exposed the 9mm JSP may go 225 or more. Nice job cleaning up the annealed brass. Care to share your secert with the others.

[Intel6]

Brian, I thought you had made some .40 bullets out of .40 cases, I will have to give that a try. I just got my open class competition pistol rebarreled into 9mm and after using 9mm brass to shoot a 124 gr. bullet at close to 1,400 fps out of it I don't use the brass again and it will work great for .40 bullets.

I thought about letting a bit more lead be exposed for a slightly heavier bullet. Another option is just to use some 9x21 brass which will split the difference between the 9x19 and the 9x23 and will give a bit more room for more lead while keeping the length down.

I was also thinking about trimming down a .223 case to whatever length I need and be able to make any type weight of .40 bullet. .223 brass is another thing I am not lacking at all.

As far as my brass looking so clean. I have always been a bit of an anal rentetive reloader and like my ammo to look great. I preclean all my brass in one cleaner and then polish it in another cleaner. Most brass sprends at least 8 hours total in a vibratory cleaner and is mirror shiny.

I took this shiny brass and torch anneald it (since I was just making a small batch to experiement) and then I soaked it in a bath of citric acid (Lemi Shine) for a few hours and then tossed it back into by "polishing" cleaner for a few hours.

I need to anneal larger quantities of brass now that I have figured out the dies.

I will still make everything shiny, my stuff has to look good. :razz:

Neal in AZ

[Intel6]

While I shoot lots of .40 S&W in competition I got into making .40 bullets specifically for loading in my 10mm's.

One of the best powders I have found for loading heavy loads in the 10mm is
800X. The problem is that it is very coarse and I have never had any luck getting consisten charges in any of my different powder measures that measure by volume. I got my RCBS Chargemaster recently and tried it out this weekend to load up some of my .40 bullets in 10mm. Since it despenses powder onto a scale it is despensing charges by weight not volume which is the only way to go with 800X.

I plan on making heavier bullets for my 10mm's but I whipped up some 200 JSP's and some 190 JHPs to load just to try out and see how they shoot. In the pic below you can see them loaded into 10mm cases. I went out and shot them yesterday and they shot great out of my Glock 20 and my 6.5" 610 revolver. I just wanted to make sure they functioned well and showed some accuracy potential which they did. Now I will make some more bullets and develop the loads some more.

[BT Sniper]

Look foward to the results :) Good shooting.

[Daywalker]

Would it be possible to get your recipe for the Lemi Shine? I have not bought it before. Is it a liquid? powder? mix with water? I would appreciate it. Those sure are very shiny indeed...

[hardcase54]

Find it near you.
http://www.envirocontech.com/products/Learn-More-about-Lemi-Shine.html

[Intel6]

Lemishine is a granulated powder that you get in the dishwasher stuff isle. I just mixed a few tablespoons into a quart of hot water and dropped the brass in it. I agitated it every once in a while but left it in there for quite a few hours. Since I was starting with shinly brass it didn't take too long even with the torch anneal. I don't think there is any reason why you could not leave it in longer.

It comes out of the Lemishine very yellow and clean but with a frosted/etched surface. I just toss it into the polisher for a polish and it is ready to use.

I save the Lemishine liquid and reuse it as it still works well. I found that it works better when it is hot/warm so when I reuse it I just pop it into the microwave and reheat it so it works better.


Neal in AZ

[Daywalker]

Thanks so much for the information! I really do appreciate it. I am going to pick some up and try it out...

[Intel6]

Daywalker,

You are welcome, glad to contribute.

I watched some of your videos on youtube and that bullet thing with the gas checks gives me some ideas I will be trying out when I get the time.

Neal in AZ

[Daywalker]

Thanks for watching. The gas checks does seem to dress them up a bit. Ammosmith was using them in his swaged 40 to encapsulate the lead so I thought I would give it a try. It does add to some other options that is for sure. Heck, getting into reloading, casting now swaging, kinda makes me feel like a kid again and full of life!! LOL

[Ervin]

I have a bunch of .223 GI blanks. I plan to use them for 10mm jackets. I'll use the primers for low pressure shot loads. ANYONE HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE WITH THESE PRIMERS? The powder is something else. I have read that it is unpredictable and very fast. ANYBODY HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE WITH BLANK POWDER? Thanking everyone in advance, Ervin

[Doby45]

Lemishine is a granulated powder that you get in the dishwasher stuff isle. I just mixed a few tablespoons into a quart of hot water and dropped the brass in it. I agitated it every once in a while but left it in there for quite a few hours. Since I was starting with shinly brass it didn't take too long even with the torch anneal. I don't think there is any reason why you could not leave it in longer.

It comes out of the Lemishine very yellow and clean but with a frosted/etched surface. I just toss it into the polisher for a polish and it is ready to use.

I save the Lemishine liquid and reuse it as it still works well. I found that it works better when it is hot/warm so when I reuse it I just pop it into the microwave and reheat it so it works better.


Neal in AZ

OH MY LORD.. I read this post today and decided that tonight I would go to my local Publix and get me some Lemi-Shine and try this out. I just cleaned 100 308 and 100 223 pieces of brass in about 20 seconds. They are sitting in the oven at 200* right now and look like brandnew money. Thanks Neal..

[Intel6]

No Prolem Doby45, glad it worked good for you.

[Maine1]

OK, you guys have me very interested. I have cast bullets off and on for years, but never considered swaging due to the cost.
I'm also a 10mm nut, and would lik to be able to make my own bullets for it, and perhaps the 45 as well.

is there a thread to start from?

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Maine1,
Here is a good one to start with
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=70121
then start searching around
Jon