Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 40 S&W.....WOW!

Does anyone have an opinion on HST's as far as a SD, EDC, CW carry bullet? I don't expect it to do well against hard barriers.

As do I with this 40 cal. bullet.

HST's are about as good as it gets for 200 lb varmints. 1200 might be a bit much though.

Run some about a thousand and deconstruct a porker to check for sure. 😽

10-4, Thanks SOTG, I just started doing research on them in another window?/tab? looks like they're thought to be a pretty solid bullet for carry purposes, would be nice to test them on a pig/deer or two, just saw some 200gr Gold Dots too.

I'll use these in my 40, can't beat em for the price, I didn't ask my old Bud where he got them so he didn't have to lie, he now shoots BuffaloBore hardcasts in a 10mm, said he's too damn old and tired to hand load anymore.

Yeah, the HST is my first choice for carry gun defensive use.

Thanks for that MOGC, I saw some expanded 9mm, 40 and 45 cal HST's from bullet tests, that's NOT going to buff out, dang nasty looking sob's.

Guess I have the question, if no one worries about a 180 coming out of a 10mm at 1200+ fps, why would someone worry about it coming out of a .40 S&W if it could be done so safely... Everyone calls this round the "Short&Weak" and suddenly when a great load comes up we start worrying about core separation...

Personally I perfer 155/165 grain bullets for PD in both calibers pushed as fast as they can go and 200-220s for hardcast heavies and skip right over the 180s...

Bob

How long is your barrel? You’re speed in only 54 FPS more than Hogdon’s.

Well let me see:

I couldn't find ANY ammo company loading 180's to 1200 fps in a 40.
I don't have pressure testing equipment.
Have heard a lot about 40 cal Kabooms...................I read caution there.
180's at 1025 in a 40 are not weak to me.
I didn't design that bullet, and saw nowhere it was ever loaded in a 10mm, so it must have been designed for 40 speeds.
Believe it or not, my 140gr Barnes carry loads at 1250 fps have more snap/recoil impulse than these 180gr loads, or the 200gr XTP's at 1040.
I cant skip these bullets, they were free, will find a good use for them.

Hope that helps.

Barrel on this P226 is 4.4"s, I still think the bullet will perform better around 1000 fps, no since shirt buttoning a bullet so it penetrates less, I learned that by shooting a Cape Buffalo in the chest at 30 yards with 30 to 1 alloy, came back home and brewed up my own alloy, went back and shot a bedded Eland bull in the right hip and got 8-9 feet of penetration, never had any interest is hyper speed lightweight bullet bombs, 'cept for varmints.

I've shot 6-7 deer with a 40 using 165 & 180 grain HSTs from G22s and 23s, including a couple that were supposedly injured but bolted for a busy 4 lane when I walked up on them. Those were bang flops with no finisher needed. I also saw full penetration from between the shoulders & out the chest, and across the shoulder shots with the bullet balled up under the skin on the opposite side. The 40 is a damn good pistol and these are about as good as it gets.

That said, I would not be running 180s at 1200+ from my guns.

...are you getting any pressure signs on the brass?

That's the kind of damn good info I've been looking for Sarge, Thank You, i'll take a guess and say your factory 180's were between 950 and 1000 fps too, I'll leave these at 1025 fps and be more than happy to have them.

No Sir, no over pressure signs, just a bit of firing pin swipe, but that pistol does that with any ammo, factory ball or hotter hand loads.

Brass from the chrono shots landed about two feet apart 12 feet off my right shoulder.

Did I miss it, or did someone ask already. What gun are using?

Sig P226 tac-ops 40 S&W.

I get it. Kinda like having a .38 Special load that throws 158 gr. bullets to 1200 fps. That might raise an eyebrow too. No problem from the .357 Magnum but the .38 just isn't supposed to do that.

Yessir, exactly, and then some, most 38 loads have a lot of working room as far as safe pressures, 40's, not so much, it starts at HOT and goes up. I quickly loaded a few more today between the crush, settled perfectly happy at 998 fps with those 180gr HST's, the big Sig shoots oh so soft that way, really liking that pistol the more I fool with it.

Just got off the phone with the Hornady Rep, he states 1000 fps will easily expand the 200gr XTP's, another option in the 40 for a really deep digger, 180 HST's at 998 for an easy effective defense carry load, 200gr XTP's at 1034 fps for pigs, deer, or most anything else up close.