Anyone running .40 LSWC bullets in their 1911 or 2011?

Just curious if anyone is running .40 S&W LSWC bullets in their 1911 or 2011 pistols? If so, are you having any feeding issues since the round is so short (typically 1.080" - 1.100"? I thought I had read a while back where the .40 cartridge is the least desirable round in the 1911 / 2011 platform.

I like the .40 in my Kimber Gold Match II. I worked a long time finding the "right" load for it and had the best groups with 4.7 gr of titegroup behind a 180 gr L-TC. The truncated cone is a good fit.It chambers flawlessly and makes a hole like a wad cutter. This is a reduced load but not by very much. If I try to reduce it much more the pistol gets into FTF problems and the group size gets bigger. The .40 is a lot of fun to shoot and will shoot good scores but don't expect it to have any less recoil then the .45. I have a slide mounted dot so you could probably reduce the load more if you shoot steel.

Len

Some guys in our club have built .40 wadguns.  I think they're loading a cast 175gr semiwadcutter with 3.0gr Bullseye.  Seems to work well indoors, but no one shoots them at 50 yards.

I have found that 145-155gn L-SWCs are the most accurate in my three .40s.
The 175gn L-SWCs are also very good, but just quite as consistently accurate over a range of powders and charge weights as the lighter bullets.

How far is shoulder of bullet seated out from the case mouth?  Looks like it would engrave the rifling. I have a .40 I'm building and need to figure out what bullets to run in it. 
Jon

Hi Jon,

Looking at the picture above mine, his bullet looks more like a TC then a SWC. I load my TC .40 to a C.O.L. of 1.120 and they cycle flawlessly. His bullets look like they should be very similar. I also included a picture of a .45 SWC to compare bullet shapes. I also had to throw in a picture of the .40 and a target I shot with it. Should have loaded all the rounds in one magazine looking at the two groups.

close up

Nope, pure SWC with a good shoulder to cleanly cut paper--sorry if the picture isn't that good.
Bullets were from National Bullet Company from about 8 years ago.
COL depends on many things. I loaded out so bullet just touches the lede/leade/rifling. That was where it was most accurate.
Here a target using these bullets.

I notice that there is no picture. The system seems to not be working like normal. It took me almost 2 hours to figure out how to post my pictures. After you click "host" and wait about 20 seconds for the 3 lines to show up there is no spot to click on the middle line. Just go to the middle line and even though there is nothing to click on,right click and then click on the one that says something like download all. You can now host it by hitting paste like normal.

Newbie question here. Wouldn't the point of going to a .40 be to shoot a lighter bullet that will generate less recoil with nearly the bullet diameter of a .45?  Im giving some thought to a .40 cal 1911 myself. I see a couple interesting 145 SWCs out there that I was thinking would be just the ticket.

I shoot it because I have it and they are fun to shoot. However the .40 has a very sharp recoil. I think a .45 is easier to shoot. And easier to get reduced loads to work. IMHO

Len

However, Having said that I haven't had much luck with reducing recoil in lead bullets I have had very good results with more expensive bullets. The Nosler JHP in 135 gr is extremely accurate when loaded fast. I have had the best luck with 7.4 gr Of Power Pistol and/or 6.1 gr of Win 231. These loads are fast,accurate and have much less recoil. I even went to those loads in my M&P Shield (for recoil).

Thaks for the instructions on posting a picture. Still can't get it to work and it just isn't that important.
The old NBC 155gn SWC:
All groups are at 25 yards, so they aren't as meaningful as at 50 yards. For SWC, I found a COL of 1.176-1.208" works best in my guns.
6.5-8.0gn of AA5. This was the single most accurate powder over all bullet weights, bullet styles, and charge weights tested. 6.8gn gave me groups of 1.25", 1.81", 1.94", 0.91" 1.44", 0.91", 1.31", 1.56", 1.66", 1.84", 1.08", 1.19" and 0.66".
Silhouette was the next best powder from 4.7-6.9gn, with 5.7gn giving me groups of 1.50' and 1.63"
4.6-5.3 gn of 231/HP38—most 25 yard groups under 2". Most consistently accurate was 4.9gn for groups of 1.50", 1.69", 1.72", 1.75", 1.75", and 2.91".
The Penn 155gn L-SWC was accurate with AA5, HS7, and Silhouette. 
Did not shoot a lot of Silhouette loads (didn't order that many bullets), but 5.5gn produced 1.82".
6.0gn produced 0.94", 6.5gn produced 1.05". 6.8gn produced 1.56" and 1.75", 7.0gn produced 0.78" and 7.5gn produced 0.90". This is, obviously, not enough statistical data to select a charge weight, but it does show indications of very consistent accuracy.
If I get around to it, I have mastercastbullets.com and BootHeel Bullets 155gn L-SWCs to test (and I should get more Penn Bullets).
I did not get a single load with TiteGroup that was less then 3" (unless I threw out uncalled 
fliers") and most were over 3.5". I have not found TG to be accurate with lead bullets--coated or not.

noylj,
  I forgot to mention a step. After you right click on the middle line and click on "select all" you have to go back to the middle line which is blue now then right click again and select "copy". Now you can post it.

Thanks. I have saved your instructions.
One could wish for an easier method and being able to post larger images.

It's just one of the downsides of the free forum software.  Once you get the hang of it, it's works very well for photos of all sizes.

Have you hosted a picture lately Rob? It is not working the way it was a couple of weeks ago.

Works the same as it always has for me.  Are you using the icon that looks like a polaroid picture and a floppy disk?

Everything is just like always except after I browse and hit host, after I wait about 20 sec for the 3 lines to appear there is no box to click on at the end of the middle line. Nothing there at all. I had to experiment and found by right clicking on the middle line even though there was nothing to click on I could then click on select all and middle line would turn blue and now I can right click and copy.There used to be a box there that said copy. I don't know what others are seeing but that is what I get

noylj wrote:
I did not get a single load with TiteGroup that was less then 3" (unless I threw out uncalled 
fliers") and most were over 3.5". I have not found TG to be accurate with lead bullets--coated or not.

Powder is hard to find around here but I have been loading 145 LSWC over 4.1 grains of Titegroup with decent results. I have read online that its too hot or fast for lead bullets but that is what I have so I use it. That load gives me a consistent 1025 FPS with no leading or fouling in my barrel. I would love to find some slower powder to experiment with. Been looking for months for Autocomp since I am shooting these loads through a comped barrel.