Win231 and 40sw

[fredj338]

Your FCD is bad. Get a Redding profile crimp die. Until then - does your seater die have a crimp feature?
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Note: it is best to seat and crimp in two separate operations. You can seat all bullets, and then reset your seating die so that it only crimps in the following operation.

Is there a good LFCD???? Its just not needed imo. It covers up poor reloading technique. Yes it will fix mixed brass loads that wont chamber but that should be telling you something is wrong with that brass.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I Have never seen cases like that with any of my .40 S&W loads ? The only load I have ever used was 5.4 gr of w231 with 165 gr plated bullets. Primarily Winchester Cases which are usually range pickups.

Something is weird there as those cases are showing High Pressure signs from loads that are below Mid Range loads with that powder??? Your copper plated bullets should be .400-.401 if they are bigger that could be the problem. check them!

Your crimp at .421 is just barely taking the flare out of the cases. The OD of the cases with the bullet seated should be .421-22, so if that is what your crimp measures you have no crimp. It needs to be .417-418 so it physically impresses the case mouth into the bullet. Also the crimp is only about .015 long so it is hard to see but it still needs to be there.

You need to take this measurement several times to insure that you are getting a valid reading. This is NOT the easiest measurement to take with calipers. It takes lots of practice to get right. Also the blades of your calipers need to be just slightly off the front of the case mouth (half on, half off) as that will give you the closest measurement to what is actually there.

Just because you can't push the bullet in against you bench doesn't mean it will live thru Banging around in the magazine during firing of previous rounds, being stripped off the magazine, Banging into the Feed Ramp, and bouncing off the sides of the chamber walls as the gun travels into battery. It actually needs the crimp to insure the bullet doesn't get set back into the case which may be the reason you are seeing Pressure Signs in your spent cases?.

Using this information, fire some rounds with a proper crimp and see if the pressure signs are still there.

This is a high pressure pistol round that runs up in the 35,000 psi range and it needs to be respected.

Randy

[44MAG#1]

I use a set of Hornady 10MM/40S&W does and have had no problem loading both calibers with the lighter weight bullets to the 200 grain Hornady XTP in both. Plus a 200 gr cast.
I like the 200 gr bullets and the 180 XTP's too.

[justindad]

Randy has a good point. Deerslayer - have you measured OAL after a round has cycled through the action? Measure the OAL, put the round in the magazine, then hand cycle the round through the action. Repeat three times. I’d suggest a max change in OAL of 0.002”.
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You could also measure OAL after the round cycles through the action by firing rounds as normal. Fire a round, hand rack the slide to eject the full cartridge, then measure OAL.
*
This may seem unusual for a straight wall cartridge, but I have had this happen in .45 ACP when I loaded soft plated bullets and shot them through a pistol with a heavy recoil spring. My hand cast rounds from 96-2-2 alloy did not have setback issues.

[dearslayer]

I Have never seen cases like that with any of my .40 S&W loads ? The only load I have ever used was 5.4 gr of w231 with 165 gr plated bullets. Primarily Winchester Cases which are usually range pickups.

Something is weird there as those cases are showing High Pressure signs from loads that are below Mid Range loads with that powder??? Your copper plated bullets should be .400-.401 if they are bigger that could be the problem. check them!

Your crimp at .421 is just barely taking the flare out of the cases. The OD of the cases with the bullet seated should be .421-22, so if that is what your crimp measures you have no crimp. It needs to be .417-418 so it physically impresses the case mouth into the bullet. Also the crimp is only about .015 long so it is hard to see but it still needs to be there.

You need to take this measurement several times to insure that you are getting a valid reading. This is NOT the easiest measurement to take with calipers. It takes lots of practice to get right. Also the blades of your calipers need to be just slightly off the front of the case mouth (half on, half off) as that will give you the closest measurement to what is actually there.

Just because you can't push the bullet in against you bench doesn't mean it will live thru Banging around in the magazine during firing of previous rounds, being stripped off the magazine, Banging into the Feed Ramp, and bouncing off the sides of the chamber walls as the gun travels into battery. It actually needs the crimp to insure the bullet doesn't get set back into the case which may be the reason you are seeing Pressure Signs in your spent cases?.

Using this information, fire some rounds with a proper crimp and see if the pressure signs are still there.

This is a high pressure pistol round that runs up in the 35,000 psi range and it needs to be respected.

Randy

Very good info. Thanks so much. I haven't visited this issue since my last post but will surely check things out next time I do 40.

[dearslayer]

Randy has a good point. Deerslayer - have you measured OAL after a round has cycled through the action? Measure the OAL, put the round in the magazine, then hand cycle the round through the action. Repeat three times. I’d suggest a max change in OAL of 0.002”.
*
You could also measure OAL after the round cycles through the action by firing rounds as normal. Fire a round, hand rack the slide to eject the full cartridge, then measure OAL.
*
This may seem unusual for a straight wall cartridge, but I have had this happen in .45 ACP when I loaded soft plated bullets and shot them through a pistol with a heavy recoil spring. My hand cast rounds from 96-2-2 alloy did not have setback issues.

All these points make sense. I'll take the time to do some measurements next time.

[popper]

LE pretty much verified that cycling the SAME service bullet throughthe SA action caused the setback. Probably fired 2k cast in my XD40 without any problems, just proper expanding and taper crimp.