LEE "Bulge Buster"

[Hardcast416taylor]

I had to get out of the house today, I visited a reloading friend. He showed me his new "toy" a LEE "Bulge Buster" for sizing .40 S&W cases. As he ran cases thru it I read the set up instructions. "Do not use for reloading the .40 S&W cases for use in a Glock".Can anybody tell me why this is, and would he run a danger risk by loading for his Glock by sizing his brass this way. I couldn`t think of any reason for a danger, then again I don`t own a Glock.Robert

[mebe007]

Because they do not have a fully supported chamber. so therefore the brass could be weakened and perhaps not end so well. that's what I've read at least. I use the bulge buster on .380 and .45acp but I still size them.

[Firebricker]

IMHO that sounds like the legal department through that part in. FB

[shotman]

They used legal catch all Glock dont want reloads used in their guns and will not stand behind them.
Its not that the chamber is not suported the chamber is cut large so it can use dirty ammo. Its the same as the 45 colt from the early years you could pick up a round that was dropped in mud and it would chamber and fire
the BB will take most of the bulge out and then you can size with a LYMAN full length and get it all. The lyman will cut/shave a glocked case if you dont run it in the crimp die first

[Hardcast416taylor]

I got the friend all worried about the disclaimer LEE wrote. I guess I can tell him to go ahead and load the brass for his Glock M 35 that he really shoots well. Thanks guys for the insights.Robert

[Shooter6br]

Now I need an abdominal "bulge buster"

[Colorado4wheel]

Bulge buster is not meant for final sizing. Cases still need to be sized.

[468]

Bulge buster is not meant for final sizing. Cases still need to be sized.

If you run a round through the Bulge Buster, as per Lee's instructions, it IS the final sizing. Of course, the case has already been resized when being deprimed, and again if you use the Lee Factory Crimp Die for crimping.

[a.squibload]

That's how I read it. Does a good job of removing the bulge,
not sure how many times I would fire it in a Glock, if I had one.

The older Glock feed ramp intrudes a little in the chamber, to make the overall action
a little shorter. Where ramp meets chamber there is a small area that does not support
the case wall, that's what they're talking about.
If a case happened to be aligned right there twice it MIGHT fail due to the brass
being weakened from the first bulge.
Of course some brass fails there anyway, look up "KB" or "kaboom" relative to Glocks.
I'm guessing it's a reload phenomenon with high-pressure rounds.

I had trouble using the Lee FCD for crimping, only use it for sizing now.
Of course I'm no expert, just getting used to taper crimp, YMMV.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Virtually all modern auto loading pistols have the same type of chamber support as the Glock has. It is pretty much the way a .40S&W chamber has to be made in order to function. All auto pistols for this round ahve a place where the feed ramp intersects the chamber in front of the extractor groove. All newly mfg's cases have the web area of the case well above this place in the chamber.

First Gen Glocks had some problems with slightly looser chambers, and in addition there were cases manufactured by Federal marked "FC" that were very weak in the web area of the case, these 2 things are responsible for many of the early Glock Kabooms. Many of these cases are still out there, so find them and discard them.

Incidentially, if you do google "Glock Kaboom" you probably will not want to reload the .40S&W ever because they will tell you you are sitting on a time bomb and it is only a matter of time til you kill yourself and anyone standing within a quarter mile of your present positiion.

There is alot of misinformation on this round, put out by people who think they know what they are talking about. Alot of this misinformation is under the heading of Glock Kabooms. Sure there has been some guns blow up, but in most cases there is a good reason for it, and the reason is NOT "sensible reloads done by competant reloaders". It is repeatedly about hot loads in weak cases, done by people trying to make the round into a 10MM. It isn't that! So back off and live!

There are literally thousands of people who successfully reload this cartridge every day. There are certain things you must learn about it. It is not a ticking time bomb unless you don't learn the basics of loading it and you stay away from hot loads. It is a hi pressure cartridge, and it is possible to screw up. It is not a really good cartridge to learn reloading on. Try a .45ACP instead until you fully understand what you are doing.

You use the bulge buster first, the case will be .421 to .422 the full length afterwards. You push the case ALL THE WAY THRU THRU DIE. Then you go about reloading the round just like anything else with a correct taper crimp in the end. The case will be around .418 at the front after the full length sizing, and after the bullet is seated it will be around .420-.422. The taper crimp should measure .418 when you are done. If it is less than .417 you need to pull the bullet as it will generate too much pressure. If it is more than .419 you need to crimp harder to hold the bullet in place. There is much adjustment available to achieve the .418 number. It is not hard, it just takes some patience.

You will be fine if you do some homework, and learn what you are doing. Look at some of the other posts and the sticky on this subject and you can gain more info on reloading this fine round.

If nobody reloaded for the Glock, nobody would shoot one. Lots of people do. , so?

Randy

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

Another good reason to "just say no" to glocks. Tupperware is for storing leftovers in, not live ammunition. Sounds like lawyers talking to me.

The 1911 does not have this issue. I have a Colt 10/forty for that sort of stuff.

Rich

[exile]

I bought a Storm Lake .40 barrel for my .357 Glock and gave away all the brass fired through my Glock .40 barrel. This is my third aftermarket barrel, and of the three this one has a very tight chamber. Haven't fired it much yet, but we will see how it goes. Definately no bulge in the brass fired out of the Storm Lake barrel.

exile.

[44Vaquero]

More likely, Lee's legal disclaimer/statement is tied to Glock's position on reloads period. Since they are prohibited and the warranty is voided if used. Remember factory Glock barrels do not like Lead Boolits! The type of rifling used causes severe leading after a surprisingly short number of rounds. Since it's safe to say that a "re-loader may use lead boolits after using a bulge buster", the disclaimer has been extended to Lee's equipment.
Thank Heaven for the attorneys saving us from ourselves!

[W.R.Buchanan]

Idaho: I had a Para 16-40 LDA 1911 and the chamber on it was .005 looser than my Glock 35.

It bulged cases far worse than my Glock does.

It belongs to someone else now and I have a Glock 21SF for .45ACP which is what I wanted to shoot anyway.

I have both, .40's and .45's I like the .45 best. There is something about that big boolit, that reminds me of the front of a bus.

I use Plated bullets in the Glock 21 to avoid the leading problems that "might occur" if I don't load the rounds correctly

Exile: have you shot your SL barrel very much? Mine malfunctions alot. SL told me to send it back. The chambers are much tighter on these barrels and you sacrifice some relibility, but mine malfuncs like every magazine. So it is going back. They claim this is normally not a problem and I believe them, as I don't think they could stay in business if this was normal operation.

I will always keep my stock barrel handy in my Pistol Bag so I can change it out in a minute if I have too.

Randy

[exile]

I have not shot my Storm Lake Glock 23 barrel much yet (just bought a mold for it today), but I do have a Storm Lake barrel in my Glock 26 which has been 100 % reliable for me. If yours malfunctions I am inclined to believe that it is defective. My Jarvis barrel for my Glock 17 is reliable as well, and it has a very tight chamber. All I have shot out of them has been 125 grain round-nose boolits however. The 145 grain SWC mold I bought for the .40 today may be a bit of a challenge, I will have to wait and see.

exile

[Doby45]

My Storm Lake barrel is 100% reliable in my Glock 23. I have 3 Storm Lake barrels for my 23.

40cal standard rifling barrel
357SIG barrel
9mm barrel

They all function flawlessly. I could not recommend a better barrel for the money. I would not use a Lone Wolf barrel to save my life.

[a.squibload]

Virtually all modern auto loading pistols have the same type of chamber support as the Glock has....

I agree there is a lot of misinformation about 40s, and Glocks.
Thanks for the taper crimp info, I might have been over-crimping.

I saw pics (found one to post here) showing the intersection of the feed ramp and the chamber
that didn't look like the chamber in my Kahr. Have also read descriptions of same.
(From a lwknight post in concealed carry forum: "The problem with older generation Glocks
was that the feed ramp was cut too far into the chamber.")
In the pics I've seen the arrangement doesn't look as bad as I thought it would, but
it is different. Maybe they are newer models.

From the web, darker barrel is said to be a Glock, don't know what generation:
(kinda dark but you can see the feed ramp is into the chamber a bit)


My barrel, feed ramp does not intrude into chamber:


All I was saying is that's where the bulge supposedly comes from.
There's a possibility the feed ramp/chamber intersection constitutes a problem.
I've found a lot of "glocked" brass in the used brass I've bought,
have used it without incident after de-glocking.
Maybe glocked brass only comes from earlier models?

Disclaimer: I haven't loaded all that much 40 so I'm no expert!

PS: found some bulged 40 brass at an indoor range last Friday.

[pdawg_shooter]

Another good reason to "just say no" to glocks. Tupperware is for storing leftovers in, not live ammunition. Sounds like lawyers talking to me.

The 1911 does not have this issue. I have a Colt 10/forty for that sort of stuff.

Rich

+1 on what he said!

[44Vaquero]

I just finished looking over several hundred .40 S.W. once fired brass cases. Every one that exhibited servere bulging also showed elongated firing pins strikes! Slide velocity has to be very high and some guns maybe unlocking before pressure drops in the barrel and if the brass is weak you could get a KB!
The only time I remember seeing these type of pressure signs was when I fitted my SA 1911 with a 400 Corbon barrel! A hi pressure round! I learned a lot about setting up a 1911 pistol on that experiment.
P.S. My 1911 was fitted with rubber grips overmolded steel inserts, so all I every worried about was ruining a magazine, not loosing a finger or two!

[flashhole]

Can we go back to the dialog regarding sizing with the "Bulge Buster" system. If you run your brass through the Bulge Buster die, is it ready for loading .... yes or no?