Reloading 9mm glocks with cast and or lead bullets

[Trooper224]

Interesting, I've shot a quarter ton of .356 coated bullets in several Berettas and never had tumbling issues. Been thinking about doing .357's to try to get things to work with the polygonal guns though

I use a .358, 126 grain lead SWC in my Berettas. No leading and takes two or three minutes to clean the barrel. It is smokey though, but very accurate.

To the OP, plain lead is fine in the Glock, but coated bullets are really ideal.

[Jamie]

I've shot many thousands of lead bullets in 9mm Glocks, both with factory barrels and Lone Wolf barrels (much tighter tolerances in my experience requiring loads specifically sized for them...OAL being the trickiest issue in my experience).

iirc the major issue with lead bullets in Glocks occurred with the .40 S&W caliber.
That said, I/we (a couple of us share the labor) cast and powder coat our 9mm rounds. Our Brinell hardness on these 130 gr bullets runs around 13 and we resize to .357. Our barrels slugged at .356 fwiw.

I'm a true believer in Powder Coating nowadays. I've run these bullets up to 1350 fps with no issues at all. (this is not a regular fps thing, just done in initial testing).

Jamie

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[TiroFijo]

I've shot literally tens of thousands of plain lead bullets (wheel weight, air cooled or water quenched, variable hardness) in glocks of all calibers, with normal velocities and good accuracy, using normal powders.

IN THESE LOADS THERE IS A FAIRLY RAPID LEAD BUILDUP IN THE FACTORY BARRELS, CHECK AND CLEAN OFTEN. I usually clean after only 100 rounds or so, just 2/3 passes with a bore snake and some solvent in the field, then a more judicious cleaning at home. DO NOT TRY IT IF YOU ARE A NOVICE RELOADER.

In 45 ACP I get less leading than in 9 mm and 40 ACP.

The lead reloads are smoky but very cheap around here, in my country we have difficulties getting FMJ bullets, coated or painted at a good price.

You have to keep and eye on sizing diameter, most 9 mm guns and glocks do fine with .356", but .357" is probably better. You could probably get better results with a harder alloy as well, I don't experiment with it because price is my only motive to shoot lead bullets in these guns.

If I could get coated bullets at a good price, I would not bother with lead in glocks.

[deputyG23]

I load 122 grain FP Dardas cast lead bullets sized .357 with 5.4 grains of BE-86 and have shot as many as 150 rounds in a session with my G2 G19 with OEM barrel with no visible leading. Average cost about 11 cents per round. May try their 180 grain cast in my Glock 40s when I get enough nerve to do so...

[LittleLebowski]

I've shot literally tens of thousands of plain lead bullets (wheel weight, air cooled or water quenched, variable hardness) in glocks of all calibers, with normal velocities and good accuracy, using normal powders.

IN THESE LOADS THERE IS A FAIRLY RAPID LEAD BUILDUP IN THE FACTORY BARRELS, CHECK AND CLEAN OFTEN. I usually clean after only 100 rounds or so, just 2/3 passes with a bore snake and some solvent in the field, then a more judicious cleaning at home. DO NOT TRY IT IF YOU ARE A NOVICE RELOADER.

In 45 ACP I get less leading than in 9 mm and 40 ACP.

The lead reloads are smoky but very cheap around here, in my country we have difficulties getting FMJ bullets, coated or painted at a good price.

You have to keep and eye on sizing diameter, most 9 mm guns and glocks do fine with .356", but .357" is probably better. You could probably get better results with a harder alloy as well, I don't experiment with it because price is my only motive to shoot lead bullets in these guns.

If I could get coated bullets at a good price, I would not bother with lead in glocks.

Are you casting your own bullets? Are you reloading your own ammo?

[TiroFijo]

Yep. Currently, most of the time I buy cast bullets from a friend, who does the hard work of getting the scrap WW, melting them into ingots, then casting bullets and lubing/resizing.

We could do whatever can be done with lead (alloy, sizing, lube, heat treatmente, etc.) but the main issue is cost and convenience, to get good performing bullets with the least cost and work.

[LittleLebowski]

Yep. Currently, most of the time I buy cast bullets from a friend, who does the hard work of getting the scrap WW, melting them into ingots, then casting bullets and lubing/resizing.

We could do whatever can be done with lead (alloy, sizing, lube, heat treatmente, etc.) but the main issue is cost and convenience, to get good performing bullets with the least cost and work.

Have you looked into coating your own bullets?

[TiroFijo]

We have done a little experimentation with no success. Several paint coatings, we tried electroplating too but it was too cumbersome and expensive.

Understand that for us "success" = cheap + fast + easy + good enough improvement over plain lead

We do have coated bullets around here that work very well, we just haven't hit the right paint + procedure to make them ourselves.

[LittleLebowski]

We have done a little experimentation with no success. Several paint coatings, we tried electroplating too but it was too cumbersome and expensive.

Understand that for us "success" = cheap + fast + easy + good enough improvement over plain lead

We do have coated bullets around here that work very well, we just haven't hit the right paint + procedure to make them ourselves.

Roger that, we might be able to help you. @dsa

[dsa]

We have done a little experimentation with no success. Several paint coatings, we tried electroplating too but it was too cumbersome and expensive.

Understand that for us "success" = cheap + fast + easy + good enough improvement over plain lead

We do have coated bullets around here that work very well, we just haven't hit the right paint + procedure to make them ourselves.

http://hi-performancebulletcoatings.com

Hi-TEK is pretty easy to use and gets great results. You would have to get ahold of the manufacturer of the coating in Australia but it might be worth it for you.