40 s&w reloading

Brownie

New member
I have not done any pistol reloading although I'm pretty experienced with rifle reloading. Had a few questions on pistol.
1: does glocked brass need to be resized before running it through a bulge buster or will the bulge be obvious after a good cleaning?

2: do I need to trim brass like I do with rifle cases?

3: with rifle cases I deburr the flash hole trim to length and make them as consistent as possible from case to case. Will I gain anything or is it necessary with pistol brass?

4: any tips other than the general safety precautions already associated with reloading?

5: powder recommendations

Thanks in advance guys I'm grabbing my book to do some reading on the subject.
 
Originally Posted By: Brownie
1: does glocked brass need to be resized before running it through a bulge buster or will the bulge be obvious after a good cleaning?

I had the same concerns with my Glock 22. I could never get definitive answer on the subject of brass shot out of a Glock. Heard not to worry about it to nothing you do to the brass will make it safe to shoot and everything inbetween. I'm sure others more knowledgeable than me will chime in on the subjuct, but I said to [beeep] with it and bought a replacement barrel for it from MidwayUSA for $99. Being brand knew to reloading at the time it was just easier that way, and the stainless barrel actually looks pretty cool.
 
Well I have about 4000 pieces of range brass so I'm not trying to start over And I will be running them through a progressive press once they are clean. Just need to know if I will be able to sort the bulged brass before hand and only run the cases without the bulge
 

I pick up a bunch of 40 S&W range brass, run my RCBS Carbide de-capping/sizing die down to the shell plate, and load. I have loaded, shot, and re-loaded, these same range pickups, a bunch of times, with NO issues. I don't own a "bulge buster" die. Now with that said, I only load to mid range on published load data for brass that has been fired. For max. loads, I only load new brass. You will want to do a thorough visual inspection on range brass, looking for case cracks especially around the case head. If anything looks amiss, scrap it.

I only trim when a case exceeds the published max. case length, and I do nothing to primer pockets, for pistol brass.

For powder, there are many choices. I have used Hodgdon Universal and Longshot, and Alliant Unique, Herco, and Promo. I am currently doing a test run of 9mmx19, 40 S&W, and 45 Auto with Hodgdon Titegroup, because my competition Glock 9mm needs to find a more accurate load, and my Trap Club had a killer deal on Hodgdon Titegroup.

I have probably shot something north of 100k rounds of hand loaded pistol ammo, in 380 Auto, 9mmx19, 40 S&W, 45 Auto, and 10mm Auto, and have only one case fail. It was in 9mmx19, where there must have been a case head crack, that I missed at case inspection. It happened in my Browning DBM. It blew out the magazine, trashing the mag follower, and bent the extractor. I checked the pistol for other damage, and measured pistol parts, for any expansion, and all was fine. I replaced the magazine, and the extractor, and many more rounds have been fired in that pistol.

So do a thorough case inspection, each time you load, use good hand loading safety precautions, keep in the low to mid range of powder charges, and start load those range pickup cases. And as a matter of safety, ALWAYS wear safety glasses and hearing protection.

Squeeze
 
I use a std RCBS carbide sizer. If the brass has a big bulge on it to begin with, I figure it is a weak case and toss it.

I load pretty stout loads, and only load the brass once. I buy my brass off of gunbroker where it comes off a Police range, so you pretty much can count on the fact that it is only once fired.

My 40's love the accuracy load in the nosler manual with their 150g HP. I shoot a mild load of clays with the 165g copper washed bullet, but it is no where near as accurate as the 150g Nosler.
 
Originally Posted By: BrownieI have not done any pistol reloading although I'm pretty experienced with rifle reloading. Had a few questions on pistol.
1: does glocked brass need to be resized before running it through a bulge buster or will the bulge be obvious after a good cleaning?

2: do I need to trim brass like I do with rifle cases?

3: with rifle cases I deburr the flash hole trim to length and make them as consistent as possible from case to case. Will I gain anything or is it necessary with pistol brass?

4: any tips other than the general safety precautions already associated with reloading?

5: powder recommendations

Thanks in advance guys I'm grabbing my book to do some reading on the subject.

1. I bought an EGW U-die to take care of "Glocked" brass. Just use that instead of your normal resizing die. It resizes the case further down to eliminate the bulge. EGW Die

2. No. Load them up and go. I would like to think I shoot more pistol rounds per year than the average shooter (anywhere from 10,000-15,000 rounds per year). I have never once trimmed a pistol case.

3. Not sure the type of shooting you'll be doing but this seems unnecessary. If you're concerned about really small groups maybe do this but if you're just loading up some rounds to plink or compete with don't worry about any of this.

4. Will you be reloading on a single stage of a progressive press? That will determine a lot regarding safety advice.

5. I've used anything from cheap, bulk pulled powder ($18/lb) to really expensive VV N320 ($35/lb) powder. Don't notice an appreciable difference between the two when shooting. Some claim the VV N320 has a softer recoil impulse but I honestly can't say I notice. The N320 tends to be more temp stable so I use it for matches that I travel to so I make sure I am consistently hitting power factor. If you're not competing this will mean nothing to you. Some also claim Powder Pistol has a snappy recoil impulse. If you're going to load on a progressive I would stay away from Unique powder. That tended to "bridge" and cause very inconsistent powder throws for me on my progressive. It's a really large flake powder and doesn't meter well.

I think you'll find you'll start to hate reloading for pistol if you try to do as precise as you do for rifle.
 
I've only been reloading 40 S&W a short while. I bought a large supply of once fired brass that had obviously been fired in multiple guns. My problem was not bulged brass but brass fired in large chambers. My carbide sizing die was leaving a radius ring where the carbide ring stopped. Bought a Redding GR-X push thru die and ran all cases through it before sizing. Now all the cases come out perfect. The Lee U-die (undersized) I bought only makes the radius ring worse. I tried one. This push through die is NOT for saving badly bulged brass. I do run into a very few 40 cases that have bad bulges and you can feel them when running them through the push thru die. They get scrapped. I've even seen a few cases that appear to have fired without fully chambering. I've had no problems with my fired brass from my Glock 23 or from my Beretta CX-4 Storm carbine. Evidently though there are guns out there with oversized chambers or guns that will fire with the bolt not fully closed? Best powders I've tried has been with Unique and Winchester Super Field and WSF is my favorite. I shoot only 155 and 165 grain jacketed bullets. No need to trim cases. Not necessary to use an inside primer flash hole deburr tool but I do anyway. Only one extra step and only has to be done once. My carbide Redding GR-X push through die made loading 40 S&W once fired brass much easier with better results.
 
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