Morning,

Hope everyone's staying warm !! 9 degrees with a negative wind chill and snowing here behind the enemy lines of NY State.

Getting ready to load 40 caliber for three 40's that I have. I have a EGW's undersized die for 40 to help remove the bulge.

Looking at powder selections, I am looking at Power Pistol, Longshot and Unique. Have both Unique and Power Pistol for 45 that I load for.

One of the pistols is a third generation G23 and I'm going to be shooting FMJ's.

Just looking for some insight or thoughts.

Thanks in advance.

If your 40 is bulging brass bad get an aftermarket barrel. Even with the bulge removed, the brass in that spot is weakened due to it being stretched so far. If that weakened spot happens to line up with the unsupported part of your chamber again, the case could blow out. You don't want that.

I know aftermarket barrels aren't cheap, but it's worth it IMO.

As far as powders, those look good to me. I would stick with either Unique or Power Pistol, especially since you already use them.

I purchase all my .40 brass used and have had very few issues with bulged cases using a Dillon sizing die.  Gun is a Brazos 2011.  If I get a stuck round the cause is usually a split case or nicked case mouth.

Sorry I only use Titegroup so I can't comment on loads with your powders.

180 grain FMJ's?

Try 5.8 to 6.2 grains of Power Pistol. Check the bullet manufacturer's data base to be safe. I use 5.5 grains with Hornady's 200 grain bullets and get 860 fps.

5.5 w/200 grain bullets is a maximum load IMO.

If you have a chronograph look at 925 to 960 fps as your window for safety, reliability and accuracy.

Most .40 S&W factory 180 grain FMJ's travel around 950 fps.

I really like Longshot in pistol loads with good pressure, I.e. med to hot 40 and my hot, but safe 45 auto loads....ahhhh

Getting ready to load in a few min here! It is 10, but -2 with the wind. Gotta make the wife breakfast first!

I started out with a G23 (still one of my favorites to shoot) but I decided to never reload it because of how severely my Glocks warp the cases.  I believe the technical term is "guppy belly".  That and the way arthritis in my strong side wrist has can't handle .40 now has made me convert my two .40's to 9mm.

The make a thing called a bulge buster push through, but I just did not feel comfortable reshaping a piece of brass that had taken that kind of beating. A lot of folks do, but for me it was a stop sign.

I reload 165 grain bullets for my G23 and a carbine rifle. I've purchased a good quantity of once fired brass that's obviously fired in many different guns. I rarely see but have found a couple "guppy belly" cases that has to be scrapped. A good bit of my once fired purchased 40 S&W cases were evidently fired in large chambers and the Lee U-Die was leaving a radius where the sizer stopped and was actually swiping and scraping brass. I gave up on the Lee U-Die for 40 cases and bought the carbide push through die made by Redding. It works perfectly and all my cases get pushed thru the Redding then sized with my RCBS sizing die. Makes the cases perfectly sized without a radius or bulge where the carbide sizing ring stops. Now my G23 or rifle does not expand brass too much but lots of purchased once fired needs the Redding push through die.
I've tested both Unique and Power Pistol using CCI 500 primers with only 165 grain jacketed and plated bullets.
Using Unique at 5.7 grains gives a mild load at 956 FPS
6.0-1008 fps
6.3-1030
6.6-1070 fps
Using Power Pistol at 6.5 gave 940 fps
6.7-1010
7.0-1030
7.2-1065 fps.
I liked Unique better than Power Pistol but my favorite powder is Winchester Super Field WSF. Note again these loads are with 165 grain jacketed. Plated Rainier 165 gave 1013 fps with 6.1 to 6.2 grains of Unique. My overall lengths with all FMJ-FP bullets are 1.125". I do highly recommend the Redding GR-X push through sizer since the 40 case is almost straight sided. Wouldn't load 40 without the Redding carbide GR-X. Check all your data sources before using my data.

I use Xtreme 165gr double plated HP bullets over 7.0gr of HS-6 in my HK P30. It runs about 1050fps, shoots pretty accurately, and not terribly hot.

I do want to try some coated bullets for practice as they will expand better in the bore for better accuracy.

I bought the HS-6 initially for 9mm as I was buying my son and I two Sig P320, then the issues arose and we went HK. We were still going to do 9mm, but the .40SW was $200 cheaper per gun. So I saved $400

Another great thing, well other than my guy getting sick. My dealer and good friend got sick and was in and out of the hospital for several months. As such, being a small country place, it took him 6 months to get my son's gun. We'd both ordered the standard P30, Mine a light LEM and his a DA/SA safety/ decocker. Tommy, my dealer knew we'd liked the P30L, which was $200 more. He called me on the phone one day around my son's birthday, which is in December, and said he got the gun in.

We went up to pick it up. Opened the box and it was a P30L in DA/SA / Safety, DC.

I asked him, you know that's more money right? I want it, but I'll pay the difference, I know it cost you a little more.

Tommy said, "Well, I felt like I ought to do something nice since it took me so long. He told my son, Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas, let's do the paperwork and you enjoy that gun. "

He gave us about another $100 worth of stuff in his store too.

titegroup, or WST for target / USPSA loads

power pistol for hot loads

unique or longshot should work well also.

sounds like you're on the right track.

I’ve had really good results with capital Cartridge “once fired” 40 brass. Never been too bulged for my factory Dillon resizing die.

It shows up fully processed at around $.3 per round. I’m actually wondering if new brass ($.12 if you’re lucky) makes much sense if it theoretically only gets me one extra reload...

I have processed a bunch of once-fired .40 range brass.  Only a very few cases had much bulge at all, especially when compared to the way 9mm cases can be bulged.  I use Lee's "Bulge Buster", which sizes the brass down all the way to the rim, and most cases barely felt like the die touched them.  The ones with real bulges showed up with the Bulge Buster; if it was hard to push 'em through the die, they wound up in the scrap bucket.

.40 S&W (as well as 10mm Auto, and .45 ACP) is a dead-straight case.  Feeding straight cases is a challenge sometimes, so the typical fix is to give the gun a nice, rounded feed ramp like you'll see in customized .45s.  But where the .45 is a fairly low pressure round, the .40 is not; the feed ramp doesn't support the case near the web, and a hot round will bulge.

It's NOT just Glocks, but when the Glock 22 hit the streets, a lot of folks started shooting a lot of .40 S&W and Glock got blamed for this "problem."  Modern Glocks have much better support, so it's not a real issue, but ANY hot .40 in just about any pistol will bulge the case.  Bulged cases are weakened - if it's enough of a bulge to really easily see, scrap the case.

I was not happy with power pistol in my 40 loads, YMMV obviously. I would keep it for 10mm if that is a possibility for you.

Titegroup is really good if any is available to you. I cannot comment on longshot. Unique works but is not my first choice.

I also use the U die with my 40 loads because I buy or pickup mixed brass and there is still quite a bit of bulged brass out there. It just removes an annoying possibility.

I had a Lee bulge buster but the U die does just as good of a job with less work involved.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts, insights and suggestions.

Most of the brass I have isn't showing the bulge and I'll be using an Case Checker from EGW to check sized cases.

I'll be shooting 180 gr FMJ's and will keep them under 1000 FPS.

Thanks again !!!

Stay warm-it's 1 with a feel like of -19

I’ve used the Lee Bulge Buster on any of the 40 brass I’ve picked up that has a bit of a bulge. Works pretty good.  Too much bulge and I toss it for scrap.

The best results for powder I’ve had so far out of my Beretta APX have been HP-38 and CFE Pistol - max on the HP-38 and about the middle for loading the CFE according to the Hodgdon published data.

I for .40 on a Dillon 550. I have settled on one simple, easy load that runs in all my guns. SNS 180 grain NLG bullet, 4.0 grains of WST and CCI primers.

I tried using the Lee bulge buster before sizing but found sticking a case in the die is possible. It works best to run the case through my RCBS sizing die first, then the bulge buster, then flare the mouth slightly in the sizing die again.

More times through the press, but it works easier for me this way 'cause I'm not trying to clear stuck cases and don't have to put all my weight on the handle to push a case through.  The Redding die might be different and push through easier... don't know.

I went the lighter bullet route.  I was already buying the Missouri Bullet Co. 140 grain bullets while reloading for the Beretta 90-Two.  I had some Herco powder I got when my dad passed away (big shotgun reloader).  Found a good load for the range.  So, when I started reloading for my P07 I bought more of the Missouri Bullet Co. bullets and the Nosler 135 grain hollow points for my more serious loads.

I'd been reading about the success people have for 10MM with Blue Dot powder.  I went to the Nosler website and they listed Blue Dot as giving them the best accuracy with their 135 grain hollow points.  Again, had some Blue Dot from dad's reloading bench so I tried it.  Got really nice groups and stuck with Blue Dot.  Uses more powder but there's no way you could accidently double charge a case and I'd had a few pounds of it.

I've bought some heavier bullets for the .40, just haven't gotten around to working up some loads, yet.

4.5gr if Titegroup in my G35 with 180gr FMJ. I have had no issues with bulged cases.