40 S&W Reloading question

What Gen Glock? And are your casings coming out pregnant? 40 is the best caliber to reload. Even for Glocks. Just keep the power levels down a bit.

Those warnings are because some shmucks ran poorly reloaded ammo in their Glocks ten times more often than anybody else. Some older Glocks had loose chambers, but they weren't the only ones.

Depends on your Glock. Early Gen 1 (perhaps even Gen 2) Glocks had unsupported chambers which produced a bulge aka "Glock Bulge" on the lower side of the case just above the extraction groove. This weakens the brass in that area, and when reloaded, even while removing the bulge, could expose the case to failure if the weak side of the case lined up again on the right side of the chamber. Your call as to whether you want to risk it.
I don't shoot a Glock, but have reloaded plenty of 40 S&W, and removed a number of Glock Bulges via the Redding GrX die and haven't (yet) split a case or bulged my own brass.

I shoot and reload 40 S&W for a gen 4 Glock and I’ve never had a problem. Cases bulge a little but plain old Lee carbide dies take care of it every time.

I run nothing but relatively soft lead reloads through my gen 3 Glock 22. I use mostly range pick up cases. No leading, no problem.

I had some .40S&W with guppybellies like this, the consensus here was to dump them. I had some others that had a bit of bulge (not a guppy belly) that a sizing die could not get down to, but a Redding G-Rx die slimmed them right down. They sized fine after that, and fit my case gauge just fine when reloaded




Discussion in this thread: https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/guppy-belly-40s-w-cases-use-or-lose-done.890464/page-2

markr6754 said:

Depends on your Glock. Early Gen 1 (perhaps even Gen 2) Glocks had unsupported chambers which produced a bulge aka "Glock Bulge" on the lower side of the case just above the extraction groove. This weakens the brass in that area....

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With a Gen 3 you probably don't have an issue, especially with target loads. But it's always good to check your brass.

I have a Gen 2 23 that I've shot a lot of rounds through, 15k or so. I have most of the brass I've shot out of it from the past 10 years. I did get some bulgers that my RCBS die couldn't get rid of, so I ran them through the Lee Bulge buster. I just recently got a replacement barrel from Heavy Armor Division. I haven't shot any reloads through that one yet. But I've noticed a slight bulging on some of those as well. I def inspect the 40 cases a bit more after processing.

alanwk said:

My Glock is Gen 3

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By Gen3, Glock has tightened the 40S&W barrel chamber so it has greater chamber mouth support that is better than many other factory 40S&W barrels.

These days, most overly bulged 40S&W brass I see are not shot in Glock barrels (Glock fired brass has distinct rectangle primer imprint).

alanwk said:

I see where some are warning not to reload 40 S&W brass and shoot it in a Glock. Do any of you actually go by their warnings?

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Glock among other manufacturers warn to not shoot reloads in their pistols (regardless of bullet type).

Guess what ammunition thousands of match shooters around the world (including Team Glock) shoot on a weekly basis? That's right ... RELOADS.

I have shot well over half million rounds of reloads in various Glocks, including two Gen3 Glock 22 for USPSA and have not experienced KaBoom or case wall rupture/failure or overly bulged/guppy belly brass.

alanwk said:

I have some brass and wanted to use them in my Glock 23. Serius replies please.

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Seriously, if you are using mixed range brass with unknown reload history, just use mid-to-high range load data instead of pushing near max/max loads.

I reload 40 and shoot it in my glock as well. It is a gen 3 though. As some of the posters have mentioned, I do try to keep my 40 reloads toned down. Your caution is understandable. Sometimes the cases do seem slightly bulged but nothing like some of those pics in the above posts. Running them thru my Hornady and Lee dies seems to do the trick.

It's funny. Most of my issues with 40 ammo have all come from factory loads. Still, I do love the cartridge and how it performs.

I've had the same exact experiences as everyone else. Just a slight bulge if any. My Lee carbide die takes care of it.