Loading 40 cal. Pistol
- Thread starter Sgt. Tee
- Start date
OAL has two important parts. Must fit in magazine and bullet must not hit the rifling. Last part is called the "plunk" test. You must be able to drop a loaded round into your barrel, be able to rotate it freely while fully in chamber and then point barrel upright and it must fall out. Use "book" recomendations but verify via plunk test. May need to change OAL a little either way if it does not feed/function correctly.
And your caliper is an "adjustable" case and OAL guage.
And you don't really want to crimp so back your seater die body out to just take the belling out. Over crimping will create a slight bulge casing case to not fully chamber.
Frank
And your caliper is an "adjustable" case and OAL guage.
And you don't really want to crimp so back your seater die body out to just take the belling out. Over crimping will create a slight bulge casing case to not fully chamber.
Frank
There is another small issue with the plunk test/Cartridge-Ammunition Gauge I think may have been missed and that is headspace. The head of the cartridge should be even/level with the breach face. With the gauge you don't have to remove your barrel (although is is possible to check without removing the barrel). I had a Sheridan but preferred to use the Dillon and forgot, but the Sheridan slotted gauge is better for those that are unfamiliar or OCD. It provides several SAAMI specs where the Dillon only three.
Regardless of the gauge you decide to use, it is also a good idea to at least once also use your barrel to compare your loaded rounds in both the barrel chamber and the gauge for any major differences. For standard SAAMI spec reloading the gauges provide the chamber, headspace, and overall length quickly and should assure the loaded rounds will function both in the magazine and chamber.
Your seating die most likely will provide a taper crimp and I would recommend that you use it. It is a fine adjustment but when set properly eliminates possible bullet setback.
I also to random case length measurements after full length sizing to assure the brass cases are not growing in length or shrinking. This to assure they will remain within spec to headspace on the breech face. To long and they may prevent lockup, to short and they may prevent ignition.
The closer you are to maximum powder loads (chamber pressure), the more important all the measurement are.
Regardless of the gauge you decide to use, it is also a good idea to at least once also use your barrel to compare your loaded rounds in both the barrel chamber and the gauge for any major differences. For standard SAAMI spec reloading the gauges provide the chamber, headspace, and overall length quickly and should assure the loaded rounds will function both in the magazine and chamber.
Your seating die most likely will provide a taper crimp and I would recommend that you use it. It is a fine adjustment but when set properly eliminates possible bullet setback.
I also to random case length measurements after full length sizing to assure the brass cases are not growing in length or shrinking. This to assure they will remain within spec to headspace on the breech face. To long and they may prevent lockup, to short and they may prevent ignition.
The closer you are to maximum powder loads (chamber pressure), the more important all the measurement are.
Proper head spacing as eagle six is very important. I typically print the SAAMI info for each round I reload. There are +and - sizes both on case length and COL. I do one thing that many do not, I make a dummy load to ensure head space, case length and COL are correct. Manufacturers often have some variance between them. Factory ammo generally will work throughout different gun manufacturers. Some factory loads may work better than others. I use the dummy rounds as a pattern to set up my dies. FP, RN and other shapes of bullets require different set ups when reloading. For example, if you are loading RN bullets you cannot generally switch to FP bullets as there will be a difference in COL. So dummy loads help to help ensure consistency in loads of different heads. Using dummies as a set-up is not totally full proof parodically checking them with a micrometer to ensure nothing changes is prudent.
Berry's and Extrene-bullets also are very good for reloading.
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D-4297
Gold $$ Contributor
The Berry's 180gr Hybrid Hollow Point is a outstanding bullet . Very consistent , Hits very Hard . Since I load using a slightly unusual powder for a .40 , I'll keep my load to myself . But my G22 likes it . That bullet can be seated to a 1.125 length . But check your magazine and cycle a few to see if they function correctly .
Use your barrel for the plunck test. Once you have it figured out try one of these for bulk checking:
benstoegerproshop.com
Reloading - Case Gauges - Hundo - Ben Stoeger Pro Shop
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