Reloading ammo for GLOCK

[Sevens]

Glock says you should never shoot lead bullets in their barrels and many folks follow that and don't do it. Of course, most firearm manufacturer's also tell you not to shoot any reloads in their firearms, but we all do it anyway.

With Glock, it's supposedly the polygonal rifling that doesn't work well with lead bullets, but what has YOUR experience been?

I'm anticipating the arrival of a new Glock 29 (that's the subcompact 10mm for you non-Glock types) While an aftermarket barrel is certainly an option I've considered, I'd still like to hear what you folks think about hard cast lead bullets in a stock Glock barrel.

[Alleykat]

I don't have any really recent Glock manuals, although I do have a new G17 on the way. I've never been able to find the caveat about shooting lead in any of my Glock manuals.

I shoot nothing but my reloads through my Glocks, but only reload plated and jackted bullets.

[hoytinak]

I've never been able to find the caveat about shooting lead in any of my Glock manuals.

On page #15 on the left hand side

26. GLOCK DOES NOT RECOMMEND THE USE OF UNJACKETED LEAD AMMUNITION.

[frank_1947]

I shoot my own cast lead bullets in a Glock 22 no problem, my bullets are hard cast and dunked, I have never had any problems I know guys who shoot lead in both 34 and 35 glocks most all MFGs recommend no reloads or lead

[oldcspsarge]

IF you choose to own ANY Glock, for your own personal safety..replace the barrel !

Glock barrels, all of them, are NOT heat treated..and will fail.

If you are going to shoot reloads or lead...get anybodys replacement barrel
here in the US just to be safe. and then enjoy shooting your favorite load in your Glock.

[Alleykat]

Glock barrels, all of them, are NOT heat treated..and will fail.

That's got to be just about the most absurd statement I ever saw on any forum! What, exactly, do you think Tenifer is?

I've shot tens of thousands of rounds of my reloads through my Glocks with no problems, as have thousands of other Glock shooters.

[hoytinak]

IF you choose to own ANY Glock, for your own personal safety..replace the barrel !

Glock barrels, all of them, are NOT heat treated..and will fail.

Got any links? I've shot thousands of reloads through my 19's (all jacketed) without any problems.

[D. Manley]

I've shot tens of thousands of rounds of my reloads through my Glocks with no problems, as have thousands of other Glock shooters.

+1.

I presently have 5 Glocks including, a couple of "range-only" guns that have seen thousands of reloads. As far a round count goes, you'll be hard pressed to find a longer lived barrel than a Glock OEM barrel.

That aside, I don't shoot lead in OEM barrels. It "can" be done but there are a lot of factors that come into play...precise bullet diameters, hardness & casting mix matched to the load pushing it just for a couple. Polygonal barrels will tend to magnify compatibility isssues and if things aren't just "so", things can turn south in a hurry. IMHO, it should not be done minus the time to work up careful and bullet-specific data, hardness test and most importantly, know how to recognize a problem before it happens. I find it more preferable to use plated or jacketed bullets since most of my shooting is indoors but otherwise, I'd just drop an after-market (I use KKM) barrel in & avoid the risks while using lead.

[44 AMP]

More so than many companies. In their early years Glock became notorious for denying warranty work on their guns that failed, claiming it had been fired with reloads. This used to happen a lot. I don't know if it is still the case or not, but they company got a reputation (probably not deserved) for ducking out of fixing their guns by saying the problem was caused by reloads.

Now, they may have been correct in many of the instances, but there were a number of incidents where the owners claimed never to have fired a single reload (and supposedly provided proof - although I have no idea what that might be) and the company denied the repair as warranty work, although they would fix them for a price.

I won't try to pass judgement, I was never involved, but there were a lot of stories going around. Problems with lead bullets in the polygonal barrels, unsupported chambers and outright ka-booms (especially in calibers larger than 9mm) these stories went around for quite a while. Do some searching and you will find them.

No maker will warranty their gun with reloaded ammo, simply because there is no way for them to control what reloaders put in their ammo. Nor should they. Some of the people reloading ammo don't have a clue about safety, or at least the don't load like they do.

Another "story" was that Glock was so against reloads that all the brass they generated from test firings was sold as scrap, and only to scrap dealers who would sign a statement that the brass would not be reloaded.

[BurkGlocker]

I owned a G22C and all of the brass was buldged right before the head, I am guessing from the cartridge not being fully supported by the chamber, but I did reload them, without fail, thankfully. But the reloaded brass was thrown out after two or three reloadings, just out of fear that something could/would happen.

[Alleykat]

More so than many companies. In their early years Glock became notorious for denying warranty work on their guns that failed, claiming it had been fired with reloads. This used to happen a lot. I don't know if it is still the case or not, but they company got a reputation (probably not deserved) for ducking out of fixing their guns by saying the problem was caused by reloads.

Totally unsubstantiated b.s.!! Glock's been delivering excellent service on their pistols, since Glocks were introduced. I've personally had dealings with Glock's Warranty Services Dept., both a couple of decades ago and a couple of weeks ago. They've always been excellent. Even when one uses reloads and blows up one's Glock, they (Glock) don't leave you stranded. They'll sell you a new Glock of your choice for less than half of retail. They'll fix any Glock that's ever been made, free, unless reloads or, perhaps, an aftermarket barrel was in the mix.

The above quote is nothing but internet blather...not based on the poster's personal experience...that I can guarantee.

[CrustyFN]

I have a friend that has shot thousands of his own cast in a G17 without any problems. Just make sure you clean the barrel good before you shoot a jacketed bullet after lead. The same friend bought an after market barrel for the G17 and noticed it was quite a bit more accurate with the lead bullets than the stock barrel. I plan on buying a different barrel when I convert to lead.
Rusty

[D. Manley]

Glock doesn't like reloads
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More so than many companies. In their early years Glock became notorious for denying warranty work on their guns that failed, claiming it had been fired with reloads. This used to happen a lot. I don't know if it is still the case or not, but they company got a reputation (probably not deserved) for ducking out of fixing their guns by saying the problem was caused by reloads.

I've never known Glock to deny a warranty claim and to the contrary, I have known them to R/R an awful lot of them that rightfully should have been denied. If anything, my experience has been that they go to extremes in their customer care department.

Another "story" was that Glock was so against reloads that all the brass they generated from test firings was sold as scrap, and only to scrap dealers who would sign a statement that the brass would not be reloaded.

On this, I tend to think "story" is appropriate. Glock sends 2 fired cases with every new pistol. Of the 5 Glocks I now own and the 20 or so more my shooting associates own, every single one came with Blazer aluminum fired cases. Here, I tend to believe Glock simply uses the cheapest thing available for testing not, as an anti-reloading stance. Keep in mind, "Team Glock" (Glock's sponsored shooting team) uses reloaded ammunition exclusively in competition.

[RNG]

Since I shoot only my lead cast boolits out of my G23 I went ahead and bought a Lone Wolf barrel for $107.00 or so delivered. I was having problems with my reloads fitting in the chamber of my new LW barrel. Boolits are .401 and by the time I put a taper crimp on them cartridge diameter was about .422 - .423. Contacted JR at Lone Wolf and he had me send the barrel in with a few dummy rounds (no powder or primer) and they would open-up the chamber. The armorer, Dan, called me while he was working on the barrel and told me he was having trouble getting the chamber to .423 and to give him a little more time. He called me back about an hour later to tell me that he had finished and the barrel was headed back my way priority mail. Received the barrel the other day and it shoots great. Dan called me today to verify that I was satisfied with the work. Kudo's to Dan and JR and the Lone Wolf team for their great customer service.

Cheers,
Richard

[1goodshot]

I've shot 1000s of roads of my mild reloads though my Glock 22 with no problems. All cooper plated.

[DWARREN123]

From what I understand most people reload lead too hot and this causes the rifling to pull lead from the bullet and deposit it in the barrel causing over pressure failure. The leading can be caused by the bullet base be flame cut or the bullet passed beyond its design limits. Many do reload lead and keep to reasonable limits and clean often.
The rifling type is also suppose to allow jacketed bullets to be a little faster from a Glock OEM barrel.
I don't know about the speed or lead bullets personally but have reloaded many jacketed and plated bullets for a Glock 23 and 27 with no problems.
I would never, ever hot rod a Glock reload.

[darkgael]

Every time the issue about using lead bullets in Glocks comes up, I look for some consistent trend of information. I never find it.
I don't know what the "truth" of the matter is but I'd sure like to.
There was a reprint in Dillon's Blue Press some time ago of part of the book "The Glock in Competition" which had some pretty good info about the issue. Here's a link to that article:
http://www.dillonprecision.com/docs/...ompetition.pdf

Internet results are back and forth, as are personal experiences.
I found this today:
"The manufacturer Glock advises against using lead bullets (meaning bullets not covered by a copper jacket) in their polygonally rifled barrels, which has led to a widespread belief that polygonal rifling is not compatible with lead bullets. Noted firearms expert and barrel maker, the late Gale McMillan, has also commented that lead bullets and polygonal rifling are not a good mix. However, since neither H&K nor Kahr recommend against lead bullets in their polygonal rifled barrels, it is probable that there is an additional factor involved in Glock's warning. One explanation is that Glock barrels have a fairly sharp transition between the chamber and the rifling, and this area is prone to lead buildup if lead bullets are used. This buildup may result in failures to fully return to battery, allowing the gun to fire with the case not fully supported by the chamber, leading to a potentially dangerous case failure. The other explanation is that Glock's barrels may be more prone than normal to leading, which is the buildup of lead in the bore that happens in nearly all firearms firing high velocity lead bullets. This lead buildup must be cleaned out regularly, or the barrel can become constricted and result in higher than normal pressures."
Balanced but nothing new.
Pete

[ludwig1138]

Glock 22. Used jacketed reloads with no problems. I switched to lead reloads, loading and shooting 2000 rounds. I did notice significant leading of the barrel particularly near the throat of the chamber. Cleaned with no problem using copper scrubbing pads on a barrel brush.

Have since switched back to jacketed.

[Sevens]

While I haven't looked down the bore of an OEM Glock barrel, I've seen the polygonal rifled barrel that HK uses in their USP pistols and when comparing it to a normally rifled barreled, it almost looks to me like a regularly rifle barrel that's been worn out. Nothing about that barrel makes it look more difficult for a lead bullet to pass through it, but it looks in fact MUCH easier for any bullet to pass through.

Obviously, there's no science to looking down a barrel and making an observation, but in the end, I just don't see why the polygonal rifling is more trouble for a lead bullet.

[MADISON]

All of the gun manufacturers say do not use reloads in their guns.
It voids the warrenty!
I have a Glock 21 with several millions rounds through it. None of these rounds are factory. The only thing I do not do is shoot lead through it.

[Sevens]

I have a Glock 21 with several millions rounds through it.

That's a lot of rounds. Several million?

[Alleykat]

That's a lot of rounds. Several million?

Gleeful hyperbole?

[hoytinak]

I have a Glock 21 with several millions rounds through it.

and to think I was proud of myself yesterday hitting the 45,000 round mark on my HK USPc....sounds like I need to start shooting even more.

[Sevens]

Imagine taking a box of 50 rounds and shooting it.
Sixty thousand times.

That's three million rounds. Is three enough to be "several" ?
One million would be... a million.
Two million would be "a couple million."
Is three enough for several?

I wonder if a human thumb could phyically load three million rounds in to Glock magazines?

Sorry... just having fun with it.

[CraigC]

That's got to be just about the most absurd statement I ever saw on any forum! What, exactly, do you think Tenifer is?

Tennifer is a surfacing hardening process. Unless I'm mistaken, the barrel does not get that treatment. Only the slide. There is also a difference between surface hardening and heat treatment.