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Reloading 200gr bullets in .40 cal, is this normal

sweaver
Just finished reloading my first ammo ever. I figured I would load 10 and fire them, if I liked them I would do more. Anyway, I bought 200gr jacketed bullets. According to the book, the max COL is 1.125 so I followed that-they are all right on the money. However, when you look at the cartridge it is obvious where the bullet stops inside the shell. I used my caliper (digital) and where the bullet sits is .02mm wider than the rest of the cartridge. I cant see how it would work any other way but I want to make sure this is normal before I put them in my gun.

thanks in advance,
shane

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8 comments

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  • RadCat
    Well, not long ago loading the 200gr. bullets "was" the hot ticket for the "limited" class in IPSC in the 40 S&W. The reason behind it was the "power factor" when making the formula of bullet weight plus muzzle velocity to determine the "major" power factor. We did very well, no excessive pressures, and the accuracy was good. Some people actually tried the 220gr. bullets but found some flight stability problems, and some bullets "tumbling". The Vihtavuori (powder) manual lists a load of 5.4grs. of N340 for a velocity of 978 fps, which is well within the SAAMI pressure limits. As for your "bulging" problem, this is a "dear" foe of competitive shooters as chambering rliability is a must. The solution is very, very, very simple: use a LEE Carbide Factory Crimp Die, instead of your regular "crimp" die. These dies will "resize" (again) the cartridge after the bullet has been seated, on the way up to be crimped, and again on the way out after crimping, to provide you with "original" guarranteed factory specs. on your handloaded cartridges. You will no longer need to use go-no-go gauges to check for "fat" cartridges that would stick in your "tight" chambers. As for the loading of 200gr. bullets wisdom, that is another story. Just follow projected flight paths and distance you shoot at. The heavier bullets will have a "rainbow" trajectory, while the lighter bullets will have a flatter trajectory, and a possible fater muzzle velocity while staying inside the SAAMI pressure safe ceilings. Also the perceived recoil of the heavier bullets affects your recovery time for "second" bullet placement. Competitive shooter would rather have a "flatter" trajectory that would be more usefull for "bullet drop" calculations and points of aim at multiple distance/targets. The lighter bullets will help with this. Since they "lowered" the "major power" factor, the need to use the heavier bullets was eliminated, and as a result, many shooters went to the lighter/flatter shooting bullets like the 180 and 165 gr. bullets. Most "factory" loads as available over the counter do use the 180 and 165 gr. bullets as standard. Hope this info. helped.
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  • tlen
    Are you reloading for a Glock .40? If you are you are cruising for a bruising.....
    http://www.thegunzone.com/glock/glock-kb-faq.html
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  • sweaver
    quote:As for your "bulging" problem, this is a "dear" foe of competitive shooters as chambering rliability is a must. The solution is very, very, very simple: use a LEE Carbide Factory Crimp Die, instead of your regular "crimp" die. These dies will "resize" (again) the cartridge after the bullet has been seated, on the way up to be crimped, and again on the way out after crimping, to provide you with "original" guarranteed factory specs.

    That's exactly what I'm using. I dont see how it can eliminate this bulge if its the bullet causing it, it cant reshape that.


    quote:The Vihtavuori (powder) manual lists a load of 5.4grs. of N340 for a velocity of 978 fps, which is well within the SAAMI pressure limits.

    Cross referencing Lee's and Hornady's books, with this bullet I went with 7.5 grains of Accurate #7. I was told by the guy that sold me the reloading equip that #7 is a slow burn and good for Glocks.


    quote:Are you reloading for a Glock .40? If you are you are cruising for a bruising.....
    http://www.thegunzone.com/glock/glock-kb-faq.html

    I've read that before, tragic thing to happen to a Glock...I'm ordering a Federal Arms barrel today though, seems safer. I've talked to tons of people on a couple of different boards and they all agree that the Glock is safe as long as you dont try and run a hot load. The kb's are usually the result of an overzealous reloader or a moron.

    Thanks guys!
    Shane


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  • Throckmorton
    This 'bulging' thing happens from time to time with various brands of brass and bullets,and I['ve never found the definitive answer..it's just 'one of those things.'IMHO,the Lee FCD's are good,but not THAT good that they can squeeze bullets.I use one.
    Most times it is not a problem,but each gun is different.Problem is we usully buy bullets in bulk and have to use em up,huh.
    I"ve heard some say that maybe a particular sizer die is doing too good a job and the bulge is actually where the od actually should be.
    ahh,reloading.a new challenge around every corner.

    Throckmortons' the alias,cas is the game.
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  • v35
    The brass gets thicker as it gets closer to the base. That's why it bulges when a bullet, longer than designed for is seated deeper than the case was designed for.
    The carbide Lee die resizes the bullet under the bulge, making it undersize in that area. This may help account for reported tumbling.
    As cautioned above, 40 cal Glocks don't like overloads using the factory barrel.
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  • 1KYDSTR
    Let's simplify this, as everyone seems to throwing all manner of ideas at you. Is this "bulge" more prominent on one side of the cartridge than the other? If so, this is called "runout". The sizing die you are using is taking the case down just a tad under spec, and as the bullet is pretty much so guaranteed to be concentric, it will show as a ringed bulge where the bottom of the bullet stops. Making a bullet that is in spec smaller is NOT the way to go...you would be reducing the seated bullet diameter by at least a few thousandths to match the case diameter, which is far less critical than having a small diameter bullet that will definately decrease accuracy.

    To sum up; I don't think that the thing you are seeing is all that much of a concern for you at this point in your reloading carrer. Seating an unussually heavy bullet in a case like the 40 S&W will, as another responder noted earlier, cause this kind of runout (or, alternately, oversizing) on most straight-wall cases. Unless you are getting into IPSC or some such activity, I wouldn't worry about it as long as you are not experiencing feed issues. This is a great hobby, and one you likely won't really "master" in your lifetime (I surely don't feel I have!), but you'll have lots of fun trying!!

    "When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
    "When I was 14 I used to marvel at how ignorant my old man was...by the time I was 21 I was truelly amazed at how much the old bugger had learned in the intervening 7 years!" Samuel Clemens
    "History is written by winners"(Patton)
    "You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
    "There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)
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  • sweaver
    Ok, so from this point I understand this to be normal with this large of a bullet. I think I'm going to order some 155 grains today. When I got the 200s it was all he had so I took a few of them to get me started. What concerned me was when I compared it to a factory round. The bullet in that case is very small compared to the 200 and the case is straight, while the ones I did had that slight bulge from the bullet seat up. I cycled a couple through the action of the gun and they fed and ejected fine. I'll probably get my grandad to check these heavy bullets before I attempt to fire them.

    Thanks all,
    shane

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  • RadCat
    There are indeed some sizing/decaping dies that are a little bit "undersized", resulting in slightly "thinner outside diameter" for the resized cases, but in the next stage you "do" put in a "bell-ing" expander that will open the case again to the proper "inside diameter" for the size bullet to be inserted, and provides a slight bell/funnel for the bullet to slip in.(especially lead bullets that would otherwise get a shave.) If everything is "concentric" in your next stage of "bullet seating", and the bullet goes in STRAIGHT WITHOUT SIDE DEVIATION, you should be fine, unless you have oversized bullets. You can find out simply by "rolling" your completed cartridge in a flat table and watgh for any bullet "wobble" as the cartridge spins/rolls. If this is the case, accuracy will suffer to the degree of the wobble. If the original bullets are slightly oversized, but concentric, running them through the LEE Carbide "Factory" Crimp Die, "will" resize the (completed) entire "extra" width of the cartridge to within "factory" specs, including the encased bullet, to no detriment at all of "OEM" bullet diameter, or accuracy. Not using this "special die" will allow small inconsistencies to pursue from round to round accounting for slightly different chamber pressures as the "non-concentric" bullets are force-pushed into and through the barrel. Not all the cartridges that go through these "special" die will be reshaped, only those needing it, and only to the degree needed to "return" them to within factory OEM specifications. If while I am using these dies, one particular cartridge offers unusual resistance going through it, I will put it aside, because while the "outer" area was properly spec-out, probably the bullet went in too "crooked" making its accuracy useless. I have seen many high quality "factory-over-the-counter" cartridges exhibiting a slight bulge, showing the seating depth of the bullets, which fed fine and the accuracy was excellent. I wouldn't try to read too much into it, especially on "handloads", just enjoy shooting them, and especially the savings and "taylored to taste" capabilities you can get.
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