Is Cast good in Glocks?

[awaveritt]

My son-in-law has a Glock in 45 GAP. I've offered to start casting for his pistol but have read sources suggesting that the rifling in Glock barrels does not lend itself to good accuracy in cast boolits. What say you Glock shooters?

The silver lining would be that I'm attracted to the idea of investing in 45 auto dies (which means I'd need a gun to shoot it in, right?) so loading for his GAP would be a good excuse to buy the dies. Plus, seeing what he has to pay for GAP J-word rounds, I could really help him out, but don't want to lead up his barrel if it's not feasible.

[KYCaster]

Check out the sticky in the handgun section...everything you need to know about cast in Glocks.

Jerry

[awaveritt]

Thanks, Jerry. I figured there was a sticky somewhere on here, but I missed it.

[carpetman]

I've heard if you shoot cast in a Glock you need to get some kind of after market barrel???? Would seem to me, Glocks being plastic you could easily convert it to a water pistol and it'd be ok---cheaper than cast bullets even. Dep Al might have some input he is a big time Glock man. (That and .25 ACP's)

[Deano]

I have fired 10s of thousands of cast bullets through factory Glock barrels and have never had a bit of trouble. Those hard, smooth factory barrels lead less and give overall better performance than aftermarket barrels too.

[gwilliams2]

I had shot about a 100 rnds of cast boolits through my model 27 without any noticable leading and then I heard that you shouldn't put pb down the stock barrel... Did a little research on line and figured better safe than sorry.. Picked up an aftermarket Lone Wolf barrel but haven't had the chance to send any boolits down range with the new barrel as of yet... I can't remember the specs off the top of my head, but the Lone Wolf barrel has a lower twist rate.

[Spector]

About 13,000 cast bullets through my Glock 21/30. No problems. Lee 200 grain SWC, 230 grain TC, 252 grain SWC and 255 grain RF bellets. Mine loved the 200 grainers. I shoot the 230's now over 5.7 grains of WIN231 powder in WCC cases primed with CCI primers. They even shoot paper patched bullets well. I use water quenched WW alloy.

The 45 ACP operates at much lower pressures than 9mm or 40 S&W though I've seen friends shoot both successfully from their Glocks.

Some say that Glock says not to shoot cast bullets, but what they actually say is not to use reloaded ammunition of any type in Glock pistols. That would include jacketed bullets.

I've always thought the aftermarket Glock barrels are a waste of money, and generally more difficult to clean then polygonal rifled barrels............Mike

[sleeper1428]

I've put thousands of rounds of lead boolits through the stock barrels of both my Glock 22 40S&W and my Glock 20 10mm with virtually no trace of leading and very acceptable accuracy in both handguns. Having said this, I will admit that I've also purchased Lone Wolf barrels for both of these handguns but so far I haven't seen much difference in accuracy. The LW barrels are certainly cut more tightly - closer to specs - and they have better support in the ramp area which greatly reduces the chance of creating Glock 'smilies' at the base of the cases in that area. So I guess I'd have to say that it's really up to you as to whether you stay with your stock barrel or install an after market barrel. If you keep your loads within normal limits I don't think you'll have any problems using the stock barrel for lead.

I would caution you that both my Glocks are well over 15 years old and its always possible that their quality control and materials used may not be up to the same standards at the present time. If your Glock is fairly new, I'd suggest you check with others who have pistols of the same vintage and see if they are having any problems.

sleeper1428

[sisiphunter]

I remember in my Glock Armourers course, the instructor saying explicitly no cast or lead bullets were to be used in a Glock factory barrel...He said you must use jacketed bullets....the only problem is for the life of me I cannot remember why.....Darn memory is starting to slip....I'll look it up in my manual and notes tomorrow at work and get back with their reasoning, never tried it myself, but then again I get all the FMJ I want from work.

Matt

[bkbville]

I remember in my Glock Armourers course, the instructor saying explicitly no cast or lead bullets were to be used in a Glock factory barrel...He said you must use jacketed bullets....the only problem is for the life of me I cannot remember why.....Darn memory is starting to slip....I'll look it up in my manual and notes tomorrow at work and get back with their reasoning, never tried it myself, but then again I get all the FMJ I want from work.

Matt

Polygonal rifling is prone to leading.

[StarMetal]

Polygonal rifling is prone to leading.

That's an untruth. Many have shot polygonal rifling with very good results including myself out of more then three guns.

What do you base your facts on?

Joe

[rbuck351]

The 45s don't seem to have a problem with cast. I have a 21 that has had thousands of cast through it. A dry patch pushed through and it is shiney clean. Many people have trouble with cast in the 40s and 9mms. I suspect higher pressures are part of the problem but boolit fit, hardness and lube may be the reason. I doubt if you will have a problem with a glock in 45cal.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

Do NOT pay any attention to what Glock tells you. They're only in it for the money.

Rich

[finishman2000]

I have fired 10s of thousands of cast bullets through factory Glock barrels and have never had a bit of trouble. Those hard, smooth factory barrels lead less and give overall better performance than aftermarket barrels too.

Funny, i've had the direct opposite results. All my 9mm glocks lead up with even a med load.
My Lone Wolf barrels don't lead at all and are more accurate than stock.
My 45 glock does shoot lead without issues.

[jack19512]

I shoot my cast straight ww with my G26 9 mm with no issues. I have never had any leading but I don't shoot a lot of rounds at one time without cleaning afterward.

[No_1]

I like your thinking on getting the dies. Just a word of warning in case you did not know. The GAP brass has a small primer. I have read 45ACP brass can be trimmed to fit but it is not recommended for use in the GAP. Could be the same BS as not shooting lead in Glocks but who knows for sure. I have a few handfuls of range pick-ups sent to me by RickyP and would like to try some HG68's in it but have yet to get around to it. Starline offers new brass for the GAP but I can't justify buying any right now.

As a quailifier, I have a 45 GAP that I took in on a trade about 3 years ago. Can't remember the model number because I have only handled it maybe 3 times (never shot it). Owner bought it when he was doing clean-up in New Orleans where he bought 1 box of ammo with it then shot all but 10 rounds to get a feel for the gun. It is in excellent shape with the original box, 3 mags, a fancy holster and 2 clip mag pouch. I am thinking of taking it to the November swap meet / Chili cook-off at the local range and offering it for sale along with a few other items to finance yet another project: The purchase of a casting machine.

Be careful and good luck!

Robert

My son-in-law has a Glock in 45 GAP. I've offered to start casting for his pistol but have read sources suggesting that the rifling in Glock barrels does not lend itself to good accuracy in cast boolits. What say you Glock shooters?

The silver lining would be that I'm attracted to the idea of investing in 45 auto dies (which means I'd need a gun to shoot it in, right?) so loading for his GAP would be a good excuse to buy the dies. Plus, seeing what he has to pay for GAP J-word rounds, I could really help him out, but don't want to lead up his barrel if it's not feasible.

[randyrat]

Here is some good info for your reading to help you in your decision.
http://www.glockfaq.com/
There is a section in there on lead bullets.

My opinion... I like Glocks..Not for the beginer.. index your finger always.. like all pistls/autos keep your eye open for leading.

[softpoint]

I haven't shot as much cast from myGlock as some here have, but have had no problems. There probably have been some problems, though. One issue is the fact that some of the poorly lubed commercial cast bullets will lead in ANYTHING, Glock or not. Another issue is cleaning. There are LOTS of Glocks around, and there are some folks that have them that virtually never clean thier guns.
As far as Glock's recommendations on reloads, as far as I know no manufacturor recommends reloaded ammunition.
The better reason to buy an aftermarket barrel is to get a tighter chamber. Glocks have a very good reputation for reliability, and part of that is due to the sloppy tolerances in thier chambers. Ihave an aftermarket barrel in my 10mm model 20 just to extend case life a bit, as 10mm brass is a little harder to come by than other calibers (you don't find a lot of it "once fired" around.
There IS an issue with shooting reloads that the brass has been fired previously in a very "loose" Glock chamber. If your brass forms a very noticable "pot belly" close to the case head after firing, I wouldn't re- use that brass. That issue has nothing to do with lead bullets, though

[KYCaster]

I like your thinking on getting the dies. Just a word of warning in case you did not know. The GAP brass has a small primer. I have read 45ACP brass can be trimmed to fit but it is not recommended for use in the GAP. Could be the same BS as not shooting lead in Glocks but who knows for sure.
Robert

The reason the trimmed 45ACP brass doesn't work well has nothing to do with the primer. When you trim .10 off the case mouth then seat the boolit it gets down into the thicker part of the wall and creates a bulge that interferes with chambering.

The polygon barrels generally need larger diameter boolits to perform well. Thats why the after market barrels often do better, especially with commercial boolits that are sized for land and groove barrels.

The cause of the famous Glock "kaboom" has less to do with lead build up in the barrel than it does with crud in the chamber. Anything that interferes with chambering can cause an out of battery condition. Some Glocks will fire while substantially out of battery. That combined with the "generous" feed ramp is the real culprit.

And use of jackeded factory ammo is no guarantee. A friend who spent several years training Louisville police has witnessed several Glock failures. A couple of years ago he said they had one that failed on the first magazine shot through it.

Attention to detail in reloading and cleaning will go a long way toward keeping your Glock or any other gun opperating trouble free.

Jerry

[StarMetal]

Jerry is dead on about trimming and using 45acp brass for the Gap. Sometimes you should heed what said or at least investigate it before coming to a conclusion.

I'm not sure on the polygonal rifling requiring a larger bullet.

Joe