.40, 38 Special and 357 reloading question

[pensfan76]

Just started reloading for the .40 S&W, i have 3 powders on hand, HP38, Tightgroup, and blue dot and i am using a 180 grain lead flat point. Does anyone have any recipes for this, i tried 4.3 grains with HP38, 4 with titegroup and 7 with blue dot with an AOL of 1.13 on all of them and they were all shooting about 2" low at 10 yards, the blue dot was the worst, that was all over the place. I hate to go any hotter with them, i used no taper crimp, just a straight bullet seat and then a Lee factory crimp die.

Also, i am doing 38 special and 357 for the first time too, i have the 38 special pretty good with a 148 grain dewc and 3.7 grains of hp38, just want to see what everyone else using for those, i am open to trying new bullet weights and powders.

I use federal primers for everything as long as i can find them

[cephas]

Use Win 231, aka hp38 in the .38 and .357 for light loads. Since I cast a 148 gr hbwc I keep the velocity under 800 fps so the hollow base will remain intact. Use .38 cases at 2.8 grs and goes over the chrono at 752 fps out of a 6" S&W. Mild and accurate as i can shoot it. Comes out of a snubby at 720 fps. For heavier loads with a different cast, 162 gr swc with gas check, I'll use Unique in the .38 and 2400 for the .357. Also use taper crimp with cast as the lee factory crimp die can actually resize the cast. Personal preference but like my casts fat.

[DucatiRon]

^^^^^This. Read, remember, and use for the 38,and 357.

Although I use jacketed in 357 and load hot and smokin with 2400.

38 and 357 are better served with a good roll crimp and do not need a lee factory crimp die. Resizing cast boollits can make them sloppy and inaccurate.

[pensfan76]

I'll reduce the loads for the hp38 to that and give it a shot and use the taper crimp and not factory crimp. It's my dads gun so any lighter load is a good thing for it. I liked the accuracy of it at 3.7 grains and there wasn't much recoil at all. I'm new to loading for a revolver, is the factory crimp needed at all? I can't wait to shoot a 357 out of the snubby.

[pensfan76]

^^^^^This. Read, remember, and use for the 38,and 357.

Although I use jacketed in 357 and load hot and smokin with 2400.

38 and 357 are better served with a good roll crimp and do not need a lee factory crimp die. Resizing cast boollits can make them sloppy and inaccurate.

I gotta go to the range with you, how can i tell that i have enough roll crimp and not too much or too little?

[87hurricane]

You can use the factory crimp if you're using jacketed bullets, just not recommended for lead.

[87hurricane]

Too much crimp can crush or deform the case, too little crimp can allow the bullet to creep out of the case. I start with a mild crimp, and slowly adjust the die in more until I am happy with it. For me it is more visual than anything else. I always apply a fairly firm crimp to hotter rounds to ensure they stay in place. This applies more to revolver rounds than semi autos, most semi auto rounds require very little crimp, basically just enough to hold the bullet in place.

[Arrdy]

I don't know how much reloading experience you have so bear with me please.

Good place to start is with good load data, such as http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

Consistant measuring is a 'must'. Do you weigh each charge, use a dipper or use a powder dispenser? I use a Lee Pro 1000 and have found with light loads (4 g or less) HP38 is pretty consistant through the dispenser, but Tightgroup takes a bit more care. 5 grains and above Tightgroup drops more consistantly then HP38. Go figure. But if you're going lighter then reccomended starting load, be careful you don't go so light as to squib a load. When playing in this area, I would load 1 round into the gun and check the barrel between firing rounds.

Case length does matter, more so with a crimp die. You can either trim to a uniform length or just measure and group your brass. Personally I trim so I know all my brass is the same length, a must when crimping. And while we're talking about crimp, Hunter's Supply (hard lead bullets) reccomend using a crimp die with their bullets. Personally I crimp everything I load. Yes it's more work but my loads are more accurate and consistent with a crimp.

When I work up a load I start light and work towards a heavy load, maybe 10 or so rounds at min. , same amount at mid load and finally max. load. I find which load is the most consistant .... then fine tune .... charge weight and crimp .... with a chrono and lots of paper.

If you want to get even more anal then I already am, you can measure case volumn with drops of water, use poly batting to keep your powder close to the primer for consistent ignition ... But you can get pretty accurate and consistant loads without going this far.

[Rush2112]

For 40 S&W I've been using 4.2 grains of Titegroup with no crimp at all. I find that the seating die provides a sufficient crimp. I too am using 180 gr FMJ flat point bullets. I just started doing 40 S&W so I haven't shot a tremendous amount of them yet, but I can say the ones I did shoot shot fairly accurate and I was happy with them. I'm hesitant to increase the load because of the specific caliber. I try not to push any charges in any of my reloads, as I usually stick to around the suggested starting load.

[pensfan76]

for the .40 all my brass is range collected, i couldn't get them to chamber until i ran them through the factory crimp, from what i understand that die doesn't really crimp the bullet just squeezes the case back to factory specs, but i could be wrong. With titegroup and hp38 they grouped nicely just 2" low. I don't want to go to a heavier bullet and the gun doesn't have adjustable sights.