The Glock Smile and 40 and 10mm reloading

[Palladan44]

Guys, In the batches of thousands of 40, and mostly 10mm Ive loaded, ive become more and more in tune with the Glock Smile, and the "Bulge" that causes the smile, and etc.

I do not use a "bulge buster" or push through resizer, so I always get my cases back to specification so that they fit loosely in my chambers. Most of my loads are A) not maximum pressure stuff and B) fired from an alpha wolf barrel where there is better chamber support, so bulging and the subsequent Glock Smile are a bit of a rarity for me, and the once fired brass from my firearms. Also since ive used a lanolin based case lubricant, ive noticed an even greater decrease in the smiles occurrences (possibly a misnomer, im not sure)

With all this being said, they (smiles) do happen every once in a great while and I usually catch them. My question for the greater population here is, how dangerous are "Glock Smiles" and what is the liklihood of a case head separation or KB due to these. Of an inspected 500 rounds, i discovered 4 that had the "smile".
I have another 1000 to check over.
10mm loaded with 9gr of longshot under 180gr Zero JHP for about 1,200 fps. and a book estimated 30,000 psi.
Chuck all the smiles?
FWIW, Longshot is an amazing 10mm powder because it gets the velocity up to where it should be for the caliber, and it doesnt bulge the cases for me. Its the only powder I can get 10mm Norma class performance out of that bulges the brass the least, if at all (Power pistol, and Blue Dot are good ones, but I get greater case bulges, possibly indicating higher pressure)

 

[Lennyjoe]

I'd resize and use. The Alpha Wolf barrel will help reduce the chances of case head separation and further bulging. I haven't tried Longshot yet in 10MM as I'm a big fan of 800X but now that I have a 10MM Carbine I'll be wanting to load en mass for that caliber so maybe I'll give it a go. I use Longshot in 9MM and .40 all the time.

 

[crestoncowboy]

I've reloaded tens of thousands of .40 fired 90% from Glocks. (A few local LEO used 226/229/and USP but vast majority have been Glock). I also shoot them mostly in 4 different gen3 Glocks. Never sorted or had any issue. I throw them in the hopper on my progressive.

I've also loaded thousands of 10mm. Most fired from Glock and a Delta elite back in the day. (known for having worse support than the Glock). Ive had exactly 2 cases blow. Both were brand new factory armscorp in the Delta.

There may be problems. But I haven't seen them.

Edit to add. Also some of the LE brass was from the Beretta 96. But still vast majority through gen 3 Glock

 

[Bat Rastard]

The only problems I have had was with HOT Glock fired brass trying to go through my Kimber. The Kimber has a tighter chamber. I now do pass through sizing on all my 10mm before loading. (Redding ) I haven't had any issues since.

 

[donut1953]

For me if any 40 case has a smile it gets trashed. I have over the years found less than a dozen cases with smiles from purchase of once fired brass.

I case gauge every reload and usually I will find 5 to 10 out of a 1000 rounds that I will run through the bulge buster.

 

[packetloss]

My question for the greater population here is, how dangerous are "Glock Smiles" and what is the liklihood of a case head separation or KB due to these. Of an inspected 500 rounds, i discovered 4 that had the "smile".

I have been aware of Glock bulged cases, but until recently didn't know about the Glock Smiles. I threw away a bunch of cases that had it as I thought they were just junk cases, didn't know it was related to the Glock bulge thing. I did put a few through a bulge buster and then resized them and the smile is gone, but it did have me questioning if the brass was safe to use. It is a really pronounced bulge on one side of the case which I guess does look like a smile.

I'd be curious if these cases are safe to use. Why would Glock design a barrel with such an odd section that is not supported? I can't see anything good about it. The general Glock bulge I get, it's about having a loose chamber so pretty much any round will work even if you have carbon buildup. This bulge however is so specific it really looks more like a defect.

 

[Palladan44]

Packetloss: the asymetrical Bulge occurs to the brass. Then, the smile shows up onced resized in a conventional re-sizer in the same location as the Asymetrical bulge, if the bulge was significant enough.
Some say that the smile is an area of weakness, where the brass gets sheared or perforated, or thinned in that area, thus making it the possible weakest area in the case.

Everybody else: Your experiences and opinions seem to line up with my own. Good to hear. Im not too worried, but as you all know the more you learn about something, the more there is to worry about.

 

[1KPerDay]

No one in his right mind is going to tell you it’s safe. It’s impossible to tell. All they can do is say “I have had no issues.”

Some have had issues. Some aver that the majority of kabooms were using cases that had smileys or bulges and had been resized, weakening the brass. Nobody knows for sure. I personally don’t get smileys in my Glocks because I don’t load super hot nor do I use barrels that aren’t sufficiently supported.

With the exception of some hot double tap 250 grain HC “bear loads” that left cases not just smiley’ed but guppy bellied. I recycled those cases and don’t shoot those loads in my G30. They were fine in my 1911.

 

[Otto]

Per Lee:

“GLOCK CASES: Lee Precision does not recommend "fixing" cases fired in pistols with unsupported chambers, because they can't be made safe once they have bulged. The case wall is thinned where it bulges. Resizing the outside of the case back down to the correct diameter will not restore the case back to its original thickness. If such a bulged case is fired in a pistol with an unsupported chamber again and this thinned section of brass happens to line up with the unsupported part of the chamber, there is a high probability that the case will rupture.”

 

[rg1]

Started loading 40 S&W a few years ago. Bought a few 500 round lots of once fired brass mostly Winchester. Found that my sizing die did not size down far enough and bought a Redding carbide GR-X push through die. All the cases I found badly swelled were not fired in a Glock and had round firing pin indents, A few had the dangerous "guppy belly" bulge and unless seen they go through a sizing die unnoticed. My opinion is that slightly bulged normal brass is not stretched or thinned and a push through die only sizes the untouched area from a regular sizing die. My reloads in Glock, Beretta, and Carbine rifle do not swell brass however if buying or picking up range brass I'd recommend Redding's GR-X die. There are some guns out there with large chambers and not just unsupported chambers?

 

[GW Staar]

I've been using the GR-X since they were invented. Nothing but good experience with it.....but a trashed case is a trashed case. I toss them. A little bulge left where the sizer can't reach is different. I used to collect once Glock-shot cases from the police practice range in .40. I ran them all through the GR-X before I sized, and they gave me nothing but good ammo. Then the local Police went back to 9mm.....too bad, but nice while it lasted. My .40's are fully supported so I can't speak for using them in a Glock again....except that newer Glocks have better support. Perfect made perfecter?

 

[Lennyjoe]

Per Lee:

“GLOCK CASES: Lee Precision does not recommend "fixing" cases fired in pistols with unsupported chambers, because they can't be made safe once they have bulged. The case wall is thinned where it bulges. Resizing the outside of the case back down to the correct diameter will not restore the case back to its original thickness. If such a bulged case is fired in a pistol with an unsupported chamber again and this thinned section of brass happens to line up with the unsupported part of the chamber, there is a high probability that the case will rupture.”

Good thing it’s just a recommendation. I’ve not had any issues with reloading them the last 10+ years I’ve been reloading 10MM

 

[Akula69]

Our LEO range has several departments who still use Gen 1-2 Glock .40 platform, and the once-fired brass is plentiful for the caliber. I've collected and reloaded close to 2K cases, first running them through the LEE bulge buster. I've not had a failure (yet) in my old Gen 2 or my son's Gen 4.

 

[Kingcreek]

I must have the only gen 2 .40cal glock ever made with an adequately supported factory barrel. I’ve never seen a bulged case from it. Other range brass sure but I only use my home grown cases, I never pick up the scrap somebody else left on the ground.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I never pick up the scrap somebody else left on the ground.

I do! I’m a brass whore at the range. I’ll grab mine and anything in brass form and leave the steel cases behind. I’m not ashamed either....lol

 

[FROGO207]

If you push your slightly bulged 40 through the bulge buster it should be safe to use. If uou try to size it first and crimp it making a smile then it is ruined. Also the severly guppy bulged brass is scrap as fare as I am concerned even though it "could" be put through the bulge buster.
As a side note I had some 45ACP brass that had a small bulge. I ran them through a 45 colt die first and they resized OK and worked after that.