Cartridge bulge confusion in my head!!

[nekshot]

I have no expierence with this situation. I bought a 38 super barrel that has a “ramp” effect for easier feeding and I never used it because I don’t like the idea of brass showing at chamber. I have been warming up towards a Glock 40 cal or maybe 10mm but I hear of this bulge cartridge situation. Can I get a replacement barrel that will not produce bulges. This would be a paper puncher for me and no defensive application. Accuracy would be of prime importance. Any wisdom for me from expierence?

[BK7saum]

The newer barrels do not leave the case body unsupported. On older 40 barrels, it is my undersranding that the ramp extended forward past the solid head and allowed the body to bulge.

You will have brass showing at the ramp on many handgun barrels, but as long as the solid portion of the head is all that is showing, there should be no "bulge" issues.

[georgerkahn]

I have no expierence with this situation. I bought a 38 super barrel that has a “ramp” effect for easier feeding and I never used it because I don’t like the idea of brass showing at chamber. I have been warming up towards a Glock 40 cal or maybe 10mm but I hear of this bulge cartridge situation. Can I get a replacement barrel that will not produce bulges. This would be a paper puncher for me and no defensive application. Accuracy would be of prime importance. Any wisdom for me from expierence?

NO "wisdom" from me, but my now-deceased buddy, Ed, had a Glock pistol and had the bulge challenge. I own a Magma tool to eliminate brass bulges in 10mm/40 S&W cartridges, so he/we actually looked into his buying the dies to use my machine for his cartridges. I may very well be wrong, but I kind of recall him whining that it was/is the "gun design" which causes the bulges; hence a replacement barrel would not be an option. I believe he had the pistol for a relatively short time and traded to another brand, so it became moot.
geo

[sigep1764]

Lot of hemming and having for having never shot your barrell. Shoot it, see what it does.

[Hickok]

My Glocks in .40 and 10mm, Gen 3 and Gen 4, are good to go. No bulges on brass.

Don't sweat it, take your new barrel, and go out and enjoy it!...and if you want a new .40 or 10mm, go for it, life is short and dead is forever!

[nicholst55]

Glock is aware of the problem and has taken action to correct it. My Gen 4 G22 left zero bulge or 'Glock smiley' on the brass.

[45_Colt]

I have no expierence with this situation. I bought a 38 super barrel that has a “ramp” effect for easier feeding and I never used it because I don’t like the idea of brass showing at chamber. I have been warming up towards a Glock 40 cal or maybe 10mm but I hear of this bulge cartridge situation. Can I get a replacement barrel that will not produce bulges. This would be a paper puncher for me and no defensive application. Accuracy would be of prime importance. Any wisdom for me from expierence?

A different take on this, you may be better off with a cartridge such as the .357 SIG for accurate paper punching. It is a bottle neck pistol round with a 10mm body and a 9mm bullet. But is known to be an accurate round.

45_Colt

[243winxb]

If the load makes brass bulge, reduce the powder charge till it stops.

[Castaway]

Warning, the internet is about to melt. If accuracy is what you’re after, don’t buy a Glock. Potential bulge problem solved at the same time.

[jdgabbard]

Newer Blocks aren't as bad. I occasionally do get some range brass that is pretty bulged, but it is rare. But one thing I've noticed is that nearly all Glock shot brass needs a final step in the Lee FCD. Otherwise it doesn't quite seat in the case measure. With that said, my 9mm handguns all have chambers generous enough to allow those loaded rounds to still seat fine without an issue. But if you're running a very tight chamber it might be an issue with cross compatibility of brass unless you're willing to go the FCD route. I do this with FMJ as well as Cast without an issue. But mostly with FMJ...

[psychodad]

Glock is aware of the problem and has taken action to correct it. My Gen 4 G22 left zero bulge or 'Glock smiley' on the brass.

Have heard about the bulge for years but never saw pics of the barrels. Thanks for sharing.

[45_Colt]

And the obligatory 'smiling' 40 case:



I picked it up at the range as I was getting my brass (.45), at least 20 years ago. Hence the tarnish on the case. Have no idea of the load or which pistol it was fired in. Just a stroke of luck that it ended up in the brass pile.

45_Colt

[jdgabbard]

And the obligatory 'smiling' 40 case:



I picked it up at the range as I was getting my brass (.45), at least 20 years ago. Hence the tarnish on the case. Have no idea of the load or which pistol it was fired in. Just a stroke of luck that it ended up in the brass pile.

45_Colt

Would be a nice display piece to have a shadow box with various different kinds of case failures, such as 9mm shot in 40s, case head bulge/rupture, case head separation, split necks, split case bodies, pierced primers, etc...

[Virginia John]

Lee sells a "Bulge Buster Die" that will remove the bulge in larger calibers (.40S&W, .45ACP) but it wont do much for the "Glock Smile" above.

[justindad]

A different take on this, you may be better off with a cartridge such as the .357 SIG for accurate paper punching. It is a bottle neck pistol round with a 10mm body and a 9mm bullet. But is known to be an accurate round.

45_Colt

+1 on .357Sig. Loading various bullets over Ramshot’s Enforcer gives better accuracy than any load I’ve shot out of any pistol… which may not be saying much for some folks.
*
I also have a .40S&W barrel for this P320. I have to use a bulge buster on both, but definitely more so on the .40. I imagine the bottle neck design allows for better case support with same/better feeding. .357Sig is also more fun to shoot than .40S&W. Did I mention I like .357Sig?

[W.R.Buchanan]

The problem was caused mainly by Early Federal Cases marked "FC" and "FC10" where the case head did not extend far enough up the case wall to cover the Feed Ramp Divot in the chamber. This was cured about 10-12 years ago and all .40 S&W brass is now safe.

Here's a pic of the offending Brass I have posted this Pic many times since I came here in 2008 and it was my first post here. The last pic is of a properly reloaded .40 S&W case that was previously fired in either my G3 Glock 23 or 35. The bulge would normally be just above the Extractor Groove and would not be resized by the F/L die. You can see that this case was not bulged and that is because it is of newer manufacture.

The Blown case shown was fired from a G3 Police G22, and you can see how it failed due to insufficient reinforcing above the Extractor Groove. DO NOT Reload these two runs of Federal Cases.

FC and FC10

Randy

[fn1889m]

I can only speak to 9mm range pick up from Glocks which have the same bulge. I use the FCD as a resizing die, with the crimp tube removed, as step 1. (I toss the crimp tube.) The carbide ring is at the very bottom of the die and removes the bulge. But standard carbide resizers have the ring at a higher point, and do not resize as close to the base. The diameter of the FCD is something larger than my standard resizing die, so I actually end up resizing everything twice at the beginning of the loading process, with both dies. (OCD, maybe.) These 9mm Glock range pick-ups then fit my cartridge gauge. After this I charge, flare, seat and crimp. I have the same set up for .45 ACP, but have never needed to use it.

My experience is limited to 9mm. But they have the same bulge as the bullets in the photo. There are custom dies which will do the same thing, but the Lee FCD is reasonably inexpensive. Maybe everybody else is already aware of this, but I figured it out when my bullets would not chamber, using what I had on hand.

[20:1]

I push .40 cases through a Lee FCD with the innards removed using a bullet "pusher" from a Lee cast bullet sizing kit. I already had these pieces so no additional expense was incurred. I came into a lot of indoor range 40 cases some time back and am getting very experienced with the ins and outs of 40 cases. Some of the early, early ammo was loaded so hot that the extractor grooves bulged a bit, and the cases won't fit in a shell holder. Those all end up in the scrap bucket. No appeals are accepted.

[Paul105]

"Bulge Buster" will iron out bulge, but think the case has been compromised at the point of the bulge crease.
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