Cast Boolits In A Glock .45 GAP

[okshooter]

I have plans to purchase a Barsto barrel for my .45 GAP so I can shoot lead (wheel weight is the intended alloy).
Any body with any experience in this?

Thanks!

[finishman2000]

have you tried the stock barrel? my 45acp glock is my only glock i haven't changed out to Lone wolf's. i know the gap is a different cal but try it first to see if it leads up. my 9mm's leaded up so i changed them out. the 45acp doesn't so i haven't changed it.

[yobohadi]

I have put about 1000 Lead boolits through my stock Glock 36 barrel now with no leading. I keep to the lower end of the load data. I also shoot lead boolits through my Stock Glock 22 and 27 40S&W barrels with no leading as well using commercial cast hard lead bullets or my own range scrap softer boolits. Just don't try to push the bullets too fast and use some crimp on the cases to make sure you don't get any bullet setback when the cartridge enters the chamber and you should be fine.

[ku4hx]

I own several Lone Wolf barrels for my Glocks I bought for a variety of reason. That being said, I put over 10,000 rounds of cast boolits through my 1991 vintage G20 before the internet told me I couldn't do that.

I happen to fall in that group that says cast through OEM Glock barrels is safe. I keep all my guns free of accumulated gunk of all sorts but whether or not that's a factor is anybody's guess.

I also shoot cast in my other OEM Glock barrels: 30SF, Gen4 19, G23, G27, G26 and G17. Never had a problem. My opinion is Glock barrels lead LESS but that's just an opinion ... nothing more.

[Tim357]

Pay attention to the shape of the boolit. A friend's G30 will not eject fired brass if a SWC boolit is used. The rim hangs up on the shoulder of the next round in the magazine and causes a stovepipe jam. I might suggest a truncated cone boolit to assure positive ejection. Otherwise, no problems with cast in a Glock barrel.

[Spector]

Just a caution. I put over 12,000 cast boolits through my Glock 21 over twenty year period. Most shot great and I laughed when people said not to do it.

Then about a year ago I had a catrostrophic case failure in the factory barrel that split my Glock frame into two major pieces in my hand with multiple smaller pieces being created. The trigger became multiple pieces of polymer.

I will never fire a handload in a barrel with an unsupported chamber again. The hole in the side of the case exactly matches that unsupported area of the chamber. The barrel and slide both look fine and show no sign of damage while I had multiple small bleeding holes in my face. Shooting glasses saved my eyes.

My buddy bought a KKM barrel for his Glock with a fully supported chamber. My intention is to get another Glock frame and rebuild it with a KKM barrel.

Over 12,000 cast boolit shots, most with great accuracy, concinced me I was smarter than all the naysayers. One shot changed all that. And that shot hit just 1 5/8'' from my first shot on the target.

Cast boolits did not cause this. An unseen flaw in a case that just happened to line up with the unsupported area of the chamber caused it. It is something for all of you reloaders to consider though. Learning from another's painful mistake is better than literally getting burned and blasted yourself.

I thought I was safe at 45 ACP pressures, but fully understood that 9mm's, 40's and others, including the GAP, ran at substantially higher pressures. I was wrong.

I'd say if you have a fully supported chamber then enjoy those cast reloads and the accompanying savings. Even though you may not be getting leading in your factory Glock barrels doesn't mean all is well.

Admittedly I ran most of my cases for many firings, but the case that failed looked good after it was cleaned and showed extractor signs of only being fired 3 times........Mike

[gvbsat]

I too think it is a fallacy about having to change the barrel on your glock. I shoot my 19 with the factory barrel just about every weekend using nothing but my cast. You just need to find a load, like every gun, that works for that firearm.

[felix]

Always look for a pressure excursion on fired brass. Any chamber too large for the case strength is an explosion waiting to happen. How much excursion is too much for a reload is questionable, and varies with the composition of the brass lot. Pressure seeks out the weakest portal in a microsecond; one millisecond later the case (and gun) might have an additional unexpected hole. I wish I knew why guns don't come with barrels fully enclosing the meat of the round in question. ... felix

[yobohadi]

Pay attention to the shape of the boolit. A friend's G30 will not eject fired brass if a SWC boolit is used. The rim hangs up on the shoulder of the next round in the magazine and causes a stovepipe jam. I might suggest a truncated cone boolit to assure positive ejection. Otherwise, no problems with cast in a Glock barrel.

My Glock 36 does the same thing with SWCs (which sucks, because a 200 grain SWC pushed by 3.6 grains of Bullseye is a super accurate load for that gun) so I am using a Lee 452-200 RF boolit that cycles great.

[okshooter]

Thanks for all the replies. You guys answered things I did not have time to type in the original post (had to leave to take the wife to a dr. appt.).

I have not tried anything lead in the stock barrel as I do not have a .45 cal. mold nor have I purchased any lead boolits.

I have experienced problems with FMJ SWC bullets so it is a safe bet I can rule those out in lead form.

Do all Glock barrels fall in the category of not fully supporting the case? I have not researched this. Can one tell by looking with the barrel out and a round inserted?

Thanks!