Smith and Wesson SD40VE Fully supported chamber?

[Malachi]

Ok, I have a Smith & Wesson SD40VE (great gun by the way). I'm looking at some Buffalo Bore and Double Tap ammo for it that is a bit higher pressure than standard loads.

Now, both of these manufacturers state that if the gun does not fully support the cartridge in the chamber then don't use their ammo. But, how do I know if mine does or not?

Does anyone know if the SD40VE fully supports the cartridge in the chamber? Or, can someone tell me how to tell? I called Smith and Wesson, and they just said that it supports it better than most. Huh? Is that a no then?

Anyone?

 

[Almost_Blameless]

here's a url... it leads to a S&W site, where someone is complaining about bulged casings even though the SD40VE claims to have a fully supported chamber..... I read through the responses some.... it looks like the chamber IS fully supported.... at least according to whats on these threads...

New sd40ve owner, hope it's a good move


Also, just noticed that the manual say that you CAN use +P ammo (I read the 9mm manual) but NOT +P+ ammo.... so whoever manufactures it, +p is useable (with the understanding that it WILL wear your pistol faster than normal pressure rounds) & stay away from +P+

try typing "Smith & Wesson SD40VE chamber problems" into google, and you may be surprized at the number of responses....usually having to do with bulged casings, and failure to fully return to battery after the gun is fired...

good luck

 

[Malachi]

Thanks for the reply.

I spoke with someone at Double Tap and he said that on the Glocks, the feed ramp is where the case is not fully supported due to the feed ramp going too far into the chamber. I took my barrel out of my SD40VE and dropped a round into it and can see that my feed ramp goes just about a mm past the part of the casing where the ejector grabs it. I wonder if that is what he means...

But, the fellow at Double Tap also said that all of their ammo is within Saami (or whatever it's called).specs, nothing over saami. So, I should be fine, huh?

Hate to ruin my pistol though.

 

[Almost_Blameless]

I think that it sounds like there's a trade-off in a ramp configuration that ensures feed vs totally entraps the case at the rim. Never really thought of it until you posted this, and I subsequently read about it.... BUT, your pistol is probably safe to use, however, the cases will probably have the slight bulge down there.

That may be a problem if you planned to reload, although I would think that a whole lot of people out there do reload, and simple re-size their cases during the process and successfully keep shooting.

You might want to find someone else who re-loads 40's (if you don't, or have no success) and give them a few of your spent cases to try to re-load and see if the re-loads shoot well... if it works out, get some guidance as to what method/gear they use.

As long as you use 'normal' ammo, my guess is there shouldn't be any harm to your pistol.