Reloads in a glock

[Dr_Mitch]

I shot a few hundred rounds of cast lead reloads out of my G17 with no issues. I won't do it again simply because dealing with lead is a nightmare for those who expect to live to 100 without degenerating into crazy babbling simpletons that wear diapers and are a burden to their families and society.

 

[gsarg]

I've shot thousands of reloads through my G34 with factory barrel. Stick with a jacketed bullet, keep the round in spec, and you will probably be okay. However, I would probably def get an aftermarket bbl if shooting reloads through a .40 Glock, but that's just me.

 

[waltham41]

Ive used plated bullets to reload for my G34. I look the cases over before reloading, and dont push the pressures up. No problems Im glad to say,.

 

[okkaps]

I stay away from lead bullets more now because of the fowling in the factory barrel and it's a biznitch to get clean... not to mention lead bullets were once really cheap to buy and it was a price thing. I've shot thousands of reloads with both lead and jacketed through glocks and my other pistols over the years with no problems at all. Just clean them as you should after each use.

 

[aestus]

Glocks and other brands that use polygonal rifling are not lead friendly. Because of the way the rifling works, you get way more lead fowling in the barrel, causing higher pressure and eventually a Kaboom.

As for reloads, as long as you're reloading jacketed rounds and stay in normal specs, your fine. I've shot tons of reloads in Glock 23's / 27's and they're fine. If you're wanting to use lead, then buy an aftermarket barrel. If you shoot jacketed, then the stock barrel is fine.

 

[alank2]

Hi,

40s&w is a little more unforgiving than other cartridges because its case is already at the limit of what it can tolerate. You can load for it just fine, but be reasonable. Inspect the brass very carefully and load moderate loads that don't push the envelope. If it were me, I'd just order some nice and new 40s&w brass from www.starlinebrass.com - 1K shipped NEW $129.50. Then you can load them moderately and you know the history of them.

Good luck,

Alan

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

The reality is as follows, in my understanding and belief:

1. All pistols have a partially unsupported chamber at the 6 o'clock position at the case web, to varying degrees. However, Glocks have much more than some other pistols; they're towards the far end of the spectrum, of "more unsupported". Evidently, the pistol's design requires this to obtain the degree of reliability that the market demands (which admittedly is a high level of reliability in Glocks, as we all know - just like every other modern high- and mid-quality pistol).

2. .40 S&W is a high-pressure round, like 9mm - But, being crammed into existing 9mm platforms, with a larger diameter case, there is less "meat" / metal around the chamber, and sometimes in the frames, to support that pressure. So it's already a borderline round, pushed up against the edge of the safey margin, in most all of the platforms it's offered in. Not unsafe mind you - but pushing the envelope.

3. Factors #1 and #2 taken together, leave almost no wiggle room for reloading errors, for those pistols toward the "more unsupported end of the spectrum".

4. Of course, polygonal rifling exacerbates the pressure spike with lead buildup, so you're definitely doing the right thing getting an aftermarket for cast bullets. BUT, that still doesn't eliminate #1 - #3 - *depending upon* how unsupported the aftermarket 6-o'clock position is. Likely the aftermarket will NOT be *as* unsupported as factory Glock. But it will still be more unsupported than say, a Springfield XD factory barrel - this is simply due to the relatively poor design of the Glock (*cough* - notice a pattern?) which requires the "more unsupported" chamber to create the same reliability found in competitors with "less unsupported" 6 oclocks.

5. No matter how careful you are, reloading mistakes can and DO happen - we are human.

6. Most reloading errors that result in catastrophic failures are NOT simple overcharges, but actually double charges of a low-volumetric powder that you think the case is not charged but it is, and you pull the lever again on the whole block. Point is, you cannot eliminate this potential source of catastrophy simply by limiting your loads to well short of max. In fact, if anything, using smaller loads can make this chance of happening even *greater*, if you don't notice that the small charge is already in the case, you take a break and come back, and then charge them again - if they don't get so full that it prevents bullet seating, you may not notice that they're 'too full'. Only good lighting and careful attention to detail can do this (or I suppose always using high-volumetric powders).

All this taken together means that it's probably prudent to not ever try your own reloads at all in any Glock, period, unless one or both of these factors are present: (a) you are uber-meticulous in your reloading system/habits, or/and (b) Close examination of your after-market Glock barrel (bar-sto, etc) reveals an nearly-fully supported chamber - but then good luck trying to get it to run flawlessly.

But the same can be said for OTHER pistols with similarly "more unsupported" chambers in .40 S&W.

Just my two cents.

http://www.thegunzone.com/glock/glock-kb-faq.html

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...page=1&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=54&ty=45

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...asAO0pfGEDw&page=1&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0

Sidebar - at H&H, they have for sale one of the Glocks that are cut up to show the inner workings of the pistol. We had a good laugh yesterday that this was one of the many Kb'ed Glocks for sale - well, it was funnier in person.

 

[impalaSS]

Looks like everyone has a different opinon on this subject some people are shooting lead through factory barrels and some are shooting reloads through factory barrels. I have already purchased 1K rounds of 40 lead from Mitch at J&K before I knew of the problem. So I am going to go ahead with the bar-sto barrel. As Dr. Tad Winslow said it is easier to double charge a light load which is what I like to shoot at the range. so I am going to purchase a RCBS lockout Die and mount it on my LNL progressive press. Honestly for me saftey is number one, I go out to the range to have fun not KB's. Thanks for all the feedback guys.

 

[alank2]

Hi ImpalaSS,

I agree that safety is the most important aspect. That is why I came up with the product in my signature, it watches press actions and makes sure you don't short stroke the press, etc. With 40s&w, I think brass inspection is the most important thing to do. Many people don't do it though because inspecting brass is a tedious job. A reasonable load and a non-polygonal barrel fro lead are also up there in safety importance. One more thing I'm not sure has been mentioned is that in taper crimp cartridges like the 40s&w, setback protection is provided by the first step - properly resizing a case. The case neck tension set their is what holds a bullet in place and the final step of "crimping" (taper crimping) is just to remove the belled case top.

Good luck,

Alan

 

[aeropb]

Funny you guys are having such devastating leading problems. Is it just me or have any of you actually shot hard cast lead through a factory Glock? At standard pistol velocities, if you shoot a lead bullet that is sufficiently hard like Mitch's hard cast bullets, you will have no such issues. We've shot tens of thousands of rounds, going 1,500-2,000 rounds in between cleanings with our factory Glock barrels without ever running into the problem you guys encountered.