Glock Upgrade: .40 to .45
When Glock first sold .40S&W handguns in this country, I ordered one (a m23) immediately. It was well made, and it was very accurate. Not a bullseye match pistol, but even in rapid fire I could keep them all on the paper. The downsides were that it was one of the loudest pistols I have ever shot, and it was hard to hang onto and slow for followup shots. And of course, they weren't supposed to be shot with handloads or reloads, and never with lead boolits, but just about every big manufacturer make similar noises (prompted no doubt by their legal departments). I figured that if I shot light jacketed loads, I wouldn't get into any trouble reloading for it, and I didn't.
Then I started reading the horror stories about Kabooms, bulged case heads, and poorly supported chambers. I am old enough to remember all the flap about converting 9x19 1911's to 9x21's and seeing similar problems occuring. Hmmm. I measured some case heads and to my surprise, they weren't kidding. Once I knew to look, I could see them plainly. Hmmm. Due to the price of factory loads and my Yankee nature, I didn't shoot it much after that and all the brass went into the scrap bucket after one firing. Considering that I could easily get 20, and sometimes 30, firings from a 9mm or a .45 case, I came to look upon shooting it as extremely wasteful, so it sat in the safe.
In time, Glock did make changes so that the chambers properly supported the case heads, and there began to be available a number of different aftermarket barrels for them, some specifically designed for boolits, but by then I was shooting .45 1911's and didn't want to spend the extra money on a new barrel.
A few weeks back, one of the guys at my club needed to raise some quick cash and he offered me a G21 at a reasonable price, and I snapped it up. Comparatively, it is a pussycat to shoot, every bit as accurate, and no one seems to have had any problems shooting them with boolits, no reported Kabooms, no bulged cases, fast followup shots.
So, this morning I took the G23 and the last of the ammo I had for it and went down to the range and found enough snow had melted to get out to the 25yd target holder. It must have known it was going down the road, because the first chance it had, it took a good bite out of my left thumb knuckle. (I know, I know, don't cross your thumb, but I did and got bitten. I had a few nasty thoughts then about things that bite the hand that feeds.) I shot a really nice target to put into the box with it, then blew off the rest of the ammo. I did a first class cleaning job on it, and brought it down to the shop and put it on consignment, where they were as happy to get it as I was to get rid of it.
Back to the G21. After test firing, I replaced the cheap little factory plastic rear sight with a steel Novak, ordered holsters and a mag holder, and now I am happy. I have just begun to test loads in it, but I have three moulds for it, several powders, 1500 cases, and half a ton of WW alloy ingots, so I should be busy for a while.
