Glock Bulge

[Tenbender]

Is the Glock bulge really a problem after using a bulge buster. I have read that the cases are stretched and unsafe to reload . Especially if your going to shoot them in a Glock again. Any thoughts ?

[bcp477]

Yes, no....and maybe. The bulge problem is mostly confined to the earlier Glock generations.....gen. 1 and 2 (I think). Gen. 3's I am not sure about....and gen. 4's are supposed to be better, in this regard. (It never happened with my gen.4's.) However, the issue is really only a PROBLEM if shooting relatively hot loads - that is, the bulge often does not occur with moderate loads. It is a truism that any case that has been expanded in some way (beyond normal expansion) on firing....is forever SUSPECT. It's simply a judgement call whether to reload such cases. So, I would advise the following : if bulging occurs with given loads, IF you decide to reuse the cases (and YOU will have to make that call) - use them ONLY for lighter loads. That way, you might have a fighting chance to avoid case failures. However, in no event would I try to get as many loads out of a bulged/ de-bulged case as I would a normal one. As I said, such cases are suspect.

The obvious solution(s) to bulging cases in Glocks are (in no particular order) : 1) NOT to reload any bulged cases..... 2) ONLY load moderate loads, such that bulging does not occur......or 3) an aftermarket barrel. Those 3 are the ONLY relatively certain ways to minimize the risk of case failure.

Beyond that, the choice (and responsibility) is YOURS and yours alone.

[mattw]

I have had 10mm brass that was Glock'ed so bad that it did not want to size at the base. After sizing them, there was notable metal moved toward the base of the case! They get thrown into the brass box.

[birddog]

I've recovered several buckets of 40cal brass and noticed many with the glock bulge. Everything is ran through the debulging die and then sized in the lee xs carbide sizer and have had no issues with feeding in either the ruger or the springfield they are fed through.
Charlie

[wv109323]

There is a guy that is a commercial reloader that goes by ammoguru and his company is NSK ammo. His opinion and practice is never re-use brass that came out of a Glock.
He says that if brass is deformed, as in the Glock smiley face, the metal(brass) is changed metallurgically and becomes weaker. Taking the crease out by resizing does not correct the problem. The problem is worse on the .40 S&W and 10MM due to their higher pressures.
I would discard any brass with a visible smiley face. I would not load any brass that came out of a Glock to maximum or +P pressures.

[maxreloader]

recently I ran into some 380 brass that looked bad, maybe it was shot out of a 42? didn't think to look at the primer strike... has anybody seen a bulge in 380?

[DR Owl Creek]

I generally only load and shoot full power loads in my guns. I use a lot of once-fired brass that's come from police or sheriffs department qualifications. I would never use brass that's been "glocked". I value my eyes, fingers, and guns too much for that. Brass is too cheap of a commodity to risk using that stuff. IMHO

Dave

[Bonz]

I run my brass thru a CasePro roll sizer which fixes the bulge.

[rintinglen]

Take a coat hanger, bend it back and forth a times--it will break. Take a case, bulge it out, push it back and apply 30,000+ psi. Your gun, your hand, your choice.

[garym1a2]

I say if its hard to push into the budge buster than don't use it. I am also big on aftermarket barrels for my Glocks in 40S&W.

[Hammerhead]

From Lee's website;

Glock Cases: We do not recommend "fixing" cases fired in pistols with unsupported chambers, because there is no way to make them safe once they have bulged. The case wall is thinned where it bulges, and resizing the outside of the case back down to the correct diameter does not restore the case back to its original thickness. If this case is fired in a pistol with an unsupported chamber again, and this thinned section of brass happens to line up with the unsupported part of the chamber, there is a high probability that the case will rupture.

[Lucky Joe]

I reload all my Glock brass, they size fine and chamber in my G19 fine but shoot them in my Ruger Blackhawk .38/.357 convertible. I cast, size and load the 74 gr. WC for squirrel, rabbit and plinking. The loads aren't hot and the Ruger is one tough gun anyway, guess that is my solution to the Glock bulge. Actually my Glock Gen. 2 doesn't seem to bulge cases or I just can't see it.
133021

[twc1964]

Ive never had a bulge in any of my 9mm or 45acp shot out of my glocks. Mine are gen 2 and 3. I load my ammo to factory velocities and havent seen a smiley yet. Maybe im just lucky but im ok with that.

[bcp477]

As I said, bulging usually only occurs with relatively hot loads. There are exceptions - just as with everything. One size almost never fits all. If a particular Glock does not bulge cases with a given load, then reloading them is certainly not a problem. If it does produce bulged cases - then it IS a problem - and NEEDS to be addressed. Ignoring the issue is ASKING for trouble.

[3leggedturtle]

I resized 40 S+W brass; with most of it being shot out of glocks for using in my P94 The standard sizing die was good enough to get them all 100% reliable. B4 resizing none would chamber.

[Mauser48]

I just use the standard lee FL sizing die for my 40s&w and it fixes the bulge. I load light for my glock.

[Oreo]

There is a picture floating around the net showing an old glock 40sw chamber next to a newer one. It was only these older barrels that caused the problem and whatever generation they were phased out was a long time ago. Hence, I have never seen a 40sw case from a glock that was distinguishable from those fired in any other gun. This leads me to believe that the problem is pretty rare and has been exaggerated to sell a lot of snake oil products for fixing and preventing the problem. I use a cheapo Lee carbide sizing die. Never had a problem. Any case that was sized and still didn't look right is trash.

With the problem brass as rare as it is and 40sw brass as abundant and cheap as it is, if a particular case is suspect for any reason at all just discard it. Seriously, 40sw brass is the cheapest brass there is.

[Pinsnscrews]

I would not feel comfortable shooting Glocked brass in an unsupported barrel. I do however, slowly push my Glocked brass through a Bulge Buster and check it for creases. No crease, then it goes in the reload pile for the supported barrel in my 1911.

[pacomdiver]

ive reloaded thousands of cases that went thru my 2 glock 21 gen 3s and my cousins gen 2

only cases ive ever had a bulge (4 total) was when the chamber started getting dirty after a long range practice day (250 rounds plus), I was practicing for a 3 gun shoot the next weekend and would run a drill, pick up the cases, reload then run the next drill. after a run, I picked up my emptys, noticed the slight bulge, checked the chamber, it was cruddy, pulled the cleaning brush out, cleaned it up and tried a couple test rounds, they didn't have the bulge. finished up the day but checked the cases for any bulges and didn't have any more

[mold maker]

I only use the Glock bulged cases for swaging larger boolits. 44s and 45s love em.

[yovinny]

recently I ran into some 380 brass that looked bad, maybe it was shot out of a 42? didn't think to look at the primer strike... has anybody seen a bulge in 380?

My little DB380 bulges brass pretty bad. They look like glock brass, except without the firing pin drag on the primer. I treat them exactly like glock brass, they go into the scrap bucket.

[375supermag]

Hi...

I just recently bought my first 40S&W.
I have been picking up range brass for some time just in case I ever got a .40, so I have a few hundred pieces of brass with no idea what gun they may have been shot out of.

When I bought my M&P a couple of weeks ago, I bought a set of Hornady reloading dies a few days later and ordered a Redding GR-X Bulge Buster die to run the range pick-up brass through. A bit expensive but the wallet only hurts once.

Seemed like a good investment...we'll see how it works.

[Garyshome]

.40 cases are real cheap, but I have reloaded all of my brass, not noticed any bulges, but I also load plinkers [low power] for practice.

[Garyshome]

A guy a couple of posts down has some cases for $.025/pc. shipped. If I needed some I would be all over that.