Reloading for Glocks

[nicktw25]

I'm sure it's been mentioned on here somewhere, but how safe is it reloading 40 S&W for a Glock? I just recently bought a new reloading press (Lee Classic Turret) and attended ProFire's basic reloading class. Everywhere I go on the Internet, everyone is saying you need to be extra careful reloading 40 S&W due to its high pressures. Which I understand, I double check everything when I reloaded my first 10 rounds to test. Then I see people talking about how Glock doesn't have a fully supported chamber. Do any semi auto pistols have a fully supported chamber? And after researching that, I see everyone talking about the "Glock Bulge".

Is there anyone who's been reloading 40 S&W for their Glocks for awhile with no problem at all?

 

[Duke Short]

All I shoot in my Glock 22 is reloads even with lead bullets. Ohhhhhhh yup. No problems. 3.8 gr's of Clays 180 gr lead RNFP bullet. Clean your brass. resize, clean the primer pocket, bell, add powder, seat and taper crimp. Just make sure your OAL is correct. I might get trolled on for the lead bullets but it does help if they are of good hardness and not made to shoot in a cap and ball revolver with soft lead. I also shoot lead in my 17's and 19's with no problems. Yup factory barrels. Bert will say I'm a Troll just watch.

 

[gopurdue02]

IMO glock bulge is only an issue if you try reloading brass fired with a glock in another pistol such as the M&P. In that case I would recommend running it threw the lee bulge buster to get it back down to size. However, the downsize is that process thins the wall of the brass and you risk having a blow-out. The other option is to buy a wolf, storm lake barrel, which has a fully supported chamber and you don't have to worry about a blow-out. However, in my experience those barrel's are very very tight and you can't resize once fired cases enough to get them to cycle unless the brass was fired in that chamber.

I have a .40 S&W check gauge and brass that doesn't seat correctly by a small margin is ok. Anything more then an 1/8 inch and I toss it just to be on the safe side.

 

[gopurdue02]

All I shoot in my Glock 22 is reloads even with lead bullets. Ohhhhhhh yup. No problems. 3.8 gr's of Clays 180 gr lead RNFP bullet. Clean your brass. resize, clean the primer pocket, bell, add powder, seat and taper crimp. Just make sure your OAL is correct. I might get trolled on for the lead bullets but it does help if they are of good hardness and not made to shoot in a cap and ball revolver with soft lead. I also shoot lead in my 17's and 19's with no problems. Yup factory barrels. Bert will say I'm a Troll just watch.

...just let me know when you are the line when I am RO'ing so I can stay back at least 8 feet with you directly in front me. I'll go ahead and shout the range commands to you....

 

[foxmustang]

I've Never Had A Problem Reloading For My G23. I'm Running 140 Gr MBC Full Lead On Top Of WST thru A Lone Wolf Barrel. Shoots Very Accurately

 

[Leo]

Been shooting/reloading .40 S&W since about 1985, while not claiming to be the expert, I have some experience.

The first generation glock .40 models were pretty marginal design, causing the .40S&W to get a lot of bad reputation as "hard to load for" or dangerous to reload". It was never a problem with the ammo, it was a problem with glocks design, which has been improved as each generation of glocks was developed. I have picked up a lot of brass from the newer glocks and they no longer display the pregnant bulge on the brass. I used to have a case RX die to iron out the bulge in "glocked" brass. I gave the die away and just trash any brass that is deformed, not worth my time.

The .40 is no more difficult to reload than any other caliber. Just stick to well etablished data and make sure each step is done correctly. Avoid any temptation to "hot rod" the rounds, they are already as hot as they need to be. Good Luck

 

[nicktw25]

Thanks for all of the info! It makes me feel a lot better about reloading for my .40 I will for sure start out low. I have no desire to load to the max.

 

[pdg45acp]

I've got 3 Glocks, been reloading for Glocks since 1998.

Accuracy is best in polygon barrels using regular jacketed bullets. Plated bullets will work in polygon rifling but accuracy isn't as good as with regular jacketed bullets.

I suggest getting one of the new lone wolf barrels with regular rifling, they will shoot jacketed, plated and lead accurately.

 

[GeoffM]

I am a total noob, so take this with a grain of salt... I too have been a bit apprehensive about the Glocks from what I have read, but so far so good... Been reloading with the same press as you for a month or so now... 135 and 165 gr Rainier RNFP with power pistol. My G23 gen3 slightly bulges the cases, but I have had no problems cycling rounds or anything (shot about 400 rounds so far). I even bought the bulge buster kit from Lee, but didn't seem to notice much of a difference after running them through... my cases are not perfect looking at all, but so far so good (I throw out the obviously messed up ones). I pay attention to OAL and powder weights very carefully, though.

Here's my recipes:
TMJ RNFP 135gr
7.9 gr. Power Pistol
WSP primers

TMJ RNFP 165gr
6.9 gr. Power Pistol
WSP Primers

I try to keep all the cases identical so I can measure the entire weight of the ammo for a last check when I am done just to double-check for any excessive differences which would indicate an over-charge of powder.

I also reload .38spl on this with Bullseye and have had very good experiences.

 

[Bert]

I shot duke shorts "troll for short" glock 22 just the other day . Other than it being of funny color , it shot those lead bullits just fine . In fact I'm going to let him reload all my .40 ammo from now on .

 

[MooreALX]

All I shoot in my Glock 22 is reloads even with lead bullets. Ohhhhhhh yup. No problems. 3.8 gr's of Clays 180 gr lead RNFP bullet. Clean your brass. resize, clean the primer pocket, bell, add powder, seat and taper crimp. Just make sure your OAL is correct. I might get trolled on for the lead bullets but it does help if they are of good hardness and not made to shoot in a cap and ball revolver with soft lead. I also shoot lead in my 17's and 19's with no problems. Yup factory barrels. Bert will say I'm a Troll just watch.

I'll agree with the lead; I've shot a ton of lead through my stock 17 barrel all the time. It's a little more picky on the load when it comes to leading the barrel, but it is possible to do it safely. I don't have a .40 Glock, but from what I've read, the unsupported chamber isn't too bad in gen3 and newer Glocks.

 

[IndyGlockMan]

I just started loading 40S&W on my Dillon 550 for my Glocks. From what I've read, the earlier Glock 40's had a less supported chamber than the newer ones.
From what I've read, if your Glock has the more supported chamber, we shouldn't have any trouble reloading them.

I just cleaned up a bunch of range pick up that was fired from various hand guns including Glocks. Some of it had light bulges.
The 25 rounds I loaded up when through the sizing die just fine. Some were a little more resistant than others.
I have a 10mm case gauge and they all fit all the way down in just fine.
My reloads are pretty mild for range plinking, so I doubt I will have any trouble.

 

[HavokCycle]

i have shot thousands of reloads down my g22 with no issues, other than i think 2 duds. glocks do like to dent the case mouth but its never been an issue. i do tho, usually stick with the minimum powder loads.

 

[Hohn]

I have yet to see an actual "smiley' on any of my spent cases. But they all have the mild enlargement that comes with the loosey-goosey Glock chamber.

You want reliability?

You pay for it in brass life.

You want better brass life for reloads? Get a tighter barrel. (Lw, Storm Lake, BarSto, Jarvis,etc)

 

[Harry2110]

All I shoot in my Glock 22 is reloads even with lead bullets. Ohhhhhhh yup. No problems. 3.8 gr's of Clays 180 gr lead RNFP bullet. Clean your brass. resize, clean the primer pocket, bell, add powder, seat and taper crimp. Just make sure your OAL is correct. I might get trolled on for the lead bullets but it does help if they are of good hardness and not made to shoot in a cap and ball revolver with soft lead. I also shoot lead in my 17's and 19's with no problems. Yup factory barrels. Bert will say I'm a Troll just watch.

really only 3.8gr I thought most loads were 6gr +

 

[ifr2]

I shot 50 rounds of wheel weight lead that I had cast in a stock Glock 22. The rounds shot great, no cycling issues and no case problems...but I had barrel leading issues. I purchased the Lone Wolf replacement barrel and I've had really good luck with it. I still get some leading, but nothing like the stock poly barrel.

In my quest to make everything harder, I read about powder coating boolits. It's a very simple and inexpensive process and the results are pretty amazing. I've power coated and shot several hundered 9mm and 40 cal and my leading issues are gone. I sent some of my "bare" cast boolits through the gun to get it leaded, then shot 20 powder coated boolits. The powder coated boolits actually cleaned the lead out.

 

[ifr2]

These aren't my best products, but they work.

 

[ilcaveman]

Buy the lone wolf, saves your brass and no leading problems.

 

[mongo404]

Try some Bayou bullets. A bit more than Lead cast but no where near jackets. Had real good luck with the Bayou lube here lately in Glock barrels.
I have not had good luck with Wolf barrels bought 2 and sold 2. Ill just leave it at that. I have also sent 10s of thousands of lead rounds down range through Glock Barrels. One note when loading 40s case gauge every round!!!!!

 

[pdg45acp]

I shot 50 rounds of wheel weight lead that I had cast in a stock Glock 22. The rounds shot great, no cycling issues and no case problems...but I had barrel leading issues. I purchased the Lone Wolf replacement barrel and I've had really good luck with it. I still get some leading, but nothing like the stock poly barrel.

In my quest to make everything harder, I read about powder coating boolits. It's a very simple and inexpensive process and the results are pretty amazing. I've power coated and shot several hundered 9mm and 40 cal and my leading issues are gone. I sent some of my "bare" cast boolits through the gun to get it leaded, then shot 20 powder coated boolits. The powder coated boolits actually cleaned the lead out.

I add a little of this to my wheel weight and range lead mix for 40 cal

Super Hard Alloy Ingot (30%-Antimony, 70%-Lead)

A little goes a very long way and it's make the bullets super hard.

I shoot for a saceo hardness between 8 and 9, that really reduces the leading in my lone wolf barrels