Notorious "Glock bulge" on Sd40VE brass

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dubois9837

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Just got back from the range again shooting my new SD40VE and have a question for any other SD40VE owners out there. I have now fired 150 rounds through my 40S&W to include 50 rounds PPU 180gr. JHP, 50 rounds Federal Champion 180gr. FMJ, and 50 rounds WWB 165gr FMJ. Pistol shot great and never had a malfunction. I seem to be getting the so called Glock bulge on all my brass ( all brands ). I can't post a picture right now but google "glock bulge 40S&W" and that is exactly what my brass looks like. I know LEE makes a bulge buster die for reloading cases with this problem. Does any other SD40VE owners experience this with their brass? Would like to reload to cut down on ammo cost.
 
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Guess I am just interested to see if other SD40VE owners are seeing the same thing in theirs. I also own the SD9VE and there is no bulge in the cases but I know the 40S&W is a much higher pressure round.
 
I've fired over 600 WW box and never bulged a case, gonna hang out and see what others say


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sd40 said:
I've fired over 600 WW box and never bulged a case, gonna hang out and see what others say


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Interesting. All 150 cases were bulged out of mine. Some worse than others but all had it.
 
No bulge

I've put 450 rounds through it and haven't seen the bulge. The only ammo problem I've had was TulAmmo was trying to double stack in the magazine. It wasnt a sd40ve problem either, my buddy has an XD and it was doing the same thing to his mag. My sd9ve ate the TulAmmo up though.
 
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brando21 said:
I've put 450 rounds through it and haven't seen the bulge. The only ammo problem I've had was TulAmmo was trying to double stack in the magazine. It wasnt a sd40ve problem either, my buddy has an XD and it was doing the same thing to his mag. My sd9ve ate the TulAmmo up though.
Click to expand...

Maybe a call to S&W is in order. Pistol is brand new. I love the pistol and the way it shoots but maybe a little concerned now. At a minimum I would not feel comfortable reloading this brass and then firing in the pistol again in case it weakend the brass.
 
Take the brass and recycle it. DO NOT reload it. If it is stressed that much
you may be looking for a new gun, hand, eyes. A friend who is a commercial reloader for 35 yrs has seen the results of overworked brass. Unfortunately brass composition/structure varies between different runs and lots, the company is only saying it will work one time!!
I will be posting photos shortly. Be Safe,
 
vipermd said:
Take the brass and recycle it. DO NOT reload it. If it is stressed that much
you may be looking for a new gun, hand, eyes. A friend who is a commercial reloader for 35 yrs has seen the results of overworked brass. Unfortunately brass composition/structure varies between different runs and lots, the company is only saying it will work one time!!
I will be posting photos shortly. Be Safe,
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I am not set up to reload 40S&W yet but plan to in the future. I think my barrel is out of spec. and will call S&W Monday about it. It shouldn't be bulging cases like this on 3 different types of factory ammo.
 
Need pictures!

.40 is NOT a high pressure round compared to 9mm.

My guess is your brass and gun are just fine. I use the Redding G-Rx and it works great on brass that has been through my 3rd gen Glocks. (3rd gen and newer Glocks also have much better chamber support than their predecessors, despite the reputation.)

Part of the thing with .40 is that it is a straight walled case, whereas 9mm is tapered, and chambers have to take this into account and maintain reliability. Lopsided lumps are normal and ok.

Are you getting the smiley, or just a lopsided lump?
 
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Waywatcher said:
Need pictures!

.40 is NOT a high pressure round compared to 9mm.

My guess is your brass and gun are just fine. I use the Redding G-Rx and it works great on brass that has been through my 3rd gen Glocks. (3rd gen and newer Glocks also have much better chamber support than their predecessors, despite the reputation.)

Part of the thing with .40 is that it is a straight walled case, whereas 9mm is tapered, and chambers have to take this into account and maintain reliability. Lopsided lumps are normal and ok.

Are you getting the smiley, or just a lopsided lump?
Click to expand...


If there is nothing wrong why do other sd40ve pistols not have the same problem firing the same factory ammo?
 
Bulged brass- this brass was once fired then reloaded with 180 flat nose. These were fired in two different guns. The out side case exhibit no bulge the center cases are bulged or one had the rim ripped off- The larger bulge/tear is from a S&W 4046 with out damage. The second that shows only minor bulge opening blew my SigmaF 40 apart. Over 7K rds, new springs, also blew the mag apart. The cuts are healing, the numbness is gone but the pain of losing the Sigma will last a long time. I have had it 20 yrs. I have narrowed down to 180 loads that got mixed in from a friends loads ( different head stamp ). I am in the process of narrowing down the powder since there are a few left, yes oal is correct, they were only chambered once, they were accurate, and I believe the powder amount will be correct, temp was 14 degree, the ammo got mixed sometime this august and has been stored correctly. Be safe

Note: That the 2 guns were being fired at the same time, different target. The FTE of the casing was the only thing she noticed, first 2 rds were fired before the bulge and head removal. Two rds were fired in Sigma with out problem, third rd I thought I felt something on my off hand ( gloved ), 4th rd blew a section out of the right side of the Sigma, cut hand slightly through glove.
 
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vipermd said:
Bulged brass- this brass was once fired then reloaded with 180 flat nose. These were fired in two different guns. The out side case exhibit no bulge the center cases are bulged or one had the rim ripped off- The larger bulge/tear is from a S&W 4046 with out damage. The second that shows only minor bulge opening blew my SigmaF 40 apart. Over 7K rds, new springs, also blew the mag apart. The cuts are healing, the numbness is gone but the pain of losing the Sigma will last a long time. I have had it 20 yrs. I have narrowed down to 180 loads that got mixed in from a friends loads ( different head stamp ). I am in the process of narrowing down the powder since there are a few left, yes oal is correct, they were only chambered once, they were accurate, and I believe the powder amount will be correct, temp was 14 degree, the ammo got mixed sometime this august and has been stored correctly. Be safe,
Click to expand...

Good to know! Thank you! And glad to hear your injuries were not worse.
 
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Not all my cases do it but some of them have that bulge. Makes me nervous.
 
Got my new SD40VE a couple months ago. Put a couple hundred rounds through it and noticed that it was putting severe "smiles" in the brass. Contacted Smith & Wesson and they had me send it in to them. It is now on the way back to me with a new barrel. Hope this solves the problem. I think it's a good idea for you to get in contact with them
 
mpm said:
Got my new SD40VE a couple months ago. Put a couple hundred rounds through it and noticed that it was putting severe "smiles" in the brass. Contacted Smith & Wesson and they had me send it in to them. It is now on the way back to me with a new barrel. Hope this solves the problem. I think it's a good idea for you to get in contact with them
Click to expand...

Seems like we have the same problem. I am going to call them Monday about mine. Sounds like S&W has good customer service. What was the turn around time between shipping it to them and getting it back? Thanks.
 
The Bulge -- Just my opinion

I have several 1911's chambered in 9 MM or 40 S&W. My brass count exceeds two 1-gallon milk jugs for each caliber. I have never bought a box of ammo or a box of brass for either caliber. I believe that 99% of my brass was originally fired in Glocks. These are the facts for my following statements.

I have never experienced a brass failure in any of my guns, Kimber or Para double stack, except one time. Five pieces of brass with the same flattened head stamp all failed in one ammo batch. The first fired failure was a round loaded near the middle of the mag. Case failed; follower, spring, mag bottom, and 6 rounds of loaded ammo lay on the floor. I immediately sorted my ammo batch and found the other 4 rounds. Each round failed when loaded 1 at a time, mag removed, and trigger pulled. The remaining ammo was trouble free.

I use RCBS dies with a carbide sizer and a Lee Carbide Factory Crimp die in a Dillon 550. I ignore Glock bulges and continue to harvest range brass. :D
 
dubois9837 said:
Seems like we have the same problem. I am going to call them Monday about mine. Sounds like S&W has good customer service. What was the turn around time between shipping it to them and getting it back? Thanks.
Click to expand...

It took about 3 weeks. They said there were a little backed up.
 
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