Reloading Sinterfire's 135 gr Frangible Flat Point .400 Diameter Bullet

[SwordofCid]

Hello All,

I am brand new to the forum, and to reloading 10mm, but not to reloading in general. I was looking to start with a cheap range load for my Glock 29 Gen 3, so I recently picked up some of Sinterfire's .400 Diameter 135 gr Frangible Flat Point projectiles from MidwayUSA for a good price. After searching Sinterfire's website for load data, I found the following message:

"A large quantity of our 40 S&W / 10 mm Auto, 135 gr. bullets have recently become available to the market. These projectiles were made for one of our large OE customers and were not intended for the consumer market. As such, we have limited reloading data available and advise reloaders to proceed with caution when loading these projectiles. Start slow and work your way up to a finished load."

It seems these projectiles were never meant for the market! The limited reloading data they had only had one load for Titegroup powder, which I do not currently have. It would do a great service to others who have bought this projectile to be able to generate some safe, proven load data for a few other types of common powders, such as Blue Dot, Bullseye, and Winchester 231, all of which I possess and are common powder choices for the 10mm. I was wondering if anyone who has had experience loading other 135 gr projectiles might have an idea of where to start using these other powders. I am not sure where Blue Dot and Bullseye might stand, but Sinterfire has data on .40 S&W loads with 125 gr bullets that show a spread of 4.3 to 4.8 grains of Titegroup, while showing 4.8 to 5.4 grains of Winchester 231. This indicates that Titegroup is more potent per grain and requires less powder, so perhaps starting somewhere around 6 grs of Win 231 would be a good choice for the 10mm 135 gr load, since the maximum Titegroup load for the same is 6.3grs. It probably isn't a 1 to 1 comparison, but because the 125 gr loadings have the Win 231 loadings starting where the Titegroup loads end in terms of grains, I don't think it would be a bad guess to start the Win 231 loads somewhere around the higher end of the Titegroup data. Again,not sure where to start with Blue Dot, or with Bullseye.

Please, if you have any recommendations, cautions, or prior experience loading this round, I would greatly appreciate anything you can share.

Pax Christi,
Cid

[Kenk]

Welcome SwordofCid, I'm sure some of the pros will be able to give you some direction on this. Enjoy!

Ken

[SwordofCid]

Thank You Ken

[The_Shadow]

Cid, welcome to the forum!  Those pressed copper bullets may be slightly longer than the regular 135's with lead core copper cup.  Seeing how you are wanting a cheap range load with those 135 you would be good with 231 using the data for the 155 grain bullets

If it were me I'd used the Barnes data for their 140 grain TAC-XP  where the max is shown at 6.6 grains of Win 231 making around 1265 fps.
If you wanted to use Blue Dot 10.4 grains would be a great load at about 1100 fps and 12.0 about 1280 fps

Also be careful DO NOT over crimp, they could break apart.  I wouldn't use much if any crimp to finish the load at COAL of 1.252"

[SwordofCid]

Shadow,

Thanks for your reply. Which 155 grain bullets are you referring to?

I take it that that Barnes data can be found on their website, correct?

Thanks for the advice about crimping. I noticed that warning in their manual. It would be easier just to not crimp at all. Do you think that would lead to issues in an auto pistol? I remember forgetting to crimp a .223 reload, and when I chambered it in my AR, it broke apart and powder went everywhere lol.

Thanks,
Cid

[The_Shadow]

I was referring to most lead core 155 grain for data as the lengths would be close to the 135 Frangible in length.  The Barnes 140 grain being all copper are as long as a 200 XTP.

[SwordofCid]

Ok, so you are saying I should be alright if I stick to 155 gr lead core or barnes 140 gr TAC-XP data, correct? Just want to confirm so I do not blow myself up

[Graybeard]

I'll let Shadow answer. But if you want to compare bullet length to internal case volume when seated:
140gr Barnes Tac-XP .684"
180gr Hornady XTP .623"
155gr Hornady XTP .552"

I just measured 3 of each. All were purchased within the last 6 months. None varied by more than 1/1000th.

[fltbed]

Hello Swordofcid and welcome to the forum.

I ran into a similar problem a few years ago when I picked up some pulled Federal 135 gr Expanding FMJ projectiles.  Big, Long, Lightweight bullet.
Like The Shadow said, Jacketed lead 155 gr data / Barnes 140 gr Tac data was the closest.  Just start low and work up your load normally.  (if you have it or can find it, Alliants Power Pistol works awesome for these)

On a side note, I know the guys that developed the Sinterfire bullet technology.  I shot matches with them back in the day.  When they first started out, They offered component bullet sales and even sponsored a few pro level USPSA shooters. Then they got a few ammo company contracts, then a few Federal agency contracts and suddenly every bullet they could make was spoken for.

Sinterfire's warning about crimping is very serious and will break bullets.  From my experience with them, If you stick with new or at least once fired brass, bullet grip is sufficient.  Only use a taper crimp die enough to remove the flair on the case.  NO CRIMPING.  Oh, and stay away from the Lee FCD.

Cheers.

Jeff

[Kenk]

Very for me also, Thanks Jeff!

[SwordofCid]

Well, me being the genius that I am forgot that I had coincidentally ordered two pounds of titegroup powder from Midway before I even started to research this question. Doh! It came in the mail today, and I just laughed at my own forgetfulness. Well, I still think it is a good question to answer for people who don't have access to titegroup or want to play with different powders. I will start experimenting and report my results!

[SwordofCid]

For those who are interested or wish to compare, these bullets measure 0.660" +/- 0.001" from base to point (well, flat in this case.) I have no other .400 diameter projectiles to compare with it. Anyone have either of those Barnes 140 or 155gr bullets on hand to compare heights?

[SwordofCid]

Sorry Graybeard, I just saw your post and realized you had already answered my question

[Graybeard]

  No worries, I figured that would be useful info for extrapolating your load.