Experience with light loads and Glocks

[TrailerparkTrash]

Unknown sourced RELOADS. That’s the OP’s problem. Use factory ammo or reload yourself. I NEVER trust anybody’s reloads in ANY of my firearms. Not even “factory reloads” (aka: “factory seconds”).

That’s just me and I’ve yet to have a problem with any of my 18 Glock models.

[JTROKS]

I usually stick to proven light loads that works with my regular range guns. A light load in 9mm that works through my Springfield 1911s with 10 lb springs will not work with a stock Glock 17, 19, 26 and certainly will never cycle a stock 34. I’m referring to Glocks with new to good condition recoil springs. Although I have seen Glocks with recoil springs that haven’t been replaced capable of shooting light loads.

I used to chrono my handloads be it light, standard or +p. Haven’t shot matches lately so no need for chrono, but I inspect the brass for good seal.

[Reno-Kid]

Anyone recommend recoil spring to shoot 100 grain Federal Premium for Law Enforcement. reduced hazard training rounds. I gotta box and a Glock. I am thinking of trying them out on MP shield 9mm. Should I go with 11 lbs? Any brands I should pick?

[OCEquestrian]

Several things.

I do shoot competitively with my Glocks, and to include the Glock sponsored matches (GSSF) where the entire fire control system has to be OEM.

I reload my own ammo, so I quite literally have gamed my ammo to be as soft as possible with the OEM configuration.

^^^^ Typical USPSA shooter...

[Turbinator]

Short changing 1/2 grain of powder will shave about 1/10th of a penny from the cost of a round for a bulk reloader.

Not exactly...

I reload W231 / HP38 using 4.7 gr per round. If I reduce to 4.4 gr, I'm saving 0.3 gr per round.

Extrapolating that out:

Box of 50 rounds needs 235 gr (50 * 4.7 gr)

Box of 50 loaded light needs 220 gr (50 * 4.4 gr)

I save 15 gr right there, which is 3 extra rounds I can load for the next box of 50. At about $0.38 per round (quick Google search), that's a savings of $1.14 per box for me the loader, but I'm still going to charge the customer full price for the box of 50 ($19 at $0.38 a round).

If I'm doing thousands of rounds of reloads, say 100K batches, that's 2000 boxes worth of ammo. At a savings of $1.14 per box, I net $2,280 extra in my pocket because I've shaved off 0.3 gr of powder per round. Yet I still charge the customer full price.

That's enough to put food on the table for a few months - longer if you're eating Top Ramen.

Turby

[eaglemike]

Agree with several people above. Commercial reloaders (not the small custom guys) often use the cheapest powder charge that they think they can get away with. Even more so with revolver loads like .38 special. Used to be that 700X was really cheap, and a light charge would function almost every 9mm, so they would use or some other fast powder that results in the cheapest charge per round, rather than the most reliable.
A fairly fresh G17 or 19 won't always function with the bulk cheap stuff. Firm grip and good technique, plus a little lube helps. True boxed factory stuff has worked every time in every one I've owned. Same thing with my reloads. As TPTrash said above, using one's own reloads is a good thing.

[Packy14]

Compensators make a drastic difference. The OP didn't mention it, so the discussion path is probably not productive, but the below gun will not work with OEM springs and generic factory ammo.

To get this set up to work I'm loading powder loads in excess of manufacture maximums in junction of also reducing the spring rate down to 13lb's.

So I went down 4 pounds on the spring, and went up drastically on the velocity just to make the slide function with the addition of a compensator.

The best I can tell how a compensator works is like having the wind knocked out of you.


Without a compensator, the gasses are pushing the slide back via the expensed case pushing back the breach face. The only path of gas escape is the barrel and bullet itself or other leakages along the precision of the chambering of the barrel.

With the compensator that path of gas exit now includes the multiple pathways at the end of the barrel the moment the last opportunity for the exhaust can effect the spent case pushing back on the slide.

Finally.......... I was toying with minimal loads to make the gun work there there is a no mans land for building up a load, where if the load is light enough it will WORK the slide, but the moment a little bit more powder is added the gun STOPS WORKING the slide. My theory this is the gas expanse threshold just before the compensator is working. So if a load is too light it has almost no use of the compensator and all working gasses are expended before they hit the compensator. However, the moment a little more gas is added then it hits the compensator and then all the sudden the wind is knock out of the sales and it bleeds off faster that it continues to push back. This corrects itself when much more powder is added to overwhelm the gas exits.

That's the best I can make of what's going on with a compensator.

All things being equal are your splits faster or are you more on target visually with the comp?

[Packy14]

Thanks all! I feel good with approaching this issue now. I wish all the ammo I had worked well with everything I have, but life doesn't always work out that way. It's better to find that out now than when I depend on the ammo.

[Snoopy47]

No.

Then what is yes?

[Snoopy47]

^^^^ Typical USPSA shooter...

Ya don't see professional athletes out there making record times in work boots. Why would playing gun games be regulated to out of the box duty pistols.

[Snoopy47]

All things being equal are your splits faster or are you more on target visually with the comp?

You can choose one or the other or a balance between the both. Right?

The gun is faster because it kicks less, and gets back on target sooner.

So that quicker time can either be used to focus on MORE accuracy or that time can be used to pull the trigger SOONER relative to baseline accuracy.

In action shooting matches, typically that time is used to be faster, not more accurate.

Accurate is a relative term, and in my book means not going down any additional points relative to the speed picked up.

[Turbinator]

Ya don't see professional athletes out there making record times in work boots. Why would playing gun games be regulated to out of the box duty pistols.

Actually, no, they rely on shoes from the trash:

"Olympics Flashback: Jim Thorpe won two Gold medals with shoes someone had thrown in the trash"

https://medium.com/sportsraid/when-jim-thorpe-won-two-gold-medals-with-shoes-someone-had-thrown-in-the-trash-3c3f7090f9e7

Turby

[boopiejones]

I would try to return the range reloads. If they refuse, ask someone at the range shoot 5 or 6 rounds out of your gun.

As for your own experimental loads, you can customize the recoil spring to match the load. For example, a 1911 in 45 typically uses a 16-18 lb spring, whereas a 1911 in 9mm uses a 10-12 lb spring. You can buy various springs for your glock and work your way down until you find a spring/ammo combo that cycles best.