Glocks and bulged brass?

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

Recently came into a big box of .40 S&W brass. I don't load the .40 but a couple of buddies do shoot it, so I could give it to them to load.

But before doing anything w/ it, it appears most of it's been shot in Glocks, so I'm curious: I remember seeing Glock brass shot in the earlier "unsupported chamber" barrels that had a very distinctive bulge, w/ definite edges, the "smile" as some have called it. This brass doesn't have that kind of bulge, but there's still a bit of a bulge one can feel if not see.

Is it safe to use, if loaded at the light end of the chart, after being either simply sized, or maybe subjected to the Lee Bulge Buster treatment as well? It would be shot in either a Sig or a "new" Glock...

Rick C

 

[6gun]

So is the brass once fired or has it been reloaded before? wondering if its a resizing bulge around the base which is perfectly normal, long as you don't have any cracks and runs through your resizer I'd say it's fine, but I can't see what it looks like to really understand what your saying.

 

[Rick Courtright]

So is the brass once fired or has it been reloaded before? wondering if its a resizing bulge around the base which is perfectly normal, long as you don't have any cracks and runs through your resizer I'd say it's fine, but I can't see what it looks like to really understand what your saying.

Hi,

It's supposed to be once fired. I believe it came from a police range.

The bulge is only in a small area, not like a resizing ring. To try to describe it, turning the case between your fingers reveals a bit of a lump just in a small part of the circumference of the brass, right about where the case starts to thin out above the web. Imagine a circle w/ clock numbering on it, and there's a little lump between 12 and 1 or 2. On most of the cases, it's small enough you can feel it but it's hard to see it.

To tell the truth, I've loaded plenty of 9mm w/ as much "bulge" before resizing, but it was even all around the case. The fact this is just in a single area's what's got me curious!

Rick C

 

[6gun]

Is it near the top lip where the ejector could cause it?, My kid has 2 Glocks I don't see any bulges in his brass of any kind.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Is it near the top lip where the ejector could cause it?, My kid has 2 Glocks I don't see any bulges in his brass of any kind.

Hi,

Don't think it's an extractor issue. Since I first asked the question, I found this discussion:

http://glock.pro/ammunition/1422-reloading-40s-w-glock-bulged-brass.html

This fellow's question seems a bit different from mine as he talks of unupported chambers (the early ones?), but the red circles in his picture are right where the bulges are on my brass.

Rick C

 

[Mobuck]

A "bulge buster" push through die will make the brass useable again. The only problem I see is if used in a Glock again and the bulge occurs in the same place, it could cause a blow out.

 

[contender]

I have a Redding push through die for use in all range pick-up 40 cal brass I use. Many of the Glocks have a slightly unsupported chamber to cause a small bulge. As such, to make sure I have reliable feeding, I run my 40 cal stuff through my Redding.
Anytime brass is allowed to expand, & then reforming it, it weakens it a little bit. (This is a general statement, don't get to technical here.)
Many rifles are good examples of oversized chambers etc. Brass gets reformed, and re-used a lot. A lot depends upon how many times, and how much a case is reshaped. Add in the actual strength of the brass, it can fail at any time.
I usually advise folks to get proper reloading equipment for the caliber they plan on reloading, and do one of the most important thing; Inspect the cases several times throughout the entire process. Discard any that appear bad.

 

[Iron Mike Golf]

re: mobuck's post

The Bulge Buster is an add-on kit to the Lee Factory Crimp Die. You need both a Bulge Buster Kit and a Factory Crimp Die (FCD). The Bulge Buster works with all caliber pistol FCDs.

It consists of a push-through stem that takes the place of the shell holder, a guide sleeve that replaces the adjusting screw and crimp sleeve of the FCD, and a plastic shell catcher.

Lee specifically does not recommend using the Bulge Buster on 40 cal brass that has been fired from a Glock. They say the Bulge Buster is for "low base bulges", but don't give a spec on that.

Rick, what you describe sounds more like a "low base bulge" than a "guppy belly bulge".

 

[6gun]

Is it near the top lip where the ejector could cause it?, My kid has 2 Glocks I don't see any bulges in his brass of any kind.

Hi,

Don't think it's an extractor issue. Since I first asked the question, I found this discussion:

http://glock.pro/ammunition/1422-reloading-40s-w-glock-bulged-brass.html

This fellow's question seems a bit different from mine as he talks of unupported chambers (the early ones?), but the red circles in his picture are right where the bulges are on my brass.

Rick C

I studied up a bit on this and it looks like it is in fact the Glock issue, I would try resizing a few and check them with a case gauge if they don't drop in the Bulge Buster type die others here suggested is the fix, since you say you don't reload 40 cal. looks like the problem will be passed on to who ever you give the brass to, I don't own a 40 either and after seeing this brass issue I never will it's not something I want to deal with when reloading.

 

[WESHOOT2]

Fired brass size depends soley on the chamber it was fired from. Many guns in this chambering have 'generous' chambers for enhanced feed reliability.

I size the cases normally, but send each (at least) through a case gauge to determine suitability. Obvious defective cases are culled during pre-load inspection, like every other cartridge.

I do not support 'case restorers' because if the case is THAT bulged I prefer to err on the side of caution and scrap it.

I have made an enormous amount of 40 S&W, most with used brass.

 

[m657]

There's been a lot of opinions, well founded and obvious what we each believe makes the most sense.

Being an old revolver guy, the whole notion of 'case bulge' was new to me. It became an issue I had to research about 10 years ago, so my data may well be dated.

In using my G23 opportunity for multiple reloading of used cases found that curious little bulge on 'some' percentage of range recovered brass. Oddly, most of those would fit my 610 chamber with no issue but not chamber in the G23. I learned Glock and some others, HK IIRC, had similar unsupported chamber issue.

I also learned of Lee Factory Crimp Die, but know nothing of the extra stuff mentioned above.

I have loaded multiple thousands of used 40 brass, some of which for sure has the bulge.

I've never had an issue with any of it, which of course leaves out 'next range trip' potential.

In any case, other than not caring for the 40 in general other than for the 610, I crank out enough to keep busy cleaning/loading/emptying/pick up do it aaain.