Does anyone manufacture a fully supported barrel for the 40 ?

[Bravo]

I have heard rumor that the reason for the 40 S&W K Booms apart from using lead in a Glock is that the round is not fully supported in a standard glock barrel.

Does anyone out there manufacture a barrel that fully supports the round and if so where can I purchase one.

I was just at a firearms class and a guy had pictures of a Glock in 40 S&W that blew up. He was using Federal ammo. Both Glock and Federal want the gun.

Some say that Glock takes the 9 mm barrel and uses it for the 40 and this is what weakens the barrel causing K Booms.

Just got a Glock 23 and don't want to blow it up.

Also how many times (if one reloaded) could a 40 S&W case be safetly reloaded ?

If this has been gone over before please excuse me.

Thanks for any help for this new Glock owner.

[FAL shootist]

Your g23 is fine with factory 40S&W it was designed for. My 27 works great with every thing I feed it. I don't reload or use reloads. Personally, I think the chances of having a problem with any gun when you use factory ammo the gun was designed for is pretty slim. This also holds true of Glocks.

Bar sto and others make fully supported barrels. unless you plan on using reload its probably a waste of money.

[Fireglock]

Intelligent reloading works with a Glock the same as any other firearm. My 23 had over 14,000 rounds of reloads through it last year. They certainly weren't on the ragged edge by any means but sensible loads will be fine in your stock Glock barrel. If you want 10MM loads then by all means buy a 10MM. You don't need a aftermarket barrel unless you want to shoot lead.

The guy with the pictures didn't have the Glock eh? Lots of pictures, not many actual Glocks to be seen blown up. At my first armorers school the instructor had a barrel from a 22 that had a squib load fired followed by a full power load, both bullets left the barrel and it bulged, but it was intact. Quit worrying about it and shoot it.

[grenadier]

Originally posted by Bravo
I have heard rumor that the reason for the 40 S&W K Booms apart from using lead in a Glock is that the round is not fully supported in a standard glock barrel.


Here are reasons why such occurrences did happen:

1) The shooter was using unjacketed lead bullets that were too soft, especially when it came to using them with a polygonally rifled barrel.

2) The shooter was using reloaded ammunition that had a double charge of propellant powder. It doesn't matter what brand of firearm you use in this case. Double charges will wreak havoc on any gun.

3) The shooter was using reloaded ammunition made with brass that was already overworked. The reloader (often times the shooter himself) was careless when it came to policing his own brass.

4) The shooter was using Federal Hydrashok ammo with the "FC" headstamp. The brass was notoriously thinner and weaker than other brands. Any Federal ammo in the .40 using the "Federal" headstamp is fine.

Note: none of these reasons were the fault of the Glock firearm.


Does anyone out there manufacture a barrel that fully supports the round and if so where can I purchase one.


Nobody makes a "fully supported" barrel, but there are several companies that make barrels that give more complete support:

http://www.barsto.com
http://www.jarvis-custom.com
http://www.kkmprecision.com
http://www.briley.com
http://www.olyarms.com
http://www.lonewolfdist.com

Prices range from 90 bucks (Federal), to over 200 bucks (Barsto).


Just got a Glock 23 and don't want to blow it up.


If you want your brass to last longer, then you are doing a good thing by getting an aftermarket barrel for plinking purposes. For carry purposes, stick with the factory barrel.


Also how many times (if one reloaded) could a 40 S&W case be safetly reloaded ?


Depends on the load. The hotter you make your loads, the more the brass gets stressed. At the top of the spectrum, you get significant bulging of the brass at the 6 o'clock position if you use the factory barrel.

If the brass gets bulged that badly, you should toss it out.

With my Jarvis and Barsto barrels for my .40 Glocks, I get no bulging, and I've reused the same brass 4 times so far, and all of it looks excellent.

My plinking loads are loaded conservatively, as well.

[Mtrclass]

Several companies market aftermarket barrels that provide additional support for the case. I my opinion the Bar Sto is the best.

Case life is based on several different factors such as, how hot the reload is, which barrel you are using, and the quality of the brass you are using. I have regularly gotten 7 or 8 uses out of Winchester brass using a Bar Sto barrel. And that is loading to USPSA major using 180 JHP's.

[BrokenArrow]

Ditto most of the the above.

The guns w the more case support and/or thicker chamber walls in 9/40/357/45 than Glocks?

Classic SIGs, sig pro, H&K USP, Ruger, SA-XD, CZ100, 1911s.

The Walther P99, S&W sigma/SW99, FN FortyNine, Beretta, Taurus, CZ75, BHP are pretty much the same and/or less.

Knew a guy who had a pet 40 load for action shooting (200 gr at 900 fps) that gave his Glocks fits (bulged/blew cases regualarly) and worked fine in a S&W sigma!? Ya never know? ;)

[Bravo]

Thanks a lot guys for some very useful info.

Good to know there are those out there willing to help.

[BrokenArrow]

Saw the remains of a kBd all German made Walther P99 (German proof marks on slide and bbl) not one of the "SWalthers" w the slide/bbl made in the USA by S&W (no German proof marks). Ammo was PMC 165 gr FMJ/FP. Guy who works the counter had given it to his son to shoot when he came back to tell him one of the rounds felt like a 44 mag. The case blew in the web area at the 5 o'clock position,
was missing a half-moon cutout of brass. Slide and bbl appear undamaged, the frame has cracks in it from the locking block through the mag well. Walther USA was contacted and said they want to examine the gun and brass since this is the first time this has happened to one of their guns (or so this guy was told).

What is it w the 40S&W/357SIG anyway? Good terminal ballistics and stopping reputations but the guns and ammo seem to be blowing a lot more often w more damage than I remember the 9mm guns and ammo (or anything else except stuff like hot-rodded 38 Supers) doing before or presently.

I know anything can blow, and plenty have no problems, and anybody can screw up a round now and then, but I'm beginning to think sumthin' else is up here.

It's been 12 yrs; that "it's new" excuse is wearing thin...

Yep, the nine is nifty. <g>

[Duck of Death]

So far my KKM barrel (1M rounds) has been 100% reliable. I don't change to the factory barrel when I carry. No bulged cases, good case life and good accuracy.

[BowmansBrigade]

Fire Dragon makes an excellent barrel. Tested by the Israelis with over 20,000 continues rounds shot through it, showed absolutely no wear.

I (of course) shoot Fire Dragon barrels in all my Glocks, Sig's, etc., have shot many thousands of reloads through these barrels, they work perfectly. My carry gun is (what else?) a Glock 23, near one-hole accuracy with a national match Fire Dragon barrel.

[Duck of Death]

I shot my G23 twice with the factory barrel and replaced it with a KKM. Its supported at the 6 o'clock position, has a tighter chamber and conventional rifeling, and doesn't give me the Glock smile.

[cheygriz]

I replaced my G-22 barrel with a BarSto. I don't load "nuclear" loads, but I do load to duplicate factory duty type ammo. IMHO, these reloads are too hot for the Glock barrel. I often load brass 8-10 times in the G-22 with factory duplication loads.

If you load only low pressure target loads, the Glock barrel is probably fine. If you want to load to duplicare factory, or you want to save money by using lead, then get an aftermarket barrel.

The BarSto is a great barrel, and very accurate. However, unless you're a world class master, a much cheaper Federal will serve you just as well. If I had it to do over again, I would buy a Federal barrel and spend the other $150 on components. Just my personal experience. YMMV

[MarkCO]

No.

I prefer KKMs.

If you want to read more about Kabooms, click on the link in my sig line and go to technical articles.

Regards.