Loading for a Glock G40

[Ridgerunner665]

Got the G40 sighted in today.

From a solid rest I can reliably hit a 12"x12" steel plate at 150 yards...I honestly didn't expect it to come that easily.

I'm confident I can take game with it at 75 yards, maybe even a bit more.

I fired 50 rounds of full power 10mm reloads (200 grain bullets at over 1,300 fps)... I now understand very well why the FBI watered the 10mm down... It's not brutal, but a 9mm it is not!

I'm looking at trigger options... The trigger itself (the part you pull) is uncomfortable to me, my finger is sore after those 50 rounds. The trigger won't be a problem for hunting but it makes it less than ideal at the range.

The trigger pull... Is hard to work with... You try to do a slow steady squeeze and it starts and stops 2-3 times before it goes bang....I don't much like that, looking at spring combos that might help there.

[Ridgerunner665]

Also.... That's about 70 rounds through the new 7" KKM barrel.

No malfunctions of any kind.... And it is ACCURATE!

[Ridgerunner665]

Decided to try a 20# spring in the G40...the factory RSA has been working fine, no issues at all, but as I got used to shooting the pistol I noticed I can feel the slide bottoming out on the frame pretty hard.

Didn't notice it at first, but as I got accustomed to the feel and sound of shooting it...I noticed it quite handily.

Did some crude math and decided that for my slide/barrel weight (slide, 7" barrel, and a Leupold Deltapoint Pro) a 20 pound spring was more or less equal to a 24# spring on a bare topped G20 slide.

I got the Glockmeister version...I've always used Wolff springs but since they're behind the curve on the Gen 4 Glock assemblies I guess I'll see what ISMI is all about.

I wish someone would get some dual captured setups on the market in increased spring weights...I like the dual spring concept myself.

[Spudmeister]

Decided to try a 20# spring in the G40...the factory RSA has been working fine, no issues at all, but as I got used to shooting the pistol I noticed I can feel the slide bottoming out on the frame pretty hard.

Didn't notice it at first, but as I got accustomed to the feel and sound of shooting it...I noticed it quite handily.

Did some crude math and decided that for my slide/barrel weight (slide, 7" barrel, and a Leupold Deltapoint Pro) a 20 pound spring was more or less equal to a 24# spring on a bare topped G20 slide.

I got the Glockmeister version...I've always used Wolff springs but since they're behind the curve on the Gen 4 Glock assemblies I guess I'll see what ISMI is all about.

I wish someone would get some dual captured setups on the market in increased spring weights...I like the dual spring concept myself.

Ridge Runner,

Thanks for the post about the slide bottoming out on your G40.  Mine is still fairly new and I have not noticed it yet.  What load were you shooting when you noticed the bottoming out?  What barrel as well? 

So far most of my shooting has been with the 200gr WFN Montana hard cast bullet and 8.6gr of Longshot.

Thank you

[Ridgerunner665]

KKM 7" barrel, various loads, all of them at or near max loads from various manuals.

[Spudmeister]

Thanks.  Good answer.  I imagine you are getting some outstanding velocities out of that 7" barrel.

[Ridgerunner665]

1,365 fps with 200 grain XTP's is the most powerful load I've fired from it, I don't foresee exceeding that... If I need more than that I'm gonna need a bigger gun.

[Spudmeister]

Man that is moving along!  1,365 fps is awesome.  Along the spirit of this thread I need to finally try AA9.  The 200gr WFN has done fine IMO with the Longshot but the 180gr XTP's (9.5 gr Longshot) seem just too hot in a the G20's.  Way too hot for the G29's.  I don't know what but something is just not right with the load.  It does 1,225 in the OEM G20 barrel and 1,281 fps in the G40 OEM barrel.  It does not feed well and jams the guns fairly often (only once in the G40 so far).  I suspect I'm pushing the Longshot too hard and getting too high a slide velocity.  Just a guess but this thread inspires me to get out the AA9 and see what happens.  Then on to seeing what is possible with the 200gr XTP. 

10mm is a disease.  A good one.

[Ridgerunner665]

AA9 will leave Longshot way behind....

[giblett]

Having good luck with AA 9 and gold dots out of my KKM barrel haven't chronographs yet but happy with accuracy and no fireball unlike bluedot

[Texashogman]

Fun facts...

4 inch 44 mag, 240 grain JHP bullets, standard loads...........................................1,165 fps, 723 ft. lbs.
4 inch 44 mag, 310 grain Garrett Defender, premium ammo...................................1,020 fps, 716 ft. lbs.

6 inch 10mm, 200 grain JHP bullets, full power 10mm load...................................1,280 fps, 726 ft. lbs.


I know they make much heavier loads for the 44...but the guns that can use them get pretty big and heavy...the above is just a comparison of similarly sized handguns.

A long slide 10mm and a 4" 44 mag are very similar in length at around 9.5" or so....and it would appear they are very similar in power as well.

I'm not too sure where you got your 44 mag data from but an 8.25" barrel with a 240grain at max book load is over 1500fps

I have a 3" 44 mag and with 23 grains of H110 I get 1275fps (23 grains is the start load too, go up to 24 grains for max, and some guys choose to push past that) --- compare that to your 6" barel 10mm with 200 grain bullets

I prefer to compare the 10mm to both the 357mag and 41mag for energy levels depending on bullet weight, but it doesn't come close to the 44mag in my books

on a side note---I pushed 180 xtp to over 1400fps with No.9 from my 6" RIA 10mm (which is right on par with my 357 magnum 6.25" barrel 185 xtp's at 1440fps)

I have some 200 WFN's loaded up with No.9 to test also (have not gotten to the range yet though) --- with the 200wfn hard cast, even at max book load it does not seem to compress the powder like the 180 xtp's did at max load so it looks like more powder could be fit under the hardcast lead 200 than the xtp 200 ---I'll have to see how it goes at the range next time

[Ridgerunner665]

The comparison I was making was based on the loads that were in use when the 44 built its reputation.

The point is... Today's 10mm will do anything the 44 was doing 30 years ago.

My 10mm, with the 7" barrel, is shooting 200 grain XTP's at 1,365 fps with max loads.... That is well in excess of the original Keith loads and any 240 grain factory load that was available until some time in the 1990's.

[Texashogman]

The comparison I was making was based on the loads that were in use when the 44 built its reputation.

The point is... Today's 10mm will do anything the 44 was doing 30 years ago.

My 10mm, with the 7" barrel, is shooting 200 grain XTP's at 1,365 fps with max loads.... That is well in excess of the original Keith loads and any 240 grain factory load that was available until some time in the 1990's.

got ya, it didn't really make sense to me to compare old 44 mag data to new data ( kinda like saying a new car gets 30mpg, but a 30 year old one only gets 10) -- but I guess it's hard to compare 60 year old 10mm data when there is none---the "original" 44 mag data you have even dates back to just over 60 years ago, pretty impressive back then for sure, just figured comparing new to new reload data would be more relevant but you still make a good point.

maybe we can get clint eastwood to carry a 10mm in his next movie  --

I love my 10mm to me it is basically a 17 round semi-auto 357 magnum with quick reload possibility--- considering I have 4840 ft/lbs of on-tap energy in my 44 mag before a reload, but 13,330 ft/lbs of energy in my 10mm-- I'd say that the total capacity of my 10mm outshines most other big bore revolvers for total energy on tap 

[sqlbullet]

Uhhh...

Elmer Keith's 44 Magnum load was 22 grains of 2400 under a 250 grain bullet for 1225 fps from a 4" barrel model 29, and over 1400 fps from a 6.5" barrel.  I don't know how you get more "original" than the load by the guy that invented the cartridge.

http://www.sixguns.com/range/elmersloads.htm

Also, that load is a couple of grains over MAX with modern load data.  44 Mag has gotten lighter, not heavier, over time.  This is due to both better measurement equipment and broader test environments showing edge cases that could make the higher load dangerous.

Another fun fact...That Garrett Defender load is downloaded. Alot.  They load the same bullet in the "Hammerhead" load at 1200 fps from a 4" barrel.

Look, I love the 10mm.  But is isn't anywhere near the capability of a 44 Mag, or a 41 Mag.  And saying it is by comparing do downloaded 44 mag ammo is like saying the 40 S&W is comparable to 10mm because the FBI load can be reproduced in the 40.

[Ridgerunner665]

Yeah... How is a 200 grain bullet at 1,365 fps not "comparable" with a 250 grain bullet at  1,225 fps?