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Thread: Unique/Green Dot Load Question for 40 s&w

  1. #1
    Boolit Mold


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    Unique/Green Dot Load Question for 40 s&w

    Hello everyone, being new to this group, I tried doing a search of previous topics here and on other forums, but still can't find what I'm looking for. So, here's my dilemma. I'm trying to use the components I have on hand, which are Green Dot, Unique, and 155 grain (Meister Hard Cast) LSWC. I found some load data for these powders for jacketed 155's in an old Hodgdon manual (yes, it really is a Hodgdon manual). But, no luck for the cast boolits data. Any suggestions, or good starting points?

    Thanks,
    - Ryan

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by 500NitrEx View Post
    Hello everyone, being new to this group, I tried doing a search of previous topics here and on other forums, but still can't find what I'm looking for. So, here's my dilemma. I'm trying to use the components I have on hand, which are Green Dot, Unique, and 155 grain (Meister Hard Cast) LSWC. I found some load data for these powders for jacketed 155's in an old Hodgdon manual (yes, it really is a Hodgdon manual). But, no luck for the cast boolits data. Any suggestions, or good starting points?

    Thanks,
    - Ryan
    I shoot a Taurus 101AF .40 S &W with the Lee 90470 (casts at 155 grains--SWC)....I use 5.0 grains of HP-38....5.5 grains of Unique would be the equivalent. It shoots well and is plenty accurate for me.

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Alliant's site really bites. They do not support most of thier shotgun powders for pistols anymore. Used to back in 2004/5!


    Here is some data I have gleened from a web crawl recently. None of this is developed by me and I claim no responsiblilty for it's performance, but I use this a reference. Picked up 4# of GreenDot recently.......about the only thing available right now!

    It is mentioned many times in the load data in the #4 Lyman Cast book. If you do not have one, I would recommed buying it.

    From what I have read on the web from a bunch of gun/reload sites, it is a very good pistol powder and has been used as such for years.

    Check out the standard burn rates for "general comparison" of powders:

    http://www.reloadbench.com/burn.html

    ................WEB DATA................

    Green Dot is a little faster than Unique, so use less.
    Green Dot is very similar to 231.

    .45 ACP 230 gr LRN + 5.0 gr Green Dot = 792 fps
    .45 ACP 200 gr SWC + 5.5 gr Green Dot = 880 fps
    9mm 115 gr JHP + 4.6 gr Green Dot = 1152 fps
    .40SW 180g Jacketed Bullet + GREEN DOT 4.9-5.3g
    .45 LC 4.7 grains with a 115 grain Montana Gold FMJ bullet.
    .38 SPL 125 gr jacketed bullet with 4.0 gr of Green Dot
    .38 SPL 148 gr Wad Cutter with 2.7 gr of Green Dot
    .38 SPL 4.5 Green Dot with a 158 LSWC

    And for those doing 9mm......and for comparison of powders:

    9mm Luger

    115 gr lead bullet
    Red Dot start 3.7 grs max 4.2 grs
    Bullseye start 4 grs max 4.5 grs
    Green Dot start 4.2 grs max 4.7 grs
    Unique start 4.5 max 5 grs
    Power Pistol start 5 grs max 5.5 grs

    115 gr jacketed bullet
    Red Dot start 3.8 grs max 4.3 grs
    Bullseye start 4 grs max 4.5 grs
    Green Dot start 4.2 grs max 4.7 grs
    Unique start 4.5 grs max 5.5 grs
    Power Pistol start 5.9 grs max 6.3 grs

    124/125 gr lead
    Red Dot start 3.6 grs max 4.1 grs
    Bullseye start 3.8 grs max 4.3 grs
    Green Dot start 3.9 grs max 4.4 grs
    Unique start 4 grs max 4.5 grs
    Power Pistol start 4.8 grs max 5.3 grs

    124/125 gr jacketed
    Red Dot start 3.7 grs max 4.2 grs
    Bullseye start 3.9 grs max 4.3 grs
    Green Dot start 4.1 grs max 4.5 grs
    Unique start 4.5 grs max 5 grs
    Power Pistol start 5 grs max 5.5 grs

    147 gr lead
    Bullseye start 2.8 grs max 3.3 grs
    Green Dot start 3 grs max 3.4 grs
    Unique start 3.2 grs max 3.6 grs
    Power Pistol start 4 grs max 4.5 grs

    147 gr jacketed
    Unique start 4 grs max 4.5 grs
    Power Pistol start 4.5 grs max 5 grs

    Good shooting!

    bangerjim--------------just over the hill from 'ya............ in AZ

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy
    NWFLYJ's Avatar
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    Lyman third additon pistol&revolver 40 Smith & Wesson 150gr. #2 #401645 Unique 5.0 start 6.3 max.

    I shoot a 175gn lswc and my best group is with 5.6 of Unique in my Glock 22 .40
    Vulcan 20MM = Accuracy by volume.

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy
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    Ediit
    Last edited by NWFLYJ; 09-06-2013 at 10:00 PM.
    Vulcan 20MM = Accuracy by volume.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master
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    4.5 gr Unique under a LEE 175 gr. TC cycles and is accurate. Mushy trigger Glock is the hindrance. I can sweep at the plate range in six shots regularly though.

    Shiloh
    Je suis Charlie

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    “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert , in five years there would be a shortage of sand.” – Milton Friedman

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  7. #7
    Moderator Emeritus

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    There are at least 10 different years worth of the old alliant print manuals on Castpics.

    http://www.castpics.net/LoadData/Fre...M/Alliant.html
    Reloading Data Project - (in retirement)
    http://sourceforge.net/projects/reloadersrfrnce/

  8. #8
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by wiljen View Post
    There are at least 10 different years worth of the old alliant print manuals on Castpics.

    http://www.castpics.net/LoadData/Fre...M/Alliant.html
    I have a stack of them with me, and can scan some if needed.

    It seems that if you find a load for Bullseye, it would be safe to use the same weight of Green Dot.

    BTW, I like Green Dot in handgun cartridges, but have not yet tried it in .40 S&W. I do use Red Dot in it.

  9. #9
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    On Alliant's site go to the products section and click on the powder you want then view all loads with this powder. Many are shotgun but there are several loads under shotgun powders for handguns.
    [The Montana Gianni] Front sight and squeeze

  10. #10
    Boolit Mold


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    Thanks everyone. So far, you've given me some great info. I tried looking up the data on Alliant's website, but what little data they had was either for a different weight boolit, or for jacketed. The info that I mentioned I had already was:
    155gr JHP
    Unique 6.6gr (start) - 7.3gr (max)
    Green Dot 5.3gr (start) - 5.8gr (max)

    I also tried looking in a Lyman Cast Bullet Manual, but it's pretty old, and didn't even have a section for 40 s&w in it. Looks like I've got some shopping/reading to do

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy


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    How close would a 10mm load be to .40 S&W? Could you work up a load from that??
    In 2020 congress finally forced the VA to provide Agent Orange coverage to Blue Water Navy Vietnam veterans. RIP shipmates that never received proper care.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by LeftyDon View Post
    How close would a 10mm load be to .40 S&W? Could you work up a load from that??
    No, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!!!

    10mm is a larger case and even starting loads for the 10mm would be way over pressure in a 40S&W. Do not attempt that ever.
    Reloading Data Project - (in retirement)
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  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy


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    Wiljen, thanks for the info on the 10mm. I don't own either one, but thought those two might be close in case size.
    In 2020 congress finally forced the VA to provide Agent Orange coverage to Blue Water Navy Vietnam veterans. RIP shipmates that never received proper care.

  14. #14
    Boolit Mold


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    Hey everyone, thank you for the help thus far. I went ahead and loaded up a few rounds with Unique starting at 5 grains up to 6.3. They all cycled well in my Sig P229. The brass from the 5 grain loads landed about a foot away, and recoil was practically non-existent. I worked up 5 rounds each, in 0.1 grain increments (probably excessive, but wanted to stay safe), and never saw any signs of overpressure. I was shooting off hand and into the wind, so my accuracy sucked, but 5.9 grains of Unique seemed to be spot on.

    Also, not ten minutes after getting back from testing these rounds, I finally got a response from Alliant with load data for the 40 S&W. Their email states:
    150-155 gr jacketed or lead
    Unique - start 5.5 grs max 6 grs
    Green Dot - start 5.2 grs max 5.7 grs

    They also gave me load data for 135 gr jacketed, 150-155 lead or jacketed, 165 gr lead or jacketed, and 180 gr lead or jacketed with Red Dot, Unique, Green Dot, Bullseye, Power Pistol, Herco, American Select, and Blue Dot. So, if their email would be helpful to anyone else, I will gladly pass it along

    - Ryan

  15. #15
    Boolit Mold FloridaFlyBoy's Avatar
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    Question Red Dot Loads for pistols, Please

    I went to the Alliant website for their load data for Red Dot and pistol loading. ( Red Dot is pretty much what I have available).
    It seems limited in application. Is there an equivalent powder ( similar to WW231 and HP38 being identical) and powder loading data that is reliable and safe.

    For example, I did not see any application for 9mmLuger, and someone on this thread does have that info.

    Any help would be appreciated.
    Thank you
    FlyBoy

  16. #16
    Boolit Mold FloridaFlyBoy's Avatar
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    If you could please, for .380 Auto, 9mmLuger,.40S+W, .44 mag + spl, .45ACP. ( Any or all) Thanks

  17. #17
    Boolit Master

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    Alliant 2004 Data for Handguns

    Last edited by Rattlesnake Charlie; 10-07-2013 at 04:00 PM.

  18. #18
    Boolit Buddy
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    Those links didn't work for me Charlie. Might be something wrong on my end.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
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    Didn't work for me either.

  20. #20
    Boolit Mold FloridaFlyBoy's Avatar
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    Thumbs up Link for Alliant loads

    This worked for me Sunday, it had great information about Alliant powders. Kinda pricey, but still available at Cabelas on line , along with 45ACP + 40SW US manufactured ammo.

    http://www.castpics.net/LoadData/Fre.../Alliant01.pdf

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check