OP
I'll probably stay with coated lead so it sounds like leading won't be an issue. Accuracy is yet to be determined but the several comments here make me feel pretty confident they should shoot just fine.
Cast and Glocks
- Thread starter flyrobb
- Start date
Fishinfool
Member
Just my personal experience - I have run a fair number of cast bullets in my Glock 19 with a stock barrel without issue. The key to it is using bullets cast hard, flat base / or gas checked, and use bullets .001 / .002 oversized so as to minimize gas blow by that can cause leading. I use RN cast bullets designed for 357 / 38 use (.358). They may bulge the 9mm brass a little, but most Glocks seem to have loose enough chambers that it is not an issue. They work well and are accurate, at least in my gun.
Watch for leading, especially at the chamber end of the barrel, as this will raise pressures if it gets too heavy, and is a sign the bullet / lube / load you are using is not working well in that gun. A better idea for most is to do as others have said, and use coated or plated bullets, which are a lot more available today then they were back when I was developing plain cast loads for my model 19.
Larry
Watch for leading, especially at the chamber end of the barrel, as this will raise pressures if it gets too heavy, and is a sign the bullet / lube / load you are using is not working well in that gun. A better idea for most is to do as others have said, and use coated or plated bullets, which are a lot more available today then they were back when I was developing plain cast loads for my model 19.
Larry
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fredj338
Member
I have a gen1 g17. That manual doesnt address lead bullets at all. Your current manual says to not use reloaded ammo, you stick to that too??? When i bought my gen1, way back when, i shot nothing but lead bullets through it, about 3000rds w/o cleaning it. Glocks were supposed to be able to eat anything & function with little lube or cleaning, supposedly. I did blow the extractor out of it with a magazine of jacketed one day. So apparently what glock says is true, if you arent going to clean it.
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JJEH
Member
I can't offer a test but I use the Buffalo Bore Outdoorsman in several calibers, among them 9mm of course.
My Kahr P9 has a polygonal rifling with a 1/10 twist rate. I don't notice any accuracy difference between the hard cast- and jacketed bullets.
Buffalo Bore says:
9MM +P OUTDOORSMAN Pistol and Handgun Bullets Pistol & Handgun Ammunition
Big Cholla
Member
There is lots of misinformation in this thread. Most of it was started by Glock to protect Glock. Polygonal rifling handles hard lead bullets just as well as traditional cut rifling does. IMHO, the whole charade about "No Lead Bullets" is because of what IMHO consider an undesirable design in the action of Glocks. A little experimentation with unloaded Glocks, S&Ws and Colts in the semi-automatic versions and with some precision measuring devices you can prove to yourself that the Glock will fire some further "out of battery" than any other manufacturer. IMHO, this was the causation of Glocks being shot with lead bullets slowly building up leading in the forward edge of the chamber transition area until the cartridge was being forced to the rear and the unsupported area of some brass cartridge was exposed enough to allow the infamous Glock "Kaboom". I have been present at a range at a time when four Glocks had that "Kaboom". Upon examination, every chamber was leaded up in that forward area.
IMHO, Glock engineers were quick to figure that out and their solution was to call, demand, force the exclusion of the use of non-jacketed bullets. That was far cheaper to the company than a recall of the several hundred thousand handguns that were already in use and the complete redesign of the internals.
Also, IMHO, Glocks are a good gun and can be safe with the use of hard lead bullets. The only requirement is a good wire brush with lead dissolving solvent on a much more frequent and more rigorous schedule than other makes require. Second also; IMHO Glocks are probably the most durable handgun available for rough and tough use. The only requirement is frequent and rigorous cleaning of at least the barrel.
I will also say that probably the most accurate handgun that I have ever personally fired was a Glock .45 acp match target race gun with a 6" barrel. Some 15 years ago it cost the owner about $2500 to have built and was probably worth every penny.
IMHO, Glock engineers were quick to figure that out and their solution was to call, demand, force the exclusion of the use of non-jacketed bullets. That was far cheaper to the company than a recall of the several hundred thousand handguns that were already in use and the complete redesign of the internals.
Also, IMHO, Glocks are a good gun and can be safe with the use of hard lead bullets. The only requirement is a good wire brush with lead dissolving solvent on a much more frequent and more rigorous schedule than other makes require. Second also; IMHO Glocks are probably the most durable handgun available for rough and tough use. The only requirement is frequent and rigorous cleaning of at least the barrel.
I will also say that probably the most accurate handgun that I have ever personally fired was a Glock .45 acp match target race gun with a 6" barrel. Some 15 years ago it cost the owner about $2500 to have built and was probably worth every penny.
OP
Very informative article as well as the one "Differences Between 'Lead' & 'Hard Cast' Bullets" Thanks!
Out of curiosity had to look in my Gen4 Glock manual regarding lead and it states "GLOCK DOES NOT RECOMMEND THE USE OF UNJACKETED LEAD AMMUNITION" Doesn't indicate it voids the warranty as it states with using reloaded ammo.
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This is just my opinion....
A well made COATED lead bullet shouldn't lead a barrel badly whatever the design of the rifling.
If it were me, if I ever get a Glock, I would surely try it.
A well made COATED lead bullet shouldn't lead a barrel badly whatever the design of the rifling.
If it were me, if I ever get a Glock, I would surely try it.
Big Cholla
Member
No Matter
RW: I guess I didn't make my statement clearly enough. Any leading of a Glock barrel in the polygonal rifling area is of no more consequence than for any other manufacture with conventional rifling. It is the 'leading' in the leading edge of the chamber transition that causes the problem. Get a lead buildup in that area it is the same as gradually shortening the chamber until the unsupported end of the brass is out of the chamber far enough to rupture upon ignition.
RW: I guess I didn't make my statement clearly enough. Any leading of a Glock barrel in the polygonal rifling area is of no more consequence than for any other manufacture with conventional rifling. It is the 'leading' in the leading edge of the chamber transition that causes the problem. Get a lead buildup in that area it is the same as gradually shortening the chamber until the unsupported end of the brass is out of the chamber far enough to rupture upon ignition.
Gripgrabber
US Veteran
Hello, I cast my own in 9&40cal, a glock19, gen4 and a 23,gen3 and a HK 45c and have put many K down the tube with no issues, I just clean the barrels after every shooting secession.
I didn't have good results with Penn Bullets 180 gr cast from my Glock 29. Path of least resistance for me was to get a Storm Lake barrel with cut rifling. Problem solved.
Polygonal rifling as I understand it deforms the bullet from a cylindrical shape (into a sort of rounded penta or hexagram) and while jacketed bullets have a soft core that will squash easily enough, a cast may or may not work.
Polygonal rifling as I understand it deforms the bullet from a cylindrical shape (into a sort of rounded penta or hexagram) and while jacketed bullets have a soft core that will squash easily enough, a cast may or may not work.
"Your current manual says to not use reloaded ammo, you stick to that too???"
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Wow, that's a lot of question marks!
But, no; even with my limited intelligence I can tell the difference between boiler plate language almost all manufacturers use to protect themselves from idioles, and one specific warning from one manufacturer.
"I just clean the barrels after every shooting secession."
We tried that here in the South once, didn't work out well.
__________________________________________
Wow, that's a lot of question marks!
But, no; even with my limited intelligence I can tell the difference between boiler plate language almost all manufacturers use to protect themselves from idioles, and one specific warning from one manufacturer.
"I just clean the barrels after every shooting secession."
We tried that here in the South once, didn't work out well.
