Glock Question

[obxflea]

I have heard people say that glocks have an unsupported chamber...... Can anyone here make any sense out of that for me??? I am pretty familiar with guns. Rifles, shot guns, and i am now getting into pistols and love it. I have heard of the chamber not being supported and i have read it... Will an aftermarket barrel "correct" this problem. Or is it even a problem?? Possibly a myth started by glock haters?? Like I said, I am new to the pistol scene. I am interested in the glock because every LEO that I have talked with said that is what they want in their hands in a life or death situation.

Thanks for any help, Lee.

 

[NG VI]

The original .40 S&W Glock barrels had slightly less chamber support where the feed ramp comes in, and they would create slightly bulged brass that was undesirable, and some say they were more prone to exploding with ammunition that was marginal (stuff that might otherwise be fine, except for the poor chamber support). New Glocks have undergone revisions, and do not have this issue. FWIW, I bought a Glock 27 in February and I love it. I took the barrel out to compare to my USP 40 and they look like they have very similiar levels of support.

 

[tlen]

Some say Glock .40 S&W KABOOMs are a myth and others don't. I wanted to shoot lead reloads and didn't want to take the chance so I upgraded from a G23 to a S&W SW99.

http://www.larrywillis.com/Glock.html

http://www.greent.com/40Page/general/kb.htm

http://www.thegunzone.com/glock/glock-kb-faq.html

 

[rcmodel]

Or is it even a problem?? Possibly a myth started by glock haters

For sure not a myth!

The earlier .40 Glocks had less chamber support at the feed ramp cut, and a very loose chamber to start with.

To compound the problem with lead, they would also fire out of battery by over 1/16", due to the way the disconnecter works.

SO, lead & bullet lube build-up in the chamber headspace step could hold them open slightly, and they would still fire. That left even more thin brass sticking out of the unsupported chamber.

Folks who know how to reload lead bullets & clean their guns properly never had a problem.

Those who didn't, did.

An after-market barrel addresses the poly rifling, and unsupported & loose chamber, but if your older Glock can fire partially out of battery, it doesn't fix that.

BTW: This is what an unsupported chamber looks like. (not a Glock barrel)


rcmodel

 

[mpmarty]

Why buy a pistol you have to buy a new barrel for before it's safe to use? Why buy a pistol that the police like? The most uninformed people we meet in the firearms community are usually policemen and women. They don't train because that costs the city money, they aren't gun "nuts" before joining the force because those folks fail the oral exams. The last opinion you should value with few exceptions are those of a Law Enforcement Officer. Why buy a Glock when there are perfectly good American made, Italian made (Witness), and even Brazilian made (Taurus) pistols out there for less money, better ergonomics and safer to shoot under most all circumstances and certainly better from a carry concealed safety standpoint than the mighty Glock.

 

[SureThing]

Buy a new one you will be ok. It was only in the .40s mostly, and KB's happens to other guns also, if the round it bad, reloaded wrong, etc..

Counting rec shooters, and LEO there are more Glocks out there being shot on a regualr basis than any other gun, it issues like this would show up more often.

But Glocks have evolved and chambers have gotten more supported over the years. From my understanding the reaqson they were unsupported to begin with is to increase relibility.

 

[Steve C]

Glock 40's have been having KB's since their creation in the early 80's. I was seeing reports of them on the old Bulletin Board systems of the time using my Comodore 64 and 300 baud modem. In all the years I've read about 1 report of problems with a 9mm Glock and that was an overloaded hand load and a barrel heavily leaded.

KB's with the .45 ACP Glocks are also quite common.

 

[MrAnteater]

Thousands of trouble free Glock .40 rounds here.

I'm sure strange things can happen, but when there are so many Glocks in existence, haters are quick to capitalize on any bad news to say "I told you so"

 

[SureThing]

I've ran across HK's and XD's who have KBed. I think older Glocks were more prone to it. But keep in mind, if XD and Glock used the exact same barrel, they would probably have 20x's more KB's than the XD just due to the number of .40 Glocks out there.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Comparo from a guy on the Sig forum:

 

[CountGlockula]

I love Glock and never had a problem with the unsupported chamber shindig:

An unsupported chamber has a gap around the case, that in higher pressure loads can allow the case to swell, weakening the case's strength.

The .40S&W cal. Glock barrel is essentially a bored out 9mm. This removal of material gives a .40 half the chamber wall thickness of a 9mm. Thinner chamber walls = weaker chamber. You can see the lack of support and the thinner walls below.



Like I said, no biggie for the bad guy.

 

[W.E.G.]

Handloads, commercial "re"-loads, lead-bullet ammo, and documented-defective factory ammo have been the culprit in the vast majority of the Glock "kaboom" incidents.

Nobody has to own a Glock if they don't want to.
There are as many GOOD reasons for not choosing a Glock as there are BAD reasons for condemning the Glock.

 

[R&J]

Reply To Steve C...

Glock 40's have been having KB's since their creation in the early 80's. I was seeing reports of them on the old Bulletin Board systems of the time using my Comodore 64 and 300 baud modem. In all the years I've read about 1 report of problems with a 9mm Glock and that was an overloaded hand load and a barrel heavily leaded.

KB's with the .45 ACP Glocks are also quite common.

I don't doubt what you've read, or question your honesty. But it's an unqualified statement--like saying Cessna's crash more than other small planes, and are therefore dangerous (they also easily outsell other small planes, and are therefore popular!).

I've researched this issue and 99% of Glock KB's involve hand-loads and/or naked lead bullets (the latter of which the Owner's Manual advises against!). That's it.

Even the .45 ACP issues appear to be ammo-related.

I bought my first Glock in October 2005--a G21. Some 10,000 rounds later, I've seen some bulged brass with +p and Double Tap ammo, but I expected that, based on my research. At any rate, the gun ate it up! It's my bedside gun today!

My latter two purchases were a G19 for Judy, and a G17 for myself. The 19 had some early feed issues, which proved to be a faulty magazine, and the 17 has been flawless in over 11,000-rounds. +p and +p+ ammos were all fired with zero problems. In fact, we stock Double Tap ammo for SD/HD in all three guns.

Glock's chamber tolerances are integral to its reliability in all climate extremes. We recall how the Uber-tight German Lugers failed at the Russian Front, while the looser Russian models functioned reliably. Glock delivers a selection of ready-to-go combat pistols, to all parts of the world.

The fact that Glock produces two proven 10 mm pistols, indicates that the OEM has complete confidence in their integrity (the frames and barrels are the same design as in other Glock models).

Given its cheap price (at least until lately), I don't think too many folks reload the 9 mm caliber, hence the low incidence of problems with the nines--and 9 mm has got to be the most popular caliber out there!

--Ray

 

[AdamSean]

I have read that you can get an after market barrel that will improve this issue.

 

[R&J]

I have read that you can get an after market barrel that will improve this issue.

Easily! Lone Wolf, KKM, Storm Lake, Bar-Sto, to name a few.

I converted my G21 to 10 mm with a KKM Conversion barrel.

--Ray

 

[jocko]

read everything you can on the guns webb sites and then believe half of it at BEST..

 

[obxflea]

thank you very much for the info.. Exactly what i wanted to know. Yall are awesome... Gotta go load some more bullets.. Reading this forum gives me the craving for burnt powder..... Love that smell.

Thanks again, Lee.

 

[Confederate]

The increasing price for a largely plastic pistol also grates on me; however, Glocks are built first and foremost as a combat gun, not a gun for reloaders. Recommending against a 9mm round also is okay provided the gun doesn't fail or go *KaBoom!* I'm of the belief that if a gun is chambered for a certain round, it ought to safely fire it. It may batter a gun in no time or cause it to malfunction (I think that's the word gun manufacturers like), but it shouldn't result in a KB.

If I needed a good, reliable weapon, I'd consider a Glock (or a Springfield XD). They've proven to be ultra reliable, even if they are eyesores.

 

[R&J]

They've proven to be ultra reliable, even if they are eyesores

.

Hey, those are somebody's babies you're talking about!

--Ray

 

[tinroad37e]

For the individual who said, "KB's with the .45 ACP Glocks are also quite common," I say Bulls**t. How many have you seen? I shoot Double Taps through my Glock 21 and Glock 30 on a regular basis with no problems.

 

[obxflea]

One more question..

I took the barrel out of my Kimber 10mm, and a barrel out of a glock 23. dropped a bullet in each. In the kimber the bullet fit in the chamber really tight, and supported very well.. The glock is also supported very well, but the chamber was LOOSE!!! My question is will an aftermarket barrel have a "tighter" chamber than the factory glock barrel?? Which brand barrel do you recommend? Thanks again for you help, Lee.