.40 bullet weight

[Charlie]

Let me open a can of worms and ask if you think the 180's are the best bet from a CW40 with its 3.6" barrel ,or do you think the 155 and 165's are better in their ability to stop the threat with minimal round counts due to higher muzzle velocitys? We should not be concerened with shoot through barrier issues so what are your thoughts.

[wyntrout]

I like Speer Gold Dots and chose the 165-gr weight because it has the best combination of high muzzle energy and the longest range with a proven bonded-bullet design. Unfortunately, Speer doesn't offer this weight in a Short Barrel version.

Wynn:)

[titus1971]

It's my understanding (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) that the .40 was desgined from the ground up for the 4 " barrel. If that is the case then going to a 3.6 " barrel isnt nearly as dramatic as say taking a 45 acp round designed around a 5" barrel and shooting it in a 3.6 " barrel. Here's a link so you can see how much velocity is lost, I like this site becasue they also do tests with "real world guns"
http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/40sw.html
I use 165 gr gold dots or Federal HST in all my .40's but I've never chrono'ed them.

[crazymailman]

I have always been partial to the 155s but really like the 165s too. And thanks titus for that link.

[sharpetop]

I've shot 180s, 165s and 155s out of my K40 and the 155s are just a bit snappier. Not a huge difference by any means. Shoot the ones that you are most accurate with. You're not undergunned with any of them.

[jlottmc]

What sharptop said. All good there, I would stay away from the light weight side, and run 165-180 usually 180 in all my 40's. Well I did before that infernal boating accident.

[wyntrout]

I guess one of these days I'll buy some of the 180-gr Gold Dots Short Barrel version and try them out for cavity construction and flash comparison in my Mag-na-ported P40. There was a big difference in the 230-gr .45 Gold Dots.

The PDX1 in 165-gr was the lowest flash in my testing, so far. I chose the 165-gr Gold Dots because I saw a table somewhere comparing the 3 Gold Dot weights for all data, including range, where the 165's beat the other two weights by a bit. I couldn't find that table at Speer.com, so I'm not sure where I saw that, but it looked like Speer data as I remember... about two years or so ago.

Wynn:)

[Planedude]

I have been shooting the 165/180's in my CW40 as they run thru the gun the best. I'm very sure that any of the weights will do a good job in an SD situation.

My EDC load is the Win PDX1 at 165grns. and the most used range ammo is the 165grn, Win white box FPs. The 180s hit slightly higher to point of aim for me and I have to be aware when shifting between loads. It's not much a differance (2in at 10yds) but I have noted it. Both weights make a nice group.

I'm a big bullit guy and when I carry a .45 it's alway packed with 230grn HPs.

[wyntrout]

Ditto on the big .45's!

Wynn:)

[Gliderguy]

Seems like the mid weight 155-165 grain bullets do the best if you are coounting muzzle energy. (there are 135 grain and lighter available)

The big 180 grain bullets eat up some case capacity, so you lose some powder (this is also one of the things that limits the lead free designs like DPX, which are tough as nails but generally not on top of the group energy wise). The light 135's need more barrel to get up to their full potentital speed and energy. The mid weights seem the best compromise for under 4 inch barrels - I like the 155 grain gold dots. There are some really lightly loaded 165's on the market to watch out for, as well.

The short barrel rounds seem designed to give all their energy in 3-4 inch barrels, but are also a little weaker in short barrels than the hottest available offerings, but you are gaining low flash and probably a slightly quieter report in trade.

[Charlie]

Thanks for the replys and link.

[TheTman]

I am using 155gr Ranger HP bullets, RA40155HP, and there were heaps of them at the gun shows for awhile and I picked up several boxes, and 1 box of 135 gr Rangers, just to have them. I guess some agency rejected them because the core and jacket separate too often. I just figure that's more pieces of bullet to cause more bleeding. As long as the core penetrates and does it's job then I'm happy. I go a lot by the FPE that is delivered, and it seems the mid-weight bullets deliver more energy and velocity, than the 180gr bullets. Some agencies prefer the 180gr bullet, because it passes thru barriers, like car doors and windshields better, due to its higher mass. I don't intend to shoot anybody in a car, so I opted for the lighter bullets.
I guess in everything except the 45 and 38 Special, I like smaller faster bullets with more FPE delivered. Cheaper Than Dirt usually has the FPS/FPE for each brand of cartridge they sell, so one can compare ballistics. They say the number one manstopper is the .357 with a 125gr hp bullet, and right behind it is the .45 230 gr hp. So in my 9mm's, and 40's, I tend to go light and fast, while with the .45, .44 special, and 38 special, I'll go bigger and slower. Seems like the most effective round for years in 38 special was the 158 hard cast SWC HP bullet. That has laid many a bad guy to rest. Modern cartridge design may have made improvements on that, but I don't have anything in .38 Special, and I keep .357 125gr hp's in my .357's, and 124gr Hydra Shoks in my 9mm's except for one mag of Black Talons that I still have for my Star M30. My buddy and I ran some tests handloading the 147gr bullets with various amounts of powder behind them, and we just could not get the accuracy out of them that we could with the 124 and lighter bullets. We used his Beretta Italian made model 92, and my Star M30 as the test weapons, usually I'd go first with the Star, since it is a little beefier than the Beretta. I don't know if maybe the loading data was off, maybe it needed more powder than what they manual suggested as max, or what the problem was, but we just could not get them to group tight. We settled on the 115 or 124 grain Jacketed hp bullets, and I forget what powder we used, and amounts, but developed a pretty accurate load for both our pistols. We didn't have a chrono, and didn't do any gel tests or anything, as we were mostly concerned with accuracy for some competitions we had coming up. I won't use reloads for CC use anyway, so the Hydra Shoks in 9mm and .45 have been what I carry, and the 155 hp for the .40.
The .44 is loaded with 185gr Hornady that hit around 1000FPS, out of whatever lenth barrel they test with (I think they mostly use 4" barrels, except for .45). My snubbie has a 2.5" barrel, so I figure it's hitting at least 850 FPS if not more. Should get the job done anyway.