Glock 22 question

I have a modell 22 glock(40S&W). I have read about the problems with the factory barrels not supporting the case, resulting in a ruined gun. I was wanting some feedback from anyone that has beeen down this road already, if it is a valid concern, and what would be a suitable replacement. What other mods would be acceptable(lighter trigger, recoil spring guide, etc) for this gun since it is my main CCW. As of now it is bone stock and I am very pleased with its function and accuracy and am a little hesitant (if it ain't broke don't fix it) to start tinkering. Thanks in advance!

Unless you are shooting cast or swaged lead reloaded bullets in your G22 than I wouldn't worry about this matter at all, your very unlikly to encounter any problems. The newest Glocks are produced with a more fully supported chamber which improves strength and a number of aftermarket barrels such as Lone Wolff etc are also avaliable.
But again if your only shooting factory ammunition its a none problem. If your a reloader and using jacketed bullets its not a big problem but close inspection of the case base should become a part of your proceedure if it isn't already.
I shoot and reload for several different Glocks and haven't had any problems, nor do I expect to have any and all of my Glocks are the older limited support chamber models you've inquired about. What I don't do though is use cast or swaged lead bullets with my factory barrels, mostly because of the type of rifleing they have. Relax and enjoy.

JK

You can check the case support yourself by simply field stripping the pistol and dropping a cartridge in the barrel. Check the area above the feed ramp on the barrel and if there is any of the case side showing above the ramp then there isn't sufficient support and it could blow out there. As for modifications, the general opinion seems to be that you need to be careful about what modifications you carry out on a gun you use for personal defense. (Damn lawyers.) I would recommend a good set of night sites and little else. If you shoot the pistol well as it sits then anything else is just gilding the lilly. Just my $.02.

Thanks Joe, I too reload and only use jacketed bullets when I do. My model 22 just loves the speer 180 grain hollow points, no feed or ejecting issues at all and much more accurate than a factory roud. Thanks for the reply!

Lead alloy bullets and Glocks

I have loaded and shot thousands of hard cast lead alloy bullets that I have handloaded on my Dillon XL-650 with the factory barrell and I have never had any problem with leading. I did have a commercial reload go kaboom within the first 40 rounds with a complete case head separation. Since then I shoot factory (not much because of cost) or my reloads. I would clean my barrell about every 600 rounds or so and never had a problem.

I do think that you have to be careful about seating depth and I believe that most kabooms may come from compressed loads, but I'll admit I don't have any data to support that. All I know is that if you go talk to a bunch of IPSC shooters you are going to find a lot of Glock 22s shooting cast lead bullets. It's not hard to produce dangerous ammunition but I have NEVER had any trouble because I try to follow the load books and I don't try for "hot" rounds. I've been following this no lead bullets in Glocks for over 10 years and all I can say is that it is not my experience or the experience of others I shoot with.

But then again, it's your money so do what you want. I still shoot lead.

Regards,
-Art

As I understand it, the polygonal rifling in the glock holds the lead and eventually it will cause pressure to increase until a Kaboom.

My 23's chamber was not very good, major out of round condition on the brass after firing. I shoot a Lonewolf now, only about 50 through it so far (switched guns) but have had one jam.

IMO: I think the 180 is too heavy for the cartridge, (yes I know it is the FBI load). I'll stick with the 155's after all that just makes it a 13round .357 and what's wrong with that?

huntinguy said:

As I understand it, the polygonal rifling in the glock holds the lead and eventually it will cause pressure to increase until a Kaboom.

Click to expand...

In my experience, actually the opposite is true. A standard barrel with lands and grooves has more corners and surface area to catch and hold lead and other fouling. The minor leading I've cleaned out of my Glock 17 barrel basically amounts to just a few "smears" down the middle of the polygonal "grooves", which easily comes out with a few strokes of the bore brush while completely immersed in mineral spirits.

Think about this, the Glock 18 (full auto Glock 17) has been demonstrated to fire full auto while completely under water. How much pressure is caused by a completely plugged barrel?

Jeff
(several hundred thousand rounds of cast lead through my Glock 17)

Mendoje1, I agree with your assessment of the polygonal rifling being easy to clean after hundreds of cast lead bullets have gone through them. It has never been an issue for me. Most of what I find is powder fouling and I have always thought that the "smooth" polygonal rifling actually helped.

For those who point to Glock's caution against it, I would just add that those disclaimers are made by attornies. After all what firearm company will warranty any reloaded ammunition jacketed or lead? Of course this makes sense from a litigation point of view since they can't prove you loaded within specs. I have gunpowder out in my garage that states it should not be eaten! I can only guess why a lawyer made them put that on the label.

Oh well, this claim regarding Glocks and hard cast lead will not die I guess. It keeps popping up all over the place.

Regards,
-Art

I have a Glock 23 I carry for personal protection. I don't shoot lead bullets in it, but not because of all the hype you hear about Kaboom, just because I practice with the used to be cheap jacket target/practice ammo from walmart. I would never add anything after market to a CCW especially a Glock, they are so reliable from the factory.. and do exactly what they are supposed to. I spent a large amount of time and money searching for a CCW that was light enough and didn't rust.. Glock is the only one that didn't rust I also had a extreme prejudice against Glock being a "plastic toy" before my dealer talked me into trying one, after that I kick myself for not getting one a lot sooner.

Clint

eastwood said:

I spent a large amount of time and money searching for a CCW that was light enough and didn't rust.. Glock is the only one that didn't rust I also had a extreme prejudice against Glock being a "plastic toy" before my dealer talked me into trying one, after that I kick myself for not getting one a lot sooner.

Clint

Click to expand...

Should look at the Khar. I think it will outshoot the Glock, it is much thinner and lighter, you can get it in SS or composite frame. The 45 is still smaller that the 40 glocks.

I agree with not changing anything on a CCW gun but, when brass goes out of round by .025 at the base... I start to think unsafe.

Glock 20/22

Here's some history that may shed some light:
I've been a 10mm Auto fan since Jeff Cooper and (?) Whitman came up with it. As soon as Glock came out with the Model 20, I bought one. Being a reloader, I wanted to talk with some experienced guys about what the max safeload would be. The guy I spoke with was working for a shop called Pony Express Reloaders in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was one of the older, "seen it all, done that too" guys with a lifetime of reloading and shooting experience and wisdom- he impressed the hell out of me with his knowledge.
Anyway, this was back in '97-'98. The Model 20 came out in 1991. When I asked about the Glock 20's, he just told me to wait a minute. He came back with a stack of photos- all destroyed Glock 20's- blown from the chamber . These guns had been purchased by some St. Paul (MN) police department, and Pony Express made their practice and duty ammo. The ammo was not to blame: it was under Norma's factory spec. He took my Glock 20 and showed me an area of the chamber that looked mighty damn thin to me. He then told me never hot load, and wear tough shooting glasses at all times shooting it. There's more:
This guy told me this problem was not the first time Glocks of any caliber or model had blown up. In every case, Glock had totally stonewalled any accusations that their guns were to blame- it was "all these reloaders and their hot loads", not Glock's design. Bull xxxx. The guy showed me proof in those photos- four pistols destroyed with safe loads, made by pros.
To be totally fair to Glock, if they would have admitted their error it would have ruined their reputation unfairly (all the blown guns were shooting reloads) and opened up Pandora's Box of Hell with Brady Bunch anti-gun, anti-reloading laws all over the country. We might not even be shooting semi-autos at all if Glock had 'fessed up. Nobody got hurt, after all. Pretty sticky politics, there.
Anyhow, Glock did redesign the 20 with a thicker chamber, a year or so later. In fact, my third generation Glock 20 will take very hot loads safely, since the chamber measures about .020" thicker than my original without any trace of stress fractures, and you better believe I 'scoped that chamber after every shot for a long time, just to be safe. I don't shoot hot loads at all after that test, but I still check every now and again- but I'm really not expecting trouble. Glock's engineers must have worked around the clock after that mess to make sure it never happened again.
Sorry to be a windbag, but I thought you'd appreciate some history about this, since the .40 is basically just a short 10mm Auto. I know one thing- I'll never shoot reloads in any first-generation Glock.
Why not call Pony Express yourself and ask them about the whole thing? I'm sure the guy still works there, and you could ask specifically about your model 22........you'll never find more experienced shooters to talk to. Their number: 651-483-9406.
Good luck!!

I was an armorer for a fairly large dept for a number of years. We had 1000+ G22 and G23s in service at any given time. I put over 20,000 through my G17 before switching to the 22 to get the rail frame.

I never saw a Glock blow up, ever! I have seen hundreds of thousands of rounds fired through them. These were all 9mm, 40 S&W and a few 45s.

Regardless of what others may tell you, cast bullets CAN cause severe fouling problems in Glock factory barrels. There is so much variation in cast bullets that unless you really no what you are doing, don't do it!

Just buy cheap factory JACKETED ammo for practice and some Gold Dots for killing people.

Hope this helps.

I like the l55 and 160 grain loadings in 40.