Lead in Glocks?

New guy here with an old forbidden question. I have been loading cast boolits for 30 years, but in the last month have aquired two Glocks (my firs ones) a G17 & a G19. I am impressed with them, but as an avid lead shooter, am wondering about the validity of the warning to not shoot lead out of th polygonal rifled barrel. Have any of you got thoughts/experience that could help? FWIW these are both in 9MM

Welcome to The Guide, Byrd.

.40/10mm factory barrels should not be shot with soft lead bullets. Lead fouling builds up quickly in the polygonal rifling as does pressure. Some shooter post good results with very hard (lino) bullets in their factory barrels, but they have to fit the bore correctly. Many opt for aftermarket barrels both for cut rifling and for better case head support.

All I shoot in my .45ACP G21 with factory barrel is my own soft cast, 1WW/4pure lead 220gr RN bullets. Many thousands of rounds, no problems at all.

I see no reason why you shouldn't try some cast in your 9's. Start with something soft and correctly sized and keep checking for leading in the barrel as you work up in charge. When a pistol barrel starts leading up it usually does it very quickly: accuracy immediately deteriorates from groups to shotgun patterns. If you have to run a harder alloy to get the velocities you want and good functioning, then go ahead. Nothing causes problems faster than a bullet that is too hard and too small, so make sure you can get them .002-.003" above groove diameter. Glocks have generous chambers and don't usually have any problems feeding oversized cast bullets. If they get finicky you can use a factory crimp die to get them feeding perfectly. Most of my autoloaders in various calibers show a marked distaste for beveled base bullets, the square skirt of the plain base seems to obturate much better and form a tight and even gas seal. It's anyone guess which nose profile will feed best through them, so start with a rn or a tc and a reliable powder like UNQ.

But you know that shooting any handloaded ammo in any Glock automatically voids its warranty. Didn't phase me much either.

most all i know about the polygonal is what i have heard that guy's say works.
it has been hard and big.
a lube thats flexible yet sticky enough to hang in there.
and to watch the corners.

Thanks for the replies guys. I am going to try it in my Glocks. To date I have put about 200 jacketed boolits through them, and function is 100%. I have a Kahr PM9 with the polygonal rifeling that I have shot lead through with no problem so I assume Glock is just getting ahead by saying no lead. I have some 125 gr RNL loaded with 4.9gr of WW231 that is a great shooter out of a Star BM. I think I will run a few through one of the Glocks and see what happens. This has beed an accurate load in the Star with no leading so I will see what happens!

Byrd,
I have loaded lead for my Glocks for 16 or 17 years now. In the models chambered for 9m/m I have settled on two loads. 125 LRN with 4.5 Unique and 147 LFP with 3.5 Unique. I will get a bit of lead streaking from time to time but, nothing serious. Keep an eye on them.
Walt

Thanks Walt, appreciate te input. How do you like the 147 gr boolit? I have never tried one. In 9MM I have alwaws used 125 dr cast. Is it a load you think I should look into?

Byrd,
Most of what I shoot in my various 9m/m Glocks is a 147 LFP with 3.5 Unique. The heavier i.e. slower bullet seems to lead less in my experience. I do have a buddy that is into IDPA shooting and he swears by the 125 LRN load using 4.5 Unique. Either one has proven to be reasonably accurate in most guns and they operate my G17, G17L, G19, or G34 with a "broken in" factory recoil spring. While I personally won't use a modified Glock for a defense weapon I do sometimes use a aftermarket guide rod and spring for plinking and range time. A brand new Glock may be balky in operation with the factory recoil spring and a Gen 4 model may not run at all when new due to the weight of the new dual recoil spring set up they use. I'll find that out shortly as I have one on order.
Walt

Thanks Walt, I appreciate the input. I will have to try those loads in my Glocks. I have a new 3rd Generation G19 and an old 1st Gen G17. They both function fine with full power jacketed, but need tested with lighter lead loads. The G19 has a stiff recoil spring (new) and I just replaced the spring in the G17 so it is pretty stiff as well. I still have the old recoil spring, so I can put it in to try out if the newer spring it too powerful.