TenDriver said:
Reloading for a Glock 27 ... What do I need to know to pass on to him about loading for a Glock?
1. Check neck tension.
Insufficient neck tension will allow bullet setback when the bullet nose bumps the feed ramp and seat the bullet base deeper in the case which will increase chamber pressure. My QC test for checking neck tension is measuring OAL/COL before and after feeding the finished round from the magazine and releasing the slide without riding it. If you can measure significant decrease in cartridge length, you have neck tension issue that must be addressed.
2. If using mixed range brass with unknown reload history, consider not using near max/max load data.
Hot loads shot in generous chambers will over-stretch the brass case wall and may decrease the case wall thickness. Many reloaders will use push-through dies like Redding G-Rx/Lee Bulge Buster and cases fixed with these methods will look like any other fired brass. After several reloadings/over-stretching/fixing cycles, the thinned cases may contribute to case wall failure/KaBoom (especially if bullet setback occurs from insufficient neck tension).
Using mid-to-high range load data with lower pressures will decrease this issue, but some slower burn rate powders will lose accuracy when loaded below high-to-near max load data. For me, W231/HP-38 maintains accuracy with various 155-180 gr jacketed/plated bullets when loaded to mid-to-high range load data and with heavier 180 gr bullets, produce accuracy even at start-to-low load data. Many complain about snappy recoil of 40S&W. Low-to-mid range W231/HP-38 loads will produce milder recoil comparable to 9mm loads.
3. When shooting lead bullets in factory barrels, inspect/clean barrels more often.
Glock barrels have very smooth start of rounded rifling with longer leade that allow lead bullets to slide deeper into the rifling before building chamber pressures. This may allow more high pressure gas to leak around the bullet and deposit more fouling in the rifling, especially near the chamber end. When shooting lead bullets in factory Glock barrels, I usually inspect the barrel at 200-300 rounds and clean the barrel as necessary -
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=8530855#post8530855
I use Lone Wolf and KKM 40S&W/9mm conversion barrels in my G22/G23/G27 and they stay cleaner without leading to 500+ rounds and seem to produce greater accuracy than factory barrels with lead bullets.
Doesn't full length sizing negate the need for a bulge buster?
That depends on the brand of dies and barrel you use. Some sizing dies have more rounded radius on the bottom of the sizing die and not resize down as far as others. These resized cases may fully chamber in more generous factory chambers but not in tighter match barrels. I have RCBS and Lee carbide 40S&W dies and Lee carbide sizing die will resize most cases to fully chamber in the tighter Lone Wolf barrels without being push-through resized in the Lee FCD (Bulge Buster). Personally, I do not push-through resize 40S&W cases. If a case won't pass the Lone Wolf chambers after being resized in a Lee sizing die, I will rotate the case 90 degrees and resize a second time. If the case still won't pass the Lone Wolf chambers, I will toss/recycle the case.
Many reloaders with sizing dies that won't resize down as far as Lee dies will often use push-through resizing with Redding G-Rx or Lee FCD. But the original intent of these dies were to push-through resize the case bases once then resize normally thereafter.
These days brass is so available anything that I would question is into the recycling bucket. Especially if it is 9MM or 40S&W. YMMV It is entirely possible the guy has a valid reason for doing this.
