With apologies to Glock .40 owners.......

[Mike H]

I actually went to the range and didn't shoot today. My wife had decided she wanted to try out a .38 revolver so we rented one at our local store and I sat back to watch.

The guy in the next lane looked to have a Glock 22 the muzzle blast of which was proving to be very uncomfortable for my wife shooting in the adjacent lane, I must admit, it was pretty bad which was unusual.

I wondered if perhaps he was using hot reloads, but watched as he loaded up some Federal Premium Hydrashoks, maybe the hot 155gr variety, I couldn't be sure. I watched one spent case sail up and land behind him right at my feet, so I retrieved it and spent maybe 5 minutes checking it over.

The base was bulged alarmingly most of the way around but it was especially bad in one spot, in addition the case side had a fresh abrasion on it right by the case mouth that looked for all the world as if someone had run a rasp across it, definitely a fresh mark too. The primer had major "wipe" which I know is common for Glock's but the primer looked fairly chewed up.

All in all the case was basically mutilated, and I was left wondering how long it would be before the shooter was too.

Glock thing, .40 thing or nothing, you decide. I'd like a .40 but I still hesitate, they just seem to be a little too close to the ragged edge, an opinion I've heard handloaders repeat.

Mike H

[CZ_]

Just get a supported barrel for a Glock (especially the .40 Glocks), and you should be fine.

On a side note, my CZ 75B is a .40 (the only .40 I own and the only one that I enjoy shooting) and the brass I retrieve has NO bulges or any signs of weak spots. It looks brand new. The barrel is almost fully supported (as far as I can tell when I examine the barreL) on my CZ, which I think helps greatly.

For comparison, my Glock 21 (.45 ACP) has a very unsupported barrel--it stands out when looking at it. Eventually, I'm going to get a fully supported aftermarket barrel for the G21, if anything just to make me sleep easier.

[Mike H]

CZ

Sounds like a smart move.

Mike H

[Redlg155]

Just curious..did you compare it to any other .40 shell casings that you found fired from different weapons?

Good Shooting
RED

[ZipTieNinja]

Just get a 96, you will not be sorry. I have never heard of any problems with them, and have had none with mine. I only have 300rds or so through it, but there have been no bulged casings, or primer problems. Its a large frame though, so you may not like it ccw. I love mine, and would not trade it for any other gun! OK, maybe for a 96G Elite II....

[Mike H]

Red - Oddly enough I did, there was some Speer brass on the floor that I could not be sure was from the Glock or from one of the other shooters .40's.

The Speer brass did not appear to be bulged.

I can't believe that any premium factory .40 is a fundamentally unsafe round so that leaves me with the Glock

Mike H

[IanS]

If shooting the .40 out of a Glock makes you feel that uncomfortable, don't shoot it. You'll probably just end up with a bad flinch afraid the gun will explode.

I'm going to continue to shoot the Glock 23 and other .40 Glocks. I've shot close to 10,000 .40 rounds out Glocks and it is about one of the best darn defensive packages to come around. All these KB! stories arise from either questionable ammo or questionable sources or both. I feel these kinds of stories pretty much come close to libel of Glock's good name and his excellent products.

I've heard so much guff from so many so-called "experts" slagging off 1911's, Berettas, HK USP, Sigs, for whatever reason that frankly I'm a little fed up. I'm not a huge fan of Beretta or HK USP's but I'll defend them because I've owned them and I think they each have something unique to offer to different shooters. I read Hackworth's take on why the Beretta 92 should be replaced by the 1911 in our military(and though I respect his service and his concern for the troops) it was clear to me he came to his conclusion because of his own bias and not facts. And I'm someone who would have liked our armed forces issued new 1911's or the Sig P226. I badly wanted to believe his argument but it just didn't gel.

Arguably the Colt SAA and 1911 dominated their particular era as the "best combat pistol" in the country. Since then there seems to be a vacuum for this top spot and everyone's fighting to place their king on the throne. I think thats where this madness begins esp. in an age of some of the finest defense pistols ever made. (I'm guess I'm sort of guilty of that too; see my signature.)

Sorry about the rant Mike. You have every right to come to your own conclusions about a particular pistol or caliber and make your choices. You feel justified because of those "mangled" cases and thats fine. But there are a lot of others lurking about who seem to have a personal agenda against perfectly good products.

[juliet charley]

All these KB! stories arise from either questionable ammo or questionable sources or both.

Not true.

Just get a supported barrel for a Glock (especially the .40 Glocks), and you should be fine.

Why should anyone have to go out and spend $150(?) for a new after-market barrel just to make make a factory new handgun safe (or safer) to operate? Why would anyone want to do so?

[Dr. Evil]

.......... Why would anyone have to go out and spend $150.00
(?) on a new after market barrel to make a factory new handgun
safer or operate? Why would anyone want to do so?........

I don't have to. I've got a Glock 21 and it's stock. Shoot only
factory ammo and no lead, just like Glock says. If I would like to
go against factory suggestions I guess I would go with after-
market stuff. I only own this one Glock and have several other
brands of guns and if I want to go against factory specs on these
I guess I would find out what I need to do, I'm not a Glockaphile
or whatever you people call others who own Glocks or own other
guns you have an axe to grind against, but you really need to
get a life. Do you people have only one brand of gun, and it's
the only brand to have, and if it's not your brand it's a piece of
junk? Get real. You must have a very mundane and boring time
gun collecting. By the way, why would somebody buy a Yugo
when he could buy a Kia? Why buy a Kia when you can buy a
Chevy? Why don't you buy a Lexus? Why wouldn't you do that?
I would buy any of them if I so wanted to. Bash Glock's all you
want. I'm keeping mine. BTW I'm keeping my Beretta 96 too! I
heard it was a piece of crap also.




NRA member
GOA member

[Sarge]

Will pictures do, or were these 'faked' too?

http://communities.prodigy.net/sport...glock-dir.html

[juliet charley]

Dr. Evil ("Dr. Evil"--sounds like too many Saturday cartoons?) -

I asked the question in response to another post recommending aftermarket barrels--that is what "quote" means. It is a legitimate question.

Another legitimate question is, why do so many companies offer after-market barrels for Glocks (particularly the G22/23)? There must be a lot of people going out and buying after-market barrels for Glocks to support the industry. Prior to the Glock 2x offerings, about the only time a person dropped a new barrel in a pistol was because the old one was shot out or they wanted to increase the accuracy of a particular weapon from service accuracy to match accuracy.

[KP95DAO]

Get the best of both worlds. Buy a Glock 32 and then get a FAC 40 bbl, that's what I did. Of course I did buy five mags (10 rnd) for the 40 (for IDPA) and another 357 mag. Never can have enough mags.

I use once fired range brass and so I have some experience with the amount of bulging you will encounter. The factory Glock bbl are larger than my FAC bbl. However, the largest bulge was not produced by a Glock (no Glock primer imprint). The amount produced by this gun was incredible. Hopefully I'll be at the range when this guy is shooting so I can get the make.

While some may consider the FAC bbl to be "low rent" it has performed well over the last several thousand rounds. It accurate enough to allow me to put all my rounds inside a B-27 head at 25 yds with 155 JHP at 1220 fps. I carry it with the same confidence I carry any of my firearms: TOTAL!

[agtman]

"Get the best of both worlds..."


Or, get the best of 3 worlds, without the KaBOOM! factor.

How? Get a Glock 10mm (20 or 29) and then pick up aftermarket barrels in 357Sig and .40S&W from, e.g., KKM or Fed. Arms. These match-grade barrels, with fully-supported chambers, drop right in to whichever Glock 10mm you have. Nothing else is needed to be able to shoot these additional calibers. (Okay, you do need to buy some ammo. )

3-guns-in-1. The 10mm's stock mags and recoil assembly work just fine with these other calibers. A 5-second barrel swap, and you're up & shooting another caliber. No fear of a .40 KaBOOM!, just fun.

[kpw]

My 2 .40 Glocks haven't bulged brass and haven't mangled it any worse than most other auto pistols. If I had a problem with a Glock factory barrel, I would contact Glock and see if I could get another. Seems to me there are more barrel makers for 1911's than Glocks and they are both called match barrels. Why do some of the 1911 barrel makers offer fully supported, ramped barrels? Glocks have Kb'd just like every other make has. More so? Maybe but there sure are a lot of .40 Glocks that don't. I've see the Dean Speir pics, he needs a lot more of them to convince me I'm shooting time bombs. I would like to see the pics of pistols that Kb'd from handloads as I'm sure these are all factory loads as he states, right? Yeah, I want a lot more proof. I have witnessed a couple of Kb's first hand, not Glocks, they were ammo problems.

If I felt the need for an aftermarket barrel for my Glocks and I don't, I would buy one for the same reason I spend hundreds of dollars on stuff like night sights, holsters, belts and all the other accessories. Because I like the gun.

[CZ_]

Why should anyone have to go out and spend $150(?) for a new after-market barrel just to make make a factory new handgun safe (or safer) to operate? Why would anyone want to do so?

You don't "have to", its just a suggestion to help the gentleman get a better nights sleep.

I'm also not sure I agree that .40 Glocks are "unsafe". If you poll all the owners of .40 Glocks, how many actually experience a Kb? Probably a very low percentage.

Likewise, if you poll Sig owners, very few will ever get frame cracks, and likewise if you poll Beretta owners probably nearly none will get a slide in the head (locking block failures). I think most of these stories have been exagerated as they were passed down from a few very rare events.

I personally don't like .40 Glocks for other reasons (hard to shoot well for me), but I don't consider them unsafe or waiting timebombs.

[TIR]

I own four 40's the firestar seems to bulge the brass a little, the G27 doesn't seem to bulge at all. I have seen some of the earlier model Glocks that do seem to bulge the brass ALOT. As far as an unsupported barrel I don't see any difference between my Steyer, Glock, or Baby eagle. I have about 2000rds. mostly my reloads through my G27 and have no concerns of a kB. If kB's are a concern at all skip this caliber there are way too many other quality calibers and bullets on the market to purchase one if your scared of it.

[Kentucky Rifle]

The Jefferson County Ky. PD carries G22's. I encountered a couple of very nice Officers in a bank who agreed to talk for a while. (I had just puchased my G27.) They told me that they had practiced with several brands and bullet weights of .40 S&W, however their favorite had boiled down to Federal 135 gr. "PD" Hydra-Shoks. Since then, I've only used that brand and load. It's very accurate in my G27. I've inspected spent brass from my G27 and have not found any visual bulges. However, I'm not a reloader and have not taken any measurements.
My G27 IS my favorite carry pistol and I have faith in it. I do read these kB stories and have found none with the 135gr "PD". They mostly seem to happen when the unfortunate shooter is using the 180gr stuff. (I won't even talk about reloads or lead bullets.) If anyone has heard of or seen a .40 caliber Glock blow up while the shooter was using 135gr "PD" Hydra-Shoks, I'd like to hear about it.

Thanks,
KR

[Zander]

If shooting the .40 out of a Glock makes you feel that uncomfortable, don't shoot it. -- Ian11

Just what is it about Tuppergun owners that encourages them to dismiss facts?

Mike H said:

"The base was bulged alarmingly most of the way around but it was especially bad in one spot, in addition the case side had a fresh abrasion on it right by the case mouth that looked for all the world as if someone had run a rasp across it, definitely a fresh mark too. The primer had major "wipe" which I know is common for Glock's but the primer looked fairly chewed up."

Now, I don't know about you, but that paragraph convinces me that Mike is pretty comfortable with his terminology. He is reporting the results of firing factory ammo in a Glock .40 for our edification.

It doesn't mean that your Glock is going to blow up...but if you would continue shooting a pistol that showed that kind of spent brass evidence, I'd have to challenge your common sense.

[Jimmy Mac]

I agree that most of the reports of Glocks blowing up are BULL****.

It has happened. It has happened more than once. It may have happened several times.

It has NOT happened anywhere near the number of times that some here expect us to belive.

To hear some of you tell it Glocks explode at the rate of thousands a day.

Most of us know that is not true.

Glocks are not perfect. They are not for everyone.
They do not belong in the hands of an idiots that can't seem to keep their finger off the trigger.

They should not be used by those that can't read. Those that can read know not to use lead bullet reloads in them.

[the duck of death]

I bought a Glock 23 and shot it 2 times with the factory barrel. Bad case bulges. I then replaced the factory barrel with a KKM(a true drop in barrel) and that ended the problem. Other than the barrel the Glock is an excellent pistol.

[Jimmy Mac]

Kentucky Rifle

No one here has seen a Glock explode using the load you are describing.

Some may "claim" to have seen it at least 37 times.

Some will say that they know of a friend of a friends cousins wifes brother's neigbhor that had one blow all to hell with this load.

[WESHOOT2]

No 'bone', no adgenda.................

40 S&W Glocks KB more than any other combination.

Why?

Because: many stock barrels have a significant unsupported portion; mismatched and/or inappropriate handloads; factory ammo bullet setback.

There is NO forgiveness. If the bullet gets pushed in far enough during chambering you'll get a BIG smiley or a KB.

You can wish it weren't so, but it doesn't change reality.

It is not a bullet weight problem, nor is it an epidemic, nor is it untrue or 'myth'.
Like Pythons going out of time, or 29's rotating backward, or Colt 1911's with their holes willy-nilly, just one of those quirks we accept and learn to live with.

For 40 S&W handloaders: MAKE SURE you have sufficient case neck tension. This will reduce your worries to zero.

Okay, I'm ready..................

[juliet charley]

is not a river in Egypt.

To hear some of you tell it Glocks explode at the rate of thousands a day.

Strawman

Some may "claim" to have seen it at least 37 times.

Some will say that they know of a friend of a friends cousins wifes brother's neigbhor that had one blow all to hell with this load.

Strawman and Red Herring

Glock .40s do tend to "explosively self-disassembly" at a rate greater than other .40s. It probably happens at rate that should be too high to be acceptable (except it's a Glock). It is a problem Glock could remedy (or at least reduce to acceptable levels) but has chosen not to do. It is significant enough that it is a factor that should be considered before the decision is made to purchase (or carry) a Glock .40.

When (and under what circumstances) did the term kaboom (even with an abbreviation "kB!") enter common usage?

[IanS]

kB!'s, Kabooms! did not come into being along with the creation of Glock .40 and .45 pistols. They have existed since the invention of the firearm and the foolish reloaders and "experimenters" who continue to push the envelope. And yes, they have occured with factory fully jacketed ammo too.

This comes down to a matter of who you believe and how much you're willing to believe what's out there. kB!s have occured with .40 Glocks as kB!'s have occured with revolvers and other autos as well. But more kB!'s have occured with Glocks you say? Well, there are more Glocks out there being shot an awful lot more, I say.

But hey, look at all those photos and all these stories you say? While some of these are true; in today's age of high speed media these things tend to gain a momentum or a life of its own, I say. Mix in a few kB! Glock factory barrels fired with factory ammunition then add a bunch of others with aftermarket barrels and bad reloads and you got an epidemic on your hands. This is the impression I got from following these stories throughout the years.

If indeed these Glocks turn out to be the Ford Pinto of defense guns I'll be one of the first to take the public feather/tarring of "I told you so" But I have the feeling this story is more akin to Tucker and his innovative car that showed up the Big Boys.

Of course this is all, IMHO. Safe shooting all!

[Dr. Evil]

...... Juliet C
Yes I know what quote means and here's one. " If you don't like
something, don't buy it and they will go out of business." Geeeez.