Glock 21 Handloading?

[Sniper 79]

Hello everyone!

Recently picked up a Glock 21 chambered in the wonderful .45acp. I have been loading for a long time utilizing my trusty 1911. Upon doing some research I found out people blowing up guns and having problems with reloads. I have loaded thousands of rounds and reused brass over and over and over without a single problem ever. I load modest rounds for target practice. No need to go crazy shooting at old tin cans and water jugs and stuff. I would also like to get into pistol matches and have dabbled in them from time to time. Great fun!

My question is on using the stock barrel for reloads and how many times can I use the brass? Seems to be every opinion out on the net from don't worry about it to extreme caution. Seems like most of the blown up guns were in .40 or 9.

I went ahead and shot 100-150 cast lead bullets loaded with a medium charge of Universal and I was extremely happy with performance in the Glock and the gun even had less fouling than my 1911. Cleaned up real quick as the 1911 I had to scrub with chorboy.

What are you all doing with your mod 21's. Competition guys speak up please.

Thank you in advance for your advice and opinions. Hope to start loading some FMJ 230 grain round nose this weekend since I have about three hundred on the bench to burn up and a LB of Unique. Just want to make sure I am being as safe as possible and my wife likes to shoot as well. I would never forgive myself if she hurt herself on my gun or ammo.

 

[billybob44]

You will have NO problem!!

Sniper, you are well on your way with your G-21!!

I reload + shoot lead in ALL of my Glocks too.
.45acp., being a low pressure load, will not give you case problems as the .40 S+W CAN give.

The 'Key' to shooting lead is too keep up (as you are) on your lead deposits..

Enjoy your lead loads+ stay safe...Bill

 

[Sniper 79]

Sniper, you are well on your way with your G-21!!

I reload + shoot lead in ALL of my Glocks too.
.45acp., being a low pressure load, will not give you case problems as the .40 S+W CAN give.

The 'Key' to shooting lead is too keep up (as you are) on your lead deposits..

Enjoy your lead loads+ stay safe...Bill

Thanks Bill. I guess I needed to hear it from a guy that has more experience than I do. I always clean my guns after every range visit and am very anal about it. I may switch to plated because of less smoke though.

How about my brass? I don't separate or trim currently. I do however cull out anything that looks iffy or dented or anything. About how many times before I scrap it or just keep on shooting? I asked a guy at the range and he was on his 18th time loading for his 1911. I have some the head stamp is about worn off. Should I toss those older looking ones or not worry about it.

 

[Slawburger]

I reload for Glock pistols and do nothing different than I would for any other pistol. Some of the early Glocks (Gen 1) had trouble with .40 S&W. The early chambers had less support than the newer ones and I think the brass has changed over time as well. You can look at early Gen 1 and Gen 3/4 Glock .40 barrels side by side to see the chamber difference.

Shooting .45 ACP in a Glock 21 should not present any special concerns. As billybob44 noted .45 ACP is a low pressure cartridge.

I shot several thousand reloaded 9mm in used brass through a Glock this year with no problems. The 9mm has a lot more pressure than a .45 ACP. I use brass until it starts to show cracks or small splits near the mouth or some other sign of visible damage. I usually clean it all and then look for damage because it is easier to see damage on clean brass. I have had to dispose of very few pieces of brass.

Follow your manuals, start low and work your way up, resize (trimming not required), treat it like any other reloads.

I don't shoot cast lead reloads in my Glock so I can't address that part of your question. Howver, I know many people do shoot cast boolits in Glocks and just clean the barrels of an lead fouling that develops.

 

[Sniper 79]

I reload for Glock pistols and do nothing different than I would for any other pistol. Some of the early Glocks (Gen 1) had trouble with .40 S&W. The early chambers had less support than the newer ones and I think the brass has changed over time as well. You can look at early Gen 1 and Gen 3/4 Glock .40 barrels side by side to see the chamber difference.

Shooting .45 ACP in a Glock 21 should not present any special concerns. As billybob44 noted .45 ACP is a low pressure cartridge.

I shot several thousand reloaded 9mm in used brass through a Glock this year with no problems. The 9mm has a lot more pressure than a .45 ACP. I use brass until it starts to show cracks or small splits near the mouth or some other sign of visible damage. I usually clean it all and then look for damage because it is easier to see damage on clean brass. I have had to dispose of very few pieces of brass.

Follow your manuals, start low and work your way up, resize (trimming not required), treat it like any other reloads.

I don't shoot cast lead reloads in my Glock so I can't address that part of your question. Howver, I know many people do shoot cast boolits in Glocks and just clean the barrels of an lead fouling that develops.

Sweet. Sounds like I am good to go then. Thankyou

 

[Water63]

Same here load for the Glock just as any other brand. I do have a Wolf barrel for the G23 40S&W it is finicky about feeding but the stock barrel has had thousands of cast bullets through it just keep it clean you'll be fine.

 

[Sniper 79]

Getting my confidence back. All the internet lore had me scared.

By the way the brass Out of the Flock looked perfect. Nice and square.

Darn auto correct!

 

[baba]

I have put several thousand reloads through my G21. I shoot jacketed bullets because I have been told lead is bad for glocks, but as others have said if you keep up with lead deposits you may be OK. I am up to 7 reloads on some of my brass and doing just fine. That's 230gr jacketed over 5.4gr W231. Pretty close to a factory load.

I will say I shot some 357 sig from a G32, and after one time the brass was not reloadable. The cases bulged despite being well below max loads, and yes I did check for bullet setback. This was an older G32 and there was very little support for the brass. Not sure if newer ones are better or not.

Happy shooting!

Brian

 

[Sniper 79]

Hey all quick update.

Loaded up another batch of hand loads for the Glock. 230grn FMJ since I had a bag of 300 sitting on the bench for awhile. Loaded them with Unique and had holes touching at 10 yard line at 5.7grns of powder. I went from 5.5 to 6.2. No signs of bulged brass or anything. Barrel was spotless with a pass of a bore mop.

Trigger is a little stiff for real target work so I may lighten it up a bit. Night sights would also be a nice addition. Would love to try some IDPA!

I think you guys are right that if safe loading and cleaning practice is done shooting this thing with hand loads and lead if you want shouldn't be a problem. Only real problem is keeping those 13 round mags full.

I need to figure out how to post some pics.

 

[sloughfoot]

You should not shoot lead bullets out of a Glock 21. My Glock 21 that I used to own proved that to me. It is also in the Glock manual.

 

[billybob44]

ALL Manuals say NO Reloads...

You should not shoot lead bullets out of a Glock 21. My Glock 21 that I used to own proved that to me. It is also in the Glock manual.[/QUOTE

Just how did your Glock 21 "prove that to me"??

All firearms mfg's say NO to reloads, how can Glock be any different??..Bill.

 

[8th SPS USAF]

I have loaded 45acp, lead and jacketed for more than 30 yrs. Win 231 5 grs with 230 5.5 with lighter bullets or I changed to a weaker recoil spring in my Sig 220ST with 185/200 lead. Now I only load lead 45acp

 

[ilcaveman]

Lone wolf barrel works great in my 21, don't have to worry about leading.

 

[Sniper 79]

Not really worried about lead. The Glock barrel actually had less than my 1911 and more rounds were fired through the Glock. Glock also cleaned up with ease compared to the 1911.

My main concern was brass and after firing it some more that concern went away also. No bulges or anything funny. I am going to load and shoot as normal now and not worry. I clean my guns after each shooting session and reload safely. Should be good to go now.

Thank you everyone for their input and putting my worries to bed. Need some night sights, serpa holster, and a trigger job now darn it!

 

[in625shooter]

Sounds like your on your way, I'm late to the party here but, You mentioned that you have found no bulge aka Glock bulge. Keep an eye for that. I reloaded for a Glock 40. I followed all the specs and am not a wildcat. That and the fact I only used the same 40 case no more than 3-4 times. With the bulge full length re-sizing was necessary (also had a para ord P16 also to feed.)
The folks that got into trouble (especially with the 40 Glocks) are the ones that tried to get 10, 15, 20 loadings out of those cases. You can only resize that bulge so many times until the brass becomes to weak. And in 99.9% of all those pic floating around thats the part that blew was the back of the case ruptured.

I am out of the 40 business now had to many other calibers I liked more. I still reload for my 38/357 45 ACP and 45 Colt. Common sense has kept me and most re-loaders safe.

 

[baba]

I have been up to 6 reloads on 45brass through my G21. I could not get more than 2 out of my 357sig brass in my G32. 625shooter's advice is spot on for any gun - check your brass after firing and before reloading. But in my experience the 40cal based glocks have a 'problem' with chamber support due to the length of the action, which the 45s do not have. Not sure about the 9mm glocks. Its only a 'problem' if you aren't paying attention, or if you desire to reload your brass more than a few times.

Brian

 

[in625shooter]

I have been up to 6 reloads on 45brass through my G21. I could not get more than 2 out of my 357sig brass in my G32. 625shooter's advice is spot on for any gun - check your brass after firing and before reloading. But in my experience the 40cal based glocks have a 'problem' with chamber support due to the length of the action, which the 45s do not have. Not sure about the 9mm glocks. Its only a 'problem' if you aren't paying attention, or if you desire to reload your brass more than a few times.

Brian

Not sure if it is related to the 40's length. Have had a Para and a S&W 4006 and none of them have had the bulge after firing. I believe the bulge is just a Glock chamber design issue and the fact the 40 reaches it's peak pressure a lot faster then most other rounds. Combine that with the Glocks chamber design and the reloding of weakened brass = possible issues if not kept track of. Where the other calibers are a little more forgiving with the Glocks chamber design since the other calibers simply don't have the "epidemic" issues of KB's as the 40 does. I believe that is related to both the chamber and the pressure peak JMHO.

Like anything driving, shooting, reloading the use of electrical equipment around water etc etc common sense goes a long way

 

[JRPLANE]

Do what you want, But I shot 455 rounds of reload lead today. My Glock 21 has just over 20,000 ends of lead reloads thru it. ZERO problems! I just clean it after a day of shooting like any other gun, That's it nothing special.

I have shot 1020 rounds in one day without any cleaning. I did pull the barrel and look at the lead build up twice that day. The stock Glock barrel had no more lead build up than my buddies Kimber custom shop pistol.

All the nay sayers most likely have no proof or experience. I make no claims of safety, but there is 6 of us that shoot lead exclusively out of stock Glock barrels with zero problems. Shoot some and pull the barrel and look till you feel safe.

 

[baba]

Not sure if it is related to the 40's length. Have had a Para and a S&W 4006 and none of them have had the bulge after firing. I believe the bulge is just a Glock chamber design issue and the fact the 40 reaches it's peak pressure a lot faster then most other rounds. Combine that with the Glocks chamber design and the reloding of weakened brass = possible issues if not kept track of. Where the other calibers are a little more forgiving with the Glocks chamber design since the other calibers simply don't have the "epidemic" issues of KB's as the 40 does. I believe that is related to both the chamber and the pressure peak JMHO.

Like anything driving, shooting, reloading the use of electrical equipment around water etc etc common sense goes a long way

Yes, that is what I meant....the length of the action on the glock 40s is reportedly shorter than many others, which means they undercut the chamber slightly, leaving less support and the opportunity to bulge. My 357SIG SIG P229 never bulged cases, where my G32 did every time.

-Brian

 

[in625shooter]

Do what you want, But I shot 455 rounds of reload lead today. My Glock 21 has just over 20,000 ends of lead reloads thru it. ZERO problems! I just clean it after a day of shooting like any other gun, That's it nothing special.

I have shot 1020 rounds in one day without any cleaning. I did pull the barrel and look at the lead build up twice that day. The stock Glock barrel had no more lead build up than my buddies Kimber custom shop pistol.

All the nay sayers most likely have no proof or experience. I make no claims of safety, but there is 6 of us that shoot lead exclusively out of stock Glock barrels with zero problems. Shoot some and pull the barrel and look till you feel safe.

Do some folks reload lead ammunition and run it through their Glocks without issues? Sure, there are some but there are also some that have had documented issues with the fact it was lead (not the ammunition) and have had problems. I believe it is a problem which is why Glock recommends against it. Yes other makers suggest no hand loads but almost no others make any statement against the use specifically of lead bullets.

I believe it has to do a little with the polygonal rifling and a little with the type/hardness of the lead. Back in 1995 Gulfport PD in Mississippi had documented issues with their Glock 21's. They had 3 KB. When they did their research they traced it back to the type of lead. They had their own reloading shop where their range masters loaded their training rounds. And that was what they traced it to. I was TDY with the Military there and talked to one of their firearms instructor. That is where I obtained my info on it.

So while there will always be internet exaggeration there are some documented cases as well. Every gun has had issues with reloading, there was more than one revolvers top strap peeled back from hand loads back in the day so nothing really new just with more mass media more people hear or regurgitate the stories these days.