new guy here and wanting to start casting

[champ198]

hello all...new guy here and im still reading around on the boards here and gathering info. i have a few questions for you all if you could help a newbie out. i have been reloading for quite some time but now am wanting to get into casting some for the Glock G23 in 40S&W i have.
i ordered a Lee 2 cavity mold, and a sizer die and have a lot of WW lead and Lee liquid Alox Lube....amd i going to be ok with this setup out of my Glock?
i read on another forum where people were talking about the odd rifeling that the Glocks have and they can be bad for leading which will cause high pressures but i do clean my gun often. but wanted to ask you all and see what you thought of it
also would be interested in hearing any load info you have for a 175 Gr cast boolit for my 40S&W with Win 231
thanks all and glad i found the boards here

[rodsvet]

If you want to shoot lead, then get a Wolf barrel. It's a drop in and runs about $100.00. It also has a much tighter chamber so your reloads will have to be pretty much within factory specs. Good news is that it will be more accurate and there will be no "Glock bulge so your brass will live longer. Good luck! Rod

[geargnasher]

Welcome aboard, Champ!

The .40 can be a very difficult cartrige to load cast for, not something I'd recommend for a beginner in cast boolits. However, we can walk you through it. There's a thread going on right now about the .40 and all the challenges, and there have been several pretty good ones in the last year or so.

You can make it work with what you have, though, you don't have to have a Wolf barrel to shoot cast, but you might want to stay on the conservative side of pressures to make life easier for you. Check out this thread: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=116560

Also, do yourself a favor and read this, a good general cast boolit guide, might save you some pondering and wrong turns: http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm

Spend a little time with these, and get back to us!

Gear

[RobS]

Welcome!!!

Factory Glock barrels do have polygonal rifling which are rounded in stead of square like conventional rifling. There is the risk of running into leading which can build up and cause high pressure situations, however things can be worked so you can still do it; it will require more work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygonal_rifling

First off the rifling will be more susceptible to boolit skid as it won't grip as well on the rounded rifling so my advice if you plan on going this route is to use harder boolits. Water quenched WW alloyed boolits will work well for this. Also casting up a boolit that is .002 or maybe even .003 over the bore's groove diameter will also help. Another addition is to use slower powders for the caliber such as HS-6.

[MtGun44]

I also think that the .40 isn't the easiest place to start. .38 Spl or .45 ACP are pretty good
starting places, so if you have one of these, you may want to get the kinks worked out on
something that is easier to succeed with. If not, just understand that the .40 S&W is a very
high pressure cartridge with not much safety margin, and the Glock has had some issues with
chamber design and rifling that have contributed to some serious problems. I am not a Glock
person, but the Glock-o-philes around here regularly report great results with Wolf barrels,
so that sounds like a good way to go.

Do not push the pressure limits with the .40, the distance between a normal load and a serious
problem is very short. Be safe and have fun.

Bill

[cajun shooter]

I will say that if you have any kind of revolver in 38,357,44,or 45 then you would be much better off for a starting place. All of the above post are correct and that Glock already has problems that a neophyte does not need to over come. After reading all the sticky section of this forum and I mean read at a speed that you are retaining the material. Second thing is to purchase the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. The 4th edition just came out and is selling for retail but if you try for the third at Amazon, you may find a deal. The third is still a good book to learn from. Casting the correct way and receiving good bullets is a great hobby itself and requires a lot of training. I have casted since 1970 and still pick up good info from a posting or printed article. The members of this forum are some of the best to learn from. You do however need to show that you are not using the forum for a drive thru. By that if you ask question after question with out any thing done by you then you will find them a little slow to help. Welcome to the forum and you are headed for a new part of the shooting sports that once learned will be as rewarding as the shooting itself. Later David

[Doby45]

Also in regards to possibly getting a traditionally rifled barrel do not just walk but RUN from the Lone Wolf brand. The fit and the finish of the Lone Wolf barrels have to be the worst I have ever seen. Can they be made to work, sure. But for the most part they come to you with very sharp edges and poor finishing. The Storm Lake brand of barrels come finished much better and are in the same price range as the Lone Wolfs.

[exile]

What "Doby45" said. I have two Storm Lake barrels and am very pleased with them.

exile

[champ198]

thanks a bunch for the info on the barrels fellas. ill take a look and see what i can do. defnatly do not want a ticking time bomb by any means.
i have casted a little a while back but it was with 38 special revolvers so it was a little diffrent this 40 is a new beast for me but i do really like it
i like to shoot a lot and wanted to hopefully try and get the casting to work since it would be so much cheaper but sure dont want a bomb in my hand

[geargnasher]

If you pay attention to your barrel, not just go blaze a few hundred rounds without inspecting it, you shouldn't have any pressure issues.

Gear

[RobS]

+1 on what gear said and loading things right go hand in hand.

[Three44s]

I don't know beans about Glocks but it looks like you plan on shooting a lot with your .40.

As such, just the added wear on your brass would make an after market barrel worth considering.

Best of luck and a Big welcome to Boolits!!!


Three 44s

[mold maker]

I don't own a Glock, but have dealt with a tremendous amount of Glock fired .40 brass. I bought a push through die from a CB member which ironed out the bulge. It does its job, and leaves no evidence of the guppy belly produced by Glocks and other chambers with similar support issues.
That being said, I won't trade or sell the (fixed) brass for fear someone will have problems with over worked brass when used in another like chamber. In my opinion (worth what you pay) Using the former Glock fired brass (once resized completely) in a better supported chamber (Wolf for example) offers little danger. The normal old age neck split will probably be the death of it.
I use the unfixed Glock brass in BT's dies to make great JHP .44 bullets.