ok to shoot a little bit of lead ammo through glock?

[Trenchfoot]

The danger is not from shooting hard cast bullets, but soft lead ones, particularly when firing higher pressure rounds after you have shot the lead ones without cleaning. You need to find out which one you are shooting. I shoot hard casts all day without issue.

The only guns I've seen come apart are revolvers after someone has shot his cowboy loads and then shot higher pressure hard casts or FMJ's afterward. The combination of the leading of the barrel, and the fact that hard casts and FMJ's don't deform as much as the cowboy loads, means that it's possible for the barrel pressure to rise beyond safe levels and kaboom.

[trigger945]

200 rds is not much. For peace of mind, however, why not just sell them. Maybe you will take some loss, sure. But that minimal loss is nothing compared to the peace of mind you will get

At least that's how I would approach the situation.

Good luck!

[ivanimal]

I have never done it without my Lone Wolf barrel in.

[M1NM]

Had a 17L that had well over 2000 rounds of lead through it with no problems.

[bwiese]

G19s have hexagonal rifling. Only the .45 and 45 GAP models have octagonal rifling.

Thanks - but hex/octagon difference irrelevant here, both not good for lead.

[bwiese]

Anyone who says you shouldn't shoot lead through a Glock didn't know what they're talking about and/or doesn't shoot enough. I put at least 12k rounds per year through my G22 Limited division gun. Every round was lead. This is pretty much the norm at our matches and many others. Nobody has problems with their stock Glock barrels. Don't believe every Internet myth you're told.

Anecdotal reports are separate from Real Firearms Engineers Telling You Not to Do It.

[I admit the reload issue is a general paranoid warning to minimize warranty/liability issues.
The avoidance of lead use in Glock factory bbls is different.]

Will you pay his bill for any medical issues resulting from a Kaboom?

Thought so.

[67goat]

Thanks - but hex/octagon difference irrelevant here, both not good for lead.

It may or may not be relevant here, as we don't really know the cause or circumstances. H&K and Kahr both use polygonal rifling, but they do not warn against lead bullets. Are their barrels stronger? Is it the profile of the lands that makes the difference? I don't really know. It could even be akin to the reloads issue. Perhaps it is poorly cast bullets, or bullets that are set at an angle. I'm not saying it is any of those things, just that no definitive info seems to be out there.

But as mentioned in my previous post, all Glocks carry the warning, so shooter beware.

I heard one LGS employee explain it to a customer this way, you wouldn't put retreads on your Ferrari. Of course, he was talking about a Boberg, and not a Glock, but it still holds the same.

Over in GD somebody posted a letter response from Front Sight about the issue (here). However, keep in mind that the researcher may have some bias. He was hired Ina lawsuit against Glock. The article does not make it clear if that was before or after the test was conducted.

[spamsucker]

just get a lone wolf barrel. Then it's a non issue.

[CalTeacher]

Anecdotal reports are separate from Real Firearms Engineers Telling You Not to Do It.

[I admit the reload issue is a general paranoid warning to minimize warranty/liability issues.
The avoidance of lead use in Glock factory bbls is different.]

Will you pay his bill for any medical issues resulting from a Kaboom?

Thought so.

Warnings about lead bullets in Glocks are anecdotal. There is no reputable study that can be replicated that proves what people like you are saying. Why aren't my Glocks, or those of other competitors blowing up? Seriously, answer this question.


Will I pay his bill for any medical issues resulting from a kaboom? What a stupid question. I'll answer it with another question. Will you pay his medical bills when he double charges a round with a fmj or plated bullet and blows his gun up? How about when he fires a round after a squib with a bullet left in the barrel? Will you pay his bills?

The answer is no because you are not responsible for someone else's stupidity. Lead bullets do not cause kabooms in Glocks. Full stop.

As long as your lead bullets are sized and lubed appropriately they will do absolutely no harm to your Glock. But this is a principle that applies to all guns even with conventional rifling.

[kentactic]

Some comp. Shooters shoot lead. Hit the barrel with a brass bore brush every 100-200 rnds.

[missiontrails]

You can, but why bother? Just buy a rifled barrel. I'm amazing at the number of non-gun designers, non-engineers who ignore and go against manufacturer warnings. The manufacturer has done more testing than Joe Blow.

[CalTeacher]

Pretty much every gun manufacturer also warns about reloads. So what? You don't have to be an engineer to know that you can shoot lead in Glock barrels safely.

Manufacturers place these types of warnings in their product literature to cover their arses when some idiot blows up their gun through their own negligence.

[G21Shooter]

I have never done it without my Lone Wolf barrel in.

+1 If you want to shoot lead get a Lone Wolf barrel.

[XDRoX]

28 replies and no one has bothered to explain to most the guys in this thread the real risk of shooting lead through polygonal barrels...
Polygonal barrels, regardless of number of sides, has the potential to get smaller in inside diameter as leading occurs. A smaller barrel will lead to higher pressures, in turn the possibility of a kaboom if left neglected. In other words, if you shoot enough lead, and the rounds are leading as you shoot them, you are at risk of higher pressures. Pressures too high will result in a kaboom.

So there are four options.
-do as Glock suggests and don't shoot lead
-buy an after market barrel
-shoot lead but clean out the leading after every few hundred rounds
-shoot a lead load that doesn't lead

For any experienced reloader, like CalTeacher, it's easy to developer a load that doesn't lead. All it takes is proper bullet size, correct hardness, and a good lube.
If your load doesn't lead, there is no danger in shooting millions of rounds between cleanings.

If you are shooting factory lead rounds that will most likely lead, you need to be sure to clean the barrel before any pressure issues arise. When will they occur? It's hard to say, which is why Glock says not to do it.

Hope this helps.

[CalTeacher]

28 replies and no one has bothered to explain to most the guys in this thread the real risk of shooting lead through polygonal barrels...
Polygonal barrels, regardless of number of sides, has the potential to get smaller in inside diameter as leading occurs. A smaller barrel will lead to higher pressures, in turn the possibility of a kaboom if left neglected. In other words, if you shoot enough lead, and the rounds are leading as you shoot them, you are at risk of higher pressures. Pressures too high will result in a kaboom.

So there are four options.
-do as Glock suggests and don't shoot lead
-buy an after market barrel
-shoot lead but clean out the leading after every few hundred rounds
-shoot a lead load that doesn't lead

For any experienced reloader, like CalTeacher, it's easy to developer a load that doesn't lead. All it takes is proper bullet size, correct hardness, and a good lube.
If your load doesn't lead, there is no danger in shooting millions of rounds between cleanings.

If you are shooting factory lead rounds that will most likely lead, you need to be sure to clean the barrel before any pressure issues arise. When will they occur? It's hard to say, which is why Glock says not to do it.

Hope this helps.

That's pretty much it. I've never seen, nor experienced any terrible leading that wasn't the result of undersized or or improperly lubed bullets. I've seen leading in guns with traditional and polygonal rifling, and in both cases it was not the fault of the barrel, but with the appropriateness of the cast bullet being used. I shoot my own cast bullets with either Alox or Hi-Tek coating (like Bayou Bullets), Missouri Bullets, Dardas Bullets, and Bear Creek bullets and have no issues. I may get a few streaks of lead after hundreds of rounds, but that comes out in about 10 seconds with an old bore brush with a copper chore boy patch.

As I've said before, follow the same basic (safe) reloading procedures that you would with any other gun and you'll be fine loading lead bullets in stock Glock barrels. The blanket statement that lead bullets can't be safely fired in Glock barrels is simply untrue.