Favorite powders for .40 S&W

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  • 88E30M50

    Grandmaster
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    Dec 29, 2008
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    Greenwood, IN
    What's everyone's favorite powders for reloading .40 S&W now days? I'm reloading using CCI primers and Xtreme plated 180g bullets and have been using PowerPistol but for the life of me, cannot remember why other than I have a bunch of it. I think that it's a bit slow for .40 but the muzzle flash is fun at the range. I'm thinking of trying HP38 and TightGroup. Running numbers in Quickload seems to show that they would work reasonably well for a good mid-level target load.
     

    biggen

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    Feb 12, 2012
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    Longshot will make a 40 really "be all that it can be" and it's difficult to double charge.
     

    kludge

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    Universal.
    and No.7.

    Why? There are CLEAN and they give near top level performance.

    But I tried No.7 only because Hodgdon WILL NOT publish ANY lead data for .40 due to Glocked brass. Nor will they answer any emails regarding lead use in the .40. (My opinion based on fairly educated surmizations. Plus the fact they have answered EVERY other email on the subject of reloading using their many other powders.)

    No.7 seems to be a bit more accurate in .40 though.
     

    Twangbanger

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    If you're looking for mid-level target loads, I use Ramshot Silhouette to load all the way down to 40 minor with good results. In a Glock, 4.6 under a 180 bullet will cause the brass to bubble out of the gun and land just off your right foot and not batter an optic too bad, while still burning very clean.
     

    88E30M50

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    Power Pistol is an excellent powder for 40 S&W. WSF is another powder that performs very well in the 40.

    Power Pistol has always been my favorite for 40, but blue dot does pretty good too.

    Power Pistol is fun to shoot, but it seems to be too slow burning for a .40 S&W. When I shoot .40 with PP, I get lots of recoil and a big muzzle flash. Plus, with a muzzle pressure of well over 6k psi, it's loud. All add up to being a hoot to shoot, but there's only about 70% of the powder burnt in the barrel according to QuickLoad. I was trying to find something a bit faster burning that would be a bit less dramatic and make just a fun plinking round.
     

    JStang314

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    Jun 8, 2011
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    I use 4.4gr titegroup with 180gr xtreme. Works great in my G23 and 6 3/4" AR pistol build. Best titegroup recipe I tried. Haven't tried any other powders.
     
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