Reloading for Glocks

[dovehunter]

My son just bought an FNH FNP-40 (.40 S&W) and I was looking through my Lyman #49 loading manual to select some loads. There was a note in big, bold print that said not to use these loads in guns in which the cartridge was not fully supported in chamber. This note was only shown with loading data for the .40 S&W, not for the 9mm Luger round. We checked the barrel of his FNP and it appeared that the cartridge does in fact go fully up in the chamber so we assume it should be okay using reloads. However a guy at my shooting club said that you shouldn't use reloads in Glocks because they don't fully support the cartridge case and the cases may rupture. I seem to recall hearing this from other folks too. Is this true or was the guy just blowing smoke at me? My son is also considering buying either a small frame Glock or maybe the S&W Sigma in 9mm. Would it be a problem using handloads in either of these two pistols, particularly the Glock.?

[jmarriott]

Do not use reloads in the glock in 40 short and weak. You can buy a barsto barrel and then the chamber is fully supported. They cartridge case can repture. I saw it once at my range. He said it was the 4th reload of the brass. I used to own the glock 22 and did the barsto barrel upgrade but sold that one rather quickly.

Not a fan of the 40 S@W as the ammo is more expensive and the only real advantage would be shooting thru say a windshield without deflection of the bullet. I am not LOE so i am not going to be shooting into cars with a handgun. I stick with a 357 as a carry gun. I think the 40 S&W came about for the weak desk FBI agents who could not handle the 10MM.

I did shoot reloads in my glock 21 in 45 acp with FMJ bullets, no lead bullets as they can cause problems with the gas system. After twomoons enlightened me about glocks business practices the glock 21 found a new home also.

Glocks in general shoot well for me. I would not reccomend a S&W sigma in 9mm as my cousin has had his back to the factory 3 times. One triigger stuck in the fire position, one FTF AND FTE and one mag problems. It seems to work now but i would say if he shoots it at all in the year it would be less than 50 rounds a year. If it was a range only gun then OK but for Carry I would not call it reliable. Both of my glocks were ugly but I never had a failure to go bang. If the price range you are talking then the GLOCK would get the nod even with the uglyness they represent to me.

All glocks say right in the manual of arms not to use reloads. They were made for cops and armed forces. Drop it in wet cement and i bet it still fires a mag off.

Is your son looking for a CC pistol at a good price point? I fired a 226 DAO pistol from sig this week and for a doa it was good but then he told me what he paid and I got a new respect. I believe he got it for just over 500 plus FFL and shipping and he said it was a Thiland police refurbished pistol. I have also heard that a large quanity of 226 in 9mm came in from the US Army JAG officers lately.
www.gunsamerica.com/912215094/Guns/Pistols/Sig-Sauer-Sigarms-Pistols/P226/Sig_P226_9mm_or_40S_W_FACTORY_REFURBISHED_As_New.htm

He also had a p239 and it was DA/SA and even smaller and i shot it better than the 226. The only other small 9mm I shoot bettter than the 239 is the H&K P7 M9. Ther 239 is not in his glock/sigma price point. The 226 police refurb on the other hand was right in the high end of a glock/sigma unless you are a LOE and get the glock LEO discount.

[dovehunter]

May 25, 2011 15:59:40 GMT -5 jmarriott said:

...Not a fan of the 40 S@W as the ammo is more expensive...

Well, not really. I checked the prices today at Bass Pro, Gander, and the biggest local gunshop in the area and the 50-round boxes of Remington UMC, Blazer, and Winchester "white box" were selling for around $20, or about the same as comparable 9mm and .45 ACP ammo. Now 10 mm stuff, on the other hand, was out of sight. The 40 S&W is apparently very popular, at least in this area. A couple of places I checked were out of the cheapie 40 S&W stuff. The prices I quoted above were based on stickers shown below the empty spots on the shelves. I did get a couple of boxes of the Rem. stuff at Gander as I had a $10 off (purchase of $40 or more) coupon.

Right now my biggest concern is will it be okay to reload for my son's FNH FNP-40. I'd hate to spend a lot of bucks on dies, components, etc. if it's like the Glock in that you can't reload for it and/or shoot lead bullets. Personally, I've never been a big fan of the Glock anyway and ain't no way I'd buy one if I could only shoot factory ammo in it.

[jmarriott]

FNH has a support number. I found it in my dealer yellow pages.
703-288-1292 EXT 122 or 104

I would just ask them about the chamber.. The only FHN product i have shot was the five seven pistol. The ammo might have changed up as the border patrol/FBI?Secrect service order several millions of rounds from winchester. I think the ranger ammo from winchester is basically what they ordered.

40 smith is 199 for 500 in bulk for ranger. 9 mm winchester ranger FMJ Nato ammo is 155 per 500. The winchester ball ammo in 9 mm i can get 1000 rounds for 205. about half of what the 40 S@W ammo runs at luckygunner one line. It is a nice proce

Buy the box of 20 at MEGA_LOW MART the price difference is not as pronounced.

[twomoons]

Glocks and especially the 40 do not have chamber support and if you reload the brass sooner or later it will let go at the web and you get a K Boom. Google K Boom and you will get more info than you want. The 40 is a dandy ctg for those folks who want ALMOST the power of a 45 and plan to miss a lot, with most 40's you get 14 chances or so. I remember when we carried 12 rounds of 38 and thought we were well armed. For my money having tried a LOT of different guns the S/A XD is the best combat duty gun going in the plastic gun market. But I still carry either my 1911 or once and a while an old Smith 6906.

[Bill]

I'm like you TM's I still have my S&W 586 and now a 4506-1. Never did like the 9MM, did like the .40 S&W but never owned one as I didn't see any advantage over the .45 ACP.