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Do I really need an aftermarket barrel?


JLeeCZ

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I'm picking up my first 40 cal, a Glock 23 G4, in a couple of weeks and plan on loading 180 SNS/Bayou coated lead. Also plan on buying another CZ SP-01 Tac in 40 sometime this year. Wondering if I should go ahead and buy a LW / KKM barrel for the 23. Understand that leading hasn't been an issue in a poly rifled barrel with the coated. Still the general concensus? Never owned a 40 so also worried a little about the Glock bulge. Will my Dillon sizing die in my RL550 size low enough to take care of it or should I invest in a new die? Got a birthday coming up and hope to get some gift cards and want to decide how to spend them, on loading stuff.

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I like lots of people shoot lead out of gloch's and H&K's.

BUT

you should check and recheck if you're getting complete lock up about every 20-50 rounds before you rely on them not causing YOU and YOUR gun a problem.

example

my 10mm needed a bore snake down it every 50 rounds to run lead the end of the chamber was very sharp and cut lead and cause the Bbl to not lock up after about 50 rounds

the 40's and 9's have never been a problem and I've never had a leading problem in the "lands and groves".

I've swithed to Bayous and SnS coated (same stuff) for all my lead bullets and they work even better.

DO your OWN due diligence for your safety

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The thing about polygonal barrels and plain lead bullets is that there is no where for the lead to go if it spalls off the bullet on the way down the barrel, and so builds up in there increasing pressure with each successive round. In standard rifled barrels the lead can be in the grooves and not cause much of a problem. Modern lead bullets, even the conventionally lubed variety are pretty hard and not so susceptible to spalling or having lead build up too much in the barrel if they are sized correctly and shot in normally rifled barrels. Coated lead, by all reports, does not leave any lead at all in most barrels and Glock shooters or other polygonal barrel shooters like some EAA pistols have found them so far to be safe. You, and you alone, can and must determine how much a particular bullet leaves in YOUR gun when shot with the number of rounds YOU consider you will shoot in a given outing. Coated lead has done pretty well so far in this regard though, and in my own experience, has left nothing of note in the barrel after 800-1000rnds, but I shoot conventionally rifled barrels.

Personally, I have never been a fan of polygonal barrels as I don't see the point of pushing a round thing into a polygonal shaped hole at high pressure, but hey... that's just me. Standard rifling is very accurate anyway and I just can't seem to grasp any advantage to polygonal rifling. If someone could prove to me that there was some advantage over thousands of rounds I would be willing to listen, but so far I have heard no argument convincing enough as to make me lust after a polygonal bore.

Edited by Justsomeguy
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I'm picking up my first 40 cal, a Glock 23 G4, in a couple of weeks and plan on loading 180 SNS/Bayou coated lead. Also plan on buying another CZ SP-01 Tac in 40 sometime this year. Wondering if I should go ahead and buy a LW / KKM barrel for the 23. Understand that leading hasn't been an issue in a poly rifled barrel with the coated. Still the general concensus? Never owned a 40 so also worried a little about the Glock bulge. Will my Dillon sizing die in my RL550 size low enough to take care of it or should I invest in a new die? Got a birthday coming up and hope to get some gift cards and want to decide how to spend them, on loading stuff.

I use poly coated (Blue Bullets and Bayou) in all my Glocks - all with stock BBL's - 9mm and .40. I have never had a problem with leading whatsoever. They are inexpensive, clean, accurate and use less powder than jacketed. as far as the glock bulge, as long as your shooting your reloads in a glock, you won't have a problem. I have heard of others complaining that Glock shot brass will have a problem chambering in other guns but I haven't seen this. I used a Lee carbide resizing die which seems to resize most if not all of the bulge. Happy Birthday!

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I use poly coated (Blue Bullets and Bayou) in all my Glocks - all with stock BBL's - 9mm and .40. I have never had a problem with leading whatsoever. They are inexpensive, clean, accurate and use less powder than jacketed. as far as the glock bulge, as long as your shooting your reloads in a glock, you won't have a problem. I have heard of others complaining that Glock shot brass will have a problem chambering in other guns but I haven't seen this. I used a Lee carbide resizing die which seems to resize most if not all of the bulge. Happy Birthday!

Very much appreciate it.

Edited by JLeeCZ
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OK I'm not going to start an internet war with words about aftermarket barrels versus Glock barrels and whether Glocks cause bulges. The believers in each are totally convinced they are correct and nothing will change their minds.

But, I can help you with a crimp die to prevent having a bulge in the finished reload. The Lee Factory Crimp die will straighten out the case all the way to the bottom when substituted for the Dillon crimp die in a 550. How do I know? Out of all the thousands of 9mm rounds I have loaded and reloaded and reloaded multiple times after shooting in a Glock, I have seen one bulged casing. I believe that one was a newly collected one that never went through my Glocks, but I cannot prove that. On the advice of an experienced reloader who sells all brands, I bought a Lee FC die.

I took the bulged round and ran it again in the FC die and straightened it out. I have never seen another bulged reload, but I didn't see one in my first jillion rounds through the Dillon die either. I do have confidence in the Lee die to prevent the problem should it recur.

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So, I don't want to hijack this thread, but I have a question. I am going to begin to reload 40 on a Dillon 550. Do I buy the regular Dillon dies and then the Lee Factory Crimp die, or just buy a Lee 3 die set?

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Since it's hijacked... :)

I like the EGW or Dillon sizer, the Lyman expander, about anybody's seater (no opinion yet...), and the Lee crimper. Love me a gun show or garage sale where there are dies for sale...

And like the OP - I've been having visions of a KKM barrel in my .40, but have decided to spend the money on bullets, powder, and primers instead. For me, the attraction of the 'magic wand' to improve my skills is strong, but the reality of the need to practice is really where it's at. When I shoot better than my barrel... until then I will spend my cash on the basic tool - me.

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Run Lee dies with a FCD (which has a size ring in the bottom of it) on 9mm and 40 tool heads and don't have any problems. I do run all my 40 brass that I buy once fired through a Redding RX die when I get them and then never think about in again. I look the cases over and if I see one that looks budged from picking up some one else's brass I run that through the RX and go.

I do chamber check my rounds before a match just to make sure they are not going to cause me a problem

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