Glocks, factory barrel, 40cal, reloads?

oklaccer · Mar 4, 2011

What works for just normal every day punching holes in paper? I'm not doing competions and power factor is not an issue. I just want something that will work without going KB. Glock 23, 800 round count at this time. Fairly new to reloading, again. I have an RCBS rock chucker, RCBS carbide dies, and some time.
I have read on the lead bullet issue, the KB issue, the unsupported chamber issue, and so much more that my head is spinning. Re-inventing the wheel is not high on my priority list, so what do you guys have that works?
Lead, moly coated, jacketed?
bullet weight?
Powder/amount?
Brass - only new, once fired, range brass
Disclaimer - I take full responsibility for anything that I may or may not do, or should do, that results from answers to this post.

jtischauser · Mar 5, 2011

Everything works just clean your barrel regularly.

oklaccer · Mar 5, 2011

Let me fill in the blanks.
About 15 years ago, I was shooting a lot more than I do now, and was reloading my own. Bought all the equipment, a reloading manual, read it cover to cover and started reloading, but never did any further research. I was shooting jacketed bullets with a mid load, as described in the one loading manual that I had. Things went well for a long time, probably 2 years and several thousand round, when I had my 1st KB. Glock rebuilt (the KB blew out the extractor) my 27 and sent it back. I gave all my reloading stuff to my brother and never shot reloads again. My brother passed away a year ago and I got all the reloading stuff back. This time I researched a litle more and was a little more educated when I started loading. This time it was lead bullets. I had been about 30 rounds into 200 that I had when my 2nd KB happened, this time in a near new G23. It blew the magazine out and broke the mag catch. There was no indication of lead fouling, in fact the bore was clean for having just shot about 30 rounds. No other problems. I dis-assembled the remaining rounds and want to start over, again. A lot more research now, and the more I know, the more confused I get.
I don't want to have a 3rd KB, so I either need to find what I am doing wrong, find something that works or just go back to factory loads. I would rather roll my own and shoot more.
I'm sure there are gaps in what I have said/done so please feel free to offer suggestions, criticism, comments or ask questions.

jtischauser · Mar 5, 2011

What does KB stand for?

oklaccer · Mar 5, 2011

KaBoom, what happens to Glock 40cal shooting reloads.
Noticed the time stamps on your posts. Do you ever sleep?

csiedmond1 · Mar 5, 2011

I have a glock 33-.357 Sig, and a Glock 21c-.45 ACP and only shoot reloads in them both with no problems at all...

jtischauser · Mar 5, 2011

oklaccer said:
KaBoom, what happens to Glock 40cal shooting reloads.
Noticed the time stamps on your posts. Do you ever sleep?

That's what I figured but never heard it called that. I'd go with sone Montana GD bullets and a light powder charge and you really should be good to go. Clean and Inspect your brass thoroughly too.

drmitchgibson · Mar 5, 2011

Jesse Tischauser said:
Everything works just clean your barrel regularly.

This is true. I bet the kabooms are all double-charged cases and squibs. Squibs are sometimes impossible to detect when you're trying to save pennies by loading questionable bare minimum loads. My brother has a G22, and we've shot about 3K reloads through it so far, both lead and plated, with never a problem. I've pushed 310 lead reloads through my G17, with no issues, which I mention just because it's common for people to claim lead bullets won't run through a Glock factory barrel. They will.

jtischauser · Mar 5, 2011

Double charge or ruptured case. What press where you reloading on? With thorough case inspection you can eliminate case failure most of the time. If you have a powder check station and visually check each case you should eliminate the double charge. Big you are still concerned weigh them all. It's tedious but it could stop a mistake.

oklaccer · Mar 5, 2011

Jesse Tischauser said:
Double charge or ruptured case. What press where you reloading on? With thorough case inspection you can eliminate case failure most of the time. If you have a powder check station and visually check each case you should eliminate the double charge. Big you are still concerned weigh them all. It's tedious but it could stop a mistake.

I was using my RCBS rock chucker. Don't think squib or double charge was an issue. Both times the barrel was clear. The first time the only damage was the loss of the extractor. Second time it was the magazine catch. I load 40 rounds at a time, which fills my loading block. After charging all cases, I visually inspect every case to make sure it does not have more or less powder than the cases around it. Then I move on to bullet seating/crimping. In both instances, the load was still developing pressure as the action started to cycle. First time there was a complete case separation at the case head. Second time there was a relatively large strip of brass that curled out to the side, from mid-point to the base of the brass.
First load - Winchester case, Hornady XTP 155 grain bullet, 10.8 grains of Blue Dot powder and a Winchester #116 primer.
Second load - case unknown, I threw it away, my bad, 180gr lead bullet from H&H, 8.2 grains Blue Dot, CCI primer.
Back to the original question, what do you guys use that works?

jtischauser · Mar 5, 2011

Damn must have been bad brass! That is really odd and unfortunate. I haven't pulled the arm on my dillon for a while I need to go remember what I am even loading with it.

csiedmond1 · Mar 5, 2011

I had some issues with Blue dot not shooting consistent with reloads, so I went to hs-6 and all issues were resolved!!!

oklaccer · Mar 5, 2011

csiedmond1 said:
I had some issues with Blue dot not shooting consistent with reloads, so I went to hs-6 and all issues were resolved!!!

Blue Dot has issued a notice about using their powder in high pressure loads, of which the 40S&W qualifies, but was not included in the letter. Because of that issue, and not knowing how long any of the powder I got from my brother has been open, I am discarding all the powder I have. All I am going to reload on a regular basis is the 40cal.

oklaccer · Mar 5, 2011

Jesse Tischauser said:
Damn must have been bad brass! That is really odd and unfortunate. I haven't pulled the arm on my dillon for a while I need to go remember what I am even loading with it.

Maybe what I really need is a good lesson on brass inspection.

Slammer · Mar 5, 2011

There ain't no secrets that I have ever heard on looking at brass. I guess it depends how clean you get it so you can easily see a crack or whatever may be failing. My brass looks line new before the go to the press with 4-8 hours of tumbling in the Nu car polish and mineral spirits.

Scott Hearn · Mar 5, 2011

It might help if you post up your load.

I've seen many people shoot thousands of rounds out of their Glocks with lead bullet reloads. I think that there is some mis-understanding of this issue. As I understand it, you are supposed to avoid swaged lead bullets that are swaged from pure soft lead, especially of the hollow base variety, which I doubt you could even find any for that caliber. But hard cast bullets are good to go. At least that's what I've heard.

So it sounds like a powder issue if it's not your brass. How many times has it been loaded? Word has it that AA#5 can KB in .40SW for some unknown reason and even the manufacturer can't figure out why, but supposedly acknowledges it a problem in that caliber, at least that's the rumor over on the Enos forum. Post up your exact load and I can cross check it across the several of my manuals.

Rick417 · Mar 5, 2011

Both of your loads looked to be slightly under the starting load, so you should be good on that.

You didn't mention your OAL in your data. that could make a difference.

Also, what type of scale are you using?

oklaccer · Mar 7, 2011

Scott Hearn said:
It might help if you post up your load.

I've seen many people shoot thousands of rounds out of their Glocks with lead bullet reloads. I think that there is some mis-understanding of this issue. As I understand it, you are supposed to avoid swaged lead bullets that are swaged from pure soft lead, especially of the hollow base variety, which I doubt you could even find any for that caliber. But hard cast bullets are good to go. At least that's what I've heard.

So it sounds like a powder issue if it's not your brass. How many times has it been loaded? Word has it that AA#5 can KB in .40SW for some unknown reason and even the manufacturer can't figure out why, but supposedly acknowledges it a problem in that caliber, at least that's the rumor over on the Enos forum. Post up your exact load and I can cross check it across the several of my manuals.

See post #10 above.
The first KB had brass that had only been fired a few times. I know that is not specific, but that was 15 years ago, and I was not into many details. The second KB was in December, and the brass had come from my brothers supply, so no idea how many times it had been fired. I visually inspected the brass for any deformities, cracks or anything else suspicious. It was checked after tumbling, after size/expanding and again after the completed load. So I can't really tell how many times, but looked good to me. As I said earlier, msybe I need a lesson on brass inspection.

OUshooter · Mar 12, 2011

I won't address the lead in stock glock issue. Its been argued to death. Besides for the cost of lead you can get plated.

If your sure doubles or squibs aren't the issue you will want to look at pushback. Depending on different variables that maybe in play, you could be the victum of bullet setback. If the bullet isn't properly secured in the loaded case, then as the bullet is slammed against the feed ramp by the bolt face it can be pushed back into the case. This creates a very dangerous sitiation since you have possibly greatly reduced the COAL. Even small changes in the COAL can cause critical failures.

I ran into this same issue when I started loading .40 S&W. The final cure for me was the EGW undersizw die. Seemed like no matter how much crimp I used, a few round per 50 wouldn't be firmly seated. It took lots of time cycling reloads one at a time and checking the COAL each time to detect the issue.

Hopefully this was of some help.

Rockon71385 · Mar 22, 2011

I've put thousands of lead rounds down my G34's stock barrel, and as long as I cleaned it every few hundred I never saw any kind of significant build up. Both of you KB's sound like classic over-charge or setback scenarios to me. Lead fouling can cause them, but it happens after the barrel gets dirty and the pressure of each round starts to increase as the barrel gets more and more plugged. Firing 20 rounds and getting a KB with no fouling in the barrel doesn't make any sense at all.