M4Gunner

well, i dont know what you know about twist rates in relation to bullet weight, so dont be offended if this sounds basic. the slower the twist, the lighter the bullet. Im not sure of the factory twist rate, but I saw an after market that was a 1:20, which is very slow. (probably favoring 155s) I wouldnt think thats what the factory barrel is, but im not sure. (maybe someone can help with that info) so, with that said, dont forget the 165s.. it may be a case of 'middle of the road works the best'. I was spitting 180s today, and it was putting holes in holes.. and it was my first time shooting the gun! pretty sad when you do a trigger job before you actually fire the gun! lol

G56

I really haven't been experimenting with different bullet weights, I've been loading Berry's 40 cal 165 gr FP bullets with good results, but like I said I haven't tried the other bullet weights.

x10

Ok I have always shot SWC in my 1911 45's and from the old school that SWC's were going to give you the best accuracy, (I know they cut the best hole)

Anybody done enough testing to figure out if Round nose are better than something with a big flat bearing surface like a Semi Wad Cutter

TOF

I found 165's to be the most accurate for me when using an M&P40. I put many thousand 165, 180 and 200's downrange with it.

Center Mass

So far I have only put 180's through my M&P FS. I have had very good accuracy with that load. I have tried the lighter stuff in my HK USP and Sig P226R and their were accurate also but I noticed more recoil.

Freedom40

Had a friend give me a 500 round box of 200 gr .40 lead bullets meant for his 1911 in said caliber. Loaded all up and they shoot great. Pack quite a punch too, steel plates seem to disapear.

KRWeiss

If you're looking for accuraccy you should be looking at bullet composition rather than obsessing over bullet weight. For absolute accuracy a jacketed bullet doesn't have a chance against a good lead bullet, which is why bullseye shooters invariably load lead bullets.

JeffWard

And Berrys coated have a bad rep for inconsistency. Plated bullets are the LEAST consistent of bullet designs from bullet to bullet. Cast lead bullets lock right in and seal tightly to the lands and grooves for the best accuracy. Jacketed bullets are a close second, with consistent jacket thickness from batch to batch and bullet to bullet. Jacket Hollowpoints are a bit more accurate than full metal jackets. The center of gravity of the bullet sits more to the rear, which somehow allows them to wobble less. LONGER bullets (therefore heavier) have more bearing surface to catch the rifling, and spin more consistently...

Therefore, the majority of bullseye shooters shoot heavy, cast-lead wad-cutters. The best USPSA shooters shoot hollow-point 185-200gr bullets, since they need the feeding consistency of a jacketed bullet.

I'd suggest a semi-wadcutter, 200gr, cast lead bullet as your place to start for ultimate 40 accuracy.

Of course, shooting lead... they'll smoke like hell if you use fast powders.

JeffWard

MauiWowwee

I was about to post a similar thread regarding this subject. When I first got my FS .40, I was shooting 165 gr bullets. Tried out a 100 rds of 180 gr and only noticed a slight recoil difference. My last trip to the range I was shooting a mix of 180 and 165 and I was more accurate with the 180 gr. I'm keeping in mind that I'm still a novice and my shooting skills are improving with each range trip.

JRWnTN

Don't own an M&P .40, but 180 gr. Winchester JHPs, with a modest powder charge, were accurate in other pistols.

Bongo Boy

While I have read several comments regarding certain brands of plated bullets having nasty inconsistency, so far my experience with Rainiers is that they are incredibly consistent in terms of weight and roundness, at least.

I can't say this makes them accurate or not--just saying I don't believe all plated bullets are the same. I have not compared them myself to other brands, I have only measured the Rainiers.

I have not seen any published data on the twist rates for any M&P barrels, but that would be interesting data to have.

So far, a load I have found noticeably more accurate than any others I've tried is the 180 gr TC (Lee mold) sittin' on a goodly charge of Nitro 100 (looks like I went all over the map but 4.0 gr seems to be the sweet spot). This load 'feels' good in the 5" Pro, in the sense it has a nice recoil, good recovery and gives me confidence it's going to cycle the weapon. Unfortunately, while I kept fairly good records of the MVs and SDs, I cannot find any notes indicating "Wow" or "Holy smokes!" for any accuracy impressions with 40SW. I'd say of the 100 different things I've loaded for 40SW, accuracy goes from poor to okay. For the level of action shooting I do and for personal protection, it's good enough.

Lots of folks experience heavy smoke with lead bullets but I only experience this with some of the Accurate powders (No 2 and No 5 I believe), and Clays. Using a hard lube (Jake's Purple Ceresin) and Nitro 100 or Solo 1000, I don't see a smoke problem at all. I haven't verified this, but I really think the claims of smoke are due more to lubes than to the lead bullets themselves. Again, I haven't done the experiments to support this. There was a time when I didn't think Clays smoked, either, until I started blasting faster.