(Just came across this thread and have read only the first and last pages.)
I picked up a Gen 5 Glock 26 the other day and went straight to the range with 70 rounds of lead boolits. (Lee 124 TLTC, 4.5 Unique, LLA/JPW, sized to .358)
They shot ok. Then I got home and discovered that you shouldn't shoot lead through a Glock!
So right now I'm soaking the bore with Ed's Red and wondering what to do next.
Do I continue with the current load and clean the bore after every outing? (Brushing with Ed's
Red?)
Do I switch over to the same boolit, powder coated?
I'd like to avoid buying a different barrel, but I guess I could.
Thoughts, advice, opinions?
I shoot only powder coated boolits through my G34.5 and it works well. I use a harder alloy than my wheel guns too.
Thanks for the info. I shoot hard alloys because that's what I got. I haven't slugged the bore on my G26. .358 has been my standard for 9mm. Think I should reduce that to 357 or 356? I will slug it before shooting it again. Just wondering what other experience has been.
The next thing to do is read the thread.
Cogito, ergo armatum sum.
(I think, therefore I'm armed.)
So far I have got the Lee 125 TLTC boolits to function 100% in my G26.5 but accuracy is lacking. I size to 358. Anything smaller and accuracy is horrendous. The gun is pin-point accurate with jacketed bullets. Wish I could get it that way with cast.
Going to continue experimenting. I have some of the Lee 125g boolits PC'd and sized to 358.
Also going to try some Lee 105 SWC's, PC'd and sized to 358.
The only powder I use is Unique.
Last edited by Charlie Horse; 12-31-2021 at 11:32 AM.
Tried the 105's today and they worked very well. Mine were powder coated, sized to .358, and loaded over 4.X grains of Unique (I think I could go higher). Shot this group at 25 yards from my 26.5.
I have a gen. 5 19 in layaway jail right now. If it shoots my pet loads with plated slugs as well as my others then that's good enough. I have four other 9's set up for boolits right now.
Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.
I've had my GEN 5 G19 for over 2.5 years and have shot more than 15 K rounds through it, exclusively my own cast and powder coated boolits, never had any problem with leading. After each session (some 250-300 rds) I run a boresnake through the barrel a couple times and upon inspection, the barrel is shiny as my granny's ol' silverware. I suspect the micro-grooves help. My alloy is about 11ish BHN, sized to .358, the bore slugs at .356. Last year I put a carry comp on it and shot several thousand rounds of MIHA's 110gr TC bullets sitting on top of 8.3gn of AA7, this clocks at about 1250 fps, still no leading in the barrel whatsoever, which however cannot be said about the compensator, the first chamber gets a lot of carbon and lead buildup (which I chisel off with a flat screwdriver every now and go on my merry way).
I also recetly boutht a GEN 4 G20, shot about a thousand of my 180gr powder coated OREOs so far, cast from WW at about 12.5 BHN and again, I get absolutely no leading. I shoot only moderate loads with 7.5gr of Vectan A0, going at some 1150 FPS. The Gen 4s still have the traditional polygonal rifling, but for some reason it works well with cast. Perhaps powder coat + correct sizing does the trick?
Edit: I know how y'all like pictures, so here it goes
Last edited by Law.man; 07-01-2022 at 01:35 AM.
I did a search of this thread for gas check and GC and I do not see it. 9x19 parabellum can run over 30k psi. Could some of the reported inaccuracy and occasional reports of leading be related to that? I have been out of casting for many years and did use gas checks for rifles and as I recalled people did use them for magnum pistols and glocks 9s and 40's run at such pressures.
Relative to accuracy, a major problem with glocks is trigger pull. I have just changed out slides so I have have RMRs and the new slide parts have heavier trigger pulls, but that is an issue for another thread.
I have a G26 G3.
Shoot Lee 356-120-TC at 11.3 BHN with zero leading. Also fire same alloy in G19 G3 and G20 G3; All OEM barrels and no leading.
G26 and G19 slugged at .356.
I size to .357 and powder coat. Finished bullets come out approx. .3575 - .358. I haven’t ‘benched’ it, but I shoot clays at anywhere from 7, 10, 15 yards.
I think the powder coat really helps. Anything to increase the grip of the rather slick OEM lands and grooves, whether PC or increased diameter.
Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.
I personally have put tens of thousands of rounds thru several different Glock pistols with no issues ever . I load all my ammo with powder coated cast bullets.
Keep your powder dry and watch your six !!
"I load all my ammo with powder coated cast bullets." So you're loading your pistols with jacketed ammo. Yes, Glocks rarely have issues with jacketed ammo.
Cogito, ergo armatum sum.
(I think, therefore I'm armed.)
Uhmmmm.... NOOOOOOO!!!!! Not EVEN close to the same thing!
The powder coating DOES separate the lead alloy from the rifling, but THAT'S where the commonality ends. Gilding metal jackets can only obturate the bore so much, no matter what kind of chamber pressure is behind them. By comparison, the powder coat is almost infinitely elastic, and will more readily obturate, deform, and FLOW into any available vacancy (think in terms of rifling). coating them as or more easily than even the SOFTEST lead alloy. The extent to which the coating may persist in the rifling may be open to question, but my education in polymer chemistry is not extensive, so I'll leave that to someone with more letters at the end of their name than mine.
You CAN "plate" a barrel with hi-tek, and bullet behaviour CAN suffer. Bottom line is, Polymer Coated bullets DO NOT equal metal jacketed bullets.
For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. Ecclesiastes 1:18
He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool become servant to the wise of heart. Proverbs 11:29
...Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40
Carpe SCOTCH!
" Polymer Coated bullets DO NOT equal metal jacketed bullets."
Dead right. But they aren't the same as a "normally" lubricated cast boolit either. They are sort of a step in between the two. Shoot one cast boolit down the bore without it's lube and it becomes quite obvious. Painted boolits are jacketed, they're just jacketed with paint instead of metal.
Cogito, ergo armatum sum.
(I think, therefore I'm armed.)
In my experience, powder coat on bullets should be viewed as a lube - high tech, smoke free, elasic and all that good stuff, but still just a lube. It does not magically turn your cast boolits into jacketed.
Case in point - try to shoot a handful of undersized powder coated cast boolits though any type of bore and you get leading, no ifs or buts.
OR, try to shoot a couple of magdumps through a semi-auto rifle with properly sized powder coated cast boolits and you get what? Severe leading in all the bad places.
See, the polymer based powder coat does not like heat, just like lead. It will melt while still in the barrel and you will get lead deposits in gas tube, gas piston, BCG, what have you. Ask me how I know
Jacketed bullets do not lead no matter what you do. Shoot them undersized, they may keyhole, accuracy may go to hell, but one thing you will not get is leading.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |