Reloading .40s&w and "Glock bulge"

[Arkansas Paul]

However, I have reloaded for a Glock 23 for 18 years using standard RCBS carbide dies.

There is no need for a push-through case sizer unless you have an after-market barrel with a really tight chamber, and shoot reloads that came out of a very loose Glock chamber.

I've had the same experience. My brother shoots a G22 with a stock factory barrel and we just put all our brass in the same bucket and load with standard Lee carbide dies. No one has ever had any issues and thats 3 different .40 cal guns.

 

[918v]

My RCBS sizer die will shave brass off the case walls on about 25% of Glock fired cases unless they go through a GRX die first. Not a lot of brass, but enough to weaken the case walls after several reloads.

 

[SuedePflow]

Well, I shot my first reloads at the range today with less than stellar results. The first round chambered and fired. The next 4 would not chamber. The bulged bases would not allow the round to fully chamber and it held the slide just out of battery. The last round locked up the gun badly and required some careful prying with a small screw driver just to get the slide open. Pissed me off. This was with my LW barrel. I switched to my Glock barrel and ran three mags through it without issues until I got to the last round which was S&B brass. Locked it up again, so I quite for the day.

It seems I'm going to need a Redding G-RX or Lee Bulge Buster if I want my brass to fit my LW barrel.

 

[fields]

I had the same problem with a lone wolf barrel. I took some off the top of the shellholder with a stone. This allows the case to be sized further down the side. I still check each case I want to shoot in that barrel. The few rejects get shot in another gun.

 

[Cervus canadensis]

Well, I shot my first reloads at the range today with less than stellar results. The first round chambered and fired. The next 4 would not chamber. The bulged bases would not allow the round to fully chamber and it held the slide just out of battery. The last round locked up the gun badly and required some careful prying with a small screw driver just to get the slide open. Pissed me off. This was with my LW barrel. I switched to my Glock barrel and ran three mags through it without issues until I got to the last round which was S&B brass. Locked it up again, so I quite for the day.

It seems I'm going to need a Redding G-RX or Lee Bulge Buster if I want my brass to fit my LW barrel.

Were the rounds hanging up on the brass case or were the bullets hitting the step up at the end of the chamber before the lands? I had a similar experience with my Glock 22 and LW barrel but the cases were fine. My problems rested in the crimping step of the process.

Try sizing several empty cases and drop them into the LW barrel to see if they fit freely or not.

 

[SuedePflow]

Were the rounds hanging up on the brass case or were the bullets hitting the step up at the end of the chamber before the lands? I had a similar experience with my Glock 22 and LW barrel but the cases were fine. My problems rested in the crimping step of the process.

Try sizing several empty cases and drop them into the LW barrel to see if they fit freely or not.

Thanks for the post. I just tried it and you're right. The crimped end seems to be the issue. Well, for the most part at least. My S&B brass is still too bulged to fit in the LW chamber, but the rest of my brass seems to be fine. I just tried fitting some of my problematic handloads in the LW chamber, and those won't drop in, but if I turn them around backward, the head and the lower half of the body drops in fine.

So how exactly is the crimp causing this issue?

It's also worth noting that I believe I've already fixed the problem. I was experimenting with some very light recoiling loads this morning and adjusted my die for greater OAL and less crimp. Those loads seem to drop into the LW chamber just fine. So I guess I'll just keep that amount of crimp where it is.

 

[LiveLife]

SuedePflow, I use Lone Wolf barrels (40S&W and 9mm conversion) for my G22/G23/G27 and had similar experience. As others posted, I initially thought it was due to bulged case base not being fully resized.

So I took the rounds that would not fully chamber and pulled the bullets and resized the cases (I use Lee carbide dies). When I chamber checked the resized cases, they all freely dropped in the LW barrel with a "plink". Now, if your resized cases won't freely drop in the LW barrel, the bulged case bases are not being fully resized.

What I found that caused the finished rounds from fully chambering were bullets that were out of round or out of spec (too large of diameter) along with thicker walled brass cases. I did not have any problems with jacketed/plated bullets sized .400"-.401" but had some issues with lead bullets that were supposed to be sized .401" and found them to be .402"+.

As to taper crimp, I usually use .020" added to the diameter of jacketed bullet and .021" added to the lead bullet to just return the flare back flat on the bullet. So even .421"-.422" taper crimped lead rounds will fully chamber in my LW chambers.

With some thicker walled brass cases, you may still experience some chambering issues, especially with larger diameter lead bullets. If your finished rounds are still not fully chambering, you can send your barrel back to Lone Wolf and have the chamber enlarged or do it yourself with fine grit wet/dry sand paper. It doesn't take much sanding as you are polishing slightly less than .001". I outlined the steps I used on this thread - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=8093783#post8093783

 

[sexybeast]

My experience with Lone Wolf barrels have been frustrating also. I don't think they are any more accurate and are no where near as "tight" fitting in the slide. I have a Storm Lake conversion barrel in my G20 and I don't have any of the issues your having.
Do you have a case gauge? Rounds that drop into my case gauge, my Storm Lake 40 barrel, and of course my G23 and G22 barrels WON'T drop into my friends Lone Wolf barrel. Its just too tight.
Seems like you are working real hard to make your rounds work in a barrel that is much too tight for reloaded ammo.

 

[Cervus canadensis]

So how exactly is the crimp causing this issue?

My theory:

The Rainier plated bullets I use have no cannelure and are composed of softer lead and plating than either hard cast lead or jacketed bullets. While seating and crimping in the same step there was a "mushrooming" of the bullet just above the crimp that would hang up inside the LW chamber with its tight tolerances.

If I seated the bullets with the RCBS die (no crimp) and then crimped (RCBS) in a separate step, most (but not all) of the rounds chambered fine. I purchased a Lee FCD and every round I have made chambers fine. This way I still have adequate crimping and rounds that chamber every time. Until this point I have never seen the need for a FCD…guess I learned something new.

That is my theory and what worked for me. YMMV.

 

[SuedePflow]

My experience with Lone Wolf barrels have been frustrating also. I don't think they are any more accurate and are no where near as "tight" fitting in the slide. I have a Storm Lake conversion barrel in my G20 and I don't have any of the issues your having.
Do you have a case gauge? Rounds that drop into my case gauge, my Storm Lake 40 barrel, and of course my G23 and G22 barrels WON'T drop into my friends Lone Wolf barrel. Its just too tight.
Seems like you are working real hard to make your rounds work in a barrel that is much too tight for reloaded ammo.

My issue seems to be with the bullet and/or crimp. I don't think I'll have any issues with the LW barrel once I get the kinks ironed out (if I haven't already). The loads I made last night fall into the LW chamber just fine. Though, with deer season (gun season) just around the corner, I don't know when I'll be able to test them.

But even still, if I have to stick to factory ammo with my LW barrel and shoot the handloads through my Glock barrel, that's OK too. But I'm confident it wont come to that.

 

[SuedePflow]

My theory:

The Rainier plated bullets I use have no cannelure and are composed of softer lead and plating than either hard cast lead or jacketed bullets. While seating and crimping in the same step there was a "mushrooming" of the bullet just above the crimp that would hang up inside the LW chamber with its tight tolerances.

If I seated the bullets with the RCBS die (no crimp) and then crimped (RCBS) in a separate step, most (but not all) of the rounds chambered fine. I purchased a Lee FCD and every round I have made chambers fine. This way I still have adequate crimping and rounds that chamber every time. Until this point I have never seen the need for a FCD…guess I learned something new.

That is my theory and what worked for me. YMMV.

Makes sense. My problematic rounds were loaded with Rainer 165gr bullets. I pulled a few apart last night and they did have a "ridge" above the crimp. With my die adjusted up just a hair, I can get lighter crimp that doesn't seem to mushroom the bullet like they did in my first batch.

I'll report back after I get a chance to fire this next batch.

 

[Cervus canadensis]

Makes sense. My problematic rounds were loaded with Rainer 165gr bullets. I pulled a few apart last night and they did have a "ridge" above the crimp. With my die adjusted up just a hair, I can get lighter crimp that doesn't seem to mushroom the bullet like they did in my first batch.

I'll report back after I get a chance to fire this next batch.

I also was using the Rainier 165gr bullet. I went with the Lee FCD because I was worried about setback in an already high pressure round. Keep an eye out for setback with the lighter crimp. Keep us posted on your results.

 

[LiveLife]

Neck tension comes from resizing of case and not from taper crimp. Actually, too much crimp will decrease neck tension.

My QC check for neck tension is measuring OAL/COL before and after feeding the round from the magazine and releasing the slide without riding it.

If the round experiences any significant bullet setback, you will be able to measure it.

 

[Beanie-Bean]

Suede,

I resize all my .357SIG/.40S&W/10mm brass with the Redding G-Rx carbide die, and have had zero issues running the loads in stock barrels (Glock, SIG Sauer) or aftermarket (KKM) barrels. After running the cases through the sizing die (on a single stage) all of them will fit nicely into their respective case gauges. They don't drop all the way in prior to the full-length/base sizing.

Finished rounds fit nicely in their case gauges, and I also check the rounds with the barrels of the guns I'll be shooting, too.

Sorry to hear about your frustration at the range. Don't be discouraged. You'll find the solution.

 

[Clark]

I got a Glock 22 40sw 10 or 12 years ago that was so old then that the nite sites were dim.
1) The chamber diameter was larger than the SAAMI max.
2) The feed ramp intrusion was 0.235".
3) The slide mass is low.
4) The space for recoil springs is ok.

But if a gun jams the gun is blamed.
Gaston is a billionaire and I am not.
He knew what trade offs to sacrifice.

 

[SuedePflow]

I thought about doing a setback test tonight to make sure there is enough neck tension. I believe they are fine, but it definietly wouldn't hurt to test.

bds - Do you only chamber a round one time to determine a pass/fail? Theoretically, my handloads will only ever be chambered one time before firing, but I didn't know if there was any good reason for chambering multiple times and then measuring for set-back.

 

[LiveLife]

I do the neck tension test by chambering once from the magazine.

 

[leadchucker]

The cases with the pronounced Glock bulge usually have the distinctive "smiley face" mark on the side where the metal was extruded over the edge of the feed ramp. If the mark still shows after resizing, the case gets culled.