Handloads for a Glock 22 in .40 S&W

[masek77]

Got my first reloading book today and the first thing I looked at was the info on .40 S&W.

The first thing stated on every page for this caliber is as follows....

"Do not use reloads in Glocks or similar guns with chambers that do not fully support the cartridge due to the intrustion of the feed ramp."

Hmmmmmm. This is the main reason I wanted to get into reloading.

I know others reload this caliber bullet for their G22s so what is going on here? I assume this is for those who would use max loads right?

I just want to shoot my pistol and not go bankrupt doing it.

Im sure I can shoot reloads I was just wondering why this is stated like this...

What is a good starting load for the 165 grain TCFM bullet?

[Ifishsum]

If you look at your fired brass, it will usually have a crescent shaped bulge just ahead of the rim on one side where the brass expanded into the unsupported area.  This area of the brass becomes weak after resizing and poses a higher risk of rupturing when fired again, causing great risk to you and your gun.  I believe that newer brass has a thicker web to combat this, but only you can decide if it's worth that risk.  I think many high volume shooters who reload for their Glocks use an aftermarket barrel that has better case support than the factory barrel.  Might be something to look into. 

Basically it's not so much a matter of shooting reloads in your Glock as much as it is reloading the brass that has been fired in your Glock.

[masek77]

In reading up on this it looks like I have three choices....

1) I can fire factory loads and "by the book" reloads and not reload the same brass more than once or twice.

2) I can buy an aftermarket barrel that better supports the case and therefore doesnt deform the brass as much and probably get three or four reloads out of each case.

3) I can get a .357 Sig barrel and reload pretty much as much as I want.

Truthfully I want to be able to reload the same brass several times. Storm Lake makes a brrel that is supposed to allow for up to 10-15 reloads, is a drop in barrel (meaning no fitting required), and the price is better than most.

Anybody have experience with Storm Lake barrels? Could I reload 5 or 6 times using this barrel? Looking at their website they say their barrels are true drop in barrels.

I cant afford to use factory ammo every time. If I do that I would end up shooting very seldom. As for the 357 Sig barrel I would prefer to stay with .40SW but would like to hear from those who have done this.

[kyote]

I feel your pain.I have several .40S&W pistols.one of them is a glock 23.has the glock barrel.I have shot???gaads a buncha reloads thru her.I find the brass that runs thru the glock.even after resizing will not fit in the chamber gauge.there is a bulge in one area at the web.( I picked up several 5 gallon buckets of remington brass at the ranges around here when LE transitioned from what ever they were carring to the semi auto pistol in .40S&W. the feds around here had a ton of ammo to blast off for the transition and they were kind and did not pick the spent brass up).
I load the stuff on a dillion 550,a dillion square deal and have RCBS and lee dies for the .40..I resize all my brass on a RCBS rock chucker,and clean the primer pockets before running on a progesive press.I was concerend as you about the 40,as every manual has something extra written about it where as nothing is written about any other pistol cartridge.I checked every case in a guage when I was done resizing.as I knew glocks had an over sized chamber.every cartridge that did not plop all the way in.I put in a separte bucket to deal with later.I called lee and told them what was going on.they had a great fix.their carbide crimp die,they said take the seating part out.(just unscrew it out.)and they whould provided an insert to go into the shell holder and push the case all the way thru the die.the next case would push the 1st one up to the top of the die.some would catch on the internal thread in the die.so I took it to a machine shop and had the threads removed.then adapted a hose over the top that feed the cases in to a bucket.the thing worked so well I use it for my 10mm now and have the same setup for my 9mms and 45acps.it takes the brass back to factory specs and does not seem to strech the case.
you seem like you do not have much brass,I bet if you found out where your local feds shot and trained and the local PD.and went to the range.and asked..they would gladly turn you on to a bucket of brass.you will find that it is hard to get thru it enough to start having brass crack on you.Hope this helps a little with all the other info you get and find someting that works for you.oh yea.glock OEM barrels do not like cast lead bullets.and that I belive is why most folks get an after market barrel so they can shoot the cheaper cast bullets.

[warf73]

I've reloaded for 40S&W and 45ACP and had no Ill effects but I wasn't shooting HOT loads by any stretch.

On the note of NO support on the bottom side of the barrel people have been reloading for there 1911's for decades with no real Ill effects, not saying that there haven’t been any failures but they both have the same design.

I wouldn’t stop my pursuit of reloading for the 40S&W on what’s stated in the reloading book. Just for one reason, there is data for this cartridge in the book. Just use caution and pay attention to your brass.

I know that GB has stated many times and others have also, that they have reloaded the same 45ACP brass countless times.

On a side note I would be really scared of shooting LEAD bullets in your Glock unless the barrel design has been changed the groves aren’t meant for lead loads.

Warf

[Ifishsum]

True, but there is quite a bit of pressure difference between .45ACP and .40SW.  I don't currently have a Glock, but my .40 chamber has a small unsupported area like almost all other autos, and I generally limit my reloads to 2 per case (after the first firing).  I won't pick up brass unless i KNOW it was once fired, luckily I've been able to amass a fair amount.  I'm probably more careful than most, but that's what I'm comfortable with.  The warning is there for a reason...

[Awf Hand]

Go to google and type in "Glock kb"  which is short for kaboom.


I have reached the limit of my knowledge on this topic.