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40 S&W Glocked Brass Dangerous?


Fuzz

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To clarify I am newer to the 40 cal after switching from 45 in single stack. But anyway I have loaded a few thousand now and keep getting quite a bit of Glocked brass. I hear that a lot of the limited and open guns are also running unsupported chambers or I just keep getting a lot of brass from Glocks. 

I was having issues with my STI Trojan and the brass not fitting into the barrel all the way or even getting stuck. Looking at it you can see it's got a bulge on it. After some research I found the Redding GRx die that is a pass through die for removing this. It has worked great and I have loaded a few hundred in my load development. I am loading to 1.17 COL and using 4.35 gr of Tite Group with it Chronoing at 927- 956fps.

All has worked good so far and I am ready to go into winter production and stock up.

Problem is: I have ran into 2 people that are saying I am crazy for shooting this brass. Not to do it. On and On. Now I know there there are a bunch of 40 shooters out there. What is everyone else doing?

 

Edited by Fuzz
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I've loaded & shot somewhere around 65k rounds through my glock 35s with no regard for so called "glocked" brass.  No problems, no issues.   I have had occasionally a round that was bulged enough to be a problem & not fit the case gauge.   If it doesn't gauge & has an obvious swollen spot at the bottom, I pull it apart & trash the brass.   It isn't very often that happens.   Maybe maybe 50 in all of the rounds I've loaded.   You can usually feel it on the resize station to be honest, although I don't pull it.   I just find it when case gauging.   These were mixed range brass from who knows where.  

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You have already addressed the only real issue with Glock brass and that is it fitting in your chamber. If you have that fixed then there isn't much to worry about with once fired brass. Especially at the pressure levels we are using for competition.

Im well over 100k loaded and don't separate brass at all. Just clean it and run it through the press. I case gauge all my rounds. To date I've never had a case separation or any catastrophic failure of brass.

I would be much more careful if loading for open pressure guns though.


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8 hours ago, mlmiller1 said:

Oh, be sure your sizing die is set low enough.   That can save you lots of rejects also.   On my 650, I set the sizing die down to where it hits the shell plate barely.   The handle "cams" over slightly.  

I do this as well. Thanks.

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I was thinking with all the guys I know reloading 40 that this was not as serious as an issue as those gentlemen were making of it. Just checking and I spoke with my reloading gru about the issue and he concurs with what you guys are saying. Thanks.

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I run all my brass through a Redding grx die before loading on my 650. It's an extra step but well worth it. Never had any cases not drop in the guage fully since I started doing this process on my Lee single stage. By doing this step with the grx i just resize with my Dillon die. Not one issue yet. And it makes the press run a little smoother having them pass through the grx first. 

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The answer to this question is one only you can answer depending on your risk tolerance.  A distinct bulge with a "smile" on it is pretty badly compromised in my mind and I won't use it.  Someone a while back posted pictures of a cross-section of a "smile" and the brass obviously was damaged at that point. 

Many of the cases I've picked up had relatively minor bulges and I've simply put them through a  push thru die and loaded them up with little concern.  I use Dillon dies for 40S&W and even set as low as they can go, I still can't get some of that brass to chamber in my guns so I routinely run all 40S&W through the push thru die before reloading. 

You need to decide what you are willing to accept and move forward.  What you see here, including my post, are opinions based on our own experiences.  That may or may not be what works for you.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I use the Lee bulge buster then gauge them.  If you have a big enough supply of brass to where you're rotating enough to lose them before you wear them out I'd not think it to be as big of a concern if you're running mild (i.e. not defensive level) loads. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Get this:

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=15042/guntechdetail/Redding-GRX-Push-Thru-Base-Sizing-Die

and then run one of these on your station:

http://www.egwguns.com/tooling/undersize-reloading-die-.40-s-w/10mm/

 

My issues went from 6-10 No-go rounds per 100 to maybe 1-2 but i have to be picky.  Run the brass through the redding on a single station press, then run that brass through the undersized die on your progressive.  Issue resolved.  I also case gauge on my barrel that i'm shooting.  Not an actual case gauge.

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