Loading For a Glock

[steve4102]

I just purchased my first semi-auto handgun. It is a Glock 23 in 40 SW. As I know almost nothing about handguns I shopped around and listened to the guys behind the counter. I thought I dun good.

It has been many years since I purchased a box of factory ammo, I handload everything. My intention was to handload for this pistol as well. Now I find out that loading for a Glock isn't such a good idea. It may in fact be a very bad idea, I duno.

I have been told that if I handload for the Glock I need a aftermarket barrel, OK I ordered one. I have been told not to use lead bullets, OK, Not a problem I was going to load jacketed bullets anyway. I have been told that aftermarket barrels etc. will not help and handloads will still get me the KABOOM. Now what? Can I load for this damn thing or not? If so any tips or tricks to keep me safe?

[rn22723]

I would love to meet the people that sold you that gun.

You can darn well shoot lead thru and aftermarket bbl. What you have to do is be cautious with respect loading. Good habits will turn out fine ammo. The 40SW can be loaded just fine. The concerns are that you might want to get a EGW U die to resize your 40SW brass, but I have shooting buddy that loads with Dillon dies and no troubles with WW 165gr FMJ bullets. No hot rodding and you will be fine!

[Sam06]

No handloads in a Glock. What a bunch of hooey............. My G21 has about 80,000 rounds of reloads through it. Do your part and the gun will do its part. A glock is like any other gun if you hotrod it or make sloppy reloads it will let go. I use dillon dies and have had no problems. I have a stormlake barrel and I shoot reloaded lead, no problem.

There are a bunch of guys on the internet that make a living out of bashing guns and reloading, they create fear and sit back and laugh, they know nothing about reloading or guns. Pay attention and don't shoot anyone reloads but yours, do your part and the glock will be fine.

[Sevens]

It does seem to be the case that in the VERY rare event that a Glock explodes for someone using handloads, it does tend to be a Glock in .40 S&W caliber.

In my opinion, the most important thing you can do outside of knowing full well that your are dropping consistent and safe powder charges is to be be for damn sure that you are not giving the case mouth even just the tiniest bit too much flare in the case mouth flaring die.

You need to know that almost no amount of harsh pressure on that bullet will accidentally seat it deeper. IMO, that's where the .40 S&W and the trouble with reloads lives-- accidental bullet setback. You've got a high horsepower cartridge with very little extra room inside a small case. There's no room for error, there is no extra space to allow for a bullet that gets set back. Pressure is already high in this round as SAAMI sets it.

It's the only caliber I know of that almost always comes with a specific pressure and COAL warning in many different powder data guides. (check that, it seems the dinky new 5.7x28 has warnings also)

I say, take your loaded rounds and FORCEFULLY push those bullet heads up against your load bench. Know for sure that they will NOT accidentally set back.

If you do that, and you load to proper COAL specs, you should be good to go.

[D. Manley]

Loading For a Glock

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I just purchased my first semi-auto handgun. It is a Glock 23 in 40 SW. As I know almost nothing about handguns I shopped around and listened to the guys behind the counter. I thought I dun good.

You did.

It has been many years since I purchased a box of factory ammo, I handload everything. My intention was to handload for this pistol as well. Now I find out that loading for a Glock isn't such a good idea. It may in fact be a very bad idea, I duno.

Nonsense. There is absolutely no problem reloading for Glock pistols. Visit some competitions sometime and count the glocks most all of which, are running reloaded ammunition. No doubt, some of these same "experts" you're listening to would tell you its just fine to reload some other pet brand of pistol with far less structural integrity than a Glock.

I have been told that if I handload for the Glock I need a aftermarket barrel, OK I ordered one. I have been told not to use lead bullets, OK, Not a problem I was going to load jacketed bullets anyway. I have been told that aftermarket barrels etc. will not help and handloads will still get me the KABOOM. Now what? Can I load for this damn thing or not? If so any tips or tricks to keep me safe?

I personally favor a conventionally rifled barrel if shooting lead. Glocks polygonal rifling is not "lead-friendly" although, some do so in OEM barrels without problems. An aftermarket barrel is a fairly inexpensive alternative that removes any risk from using lead. For jacketed or plated bullets, the OEM barrel is just fine. The hyperbole about handloads causing KB's in Glocks is more internet myth than anything else. It persists today due to older versions having less support at the 6 o'clock chamber position creating a risk for high-pressure circumstances such as, lead buildup in OEM barrels, over-charges, weakened brass, etc., etc. Current version Glocks have adequate support and are as safe as any other combat handgun when using reputable load data and safe reloading practices. IMO, reloader mistakes are responsible for far more problems than any design by Glock...(drop a double charge of fast powder and it's "huh-oh" time).

Bottom line, if you want to reload your Glock...forget this silliness, have at it and have fun. If you want to run your stock barrel, stay with jacketed or plated bullets...on the aftermarket barrel, load what you want. I personally think its smart to stay with low to mid-pressure loads which (1) are more pleasant to shoot, (2) are generally very accurate and (3) are very easy on your gun and extends your brass life. My last suggestion would be to turn a deaf ear to the "Glock experts" providing you this drivel yet, who probably couldn't field strip one in an hour's time.

[ZX10Aviator]

my glocks G17 (9mm) and G36 (45acp) dont complain about my reloads!

[Shoney]

Two urban myths keep rearing their ugly heads, "You can't shoot lead in Glock barrels." and "Get an aftermarket barrel because of the 'supposed' leading problem in factory barrels.”

The warrantee on almost all pistols today say (in fine lawyereez) that shooting reloaded/handloaded ammunition will void the warrantee.
People tell you that if you want to shoot lead in your Glock so it doesn’t void the warrantee, “Get an aftermarket barrel.” Guess what???! If you replace the barrel of the Glock with someone elses barrel, you have just voided the warrantee!!!!?????

Short story on "lead Kabooms in 40S&W". There were two problems with old generation Glocks themselves, which have been changed in new generation Glocks.
1. They could be fire out of battery.
2. They have unsupported chambers.

What happened was, there was a lead build up in the chamber, that was not cleaned properly or often enough. This allowed the cartridge to move back in the chamber over the unsupported chamber with each succesiive shot, and would be fired out of battery. Kaboom!

For a more detailed rendition read my post #30 @
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...d.php?t=309351

Steve4102: Unless your pistol is 5-8 years old, you may shoot both lead and jacketed cartridges in you pistol. Just be aware of the Caveats I recite in my long post.
Good Shooting!

[steve4102]

You guys are great, thanks for the help.

As I stated above, I know very little about handguns and their ammo, that said, can you tell me where the 40 SW headspaces? I just thought, that if I am going to be handload for this cartridge I should know this.

Thanks again!

[Shoney]

The 40SW headspaces off the mouth of the case. As with all straight wall semi-auto pistol brass, it does not stretch, it actually gets shorter by a miniscule amount each time you resize the case. You never need to trim it.

As the brass shortens over 10-15 reaizings (if it hasn't split or lost elasticity to hold bullets), the case no longer touches the forward part of the chamber, and it actually headspaces off the extractor, which holds is against the face of the slide. No problem! It will fire without any ill effects.

If the case is a lot shorter than the minimum trim length, it may drop into the chamber as the ejector fails to grip the case. This results in an FTF.

[MADISON]

I don't owne a 40 S&W.
I can tell you to stick with only Jacketed or Plated bulets and you will not need another barrel.

[Alleykat]

I can't think of a round that gives one less latitude for error than a .40 Sheitz und Weazel. Lots of people load them and never have a problem. I shoot nothing but my reloads through my Glocks, but I don't/won't load the .40s.

[totalloser]

I can think of a few, but IMO .40 is pretty easy to load, and brass is abundant (cops shoot it, and leave it). The bummer from my perspective is that the projectiles are kinda pricey compared to my other handgun loads (9mm, .357sig) Some folks have lots of trouble with leading using non-jacketed bullets, but from the methods I have seen of folks who DO NOT have trouble, the key is to have an alloy that is hard enough, and proper lube. Alox seems to be the thing.

The main problem with Glock barrels with leading is the type of rifling. Polygonal rifling vs button/land rifling. And apparently there is a taper similar to a forcing cone in the barrel that hangs up lead. I can't spot it for what it is, but then again, the polygon doesn't look much like a polygon to me either.

Casting is a tempting indeavor, even with factory polygon barrels, as my current handloads cost me about 13cents using Raniers. Cast would cost about 5cents per cartridge assuming $25 for a bucket of wheel weights. (4/5cent per projectile for the lead) IE $2.50 per box of 50!

[oneounceload]

I reload for my Glocks, have for years, have had no issues. I do not shoot lead in Glock factory barrels - get one designed to handle lead bullets. Glocks method of rifling their barrels is not conducive to lead

[zxcvbob]

The 40SW headspaces off the mouth of the case. As with all straight wall semi-auto pistol brass, it does not stretch, it actually gets shorter by a miniscule amount each time you resize the case. You never need to trim it.

I'm pretty sure that's not true. (you're conclusion is fine, just not how you get there) The cases often gets shorter when fired because it's a tapered case, then when you resize it it stretches back to its original length -- and then some. But not significantly longer because it's relatively short and fat.

The same thing happens with .30 Carbine brass, but because that case is so long and skinny it can cause serious problems if you don't trim those after you resize them.

[totalloser]

I think Shoney's right, with the possible exception of saying MOST straightwall cases. Some, like .30, might stretch, but they are the exception, not the rule.

[BurkGlocker]

Everytime I fired my G22, I noticed that the cases would be budlged down near the web of the case, and as most say because it has an unsupporting chamber in that area. I reloaded them with no ill effects, but did limit my loadings per case to about 4-5, just to be safe in that they wouldnt explode in my firearm. Most of the problems that have heard of have been due to the .40 S&W cartridge in that particular weapon and none others.

[DWARREN123]

I have shot almost 3,000 rounds of reloaded ammo thru a Glock 23. I would not do lead unless you had an aftermarket Enfield rifled barrel. The guns with polygonal rifling do not like lead bullets (Glock-Sig-HK).
It is perfectly alright in my opinion to reload the brass fired from your Glock, like with any reloading operation check the brass and toss any you have questions about.
I surface ground the case holder to half its regular height and turned down the die base (Lee) so it would go down further on the case and remove the Glock bump, which was small on mine.
Or you can get a small base die set or just go with a regular (carbide) set.

[FrankenMauser]

My dad shoots 90%+ reloads in his Glocks. To date, I can't tell you of any ill effects. On top of that, more than 75% of those reloads were using cast lead bullets. 9mm, .40 S&W, and 10mm. All do just fine.

(The 10mm was an original first-run Glock 20, but was traded of quite some time ago. Even still, it saw almost 100% cast lead reloads.)

[Alleykat]

Per The Gun Zone, the disaster at Chernobyl was caused by a guard's bringing his Glock's night sights too close to his Luminox watch.

[totalloser]

Sounds like a headline from the onion. Hope that's supposed to be a joke.

[WESHOOT2]

-Sized case, new or used.

-CCI500.

-Rainier 180g TCJ-FP.

-OAL 1.125" +.010"/-.005".

-6.0g Alliant Power Pistol.

-Finish using LEE Carbide Factory Crimp Die.


av = 880--930fps.
Safe.
Accurate.
'Medium' recoil signature.
Eaily made.