Glock Anyone?

[hawkeye1]

What is it about the factory barrel that makes lead so bad?  is it a different style of rifling or what exactly is it?  I like the Glock 36, but shoot lead bullts almost exclusively.  I would sure like to get one of those, but the lead bullets, home cast, are hard to beat for price and availability. 

[m25operator]

All the Glock pistols except for .45 caliber have polygonal rifling, the lands and the grooves are rounded, very good for copper jacketed bullets, but presents problems for lead,  the surface is very smooth in design, and lead bullets can skate a 1/2" or more  before catching and engraving into the lands and grooves, this leaves lead deposits, that can build up quickly depending on the hardness of the bullet and the velocity of the load. I shoot lead in my glocks, but am aware of the problem and inspect the bore often until I come up with a formula for how many bullets must pass, before cleaning thoroughly. Every bullet, caliber, load combination is different, I don't shoot lead at all in the 10mm, as I load them very hot.

Now the .45 caliber Glocks have conventional rifling, square cut lands and grooves, Why? I don't know, but it is usually the most accurate out of the box caliber for a Glock. I have shot thousands of H&G 68, 185 and 200 grain lead hard cast semi wadcutters from this pistol.

If you prefer lead, as I do, I would recommend any of the Glocks in .45acp or .45 GAP.  Although I own many calibers, We all know the best start with at least .40 FWIW

[hawkeye1]

m25operator.  Thanks for the info.  I am even more interested now.  thanks again.

[HAWKFISH]

Ummm, yeah hawkeye1, I agree with M25operator. All but the .45 do have the polygonal rifiling. And the only other thing I could add to what he has said is the fact too, that the pressure on those polygonal rifiling Glock barrels.. do increase more and more as one shoots and lead build-up occurs. That creation of a "pressure cooker" is where "kabooms" and other so called "Exploding Glocks" occur. Usually people that had a "kaboom" reloaded super-high-pressure handloads and shot them through their Glock, thus exceeding the normal pressure range that glock recommends and that they test too. The result is the polygonal barrel will explode. Hence if one does change out to a conventional barrel that can handle this pressure then one can shoot reloads in Glocks, without any problems. And if one doesn't reload.. just make sure your Glock barrel is clean and clean it out often and the range and then any "normal" ammo you buy from a store will work just fine. I would like to point out too that I have shot a new Glock .40, using wwb ammo, to the tune of 800rds. straight out of the box with no cleaning. Looking back it probably would have been smarter to have cleaned it at some point during the first 800rds. But, I was "young and dumb" and had to prove to my anti-Glock friend that I could shoot a Glock .40 over 500 rds.....straight out of the box... without cleaning it ...and without it jamming a single time. My Glock passed this test easily and I ran out of ammo at 800rds. So, just wanted to point out that the polygonal barrel is good too..  BTW the Glock 36 is a sweet gun too.. 

[hawkeye1]

thanks hawkfish.  which glock(s) do you have or prefer.  do you have a 36?  Looks pretty good for a carry gun.  I just hope there is a gunshow coming up soon.

[Sponsor]

[c.l.kirby]

JUST LIKE SIGS BETTER

[shotgun]

Have four Glocks-  27, 23, 35 and 20.  Love 'em all.  The only modification is nightsights on the 35.  I carry the 23 on a day-to-day basis, and usually shoot the 35 in the combat league.

I like the feel of the 20 the best.  Fills the hand.

[HAWKFISH]

well hawkeye1..  currently I have two .40's .. the G27 and the G23..and I also have a G34 in 9mm. My next Glock will be probably be a .45 auto, either a G21/G21SF/or a G36. I've heard good things about the Glock .45's. I have not shot a G36 yet, but I suspect that it would be good. I love the way the G36 feels and the size of it. It is just a little bigger than my G27, but just a little smaller than my G23. I almost bought one at the local gunstore, but decided to try the G27 instead. I like .40's. I know some people don't (usually die-hard 9mm or .45 fans). Heck, they are all guns and I like them all. I feel more comfortable with .40's though, because I feel that I get more "bang for the buck", if you will. I've done my own personal testing as far as shooting into blocks of wood etc with others and for defense purposes I feel like it's the best all-around-performer. Recoil is little more than a 9mm but not as much as a .45 or 10mm. My G23 is very accurate. I can shoot it as good as I can a G19. 9mm is cheaper to shoot though .40 cal ammo is in the median price range (if there is such a thing with ammo going up).  At the time, I chose the G27 over the G36 because it was little smaller and had a little bigger magazine capacity. But, depending on your size/build and how/where you carry.. the G36 would make a great size carry gun for many people.. in my opinion. And as far as the lower capacity magazine of the G36 goes, heck one .45 shot is worth serveral other shots of some the smaller calibers. Sounds like your learning/doing research on Glocks. That is good. I would go for whichever suits you the best. I am partial lol. I would recommend any Glock  . But, .. if you do get a Glock ...I think you would like it. Most people either hate em' or they love em'. Usually, people that love em'; own 3-4 or more. To me that speaks for itself. If they weren't good why would people continually buy more of them?  Okay, I'll stop now lol. Hope that helps some. 

[hawkeye1]

Thanks Hawkfish,  I especially liked the 36 for the single column magazine.  The other small models of the Glock are all double column and therefore wider.  The 36 is really a sweet size for carry and for shooting.  And for what you said about the 45 Glocks with conventional rifling and handling cast bullets, I am more and more sold on one. 

Too bad they don't make a 40 in the single column.

[cookie62]

I carry a glock 26 every day with a pierce +2 ext. and have no problem keeping it covered, and with the right ammo the fact that its a 9mm doesn't bother me. I also carry a full size 17 rd. extra mag. with a grip ext. for additional fire power.