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I know some guys who will taper crimp their cast bullet .45 ACP ammo to the point that there is none of the case mouth standing proud of the bullet. So they are either headspacing on the bullet, which is not according to Hoyle but will work and with a cast bullet does not jump pressure, or they are headspacing on the extractor.
It might be useful to check if you have a Glock 20, to see if your own specimen will fire .40 S&W or not. Although having an extra barrel and spring strike me as the right way to go about it.
When I started reloading in my early teens, my .45 acp die set had a roll crimp/seater. It’s all I had, and it worked fine. I was a bit concerned because it just wasn’t “right.” Then I read an American Handgunner article by Steve Nastoff, where he was addressing whether cartridge case length was critical in the .45 acp. His conclusion was that it wasn’t, as it headspaces on the extractor if the length is incorrect, or with too much taper crimp, or a roll crimp. Never worried about it again, and when I got a Dillon Square Deal, it was no longer an issue.
When I started reloading in my early teens, my .45 acp die set had a roll crimp/seater. It’s all I had, and it worked fine. I was a bit concerned because it just wasn’t “right.” Then I read an American Handgunner article by Steve Nastoff, where he was addressing whether cartridge case length was critical in the .45 acp. His conclusion was that it wasn’t, as it headspaces on the extractor if the length is incorrect, or with too much taper crimp, or a roll crimp. Never worried about it again, and when I got a Dillon Square Deal, it was no longer an issue.
When I started reloading in my early teens, my .45 acp die set had a roll crimp/seater. It’s all I had, and it worked fine. I was a bit concerned because it just wasn’t “right.” Then I read an American Handgunner article by Steve Nastoff, where he was addressing whether cartridge case length was critical in the .45 acp. His conclusion was that it wasn’t, as it headspaces on the extractor if the length is incorrect, or with too much taper crimp, or a roll crimp. Never worried about it again, and when I got a Dillon Square Deal, it was no longer an issue.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TaxPhd
“Plonk”? Is that a West Virginia thing? In God’s country, we do the “plunk” test like civilized humans.
I do the same, with every round of ammo that’s destined to be shot in competition.
I know it’s wrong but I’ve always said it that way, lol.
When I started reloading in my early teens, my .45 acp die set had a roll crimp/seater. It’s all I had, and it worked fine. I was a bit concerned because it just wasn’t “right.” Then I read an American Handgunner article by Steve Nastoff, where he was addressing whether cartridge case length was critical in the .45 acp. His conclusion was that it wasn’t, as it headspaces on the extractor if the length is incorrect, or with too much taper crimp, or a roll crimp. Never worried about it again, and when I got a Dillon Square Deal, it was no longer an issue.
Well I load the .45 ACP mostly on a Dillon 450 (which I guess is vintage now). I generally don't crimp at all, just lightly touch the crimping surface to remove the Lyman "M" die flare on the case mouth.
On any straight sided automatic pistol round, you want to make damn sure you are sizing the case enough that the bullet won't push back on feeding. Or from recoil, or any other reason that I'm not thinking about now but is still out there ready to bite your butt...not a bad idea to load 2 rounds and fire only the top one, check length on the one that fed but you didn't fire it, rinse and repeat a few times.
I use a cast bullet exclusively in the .45 ACP, and they run big enough in diameter that I have not had any push-back issues.
Well I load the .45 ACP mostly on a Dillon 450 (which I guess is vintage now). I generally don't crimp at all, just lightly touch the crimping surface to remove the Lyman "M" die flare on the case mouth.
Vintage reloader for a vintage dude.
In the early '80's, I was a teenager, lusting after a 450. Then the 550 was introduced, and my lust went into overdrive. I ended up with an original Square Deal in 1987, and a 650 in 1997. Low production run ammo is made on either a Rock-Chucker or a Lee turret press.
Vintage reloader for a vintage dude.
In the early '80's, I was a teenager, lusting after a 450. Then the 550 was introduced, and my lust went into overdrive. I ended up with an original Square Deal in 1987, and a 650 in 1997. Low production run ammo is made on either a Rock-Chucker or a Lee turret press.
We certainly think alike. I have a Lee Turret and I can certainly get it into production in a new caliber much faster than the Dillon, and if I can get around to getting some spare turret rotors for it, it will be even faster. I generally have one or another powder measure on the bench next to the Lee, and I use a Lee hand prime tool as well. While it's possible to put a powder measure on the Lee, and it has priming provisions, I have always preferred that Lee hand primer to priming on the press. The Dillon is the only press that I prime on. Now, that's just me, if priming on your press suits you, have at it.
The Lee is obviously built to a price, and is not as cool looking as the Dillon, nor the Hollywood Turret also on the bench, but it's very effective and while I guess someone could wear one out, I have never heard of that happening. The turret head "floats" in its holder, so precision alignment of that holder and the ram is not necessary, it finds its own center.
It just so happens that all my centerfire presses are turrets, and the Dillon. That's not a philosophical position, just what I happened to end up with. I'm not into case forming or (jacketed) bullet swaging (although I remain interested in the latter, particularly in using empty .22 rimfire brass as jackets...) so the Hollywood is Herculean enough for anything I intend to do, including that old school trick of making .22 centerfire jacketed bullets from .22 rimfire empties.
I mostly load cast bullet plinking ammo, striving for a good accurate product but not doing all the things bench rest competitors do. I like to shoot offhand and from field positions (beware the Creedmoor with a handgun, it's quite possible to shoot yourself in the foot, literally...) since while an improvised rest can sometimes be done, sometimes there is no time or there is vegetation tall enough nearby that you take the shot from offhand or you don't take it. So I'm OK with charges dropped by ordinary volume powder measures. Maybe I'm better than average, but I'm no Olympic shooter or big match winner, so the very last thing in ammo won't do much for my offhand shooting. I know some guys like to use the new automatic dispensers that measure by weight (mass) and I will say if this gives you more confidence, go ahead and do it, and most guys doing this are using a single stage press so it's not costing you any time. Many guys are loading big magnums, using a "log" or IMR type powder, and some of these are challenging to get good consistent drops with in an ordinary powder measure. But I'm not aware of any serious benchrest competitors using these, they generally go with a ball powder and volumetric measure
Anyway the OP should consider at least the Lee turret press if he has a place to set it up. It will allow loading ammo for whatever 10mm he ends up with, and you can load it as hot as the book allows, or not that hot for practice. You can load whatever component bullets you can get your hands on, and/or you can get into casting your own bullets, from whatever alloy you can get your hands on, to specifically include "hard cast" from Linotype or similar alloys. For any straight wall handgun round, let me strongly suggest you go ahead and spring for carbide sizing dies, they save lube time and cleanup time, and you won't wear them out even in a long lifetime of competitive shooting.
Rented a Glock 40 tonight and thought it was fine. They wouldn't let me shoot hot loaded rounds but the stuff I was shooting didn't feel much different that the 9mm I previously shot out of a smaller gun.
My first Glock was a G27 .40 subcompact. Had it over 20 years now. It's still my primary carry gun although I'm in the process of figuring out what I want to switch to. Current leader is FN FNS-9, with Glock 19 running second. Sometimes I pocket carry a revolver or mouse gun instead of having a bigger one pulling down my belt. Just depends on clothes/mood.
My first Glock was a G27 .40 subcompact. Had it over 20 years now. It's still my primary carry gun although I'm in the process of figuring out what I want to switch to. Current leader is FN FNS-9, with Glock 19 running second. Sometimes I pocket carry a revolver or mouse gun instead of having a bigger one pulling down my belt. Just depends on clothes/mood.
Why do you want to replace the Glock?
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In God’s country, we do the “plunk” test like civilized humans. 
