Advice on Reloading for Glock 22 (.40 SW)

[taprackbang]

Are there any past threads someone could cut and paste on here on the above topic? I own a Lee Progressive press and I am aware of a few issues with reloading for a Glock. (I.E. Less case support) I am considering buying the after market barrel.

I do have a factory crimp die as well. Does a Glock reload need a lot of crimp, or a little? What is your experience? And I know about lead bullets in a hex barrel as being something to be cautious about.

Thanks

 

[dakotasin]

i like power pistol in my g35 (factory).

i use the same crimp on my glock as i do my sig and springfield - which is to say it is minimal. just enough crimp to make sure the bell on the case is removed.

 

[Jimfern]

Aa #7

I used the lee 357 SIG factory Crimp die, 180 gr hornady and sierra bullets with 9 gr.s of powder. That was my first try reloading for my Glock, but all worked out well.

 

[Brillo]

Several years ago I bought a Glock Model 22 but I never put a single round through the factory barrel. I avoid all the vapid arguments on this forum about whether you can shoot lead bullet through factory barrels. Just took it off, oiled it and stored it for posterity. I have a stainless aftermarket barrel made by KKM in my Model 22 which I love. I think I bought it from Glockmeister. I've put thousands of lead, jacketed, and copper plated rounds through it and it still looks fantastic and is very accurate. It fully supports the case so I don’t worry about Kbooms. The only bullets I don’t shoot much are the 180 grain because I don’t find them as accurate as those in the 150 to 165 grain range. Nor do I find the 135 grain to be that accurate.

I use several different powders depending upon what bullets I'm shooting and how I'm shooting based on desired recoil and accuracy. When I'm teaching gun handling I use lead downloaded with Unique. By downloaded I mean near the lower end of the recommended loads for that bullet type and weight. For power I use jacket bullets with either Power Pistol or WSF. For moderate power with jacket or plated bullets I use HS6. The best accuracy I can achieve is with moderately high loads of WSF with premium, jacketed bullets. As far as load recipes go study a few reloading manuals and work up rounds using bullets and powder that suit your particular application and firearm. I just takes time, patience, and some quality time at the range.

By far HS6 is the easiest to meter from my powder dispenser, WSF and Power Pistol next, and Unique is the most difficult to meter but not that bad once you get a rhythm going.

I use all kinds of brass from the range and, of course, examine it before each reload. For personal protection rounds, which I prefer to make over factory purchased offerings, I use new brass. (Be aware that there is all kinds of commentary in this and other forums regarding the advisability of making your own PP rounds. Most of it is pure BS. I say that as one who is very knowledgeable in the law.) Never had any problems with new or used Winchester brass. Any remotely questionable brass gets tossed.

On the rounds where I flare the mouth (lead and plated bullets) I just barely crimp the mouth back to straight. I hate to use the word crimp because it really is not a crimp at all in the technical sense. All the tension between the bullet and the case is achieved in proper resizing of the brass. No amount of "crimping" will improve upon that and may have the opposite effect and adversely affect accuracy. Depending upon the shape of the butt end of the bullet you may not have to flare the mouth at all. Good luck and enjoy your Glock. I hope you like shooting the .40 cal. S&W as much as I do.

 

[tlen]

Get yourself an after market barrel with traditional rifling and a more supported chamber. I recently bought a ported LWD barrel and have been pleased with it.
I use a taper crimp .40 S&W to prevent setback. With a high pressure cartridge, more especially the .40 S&W, this is a constant concern. Many recommend against reloading larger than 180 gr bullets as the AOL is so critical. Crimp to .421"

 

[taprackbang]

Thanks all. very useful information...

 

[Bush Pilot]

I have never used an aftermarket barrel and haven't had a round fail to chamber in a Glock yet. I don't like to experiment and still use the same powder/bullet combination that I settled on for a plinking round (165 gr MG over 4.4 grs Titegroup) if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Riss]

Reloading a Glock only should present issues if using the factory barrel because of the unsupported chamber. I use a KKM barrel in my G-35 and only have issues with loading lead 180 Gr bullets. They are longer in the wall portion and hang up in the tight KKM chamber. Locks it up so tight I cannot unload the gun. Have to seat them a little deeper than even the copper clad 180 gr from Berry's. Best thing I can suggest is to use a chamber checker, especially if you are loading a tight match barrel and/or for competition. All my match ammo gets chamber checked and then sorted in plastic boxes to check for primer and primer height. Everything else goes in the bucket for practice. I would be interested in getting some load data together for the 40 S&W. Hard to get good data on Power Pistol. I loaded 1Lb and thought it was too dirty so I switched over to 4.4 Gr of VV 340. Much cleaner but still smokey with the lead hard cast 180 Gr bullets.

 

[D. Manley]

For the benefit of the O. P., you should treat some of the generalizations & assumptions regarding Glock's "unsupported" chambers with a little skepticism as a lot of it is uninformed and repetitive internet lore. Its true that early Glock pistols, .40 caliber in particular, had a bit less chamber support than some other brands. Also true that some of these guns, when shooting full-house loads, could produce the bulged brass you hear so much about.

With that said, the problem is virtually nonexistent on current production models, .40 caliber included. Glock has increased their support at the 6 o'clock position substantially and its now as good as most any combat pistol you're likely to compare it with. I personally have six Glock pistols...4-9MM, 1-.45 and 1-.40 S&W. Of the six, the .40 has the best chamber support of the lot. I mentioned this to my local dealer and we compared the new models with some of the older, trade-in's on hand and found the current production gun's support markedly improved.

I can also say I have several thousand pieces of .40 caliber brass on hand (all range pickups) most, fired from Glock pistols. Having just processed every single piece of the range brass I can also say its very rare to see a bulged case and the few that did show up passed both Dillon case gauge and chamber just fine after resizing. FWIW, my G-35 produces no bulge even with full-house, max pressure loads.

IMHO, unless you just happen to want one, the only overbearing reason to acquire an aftermarket barrel for a current vintage Glock is if you want to shoot lead. Using plated or jacketed, the OEM barrell is just fine. If you have an older version, let the condition of the fired brass be your guide. Even with an older model with less support its not like the gun will know its shooting a reload and go into rebellion on you...if the load's reasonable you'll have no problem.

 

[VegasOPM]

The only significant whammy to loading for a G22 is overall cartridge length. The GLOCK magazine is a little shorter than the chamber allows- so make sure that you can load finished rounds in the chamber.

I have heard about the "unsupported chamber" issue for years, but I shoot 2000+ rounds of reloads per month through GLOCK's and it isn't an issue for me. I make sure to visually inspect every casing before it goes into the press. If it is bottle shaped at all it goes into the recycle bucket. Most of the out of spec stuff I see comes from guys that are trying to make the .40 into a short 10mm by overloading it. The GLOCK chamber is more supported than my Beretta's in both 9mm and .40.
IMHO If you want to shoot lead you have two choices, clean the standard GLOCK barrel thoroughly every few hundred rounds or buy an aftermarket barrel. I shot 1000 rounds of hard cast lead through my G17 without cleaning it and it never had a leading problem- but results may vary, especially if the bullets's composition is softer.

 

[pcaru1]

Do the same facts hold true for all Glocks? I have a G27 and have shot reloads with no problem to this point. Should I worry now? Is there a good load for this this little gun that anyone knows?
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