Reloaded Wrong Bullets

[Mrlucky353]

Mea Culpa.

I thought I was reloading Green 180 grain Bayou Bullets in 40S&W.

After about ten cartridges were reloaded, I realized I was using
narrower Green 140 grain Bayou Bullets in 40 S&W.

Would the loaded cartridges using the 140 grain bullets be within safe limits?
My expectation is yes, it should be ok.

Here's the recipe used for the 180s:

5.0 gr WST, OAL range 1.28-1.33
Chrono at 10 feet -895 fps.
180 gr bullet length = .605"

Changed no settings on the press for the 140s.
Still 5.0 gr WST, but OAL came out longer: 1.137 - 1.144
140 gr bullet length - .525"

So with the 140 being a shorter bullet and the loaded cartridge having a longer OAL,
would it be correct to assume lower pressure and lesser fps?

Thanks for any help

Mea maxima culpa.

180 grain length .605 140 grain length .525.JPG

[Ranch Dog]

Yes, I too believe that your are good to go. Going to be interesting to see if these cycle the action well. Is the for the Pro?

[Mrlucky353]

Yes, I too believe that your are good to go. Going to be interesting to see if these cycle the action well. Is the for the Pro?

Thanks.

Yes, it is for thr Pro(s).

[Ranch Dog]

Hey, I saw were Starline has started to manufacture 32 Auto brass. Thinking of you PT132 Pro.

[Mrlucky353]

Hey, I saw were Starline has started to manufacture 32 Auto brass. Thinking of you PT132 Pro.

Nice!

I tried the 140s, and you were right, they were fine.

The 140s were noticably milder than the 180s, and very pleasant to shoot.
They cycled the PT140 normally.

This may be my new 'light load' in 40 caliber.
Nothing to change on the reloading bench except the bullet.

Though I might get a different color 140 grain bullet.

[Ranch Dog]

Good to hear!

[GasGuzzler]

I can't tell much difference to the hand and POA in 9 and 40 but I haven't tried cast in either yet.

[Mrlucky353]

I can't tell much difference to the hand and POA in 9 and 40 ....

Same here.

[Mrlucky353]

The 140's pleasant recoil got me curious,

The 180s were doing 895 fps.
No change to power brand or amount.
And with no change to any reloading press settings,
the 140's came out a tad bit longer.

So chrono'd the 140s today and avg fps was 887, just 8 fps less than the 180s 895 fps.

With the fps of both the 140 and 180 almost the same,
presumably the weight of the bullet accounted for the decreased felt recoil of the 140 gr.
(No duh!)

The energy calculater said the difference was:
140 gr 245 ft lbs
180 gr 320 ft lbs

Put another way, the energy of the 140 gr was 76% of the energy of the 180 gr.

Which makes sense since 140/180 = 77%.

[Ranch Dog]

Yeah that is quite a difference! I like shooting heavy bullets in my 9mm Luger because in my training I'm going to end up shooting steel targets against a shooter with a 40 S&W or 45 Auto. My choice allows me the energies necessary to drop the steel without the wrist fatigue of the other two (1K rounds over 2 1/2 days). When I did my MN CC shooting the fellow certifying me commented on how quiet my 9mm was and asked if they were reloads. They were just the standard 147-grain 9mm Luger factory ammo (Federal).

In that the heavy 9mm stuff is also subsonic, the "ear wear" isn't near as bad either. I'd rather stand where I have two 45 Auto shooters on each side of me than a 9mm Luger or 40 S&W in their hands. The crack of the latter two (9mm using 115-grain bullets) gets to you after awhile.