Tale of Two 40's

[ligonierbill]

That is, they share a .40 bore size, though the old one is nominally a "41" (Long Colt, that is). Odd comparison, but I've been working up some .41 LC loads for a 6" Army Special. The old commercial ammo I have runs about 650 with a 200 gr lead flat nose. My research indicates the original went about 740, and supposedly Elmer Keith got 880 out of one. Of course, Elmer was know to test to failure, but he certainly liked that round. FWIW, I'm targeting 750 in my workup.

Compare that to the current .40 S&W. I don't load 200's for my Glock, but I have seen many loads in the 850-900 range, with one boutique maker advertising 1,050. What's interesting to me is that Elmer considered the .41 LC a good fight stopper. I think he would be all over the new fangled .40. It certainly compares well to the old thumper with 200's.

 

[Ruger45LC]

Yeap it sure does, with Power Pistol I can easily (and read: safely) launch a 200gr JHP to 1050 fps from my 4" Glock 23, very accurate and consistent too. You can eek even more out of it if you're using hardcast lead, easily over 1,100 fps (DoubleTaps 200gr WFNGC is rated at 1100 fps from a 4.5").

 

[sig1]

Yeap it sure does, with Power Pistol I can easily (and read: safely) launch a 200gr JHP to 1050 fps from my 4" Glock 23, very accurate and consistent too. You can eek even more out of it if you're using hardcast lead, easily over 1,100 fps (DoubleTaps 200gr WFNGC is rated at 1100 fps from a 4.5").

That is some serious thumpage right there!

 

[Ruger45LC]

Yeap it makes me wonder why 200gr .40 has never been very popular, it's got potential to be a great choice.

If I'm not mistaken one of the original Norma 10mm loads was a 200gr rated for 1200fps from a 5" bbl, so the .40 isn't exactly a slouch considering it's within about 100 fps of that from a shorter 4" bbl, plus the Norma loads were notorious for not living up to advertised velocities in the 10mm.

 

[SauerGrapes]

That's got to be some serious recoil in a .40. I've loaded 180's to 1020. That's enough for me.....lol.

 

[medic15al]

Even closer was the 38-40 (38 WCF). A .401 size 180 grn. bullet at 950 FPS in the original BP load specs.