40 cal from 9mm easiest by far and cheap!

[Bwana]

The trouble with going by what you hear or read is that it may or may not be true.
There are pistols that can "switch uppers". My G23 and G32 can do it all day long. They are the same frame and slide just different barrels. My G20 can shoot 10mm and 40S&W and 357SIG, the latter two with aftermarket barrels. My G32 and G23 can shoot 9mm with my aftermarket barrel. Etc, etc, etc.
As far as shooting YOUR handloads in a Glock there will be no problems as long a you don't do a few things: Don't use cases that someone has managed to bulge. Don't use the original Federal 40S&W cases which are headstamped- 40S&W FC. The later good Federal cases are marked FEDERAL 40S&W. Do make sure you have enough neck tension to prevent bullet setback.
My G23 has over 15,000 rnds through it and all of them have been my handloads with over 90% of them being loaded with Lee 175 TC cast bullet. This with the factory barrel. It is my USPSA gun. Never a problem, not one.
As far as "hot" loads go my 40S&W defense loads feature a 155 JHP at 1200fps (over a chrono). No bulges there either.
And since I'm here, the Beretta locking system is a "tilting block" locking system. And it makes no difference in what you feed it

[Dannix]

Yeah, I stand corrected. In between some of the glock family is possible. As for the glock 40cals, well lets leave the argument with the umpteen threads at other forums, but I would at least check the chamber before buying, particularly if its an older sample.

Now that I take the time to google it, it appears to be referred to as "rotating barrel lock". May be something you want to consider.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beretta_Px4_Storm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beretta_8000 (for reference)

FYI. It's recommended you avoid polygonal for shooting lead. So if you want to shoot cast at all, you'll want to consider only models with traditional rifling, or be willing to purchase an aftermarket barrel. Some do shoot lead through their glocks...I'll let you google up on the subject yourself and make your own call.

glockfaq
Why do Glocks have an unsupported chamber?

First of all "unsupported chamber" is a misleading term: all barrels must support the round in the chamber. Furthermore, all guns that use the modified Browning action have _partially_ supported chambers. In order to make the Glock function reliably with the widest possible selection of ammunition it has a "less supported" chamber than other guns. This is why reloaded ammunition is not recommended in Glock pistols. If you choose to shoot reloads, please consider an after market barrel.

Well there you go BT. Feel free to PM if you have an questions, but dropping it here otherwise. Hope you find yourself a nice 40cal.

[ETG]

I've heard lots of bad things about the Witness in 9mm. The 40cal version apparently has none of the problems the 9mm does.

I haven't heard of a single pistol that switches "uppers" well, like a AR10/15 to a different caliber. Those 22LR kits I guess are an exception, depending on the brand, but they are so pricey you may as well just get a 22LR pistol.

Oh, I think I already mentioned, but avoid the Glock 40cals unless you don't mind shoooting factory ammo only, no reloads. The Glock clones (Springfields and the like) don't seem to have this problem. I've been intrigued by the Beretta in 40 (roller-block, if I got that right -- maybe very boolit friendly), but have never gotten interested enough to look into it.

Anyway, hope this helps.

My SIG P239 will swap between 40 and 357 Sig with only a barrel swap - mag, slide and everything else is the same.

[sargenv]

Ok, I tried the all lead shot route with making bullets, and found that the shot compresses into one solid homnogenous mass anyway, and when you add shot to make it fill up better, you are doing nothing more than I'd be doing putting a solid core into the brass, mashing it (swaging it) and then adding maybe 1-4 pellets and re-swaging it to become more consistent with other bullets already swaged. In theory it sounded good, but the act of swaging the shot kind of eliminates the air between the pellets and makes it one piece anyway..

[bjeffv]

This is a whole new area of reloading to me. Very cool and interesting. Gotta ask: What kind of expansion do you get from the used brass jacket bullets?

It must work because the remington HD are a brass jacket, I was just curious.

[BT Sniper]

Expansion. Every bit as good or better then factory. The look of the recovered bullet depends a good deal on what test media you use, softness of your lead core, FPS, and size of the HP. I have recovered everything from no expansion at all to perfect mushrooms depending on the above varriables I mentioned. I got some nice mushroom pics here some where posted.

BT Sniper

[Radio Flyer]

Ok, I tried the all lead shot route with making bullets, and found that the shot compresses into one solid homnogenous mass anyway, and when you add shot to make it fill up better, you are doing nothing more than I'd be doing putting a solid core into the brass, mashing it (swaging it) and then adding maybe 1-4 pellets and re-swaging it to become more consistent with other bullets already swaged. In theory it sounded good, but the act of swaging the shot kind of eliminates the air between the pellets and makes it one piece anyway..

Now drop the “solid” lead core (without jacket) on to a hard floor from 36 inches...

Have a broom handy!

The trick with swaged shot is that it “looks” solid - when the jacket expands and no longer supports the swaged shot the shot will break apart...

It only looks solid, it will not stay that way under force.

[MIBULLETS]

Radio Flyer is right. Shot normally also is coated with graphite I think. This also keeps it from actually sticking together. I have made 22 bullets using rime fire jackets like this and they definatly come apart faster.

[MakeMineA10mm]

One of my next swaging projects is trying copper-plated shot swaged into the core of a jacket so it doesn't "stick" together like plain lead shot does. (BTW, some of it is coated with graphite and some of it is not, depends.)

[b2riesel]

Has anyone tried running these boolits with extractor still on thru a Hornady Bullet Feeder? I don't see why it would cause a problem...but I was still wondering if anyone has given it a shot yet.

[BulletFactory]

Have you tried this with .380 brass? If so, what was the bullet weight?

[b2riesel]

Yes, I have. 115grain 9mm round nose lead inside a 380 brass...comes out to 165 grains for me. They don't shoot as accurate for me as the 188 grain 9mm to 40 that I've come to love...maybe it's my powder choice/charge or the length of the boolit or something...but I'll stick to the 9mm brass with 125grain lead at around 188 grains total.

[BulletFactory]

Thanks.

I havent gotten into swaging yet, but my gun likes the 165 instead of the 180 grain rounds.

.380s are usually a little less sought after than the 9mm, making them easier to find at the range.

[b2riesel]

Yea, The 380's are getting easier to find at the range due to the 380 Body Guard and others selling to the women folks around here pretty heavily. However, if you purchase bulk brass from some online..the 9mm is generally $25/1k...and the 380 is as much as $40/1k.

I bought one of those brass separators...the heavy duty plastic ones that slip on top of a 5 gallon bucket with the slots cut for certain size brass...and they come in a set of three so you can have .45 ACP, .40 S&W, and 9mm all separate with the .22's falling into the bucket. I then purchased the metal insert for the 380 so I didn't mix 380 and 9mm...works great..because sometimes a few of those 380's will sneak into my production line.

I'll probably save up 1k of them and then offer them for a trade to you for some 9mm if you like.

[BulletFactory]

Where do you get brass that cheap? The 1,000 pack of .40 brass is around 400$

[b2riesel]

1,000 once fired 9mm brass for making boolits is about $25 per thousand at many places...I get 40 S&W for $25 a thousand also. Many police ranges sell the once fired brass.

[sargenv]

I generally follow the ppl at my action range who shoot 9 major.. they shoot it once and leave it behind.. since I'm using the brass as a projectile, I do not care one wit that they overpressured the brass as a cartridge.. I get one more use out of brass that someone else paid $30/1000 for..

[DukeInFlorida]

PM me if anyone needs .40 S&W or 9mm brass.
I'm sure we could work some kind of swap deal. I have lots and lots!

The best 9mm brass I have is the MIL WCC headstamped. Wonderful dimension and weight control from pc to pc. Have 1/2 of a 55 gallon barrel left. Going fast.

PM's only, please.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'm not sure if any are still available, I bought some super cheap 9mm brass, that had a headstamp "DAG" they had a sealed primer with a super tiny flashhole. They were
basically UN-reloadable. the good thing is, I can't imagine the primer blowing off as
they fly down the range. The last batch I bought was $45 for a flat rate box of 3000 shipped, that was about a year ago....I shoulda bought more.
Jon

[Intel6]

I generally follow the ppl at my action range who shoot 9 major.. they shoot it once and leave it behind.. since I'm using the brass as a projectile, I do not care one wit that they overpressured the brass as a cartridge.. I get one more use out of brass that someone else paid $30/1000 for..

I run a 9mm major open gun and that is exactly what I do with my brass. When my buddy (with a 9mm open gun also) and I go out and pratice I pick up all the brass and turn them into bullets.