If staying with the 180gr loads are the glocks a better choice than when people are using them with the hot 155's and 165's? Would they be less prone to break or wear out? The availability prospects of good 40 loads like gold dot 180 hst 180 and ranger bonded 180 appears quite deep and the 9mm hst and gold dot and ranger bonded is either much more expensive or unavaible.
Although I tend to like hot loads, my experience is that 40 cal. Gen 4 Glocks don't. I thus think it makes sense to go with the 180's out of a Glock .40. 180 grain HST and Ranger bonded should work well and kick (in my subjective judgment) only a little more than the hotter 9's. The .40 remains a very good caliber, but with Glocks at least it is necessary to resist the temptation to try to turn it into something closer to a 10mm. 180's are the way to go.Originally Posted by mag360
Last edited by Jeep; 08-08-2015 at 02:53 PM.
Sample of one: I worked with a fed earlier this year whose gen 4 G22 suffered a locking block crack. They use 180gr Ranger and he doesn't shoot more than the 4 times a year he's required to. Oh and he has about 2 or 3 years on the job.
If someone feels compelled to use 40, I'd recommend looking for a pistol designed for it (such as the HK USP) over one that was designed for 9mm.
The usp is a tank. I need to shoot those some more.
I agree with that thought. My M&P 40 works well with the .40. However, if one wants to use a Glock, the 180 grain is the way to go (that locking block crack had to have been a fairly extreme outlier event with that kind of round count). With the hotter loads I'd only worry about breaking things with quite a bit of firing. What I would worry more about would be jams. I had a Gen 4 G23 that had FTF's/FTE's with almost every magazine of 155 or 165 grainers.
Rock solid pistols and they seem to work well in .40.
I had two Gen 4 G23's post Sandy Hook when 9mm was impossible to find. Both had just shy of 2,000rds through them & both were 100% to that point. They carried well & were incredibly accurate. I have no qualms about using a .40 Glock. I'm not denying the known issues, but my experiences with them have been positive. I currently only own a Gen 4 G22 but haven't shot it enough to give any sort of opinion on it as of yet.
Hope this isn't too much of a thread derail....
Does anyone else get the heebie geebies from the case bulge that the .40 Glocks seem to produce?
This. I've owned both a Gen 4 G23 and Gen 4 G22 and both were rock solid, even with a wml. I'm only one person so not much of a datapoint and I believe there likely are issues, particularly with gen 3's, but mine were fine. My first day with the G23 qualing and doing some drills as a reserve deputy, I shot several hundred 155gr Ranger T's that agency was trying to use up. My hand felt like it did 9 rounds with Mike Tyson, but the gun seemed no worse for wear.
I've sold both and completely converted to 9mm glocks, but if there was ever a sandy hook style panic buy again, I'd get another G23, as .40 was all there was in my area.
Since I'm cheap I've bought and shot a variety of different weight projectiles of all types, JHP, FMJ, frang, EFMJ, etc. I prefer 180gr, or 165 if 180 isn't available. I've never experienced issues with 180gr loads but I've seen more stoppages with the lighter 155gr loads. Due to an ordering snafu my PD ended up with 155gr FMJ and GDHP instead of the usual 180gr ammo. Some of he weaker shooters experienced malfunctions (FTFeed) with the 155gr but no issue with 180gr. Pretty much across the board with our weaker shooters, I hate to use the limp wristing excuse but that's what I think was going on. Loaded the gun up with 180gr. rounds and the problem disappeared? Gun is a Glock 22/G4 with a TLR-1. I have been told that 180gr performs much better in guns with WMLs than lighter rounds and that would be consistent with my experience. From here on out, we're staying with 180gr. as its proved reliable in our guns w/ WMLs. (until I can successfully facilitate a switch to 9mm!!! ).
Thus far, my guns that have digested a lot of 155gr ammo are still holding together but I stay on top of my maintenance. You can definently feel those lighter rounds and I don't dou t they harder on guns.
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