Reloads in a Glock?

posigian · November 28, 2000, 03:16 PM

I am trying to make up my mind on which firearm should be my first SemiAuto! A 1911 or the Glock 36?
My concern is that I am always hearing that its not good to use reloads in a Glock. Is this true? If so, then why?

I think I would prefer the Glock over the 1911 based on the fact that a Glock is easier to disassemble, clean, & maintain. But if Im going to be limited to using factory ammo, then I will go for the 1911.

I dont want a gun that I cant use reloads with, so what do you know about this topic?

Help me make up my mind

solo · November 28, 2000, 03:45 PM

I reload for my G21. The only problems that have arisen while reloading for my G21 is light primer strikes. To aleviate this problem use a soft primer such as Federal. I used to use CCI which is one of the hardest primers on the market, but then switched to Federal and have had no light primer strikes since. The only other problems that I have had have been due to my own negligence and by no means was it the Glock, an example is not crimping enough which could cause any semi-auto to not fully chamber a round. Really light primer strikes is the only problems, stick with Federal primers and you will be OK.

photoman · November 28, 2000, 04:19 PM

Reloads in a Glock are no problem unless you use lead bullets. Due to the rifling that Glock uses, lead bullets are not recommended. You can buy an aftermarket barrel if you want to shoot lead bullets. Otherwise, it's no different than reloading for a 1911.

jtduncan · November 28, 2000, 04:31 PM

Hogwash! I reload for all of my 9mm and .45 ACP Glocks.

You can shoot reloads through them with better accuracy than factory.

You can shoot lead through them as long as you clean them thoroughly after each shooting.

As a matter of fact, you can shoot your Glock for months without a cleaning. Not recommended but many officers clean their Glocks only occassionally.

If you look at your owner's manual for all of your guns, you'll see that most if not all of them recommend shooting only factory-made ammo. Its a liability issue and that's a mere disclaimer.

On GlockTalk, several members have even sent in their kaBoomed Glocks and told Glock they were shooting nuclear reloads through there and Glock still honored their warranty and/or offered the owner a new Glock at cost just to keep their business.

Several months ago I had a squib load in my Kel Tec Sub-9 carbine that didn't have any powder in it and lodged a bullet midway down the barrel. Unforetunatley, I failed to notice the lack of a report and fired another round lodging them both in my barrel.

A cleaning rod got them out of there but I popped a spring in my frame. The trigger spring had just popped off but I didn't want to mess with those internals. I sent it in to KT and they repaired my carbine no problem.

So buy a Glock.

Shoot your reloads but . . .
I recommend at least copper-plated. Lead will foul up your barrel and creates more residue from the guns I've seen.

El Lobo · November 28, 2000, 08:49 PM

One of my best buddies was at the range with me shooting .45ACPs.....his Glock, my 1911....Same handloads...200 grain lead SWC at about 775 fps. About 15 minutes into the session, his Glock let go. The magazine blew out of the handle, the slide de-railed and the frame was spread about a quarter inch. Repairs required a new frame and some minor parts, costing him $200.

If you want a Glock, don't shoot reloads in a factory barrel, get an aftermarket replacement.

El Rojo · November 28, 2000, 08:56 PM

I have shot all sorts of reloads through my Glock 27 and I know a rangemaster of a local PD who has shot thousands of reloads through his Glock 22. Just stay away from the lead period. Spend the extra couple bucks for the plated bullets. And always clean your firearm after shooting it. If you carry a handgun, do you want to have your life depend on a dirty handgun? I don't.

Boneyard · November 28, 2000, 09:01 PM

I have shot over 30,000 reloads through my Glock 22
with not one problem...just make sure you use a case gauge
to check each round before you box it and you won't have any
problems.

JHS · November 28, 2000, 09:14 PM

I shoot reloads only. I will shoot some lead, chased by plated or jacket rounds.

I have seen wheel guns blown up.

jtduncan · November 29, 2000, 12:24 AM

Look . . we've all seen all kinds of blow up guns on the Net that were the result of bad reloads.

But that's because of over or undercharging or poor reloading practices, or of not checking your cases for obstructions, bulges, cracks, or ruptures.

But if you shoot copper or FMJ, you should be fine. Just be careful.

MFH · November 29, 2000, 08:13 AM

At least some of the early glocks did not fully support the case-head. Handloads below max had the potential to rupture the case, resulting in blowing out the mag, cracking the frame and blow out of the extractor. This was with a 40sw. I don't know if the newer ones still have this problem. Potentially, hot factory loads could have been a problem in these also as bulged cases were common.
MFH

DaMan · November 29, 2000, 10:43 AM

I think Photman said it well. Lead bullets can cause problems with the polygonal rifling. Will it blow the Glocks up every time? NO! You can probably get away with it for quite a while and if you clean the barrel between every hundred or so rounds of lead bullets, you could shoot indefinitely without a kaboom.

So there are basically three choices with the Glock:
1. Don't shoot lead bullets
2. Shoot lead bullets and clean barrel VERY OFTEN
3. Buy a Bar-Sto or other quality aftermarket barrel

I like to shoot reactive targets so the Bar-Sto barrel option is what I'd recommend. Also these barrels shoot VERY accurately.

I think even with the additional barrel, the Glock will cost less than the 1911.

Regards! DaMan

TaxPhd · November 29, 2000, 10:44 AM

jtduncan,

You point out that blown up guns are caused by "over or undercharging or poor reloading practices, or of not
checking your cases for obstructions, bulges, cracks, or ruptures."

While these may well be likely reasons for a gun to blow up, how have you (or anyone else) determined after the fact that it is indeed one of these reasons that has caused the blow up?

No flame, but can you tell me how to determine after a gun has blown up that the cause was an over charged reload?

jtduncan · November 29, 2000, 04:46 PM

Yes, the powder manufacturers and the gun manufacturers and a good gunsmith or reloader can usually make that call within short order. The key is to find out what happened and look at the blast damage.

Ruptured cases
Deformed cases
Loading a .380 ACP case with a 9mm grain charge
Cracked or brittle cases
all leave signatures on the gun or the case for you to figure it out.

All you have to do is pull out the case or look for it on the floor if it ejected.

It will remain intact usually. The pressure usually blows out the primer hole and back into the frame or breech area then damaging the internals or the barrel.

What people have done is stopped shooting and taken a bullet puller to find other ill-charged rounds. When this kind of stuff happens, there usually are a couple of them in a batch.

And it happens most with progressive but sometimes with single stages.

The key is to inspect your cases after you tumble them and as you're seating them in the decapping die. I'm at the point that I can feel a buldge in a case or the difference between a .32 ACP, .380 ACP, or 40 SW in my hand when I'm loading 9mm and quickly reject it.

And I look for and feel the case as I'm grabbing it to catch the buldges.

I'm cautious because of my squib load a couple months ago.

I'm just passing on what I've seen here, at the range, or seen from reloading 2 or 3 times a week. It's important that safety is maintained.

If you don't already have a drop in stainless steel case gauge, I recommend you get one. It will catch hard to see buldges and other case malformations.

I drop in at least 10 percent of my rounds per Dillon's recommendation.

Robert the41MagFan · November 29, 2000, 05:49 PM

Exclusively use lead reloads in my Glock 35. All you need is a little common sense and extra precautions than other guns. The mains problems are pressure, leading and the unsupported chamber. To avoid excess leading use hard lead bullets, brinnel 18-20 or more. Check the barrel every 100 or so rounds for excess leading. The G35 comes with a unsupported chamber at six o'clock position. Cases must be inspected after every firing and don't mix up the lots. Also, don't use any case that you have no idea where they came from. Best is to start with a fresh case. After resizing the cases, if you see a crease above the base of the case, can the entire lot. This can occur in as little as three firing. The bulging of the case is sufficient enough that I chuck the cases after five reloads. And lastly, use start loads to medium load data only. This will allow the cases to last a bit longer.

Robert

Patrick Graham · November 30, 2000, 08:46 PM

I reload for my Glock 27, It's got 3000 reloads through it. I only use jacketed bullets. Works great.

Steve Smith · November 30, 2000, 09:10 PM

The answer to your question, posigian, is yes, it's ok to shoot reloads in a Glock...BUT you should use jacketed or plated bullets. SO, if the reason we reload is to save money/shoot more with same amount of money, everything we do to raise our reloading costs puts us that much closer to off the shelf ammo costs. IMHO, you should buy something with regular rifling and reload for that, OR plan on buying an aftermarket Glock barrel with real rifling so you can still save on ammo. You'll have the barrel paid for in a couple hundred rounds.

Chad Young · December 1, 2000, 04:08 PM

Ok, let me toss my $0.02 in here:

1. IF you want to shoot lead in a Glock, I strongly recommend an aftermarket barrel that uses conventional rifling. Polygonal rifling leads like mad and *can* lead to dangerous pressure situations. Also, the better case support can more adequately contain hot-rod reloads.

2. Someone earlier suggested shooting a jacketed bullet behind the lead ones in order to "clean out" the barrel. Let me tell you, matter-of-fact, and true, that this is a bad idea. Although you may remove some visivble lead fouling, you will, in fact, plate a significant amount of lead into the rifling and make it even worse to remove it! I could not figure out why a particular gun of mine was slowly shooting worse and worse. I always shot FMJ after the lead to "clean" it out. One day, I cleaned and scrubbed the barrel thoroughly and it looked spotlesss and lead free. Then I ran a patch of Lead Away in front of a tight jag. Chunks of lead came out of the rifling in large, curly, rifling-shaped visible flakes. The lead had been choking up the rifling but was mashed down so hard, I couldn't see it or touch it with a brush! I asked my gunsmith about this and he just shook his head and explained that this is a common misconception that can lead to much frustration.

3. Plated bullets have worked well in my G23, I like the Ranier 165gr TC-FMJ for paper-punching over a modest load of WSF.

November 28, 2000, 03:16 PM	#1
posigian Senior Member Join Date: May 31, 2000 Location: Great Lakes State Posts: 115	I am trying to make up my mind on which firearm should be my first SemiAuto! A 1911 or the Glock 36? My concern is that I am always hearing that its not good to use reloads in a Glock. Is this true? If so, then why? I think I would prefer the Glock over the 1911 based on the fact that a Glock is easier to disassemble, clean, & maintain. But if Im going to be limited to using factory ammo, then I will go for the 1911. I dont want a gun that I cant use reloads with, so what do you know about this topic? Help me make up my mind __________________ Posigian I AM THE NRA

November 28, 2000, 04:31 PM	#4
jtduncan Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 1999 Location: Seattle, Washington, USA Posts: 1,686	Hogwash! I reload for all of my 9mm and .45 ACP Glocks. You can shoot reloads through them with better accuracy than factory. You can shoot lead through them as long as you clean them thoroughly after each shooting. As a matter of fact, you can shoot your Glock for months without a cleaning. Not recommended but many officers clean their Glocks only occassionally. If you look at your owner's manual for all of your guns, you'll see that most if not all of them recommend shooting only factory-made ammo. Its a liability issue and that's a mere disclaimer. On GlockTalk, several members have even sent in their kaBoomed Glocks and told Glock they were shooting nuclear reloads through there and Glock still honored their warranty and/or offered the owner a new Glock at cost just to keep their business. Several months ago I had a squib load in my Kel Tec Sub-9 carbine that didn't have any powder in it and lodged a bullet midway down the barrel. Unforetunatley, I failed to notice the lack of a report and fired another round lodging them both in my barrel. A cleaning rod got them out of there but I popped a spring in my frame. The trigger spring had just popped off but I didn't want to mess with those internals. I sent it in to KT and they repaired my carbine no problem. So buy a Glock. Shoot your reloads but . . . I recommend at least copper-plated. Lead will foul up your barrel and creates more residue from the guns I've seen. __________________ The Seattle SharpShooter Reloaded .223 Rem, 9mm, 40SW, 357 SIG, 10mm, 44 Mag, 45 ACP Today?

November 28, 2000, 08:49 PM	#5
El Lobo Member Join Date: May 14, 2000 Posts: 57	The Other Side of the Coin.... One of my best buddies was at the range with me shooting .45ACPs.....his Glock, my 1911....Same handloads...200 grain lead SWC at about 775 fps. About 15 minutes into the session, his Glock let go. The magazine blew out of the handle, the slide de-railed and the frame was spread about a quarter inch. Repairs required a new frame and some minor parts, costing him $200. If you want a Glock, don't shoot reloads in a factory barrel, get an aftermarket replacement.

November 28, 2000, 08:56 PM	#6
El Rojo Senior Member Join Date: February 4, 2000 Location: People's Republik of Kalifornia Posts: 2,057	Nice handle El Lobo! I have shot all sorts of reloads through my Glock 27 and I know a rangemaster of a local PD who has shot thousands of reloads through his Glock 22. Just stay away from the lead period. Spend the extra couple bucks for the plated bullets. And always clean your firearm after shooting it. If you carry a handgun, do you want to have your life depend on a dirty handgun? I don't.

November 28, 2000, 09:14 PM	#8
JHS Senior Member Join Date: November 30, 1998 Location: Goodwell,Ok. Posts: 505	G22 & 35 I shoot reloads only. I will shoot some lead, chased by plated or jacket rounds. I have seen wheel guns blown up.

November 28, 2000, 03:45 PM	#2
solo Senior Member Join Date: August 30, 1999 Posts: 211	I reload for my G21. The only problems that have arisen while reloading for my G21 is light primer strikes. To aleviate this problem use a soft primer such as Federal. I used to use CCI which is one of the hardest primers on the market, but then switched to Federal and have had no light primer strikes since. The only other problems that I have had have been due to my own negligence and by no means was it the Glock, an example is not crimping enough which could cause any semi-auto to not fully chamber a round. Really light primer strikes is the only problems, stick with Federal primers and you will be OK.

November 28, 2000, 04:19 PM	#3
photoman Member Join Date: December 26, 1999 Posts: 22	Reloads in a Glock are no problem unless you use lead bullets. Due to the rifling that Glock uses, lead bullets are not recommended. You can buy an aftermarket barrel if you want to shoot lead bullets. Otherwise, it's no different than reloading for a 1911.

November 28, 2000, 09:01 PM	#7
Boneyard Senior Member Join Date: January 30, 2000 Posts: 158	I have shot over 30,000 reloads through my Glock 22 with not one problem...just make sure you use a case gauge to check each round before you box it and you won't have any problems.

November 29, 2000, 12:24 AM	#9
jtduncan Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 1999 Location: Seattle, Washington, USA Posts: 1,686	Look . . we've all seen all kinds of blow up guns on the Net that were the result of bad reloads. But that's because of over or undercharging or poor reloading practices, or of not checking your cases for obstructions, bulges, cracks, or ruptures. But if you shoot copper or FMJ, you should be fine. Just be careful. __________________ The Seattle SharpShooter Reloaded .223 Rem, 9mm, 40SW, 357 SIG, 10mm, 44 Mag, 45 ACP Today?

November 29, 2000, 08:13 AM	#10
MFH Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2000 Posts: 122	At least some of the early glocks did not fully support the case-head. Handloads below max had the potential to rupture the case, resulting in blowing out the mag, cracking the frame and blow out of the extractor. This was with a 40sw. I don't know if the newer ones still have this problem. Potentially, hot factory loads could have been a problem in these also as bulged cases were common. MFH

November 29, 2000, 10:43 AM	#11
DaMan Senior Member Join Date: July 16, 2000 Posts: 222	I think Photman said it well. Lead bullets can cause problems with the polygonal rifling. Will it blow the Glocks up every time? NO! You can probably get away with it for quite a while and if you clean the barrel between every hundred or so rounds of lead bullets, you could shoot indefinitely without a kaboom. So there are basically three choices with the Glock: 1. Don't shoot lead bullets 2. Shoot lead bullets and clean barrel VERY OFTEN 3. Buy a Bar-Sto or other quality aftermarket barrel I like to shoot reactive targets so the Bar-Sto barrel option is what I'd recommend. Also these barrels shoot VERY accurately. I think even with the additional barrel, the Glock will cost less than the 1911. Regards! DaMan

November 29, 2000, 10:44 AM	#12
TaxPhd Senior Member Join Date: October 29, 1998 Location: Colorado Posts: 534	jtduncan, You point out that blown up guns are caused by "over or undercharging or poor reloading practices, or of not checking your cases for obstructions, bulges, cracks, or ruptures." While these may well be likely reasons for a gun to blow up, how have you (or anyone else) determined after the fact that it is indeed one of these reasons that has caused the blow up? No flame, but can you tell me how to determine after a gun has blown up that the cause was an over charged reload? __________________ TaxPhd "Those who live by the sword are probably pretty f***ing good at it." "Instructions for a successful gunfight: Front Sight, Press Trigger, repeat as necessary." - B. Braxton

November 29, 2000, 04:46 PM	#13
jtduncan Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 1999 Location: Seattle, Washington, USA Posts: 1,686	Yes, the powder manufacturers and the gun manufacturers and a good gunsmith or reloader can usually make that call within short order. The key is to find out what happened and look at the blast damage. Ruptured cases Deformed cases Loading a .380 ACP case with a 9mm grain charge Cracked or brittle cases all leave signatures on the gun or the case for you to figure it out. All you have to do is pull out the case or look for it on the floor if it ejected. It will remain intact usually. The pressure usually blows out the primer hole and back into the frame or breech area then damaging the internals or the barrel. What people have done is stopped shooting and taken a bullet puller to find other ill-charged rounds. When this kind of stuff happens, there usually are a couple of them in a batch. And it happens most with progressive but sometimes with single stages. The key is to inspect your cases after you tumble them and as you're seating them in the decapping die. I'm at the point that I can feel a buldge in a case or the difference between a .32 ACP, .380 ACP, or 40 SW in my hand when I'm loading 9mm and quickly reject it. And I look for and feel the case as I'm grabbing it to catch the buldges. I'm cautious because of my squib load a couple months ago. I'm just passing on what I've seen here, at the range, or seen from reloading 2 or 3 times a week. It's important that safety is maintained. If you don't already have a drop in stainless steel case gauge, I recommend you get one. It will catch hard to see buldges and other case malformations. I drop in at least 10 percent of my rounds per Dillon's recommendation. __________________ The Seattle SharpShooter Reloaded .223 Rem, 9mm, 40SW, 357 SIG, 10mm, 44 Mag, 45 ACP Today?

November 29, 2000, 05:49 PM	#14
Robert the41MagFan Senior Member Join Date: November 18, 1999 Posts: 1,233	Exclusively use lead reloads in my Glock 35. All you need is a little common sense and extra precautions than other guns. The mains problems are pressure, leading and the unsupported chamber. To avoid excess leading use hard lead bullets, brinnel 18-20 or more. Check the barrel every 100 or so rounds for excess leading. The G35 comes with a unsupported chamber at six o'clock position. Cases must be inspected after every firing and don't mix up the lots. Also, don't use any case that you have no idea where they came from. Best is to start with a fresh case. After resizing the cases, if you see a crease above the base of the case, can the entire lot. This can occur in as little as three firing. The bulging of the case is sufficient enough that I chuck the cases after five reloads. And lastly, use start loads to medium load data only. This will allow the cases to last a bit longer. Robert

November 30, 2000, 08:46 PM	#15
Patrick Graham Junior member Join Date: January 18, 1999 Location: Kokomo, Indiana USA Posts: 674	I reload for my Glock 27, It's got 3000 reloads through it. I only use jacketed bullets. Works great.

November 30, 2000, 09:10 PM	#16
Steve Smith Senior Member Join Date: December 9, 1999 Posts: 4,131	The answer to your question, posigian, is yes, it's ok to shoot reloads in a Glock...BUT you should use jacketed or plated bullets. SO, if the reason we reload is to save money/shoot more with same amount of money, everything we do to raise our reloading costs puts us that much closer to off the shelf ammo costs. IMHO, you should buy something with regular rifling and reload for that, OR plan on buying an aftermarket Glock barrel with real rifling so you can still save on ammo. You'll have the barrel paid for in a couple hundred rounds.

December 1, 2000, 04:08 PM	#17
Chad Young Senior Member Join Date: September 20, 1999 Location: Gainesville, FL Posts: 601	Ok, let me toss my $0.02 in here: 1. IF you want to shoot lead in a Glock, I strongly recommend an aftermarket barrel that uses conventional rifling. Polygonal rifling leads like mad and can lead to dangerous pressure situations. Also, the better case support can more adequately contain hot-rod reloads. 2. Someone earlier suggested shooting a jacketed bullet behind the lead ones in order to "clean out" the barrel. Let me tell you, matter-of-fact, and true, that this is a bad idea. Although you may remove some visivble lead fouling, you will, in fact, plate a significant amount of lead into the rifling and make it even worse to remove it! I could not figure out why a particular gun of mine was slowly shooting worse and worse. I always shot FMJ after the lead to "clean" it out. One day, I cleaned and scrubbed the barrel thoroughly and it looked spotlesss and lead free. Then I ran a patch of Lead Away in front of a tight jag. Chunks of lead came out of the rifling in large, curly, rifling-shaped visible flakes. The lead had been choking up the rifling but was mashed down so hard, I couldn't see it or touch it with a brush! I asked my gunsmith about this and he just shook his head and explained that this is a common misconception that can lead to much frustration. 3. Plated bullets have worked well in my G23, I like the Ranier 165gr TC-FMJ for paper-punching over a modest load of WSF.