It's gonna blow up! :eek: :D

Youcantyoucantyoucantyoucantyoucantyoucant!

Okay, they're not true lead bullets. They're moly-coated bullets from Black Bullets (www.blackbulletsinternational.com), which are getting excellent preliminary reviews on brianenos's forum. So I ordered 500 147gr 9mm slugs to try myself.

I plan to load 'em up with 3.1gr of Solo1000 and see how I like them. This puts you right at 880FPS out of a 5" 1911, so it should be a hair hotter in a Glock, with it's faster poly-rifled barrel. Perfect. They're over $20 cheaper per thousand than the FMJ's I'm currently getting from Precision Delta. So I really hope they work out. :)

Just a quick post to let everyone know about another good source of reloading components. :)

I shoot IDPA with guys who load straight lead bullets in their Glock. After years and thousands of rounds they have had no problem at all.

Are you set for brass? Want me to start saving some for ya? I've been shooting Blazer Brass lately instead of WWB, no idea how it is for reloading, but better than than leaving it at the range like I have been.

Let me know.

I have over 4k lead reloads through my 23 with no problems

Whats the deal with lead rounds? Could I shoot them in my M&P9? If lead gets in the rifling can you not get it out?

Whats the deal with lead rounds? Could I shoot them in my M&P9? If lead gets in the rifling can you not get it out?

From another site...

Q: Can I shoot bare lead bullets from my Glock? If not, why?
A: It is not a good idea to shoot bare lead bullets from your Glock. There are two basic reasons, the first is that the polygonal rifling in a Glock barrel really grips the bullet - this causes lead bullets to leave heavy deposits of lead when the gun is fired - heavy deposits of lead can lead to over-pressure problems - over-pressure problems can lead to nasty things like case failures. The second reason is that where the chamber meets the bore there is a sharp full edge (standard rifling does not have such a pronounced edge). This edge can shave off lead from the bullet and cause a headspace problem (the round will not fully seat) - again, this can lead to things like a case failure. Shoot plated or jacketed bullets only.



No issue with standard rifeling, just make sure to clean it so you don't end up with buildup over time/high round count.


Here's another talk about lead and glocks.

Can I shoot lead bullets in my Glock?
This has been debated on rec.guns and GlockTalk about 10,000 times. There are basically 2 schools of thought:

School #1: Don't Do It
Glock barrels use special polygonal rifling not found in most handguns. This rifling is one of the main reasons Glocks are extremely accurate guns. However, the same rifling can cause a high degree of leading when not using jacketed bullets. In other words some lead from the bullet sticks to the inside of the barrel when it is fired. Too much leading can quickly lead to high pressures which can cause the barrel and/or gun to break or even explode. Most people who weigh in on this subject fall into this category including Glock Inc.

School #2: Don't Worry About It
If you clean your barrel well and do it every time you shoot there will be no significant leading. Many, many people use lead bullets almost exclusively in their Glocks and do not have any problems whatsoever.

Additional notes from Hoss:
Not all lead is created equally. You can shoot lead in your Glock (probably) but you should use a hard lead from a reputable manufacturer. The homemade lead bullets made from wheel weights and other recycled lead should be avoided! Just becuase one type of lead bullet and load shoot fine in one glock does not mean it will be safe in others. Each barrel is different and must be carefully checked when first using lead.

Additional notes from JT:
You *can* shoot lead in a polygonal barrel, as many Glocksters do. But you need to be aware of some potential dangers in using lead bullets, not to mention voiding your Glock warranty if you use non-factory ammo.

First, if you decide to use lead bullets, use hardcast bullets at medium velocities for best results. This will reduce potential leading of the bore. Theoretically, polygonal rifling allows the bullet to seal the gases better than traditional land and groove rifling, thereby increasing velocities but also increasing potential problems with bore-leading-induced pressure spikes. Lead particles from the bullets have no where to hide in polygonal rifling as in the lands and grooves of conventional rifling and with better bullet-to-bore sealing, serious pressure spikes can develop when the bore is fouled.

However, note that some dismiss the purported velocity increases with polygonal rifling. Mike Orrick (GlockTalk's "BrokenArrows") has pointed out that his chronographed results of identical loads in conventionally-rifled barrels versus same-length polygonal barrels yielded higher velocities in some of the conventionally-rifled barrels.

Secondly, absolutely get all the lead out after at least every 200 rounds to avoid lead buildup, pressure spikes and potential corresponding kBs! With the tighter seal of the bullet, pressures can increase significantly in polygonal barrels. There have even been reports of Ranier-type bullets shedding bits of copper jacket in polygonal barrels, causing the same pressure spikes that are caused by excessive leading. Just be sure to use hard-cast lead bullets or good-quality jacketed bullets and keep the velocities down to earth.

Thirdly, polygonal rifling doesn't get the same grip on the bullet as conventional rifling. This may affect accuracy with some loads, especially hot ones. Even with using copper-jacketed bullets, some LEAs have reportedly banned the use of polygonal barrels in duty guns because of the potential difficulty in forensically identifying the rifling patterns on a bullet shot from a polygonal barrel. IOW, it's sometimes impossible to identify which polygonal barrel a particular bullet was shot from. Who shot whom?

Another recommendation is to moly-coat your lead bullets and/or treat your barrel with one of the spaceage lubricants, such as TW25B spray from Kleen-Bore. This will definitely help the cleaning process and may even increase velocities slightly and help with accuracy.

Last, but not least, most experts recommend getting a conventionally-rifled barrel from replacement barrelmakers such as Jarvis or Bar-Sto if you shoot a lot of lead. These barrels generally offer more case support than stock Glock barrels as a bonus. Use your replacement barrel for practice and the stock barrel for carry.

If you wanted to use lead bullets, why not just put a Lone Wolf barrel in it and not worry about it?

Is the polygonal rifling that much better then standard rifling that the decreased accuracy would be noticeable?

Luke

I don't like lonewolf barrels. Chamber's too tight, and they give up accuracy to the factory barrel.

Very few barrels are more accurate in a Glock than the factory ones, despite the manufacturers claims. A fitted Bar-Sto, and a few others really make the list from what I've personally seen.

Besides, why waste the money? Snake the barrel with a lead solvent every 250-500 rounds, and you'll be fine. :)

I'm one of the people that call BS on the leading of Glock barrels. Why? because I shoot them and its fine. Very little leading since once it starts to build I see it blown out. Also lead bullets cause less pressure then jacketed.

Just make sure you hard cast the slugs WW is a minimum hardness water quenched and shot 2 weeks after casting.

I dont think I have shot more then 100 rounds at a time however out of my Glock22 between cleanings so a comp pistol shooter blowing 2-300 rounds in a day may see something I dont.

I've gone through 1,200 rounds in a day. Several times.

Shoot a 200-round local match on Saturday, run a couple of drills while waiting for the other squads to finish, eat lunch, reshoot the stages after we're done, blow another 500-600 in practice on the plate rack. That's at least 1K down the drain.

So, yeah, I suppose I'm a little more worried about it than a casual range plinker might be. I plan to clean the bore after each weeknight match, and after our Saturday match (before reshooting all the stages) so bare lead isn't really my cup of tea.

Plus, I currently clean the gun every 5,000 rounds or so, and lead is really nasty. I'd have to actually clean the thing frequently, instead of just throwing a couple of drops of oil at it every week or two... :eek:

A big factor is the hardness of the lead.
I am no expert, but many bullet mfg. will list the hardness of their lead bullets.
The harder the bullet, the less lead.

The second one is the powder charge. The slower the better. If you push a lead bullet too fast, it sheds more lead in the riflings. The slower loads will allow the rifling to grip the bullet and spin it. I have a friend that loaded a medium power FMJ load with lead bullets. It fouled the barrel so badly that we couldn't hit the broad side of the barn. The barrel looked like a smooth bore when we stopped to inspect it. It took some serious cleaning to remove all the lead. He swore off lead bullets ever since. (this was about 1990 and don't even remember what pistol he was shooting)

I had leading build up in a Taurus PT908. I was told to shoot some FMJ after a box or so of lead to "clean it out".
I am sure it blew out some of the lead, but I had to get a dental pick and clean the rifling to get it clean. I imagine the Glock barrel will be the same.

I'm sure you can shoot lead in a Glock, but pay special attention to the bullet lube and lead removal during cleaning.

Marlin rifles with micro-groove barrels have the same problem. The newer versions of pistol caliber have "ballard cut" rifling and shoot lead all day long. Even though Marlin supposedly cuts the grooves in one at a time, the design doesn't pile up lead.

Read up on the types of rifling, and you will see that no one size fits all.
Cut, ballard, and button.

From 1994-98 i shot IPSC limited class with a G21. Never used anything BUT cast SWC's. No "extra" fowling noted after each match. If you clean the gun every once in a while you will be fine.

Glad to hear all this since I am starting to cast my own and there is no way ini hell I am dropping $6-700 bucks to keep myself in LW barrels.

I do run one LW barrel and it's just as accurate as the factory.

The biggest problem I have with lead bullets is that they cost about the same as jacketed bullets.

The biggest problem I have with lead bullets is that they cost about the same as jacketed bullets.

Mine are free? :confused:

Funny I didn't know glock's were "So Accurate" :stirthepot: Using polygonal rifling as a crutch....pfft. :flipoff2:

Funny I didn't know glock's were "So Accurate" :stirthepot: Using polygonal rifling as a crutch....pfft. :flipoff2:Maybe you're just a lousy shot.:D