H&K USP45- Polygon Rifling [Archive]

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Beaverhunter2

03-17-2008, 08:33 PM

I've been so focused on my .480 and .450, I hadn't thought about my other "big bore". I have a H&K USP45 (which has polygon rifling). Does anyone have experience shooting cast boolits through polygonal rifling? And suggested bullets to start out with? I'm probably going to stick with LLA or JPW lube to start with.

I really do think I'm getting hooked! (I have 1500- 230gr FMJs and 500- 180gr JHPs on the shelf... and I'm thinking about buying a mold! :lol:)

Thanks for the help!

John

randyrat

03-17-2008, 10:02 PM

I beleive it's the same as the 45 cal Glock. I shot a bunch of lead thru my hexogonal rifling 40 cal glock with no problems. Just keep your eyes open for leading. I know you'll never wear that barrel out. You may want to break it in good with some full nuke J bullets. Just like all guns, the gun has to be the judge. Now if you talk to any body that is somebody they will tell you NEVER shoot lead thru a Hex or poly barrel. OH yeh and absolutely no reloads either, they are dangerous.

Beaverhunter2

03-17-2008, 10:13 PM

"...NEVER shoot lead thru a Hex or poly barrel. OH yeh and absolutely no reloads either, they are dangerous."

Well, I guess I've been living on the edge for almost 2000 rounds now. Most of them were loaded to +P pressures. I guess no one told my USP it wasn't supposed to gobble up those nasty reloads! :lol: I guess the one box of factory FMJs I shot through it lulled it into a false sense of security! ;)

What boolits do you send through your Glock?

Thanks, Randy!

John

Ken

03-17-2008, 10:44 PM

I have shot several hundred through one of my USP 45's No problem

randyrat

03-17-2008, 10:54 PM

WWs 180 gr TC. Nothing harder than WWS + a little tin once in a while. It liked 800 to 1000 velocity loads. Usually Unique or for plinkin it liked Clays. I did run mostly once fired 40 brass for heavier loads and used them over and over in the plinkin loads. Nothing like a stout load of Unique to wake a fellow up. Nothing matches a full mag of 40s shot as fast as possible. "lay down that suppresive fire" Now thats fun. Just be carefull the 40 is a high pressure round, there is no take backs if you double charge. Use a light and check each round if your using a progressive press.

hedgehorn

03-17-2008, 11:03 PM

:twisted: You will shoot your eyes out! :kidding:

uncle joe

03-17-2008, 11:28 PM

cbr

03-17-2008, 11:41 PM

I spent hours and hours reading internet talk about shooting lead in a poly barrel. I came to the conclusion that most people on the shooting forums that say it is bad have no idea what they are talking about, have never tried it, and just read somewhere on the net that, "poly rifling + lead= kaboom". Im so glad I found this forum where there are so many knowledgable and helpful folks. After reading read several posts here from guys that say they have thousands of lead bullet reloads through polygon barrels and never had a problem, I started shooting lead bullets in my .40 glock 23. I very carefully checked for leading every few rounds at first, and wore leather gloves and a heavy coat in case it Kaboomed like they said it would on other internet forums. It never did. I found out I can shoot hundreds of lead bullets through it with absolutely no leading whatsoever. I think it boils down to using a little common sense, making sure your bullets fit properly, carefully working up a load, and not trying to push them too fast. I just keep my loads on the light side and they work great for me. My glock is still in one piece, for now anyway.

GaryM

03-18-2008, 11:07 AM

I have been working with hardcast bullets out of a CZ82, also a poly barrel. So far I have had no leading problems.

MtGun44

03-18-2008, 03:45 PM

Apparently the 40 Glock kaboom issue is firing out of battery with hot loads.
I have only second hand info from friends - so FWIW.

One friend shot about 2000+ lead boolit handloads thru his .40 glock - kaboom.
Barstow claims it is the chamber design, so he replaced barrel with Barstow
after Glock said 'drop dead' and now has several thousand more thru the
Barstow-Glock and no probs. Who knows?

I have seen an official US Fed Govt LE Agency letter to Glock asking for explanation
of kabooms with low time 40 Glocks and factory ammo! No idea of the response,
but there is something weird going on out there.

Best of luck.

Bill

johniv

03-18-2008, 04:15 PM

Have a USP 45, nothing but cast boolits thru it. 200 gr swc and 230 gr rn (#452488 and 452374) 3.8 gr VE thru 6.5 gr unique. no leading so far. Course I clean after shooting and seldom shoot more than50 to 100 rd per session.FWIW
John

Beaverhunter2

03-18-2008, 07:09 PM

Thanks, Guys! Lots of good info (and great folks) on this site!

John

shooting on a shoestring

03-18-2008, 07:58 PM

CBR - "I found out I can shoot hundreds of lead bullets through it with absolutely no leading whatsoever. I think it boils down to using a little common sense, making sure your bullets fit properly, carefully working up a load, and not trying to push them too fast. I just keep my loads on the light side and they work great for me. My glock is still in one piece, for now anyway. "
Yesterday 10:28 PM

Yep, I think you've summed it up nicely. A gun is a machine like a car. Your day to day driving habits have alot to do with how much trouble free service your ride gives you. Also change the oil regularly in both.

One of the main benefits I see to reloading is the ability to taylor the power level to the task. For most tasks I don't need full throttle loads. Also, most of the really good groups form when the gun isn't stressing about the pressure in it.

I would rather see small group sizes than big chronograph numbers. And a hit by a 800 to 1000 fps boolits is better than a miss at 1500 fps.

Granted there are some on this forum that can shoot tight groups with heavy loads, they're good, most of us aren't.