If you are looking for .40 Caliber bullets, don't forget looking at the .41 offerings. They can be easily sized down. You can find .41 caliber lead cast bullets in a wider range of weights and styles. Weight begin about 150 grain, but standards are in the 210 gr. weight, and the heaviest are long bullets that weigh upwards of 280 grains.
Again, any cast bullet can be sized down a few thousandths of an inch. There really is no good reason for there to be a .40 S&W cartridge. Before it came into being, duplicating exactly the ballistics of the old .38-40 cartridge, but in a smaller, straight walled casing, we had both the rimmed .41 Magnum cartridge, and the Israeli born, .41 A&E, which came with a rebated rim that could be married to a 9mm bolt and ejector in a semi auto pistol. The S&W cartridge was simply a shortened version of the 10 mm cartridge that Col. Jeff Cooper pushed, in hopes of finding a Millimeter marked " Magnum " pistol cartridge that both police and military would adopt. The Colonel had been seduced into the European MM system with visits to the Continent as he tried to get his idea for the perfect pistol and subsequent rifle cartridges made.If we really wanted an improved .38-40 cartidge for a pistol, the .41 A&E would have done just fine. If we wanted a good cartridge that worked in the 1000fps range in .41, all we had to do was shorten the .41 Magnum casing to the same length as the .38 Spl., and .44 spl. casings, and come out with a commercial .41 spl. cartridge. For speed loading DA revolvers, the .41 A&E round with its 9mm rim, would have made it easy to produce a full moon clip to facilitate loading and unloading. The .41 would do in medium framed revolvers, and pistols, what the .44 spl, and the .45 ACP do in the larger framed revolvers and pistols.
For the purpose of having a conical bullet that can be shot in a .40 caliber barrel with a fast twist, You can find molds that cast a 265 grain round nose bullet that will work fine in a barrel with a ROT of about 1:22. Its been done.
