last range session before neck surgery

I’ve only got a few things to test, but they all have respectable recoil so this is it until the (3) natural and (1) prosthetic cervical vertebrae are sufficiently fused together. I’d feel foolish if my head fell off in public.

.40 S&W 135gr Nosler JHP

The starting load on these with Longshot is calculated to be 1,431fps out of the 5” barrel for 614 ft-lbs of energy. Not going for max on these; I’ll be pushing them just under 1,500fps for ~665 FPE. This is solidly in 4” .357 mag territory although with a lower sectional density. If I understand the math correctly a 125gr .357 bullet has an SD of ~0.140 and the 135gr .40 bullet is 0.121. 155gr in .40 is the closest match at 0.138.

But the .357 mag stuff is a red herring. The 135gr bullets are a cheap way to get the idea of a .357 SIG barrel out of my system. XD .357 SIG barrels are $$$ on the used/aftermarket, almost as much as a used .40 S&W Glock trade in for which barrels are much cheaper and more abundant. I really do like the XD but folks wanting conversion barrels might be better off with Glock.

.308 150gr Hornady SST

Baby brothers to the 8x57mm Mauser 170gr SST loads I made for the old Turk.

Both these and the FMJs below are loaded to middling spec, with FPE in the 2,600s with the 22” barrel. The Savage Axis weighs less than 7.5lbs so the felt recoil is noticeable, at least to me.

.308 150gr FMJ pulls

For when you need to “break on through to the other side” as Jim Morrison or someone like that said.