handguns

[rocker]

i have a glock 19 in 9mm that i use for my ccw weapon i stoke it with speer 124 gr gold dots. had a set of trijicon green night sights mounted.
my hunting pistol is a blackhawk in 45LC that i hace had since early 70's. mounted a nikon red dot. great deer medicine.

[CEO]

How do you like that glock? I've heard soo many mixed emotions over those, but I have never owned one before.

[rocker]

THE GLOCK IS ALRIGHT. MY WIFE GAVE IT TO ME A FEW YEARS AGO FOR XMAS SO I CAN'T GET RID OF IT. I PREFER A 1911 OF WHICH I HAVE A SPRINGFIELD V-12 on layaway now. the only problem with a glock is there isn't much you can do to them sights and the trigger bar is about all unless you want to spend some big bucks.

[inluvwithsara]

love my 3 glocks...for a 400 dollar auto, I love them...now my bro's 1911 springfield Longslide(800bucks) shoots better, but hey, I like my glock 30...11 rounds in the holster, 30 rounds in the mag holder(two 15 rounders)
thats of course 45acp...
my wife is getting a g26 soon...same size as my S&w 36, which is 5 rounds of 38, she will have 11 rounds of 9mm, and faster reloads...
but funny thing is, I'd rather carry my 686, or super blackhawk...
But for city carry, the glock is nice, simple, reliable...and cheap for what it is...I prefer wheel guns for some reason.

[vmt_hntr]

I prefer my 4" 586 S&W nickel for carry as well.....I have a KP89 Ruger too but prefer the Smith....both are a lot of fun to shoot and I reload for both....but still....I do a lot better with the wheel gun...
Bob...

[rocker]

i just bought a colt cobra in 38 spcl for my wife as her ccw weapon. i was re-modeling a guys bathroom and he offered it to me for $100.00. i jumped on it. do you think this will handle +P loads?

[KW]

Just look at a Ruger Vaquero 5.5 barrel 45LC man was that a nice looker white grips with the frame discolored (can't remember what they call it )
Got a good feel to the gun, might have to start saving lol.

[vmt_hntr]

I have this one Kirk, sans the white grips, and it is a real shooter. I cast the 250gr bullet Lyman makes mold for, and really think it sweet. Vaquero for the fixed sight model; Blackhawk for one with adj. sights. Oh, by the way, 'tis 'case hardening' be the term you are looking for here.....nice gun. Bob

[vmt_hntr]

Rocker: I'm sure that it will handle +P loads with no problem, but if your wife is going to use this for carry, better to shoot it and find out how recoil is for her. May be OK for carry a lot shoot little here. I have a Charter Arms 2000 38spcl for the wife, and +P loads are a no-no for her. Also use 125gr only loads for her as well. Makes for a nice package. Just my 2 cents......Bob

[inluvwithsara]

Rocker, Nice find!!!
depending the age, and your knowledge, you may want to let a smith take a once over it before the +p's are used...just my thoughts...but real nice find...

I love my little S&W 36, its my "Its too hot, or I am too lazy to where a vest to conceal leather...

[DeputyAl]

I haven't bought a Glock yet--just couldn't warm up to them. They damn sure work, though--a bunch of them are in service at my agency, and they just tick right along. There has been some discussion of the agnecy actually buying and issuing the Glock 40's, but I'm out of that discussion due to recent retirement.

My principal objection to the Glocks has always been their rep for not digesting cast bullet very well. If I were to get one of these pistols, aftermarket cut-rifled barrels and fully-supported chambers would get installed to enable cast bullet usage with less BS. Mrs. Al wants one, and I suppose I should do the right thing.

[vmt_hntr]

I can't warm up to a Glock either. Might be the name, or where they come from....they just don't look user friendly either, if that makes any sense. Lotta fellas swear by them and I've read glowing reports, too....still...Ruger or Smith & Wesson will ring true with me for a long time to come.....just my 2 cents....
Bob...

[DeputyAl]

Bob--

I hear ya, sir--my tastes are pretty "old school" as well. As much as it pains me to admit it, them dishwasher-safe bottom-feeding sliders do work, though. Just thinking about Mrs. Al getting a Glock makes me want to go out to the gun safe and fondle the Colt Officer's Model Target and S&W M-624. The Glocks are functional--the old wheelers have soul.

[DeputyAl]

A couple years back, there was a pretty strident debate in gun Net groups about catastrophic failures in Glock pistols firing cast bullets, and to a lesser extent some discussion about how well they fired these cheaper and (to me, anyway) more interesting bullets. The failures were known as kB's (ka-BOOMS)--and the accounts of cast bullets in the polygonal bores of the ACTs (Austrian Combat Tupperware) ranged from abysmal to terrific--leaded bores, lead-free bores, accurate, inaccurate--it ran the gamut.

Cast bullets in auto pistols can be somewhat challenging. General rules are 1) relatively hard metal 2) relatively soft lubes 3) emphasis on accuracy and functional reliability, as opposed to maximizing velocity.

I pinned down one of my buddies I shared rangemaster duties with at work--he works at the Academy, while I do the gun bit part time at my Station. He was sent to the Glock Armorer's School prior to the conversation I'm referencing.

He stated without equivocation that Glock STRIDENTLY INSISTS that only factory loaded ammunition be fired in their pistols. Period. This has become a "boiler-plate" default setting for most gun makers, but my buddy feels that in the case of the stock Glocks there may be some justification for this mantra. What follows is NOT from the Glock lesson plan, but an educated estimation of what takes place in the case of the catastrophic failures involving the Glock pistols.

Review of the kB incidents shows a strong predominance of 40 S&W pistols, reloaded ammunition, and cast bullets in the mix. The Glock system features a portion of the chamber being unsupported during firing. No huge issue--the 1911A1 series is similarly designed, and has performed well for 95 years.

Where the problem lies is not fully understood, but let's remember that the 40 S&W runs pressures almost twice that of the 45 ACP, the usual chambering in the majority of 1911A1's. There is some evidence that the 40 S&W case distends under pressure at this unsupported point in the Glock chamber, "ballooning" as it were in this area. Not greatly, but it's there.

The fired cases get processed through the sizing die, ironing out the distention to dimensions that will fit and feed into the chamber. When cartridge brass gets worked in this way, it hardens and weakens. Murphy's Law gets no plea bargains--and surely enough, one of these cases gets distended in the same area a couple or more times during the recycling of the fired brass. This same distended/reformed area chambers in the pistol once again in the unsupported portion of the chamber, and at 35K+ pressures, things let go--gas gets into the magazine well and blows the mag out of the pistol and causes damage to the receiver.

There is a further complication if cast bullets are used in the stock barrels. In some cases, a "ring" of lead forms just in front of the throat area, and builds up as firing continues, affecting bullet release and perhaps headspace just slightly. Enough so, that either in concert with the effects described above or of its own accord the cartridge case bursts at the unsupported portion of the chamber, producing excitement at minimum.

The barrels and slides are usually undamaged by this event--the receivers are destroyed.

For my money--an aftermarket barrel with conventional rifling and fully supported chamber gets my vote in the Glocks if reloads are on the agenda. Aftermarket barrels have chambers cut with less radial clearance than the stock barrels, and the conventional bore/groove arrangement is a LOT friendlier to cast bullets than the stop-sign form used by Glock.

My rangemaster buddy's Glock 22 uses a Bar-Sto barrel, and it REALLY shoots well. That's the rig I would adopt when--not if, per She Who Must Be Obeyed--the Glock arrives on scene.

[45nut]

Great Post Al.
Suported by real world info,that makes a difference.
I wont have a Glock here either. As you pointed out,the 45acp hand the 1911 have been doing the job for 95 years and I see no reason to switch.

[keeper89]

Interesting line here. I am not a glock expert by any means but I have handled and fired several--9mm, 40 and 45. All were service grade accurate and went bang every time. I guess my problem was I couldn't sense any "Soul" in them......I cut my teeth on a series 70 1911 and that spoiled me for all time. Currently planning on picking up a stainless Springfield "loaded", got a 1981 Belgian Hi-Power, a ruger mk II 6 7/8 taper bbl target and an old american eagle DWM 30 Luger for autos and a slew of revolvers. Carry a 2.5 inch sp101 in my pocket for dressup and something a bit bulkier for less formal occasions. Good forum here, seems like nice folks. Good shooting!