40 S&W reloads

gre24ene · Feb 9, 2021

When I first got into reloading almost 10 years I was shooting a lot of 40. And I loaded up a big batch approx 1200rds. Took them to the range and they were HOT. This was the same primer/powder recipe. I think the problem is that I put too heavy of a crimp on the case, which I believe make them hot. They blew the mag out the bottom of the gun. They have been locked in ammo cans since because I haven't wanted to deal with it.

I assume the only thing I can do is use the berry's hammer to knock the round out of the case, recycle the powder and throw away the projectiles. They are Berrys 160gn and they are dented so I assume they are trashed.

Them take the pin out of the sizing die and reload them.

I have heard of people removing the primers and re using them in another caliber. Is this easy and not dangerous?

Any other ideas?

guzma393 · Feb 10, 2021

You can pretty much re-use everything out of pulled rounds granted that you know the powder and the pulled components aren't chewed up.

As for the best course of action, put a bit of foam in the hammer to dampen the impact of the projectile such that it doesnt get damaged when pulled. Put the powder in a container and mark it accordingly. Resize the primed cases without the recapping pin and reload again as desired.

I haven't set off a live primer by decapping it, but always use caution when doing so as the primer is sensitized and activated from being seated in the case. Once decapped, it can be carefully reinstalled and resused provided that it fits the primer pocket properly.

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cstone · Feb 10, 2021

You could try selling them as components, but be certain to explain to any potential buyers exactly what they are purchasing.

Have you tried them in any other firearms chambered for .40 S&W?

If I were going to disassemble them, I would use a Grip-N-Pull to salvage the bullets, and then dump the powder into a container marked with the powder. You could then consider partially resizing the cases with the decapping pin removed and reload a bit lighter on your powder chcarge.

U.S.SFC_RET · Feb 10, 2021

I haven't set off a live primer by decapping it, but always use caution when doing so as the primer is sensitized and activated from being seated in the case. Once decapped, it can be carefully reinstalled and resused provided that it fits the primer pocket properly.

When decapping a live primer wear safety glasses and go slow you should not have a problem. Where I made the mistake was I decapped that one too fast and it went off.

Steve268 · Feb 10, 2021

I would sell those components to me so I can take them apart!

outrider58 · Feb 10, 2021

Maybe I missed something. Why not keep the primers in and reload as is?
I think I might know the answer. Dillon 650?

Magnumite · Feb 10, 2021

^^. This.

Was this a case rupture, on the section of the case oriented toward the magazine? High pressure does that. Too heavy a crimp won’t do that unless the case mouth is being pushed past the chamber shoulder. You are using plated bullets? If so, they are slick and they make be set back on feeding, creating even higher pressure conditions.

Which brings us to question 2 - is this an earlier Glock 40? They were notorious for “Glock Kabooms”. Too much unsupported case. Witnessed two myself both with standard pressure factory fodder. Glock warrantied both.

gre24ene · Feb 10, 2021

Magnumite said:
^^. This. Also is this an earlier Glock 40? They were notorious for “Glock Kabooms”. Witnessed two myself both with standard pressure factory fodder.

Its a Walther PPQ M1

Pinecone · Feb 10, 2021

guzma393 said:
I haven't set off a live primer by decapping it, but always use caution when doing so as the primer is sensitized and activated from being seated in the case. Once decapped, it can be carefully reinstalled and resused provided that it fits the primer pocket properly.

How is the primer "sensitized" and "activated"????????

Pinecone · Feb 10, 2021

outrider58 said:
Maybe I missed something. Why not keep the primers in and reload as is?
I think I might know the answer. Dillon 650?

Maybe he is not shooting much .40 and would rather use the primers in 9mm

What is wrong with a 650? You can still remove the decapping pin and run them. Just don't have any primers in the feeder.

GunBum · Feb 10, 2021

Pinecone said:
How is the primer "sensitized" and "activated"????????

The common misunderstanding is that the anvil is seated deeper in the primer cup when the primer is seated in the case. :sad20:

alucard0822 · Feb 10, 2021

First, a heavy crimp can help get more ignition consistency, but it takes a LOT more for force to push that bullet into the bore than it does to slide it past the crimp. You can crimp the bullet tight as you want, generally doesn't affect pressure to that degree. If the mag came out due to pressure in the breech, you are extremely lucky if the pistol wasn't damaged and you weren't injured. If the primer wasn't puntured/blown out, the case head wasn't flattened or blown, and the mag was knocked out, then you probably have another issue with the pistol. It's not uncommon to bump the mag release under recoil with a low grip and hot (although perfectly in-spec)ammo. Post the original load, some 40S&W loads are stupid hot, although within safe pressure, the caliber is more versatile than most give it credit for, ( I load 135gr to 1400FPS+ and 180s under 900FPS), although Berrys only makes 155 and 165gr 40 bullets, no 160s currently, so not sure what you used.

Pull a bullet or two to check the actual powder used, and the bullet weight they can be mismarked, if you had an issue with a powder measure dumping too much, bad or misread data or a double charge, then you indeed will need to dump the powder and start over. For that many, it will take you forever with a kinetic puller, if a collet puller will fit that bullet shape(not a deep-seated truncated cone), then I would STRONGLY suggest going that route. Pull the bullet, size without the pin, then flare, charge, seat and crimp as normal. Watch for powder sticking in the case when dumped, sometimes happens with pulled ammo, and can cause overcharge/overpressure. IMO unless you crimped hard enough to split the plating, I would reuse the bullets for plinking, it's basically a home-made cannelure, and shouldn't affect anything, especially if you crimp in the same place.

guzma393 · Feb 10, 2021

Pinecone said:
How is the primer "sensitized" and "activated"????????

Depending on the degree of seating depth (in this case, bottoming out the primer to the primer pocket), the anvil is further pushed down along the primer cup and compresses the primer compound, making the primer more impact sensitive.

The primer is therefore "activated" as it will maintain that shape.

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gre24ene · Feb 10, 2021

Alucard

Thanks for the reply:

So the projectiles are Berrys 165gn and Everglades 165gn FMJ.

A little background

When we were moving a while ago, my wife "helped" consolidate my ammo cans to save space, and mixed up different batches.

Some of the Berrys were loaded with Unique, and some with Bullseye.

The everglades FMJ were loaded Bullseye or Power Pistol, I can't remember at this point.

The few I just pulled are as follows:

No obvious deformation to bullet or plating
Berrys 165gn
COAL 1.120
5.5gn of unique

No obvious deformation to bullet jacket
Everglades 165gn FMJ
COAL 1.120
5.4- 5.5gn of either Bullseye or PP (can't tell the difference, and don't remember)

Lyman 49th says I'm .1gn over max for Bullseye, but .8 under for PP

As far as 'bumping the mag release, I don't think that is the issue because on the PPQ the mag release is integrated into the trigger guard.

At this point I think I'm just going to pull everything and start over.

These were loaded when I first got into reloading and have just kept them under the bench quietly forgotten. And I don't really shoot 40 anymore.

It looks like 800-1200 if I had to guess. gonna be a lot of hammering going on

alucard0822 · Feb 10, 2021

gre24ene said:
Alucard

Thanks for the reply:

So the projectiles are Berrys 165gn and Everglades 165gn FMJ.

A little background

When we were moving a while ago, my wife "helped" consolidate my ammo cans to save space, and mixed up different batches.

Some of the Berrys were loaded with Unique, and some with Bullseye.

The everglades FMJ were loaded Bullseye or Power Pistol, I can't remember at this point.

The few I just pulled are as follows:

No obvious deformation to bullet or plating
Berrys 165gn
COAL 1.120
5.5gn of unique

No obvious deformation to bullet jacket
Everglades 165gn FMJ
COAL 1.120
5.4- 5.5gn of either Bullseye or PP (can't tell the difference, and don't remember)

Lyman 49th says I'm .1gn over max for Bullseye, but .8 under for PP

As far as 'bumping the mag release, I don't think that is the issue because on the PPQ the mag release is integrated into the trigger guard.

At this point I think I'm just going to pull everything and start over.

These were loaded when I first got into reloading and have just kept them under the bench quietly forgotten. And I don't really shoot 40 anymore.

It looks like 800-1200 if I had to guess. gonna be a lot of hammering going on

So you either have a really lightly loaded Unique or PP, or a pretty warm Bullseye load(5.5 is Lee's max for 170gr@33K PSI, so probably not overpressure). If the mag just fell out once, I might be inclined to shoot a few more, watching closely for pressure signs, and probably over a chrony. You can drop mags from Euro mag releases, happens to others occasionally with my USP45, as the trigger is pulled back with a loose/low grip, you can hit it with the side of your trigger finger, or if your support hand in a "thumbs forward" grip slips down and bumps it. Of course do what you feel comfortable with, and I've been there, pulling bullets because I didn't trust a load beats a blown up pistol and stitches.

Muleskinner · Feb 10, 2021

There is nothing dangerous about depriming live primers. I've done it hundreds of times and I've only ever detonated one. It doesn't blow the brass apart it doesn't blow the anvil out through the mouth of the case. The only thing that happens is you get a little bit of burning primer compound that comes out. If it hits your hands you might get a little burn mark. Nothing more. If you're worried about that wear gloves. I do suggest that you remove the live primers away from any other rounds or powder but other than that you have nothing to worry about. I suggest several small caps with the hammer rather than one large one.

Magnumite · Feb 10, 2021

GunBum said:
The common misunderstanding is that the anvil is seated deeper in the primer cup when the primer is seated in the case.

An older Speer manual discusses this, its true. Makes the primer burn event more uniform. This is referred to as crush. Done to an extreme it can also break the priming compound and cause misfire.

Pinecone · Feb 10, 2021

guzma393 said:
Depending on the degree of seating depth (in this case, bottoming out the primer to the primer pocket), the anvil is further pushed down along the primer cup and compresses the primer compound, making the primer more impact sensitive.

The primer is therefore "activated" as it will maintain that shape.

That is NOT "activating" the primer.

Look up the definition of activating.

Also, some primer designs, the anvil is already touching the priming compound pellet. So pushing it more, do not make it more sensitive either.

GunBum · Feb 10, 2021

Magnumite said:
An older Speer manual discusses this, its true. Makes the primer burn event more uniform. This is referred to as crush. Done to an extreme it can also break the priming compound and cause misfire.

You can’t seat the anvil into the primer cup any deeper than the anvil being even with the edge of the primer cup without crushing the primer cup. It’s physically impossible. It doesn’t matter what an old reloading manual tells you.

Magnumite · Feb 10, 2021

GunBum said:
You can’t seat the anvil into the primer cup any deeper than the anvil being even with the edge of the primer cup without crushing the primer cup. It’s physically impossible. It doesn’t matter what an old reloading manual tells you.

You should go to work for them. Tell them they have it wrong.

40 S&W reloads

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