Inexperience + Testing Reloads = Kaboom

[Buzzmeister]

Yes folks - I did it, to my trusty G35 while testing reloads. After getting the gun apart, here's what I found: 1) trigger broken 2) magazine (holding said round) ruptured on the side, plus the follower broken 3) extractor which I guess is in orbit 4) oh yeah, the extractor plunger, too 5) the barrel looks great if you ignore the brass ring on the breech face! I've inspected the slide and as best as I can tell looks ok. Trigger safety and stricker are also ok. I want to replace the parts (extractor, plunger, trigger & barrel and pay ALOT more attention while reloading). Is there anything else I should be looking at - closely?

[clown]

check the frame for cracks. i found a couple under the locking block and a couple more when i pulled the grip tape off.

[dfwmiket]

You may want to check w/ Glock on cost of replacement frame, too. It's tough to find any microscopic cracks that may have happened....... it won't be covered under warranty, but they WILL give you a really good price on replacement.

I hate to ask, but what load data were you testing that caused this? Only ones I've ever seen are double-charged or squib/full charge.

-Mike

[Buzzmeister]

You may want to check w/ Glock on cost of replacement frame, too. It's tough to find any microscopic cracks that may have happened....... it won't be covered under warranty, but they WILL give you a really good price on replacement.

I hate to ask, but what load data were you testing that caused this? Only ones I've ever seen are double-charged or squib/full charge.

-Mike

Mike,

I'm just getting started with a used Lee 1000, and am using conversion data (since their measuring technique involves powder volume and not weight). What I believe happened is that it was a double-charge. The primers were gumming up the works, which was stopping the shell plate from advancing properly, and instead of moving it forward, I probably moved it backward.

I was in the process of putting 10 rounds through a chrono, and this one made it @ 1044 fps. With a bullet weight of 180 gr, that puts the pf @ 188. Not that huge.

I don't have the data in front of me but if you're interested, I'll post it later.

[G-ManBart]

Mike,

I'm just getting started with a used Lee 1000, and am using conversion data (since their measuring technique involves powder volume and not weight). What I believe happened is that it was a double-charge. The primers were gumming up the works, which was stopping the shell plate from advancing properly, and instead of moving it forward, I probably moved it backward.

I was in the process of putting 10 rounds through a chrono, and this one made it @ 1044 fps. With a bullet weight of 180 gr, that puts the pf @ 188. Not that huge.

I don't have the data in front of me but if you're interested, I'll post it later.

Those are two of the big problems with the Lee 1000. I've seen one run pretty well with .38 Special and not run at all with .45 ACP...biggest problem was primer feeding.

Keep in mind that if the case hadn't ruptured, the velocity probably would have been much higher...yikes.

[AZGunut]

Hi everyone,

I am in no way trying to start a Glocks are bad rant or anything, because I own several and respect those that run them as a platform, but I would never shoot them in 40 or 45 with reloads (I wouldn't even shoot them with factory ammo in a factory barrel) Now once you change the barrel out the KB's usually dissapear. I work at a indoor range and we have seen more strange things happen with Glocks in 40 and 45 and with factory ammo than I care to share. Seems like it would be a simple thing for Glock to fix at the factory (The unsupported chamber) but we all know how much Glock listens to customer feedback. Plus once you have brass that has been shot and resized a few times at major power it tends to be a accident waiting to happen.

[Chris Keen]

Tick ... Tock ... the time passes slowly while we wait for a rebuttal to this one !

[Sunuva]

Tick ... Tock ... the time passes slowly while we wait for a rebuttal to this one !

Nope not going too do it, not going too do it

[Overkill]

Check the mag release. When I kb'd in my 29 it broke the mag release. Probably part of shooting the mag out onto the ground.

[Coolduckboy]

I have blown up 2 guns so far doing that. A G35 and a G22. Yes i am a moron but oh well. All i did with the guns was Blow and extractor. Best of luck with your next loads.

[G-ManBart]

Hi everyone,

I am in no way trying to start a Glocks are bad rant or anything, because I own several and respect those that run them as a platform, but I would never shoot them in 40 or 45 with reloads (I wouldn't even shoot them with factory ammo in a factory barrel) Now once you change the barrel out the KB's usually dissapear. I work at a indoor range and we have seen more strange things happen with Glocks in 40 and 45 and with factory ammo than I care to share. Seems like it would be a simple thing for Glock to fix at the factory (The unsupported chamber) but we all know how much Glock listens to customer feedback. Plus once you have brass that has been shot and resized a few times at major power it tends to be a accident waiting to happen.

Hey Anthony,

I'm always fascinated by these sorts of comments (not disputing what you've seen) as it doesn't seem to add up to me. When I went through the academy there were 47 of us. We were issued new Glock 22s. By the end of our stay there we'd each fired 3,500+ rounds through each of them. That's 164,500+ rounds in just my class with no KBs. My office is relatively small but we shoot over 100,000 rounds per year...no KBs since I've been here. I'm wondering where the problem is coming from if I've personally witnessed multiple hundreds of thousands of rounds get fired through Glocks in .40 and never seen a KB. There are four firearms instructors in my office and none of them said they've ever seen a Glock KB....really makes me wonder what's going on with KBs since I know they happen.

[AZGunut]

I know I shouldn't say what I said and I do not want to start a firefight. I will say that Glocks are built very well. I have personally seen 7 Glocks go and in only one case was the gun bad enough where it absolutely had the go back to the factory (Top of the barrel hood blown off.) Mostly you crack a trigger blow a mag out and break a mag catch and for the grand total of 15 bucks your back in business. I think that the 9's they build are one of the best out there, just wish they would redisign the barrel throat chamber to make it a little bit stronger in 40/45 is all. Hope that I didn't offend anyone as well.

[AZGunut]

Sorry I did want to add one thing. In the 7 that I have seen in the last year, 5 were in 40 (3-22's, 1-35, 1-23) and 2 were 45 (Both Glock 21's) In the 40 3 of the 5 were factory rounds (2 with Magtech 180g 1 with Independence) and in the other 2 40's and both 45's they were reloads. No we all know that a bad round or not paying attention anyone can blow up any gun and I am not blaming Glocks for the reloads at all.

[Pclark832]

love my 35. And YES I reload.

[Flexmoney]

Administrator note:

Let's get back to addressing the original posters questions please. We have all seen enough of the Kaboom threads. That horse has been beat to death.

[Tattoo]

I don't know if you can or they (Glock) will do this, but I would want to send the whole thing back to Glock and have them give it a once over to give myself a "warm fuzzy" before I shot it again. Better safe than sorry.

Plus maybe Glock could learn something from it too....

T

[Buzzmeister]

I don't know if you can or they (Glock) will do this, but I would want to send the whole thing back to Glock and have them give it a once over to give myself a "warm fuzzy" before I shot it again. Better safe than sorry.

Plus maybe Glock could learn something from it too....

T

You know, I was just thinking the same thing last night while inspecting it closely. I completely disassembled it at my kitchen table with all house lights off (save the one over the table), with only the gun, a magnifying glass, and a small flashlight. I looked it over for about an hour. Saw that the trigger housing got a bit warped and there is a crack in the mag well right above where the backstrap plug is inserted. It doesn't appear to be a problem, but I'll think on it awhile.

Scrutinizing the barrel really put a scare in me; the damage is alot worse than I first thought. There's even stress fractures on both sides of chamber. Makes me wonder how the thing held together.

[ipscbob]

Scrutinizing the barrel really put a scare in me; the damage is alot worse than I first thought. There's even stress fractures on both sides of chamber. Makes me wonder how the thing held together.

Sounds like a trip to Glock or a good smith is definitely needed. I wouldn't fire it as is....

[JFD]

Not to be a PITA, but I'd send the gun to Glock and be done with it. Spend all the spare time while the gun is gone figuring out how you double charged the case and didn't see it when placing the bullet. Reloading is serious business, but it's easy to forget how serious it can be.

One safety idea is to load 1 round at a time so you can pay attention to it all the way through the process. With a Pro 1000 you're going to be tinkering with it almost as much as you'll be actually loading ammo (it will be problematic at best, especially priming), so there will be lots of opportunities to double charge cases in the future. After a while, recovering from problems should be second nature enough to trust yourself enough to load up the case feeder. A desk lamp of some sort so you can see ithe powder in the case is also handy.

The data for the powder measure is basically just "ballpark" numbers; please tell me you also have a scale to verify how much powder you're dropping.

I'm happy the gun took all the abuse and your various body parts came away intact

[dirty whiteboy]

Send it back to Glock, for a good look over, tell them everything you told us. They understand that factory ammo is expensive and that people will use reloads.

[mlmiller1]

Couple of things to think about. Lee makes an adjustable charge bar so you can stop fooling with the discs. It is a drop in replacement & makes the whole thing much easier to deal with. I know this because I USED to have a lee loadmaster. If you don't have a scale, buy one. A decent one. Doesn't have to cost a fortune, but a decent one, anyway.

Another thing I did when I was new to reloading was I picked my powder by which one used the least volume of powder, thereby getting more loads per pound. I can appreciate thrifty but that was going too far. I'm just lucky I didn't blow anything up. Now I use powders that have more volume. The more volume required, typically the slower the powder, which means lower pressure spikes, & that as you can guess means safer. It also has the extra effect of making it easier to see the powder in each & every round as it passes by. I have probably loaded over 100k rounds & I look in each one, still. If something doesn't look right, I pull that round, weigh the powder & get back to business.

Good luck, MLM

[9x45]

If you shoot enough reloaded rounds thru any Glock in competition, you will blow one up, even a 9mm. I have witnessed many .45acp's and 40S&W's, so I was somewhat surprised when I blew a G34. No matter, Glock will replace it for about $250, they don't ask, you don't tell..

[Buzzmeister]

If you shoot enough reloaded rounds thru any Glock in competition, you will blow one up, even a 9mm. I have witnessed many .45acp's and 40S&W's, so I was somewhat surprised when I blew a G34. No matter, Glock will replace it for about $250, they don't ask, you don't tell..

Let me make sure I understand what you're saying, here, is that you've witnessed numerous Glock 45ACP's & 40S&W's doing the kaboom thing?

At any rate, I've shot a letter off to Glock in Smyrna (couldn't locate an e-mail address) to see what they say. I did divulge (in the letter) that I suspect the problem was a double-charged reload. There's actually no way to verify it, now!