I recently read a post in the this area, asking about the general safety of the .40. The concerns were about rumours and hearsay on the "Kablooey", or "KB" of weapons shooting .40.
There were, of course, numerous replies. One in particular stuck out:
"It ain't the round!
The fault, dear friends, lies not with the cartridge, but with ourselves!
The problem is with reloads, and the guns in which they are fired. According to an article in Combat Handguns which I read a while back, most KaBooms can be traced to collapsed cartridges in reloads. The reloads DID NOT have enough neck tension on the bullet, and as a result, the bullet is forced back into the case during the semi-auto loading cycle. This causes pressures, in a round that is already on the edge, to skyrocket!
How to prevent it? When you flair the case mouth during reloading, you are also expanding the case neck. This expansion decreases neck tension and makes the bullet more suseptable to bullet set back. One solution is to turn down the neck expander portion of the plug to eliminate the unnecessary expansion. This will increase neck tension. Another solution is to do as I do. I DO NOT flair the case neck at all! I leave the case as resized and chamfer the case mouth with a Bonanza tool from Sinclair. I then seat the bullet in the unexpanded case and DO NOT CRIMP!
NO CRIMP? Yep, no crimp! The crimp DOES NOT increase neck tension, it is to remove case mouth flair. In fact, crimping can actually REDUCE neck tension! I discovered this once when I over crimped, using a taper crimp die, some 9mm. After crimping, the bullets, which HAD been held firmly in the case, could now be easily turned in the case! So, I DON'T CRIMP! And I have never experienced bullet setback in one of my reloads.
Now, as to the guns. The problem with KBs in Glocks has been much discussed in the National Range Officer's Institute of the United States Practical Shooting Association. The conclusion is that Glocks are more suseptable to bullet set back due to their feed ramp geometry. Apparently the slope of the ramp is such that it puts undue reaward force on the bullet, making improperly reloaded bullets more suseptable to bullet set back. The result, more Glock KBs.
Glock recognizes the problem and FORBIDS reloads in their guns. Many shooters, however, use reloads in their Glocks with NO PROBLEMS. How is this? Well, I suspect that they know how to assemble a proper reload, with maximum neck tension! "
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A post in reply had the following URL:
http://greent.com/40Page/ammo/40/180gr.htm
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And, as well:
http://communities.prodigy.net/spor...b-notes.html#A2
And from that, the following excerpt:
"I found that the duty ammo took quite a beating in 6 months. Also just about every ammo manufacturer will tell you that the ammo is only rated for two (2) times through a semi-auto pistol (chambering/extracting), and both Winchester and Federal as recently as two months ago confirmed this again. After two times bullet set-back could start.
I can talk to you about bullet set-back... but let me just say that if you are using a .40 S&W caliber weapon, that tests have been conducted that show very little set-back has raised pressures around 60-70,000 psi (way above a proof load). This could cause, and has caused, weapon blow-ups in the .40."
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So, what I want to get clear on is, just how often can I reload a .40 brass?, and what are the risks?
It would appear that one should be very judicious reloading .40, especially when shooting a Glock, due to the feed ramp angle, and risks for set-back.
If I cannot reload the casings multiple times (thus saving some money on ammo), or B), have inordinate risk for KB'ing, I may prefer to stay with my Kimber Pro Carry HD .45 ACP.
But, I love my Glock 22 / .40, and can't afford to shoot practice and IDPA WITHOUT reloading.
Anyone's thoughts and experience on this would be greatly appreciated!
There were, of course, numerous replies. One in particular stuck out:
"It ain't the round!
The fault, dear friends, lies not with the cartridge, but with ourselves!
The problem is with reloads, and the guns in which they are fired. According to an article in Combat Handguns which I read a while back, most KaBooms can be traced to collapsed cartridges in reloads. The reloads DID NOT have enough neck tension on the bullet, and as a result, the bullet is forced back into the case during the semi-auto loading cycle. This causes pressures, in a round that is already on the edge, to skyrocket!
How to prevent it? When you flair the case mouth during reloading, you are also expanding the case neck. This expansion decreases neck tension and makes the bullet more suseptable to bullet set back. One solution is to turn down the neck expander portion of the plug to eliminate the unnecessary expansion. This will increase neck tension. Another solution is to do as I do. I DO NOT flair the case neck at all! I leave the case as resized and chamfer the case mouth with a Bonanza tool from Sinclair. I then seat the bullet in the unexpanded case and DO NOT CRIMP!
NO CRIMP? Yep, no crimp! The crimp DOES NOT increase neck tension, it is to remove case mouth flair. In fact, crimping can actually REDUCE neck tension! I discovered this once when I over crimped, using a taper crimp die, some 9mm. After crimping, the bullets, which HAD been held firmly in the case, could now be easily turned in the case! So, I DON'T CRIMP! And I have never experienced bullet setback in one of my reloads.
Now, as to the guns. The problem with KBs in Glocks has been much discussed in the National Range Officer's Institute of the United States Practical Shooting Association. The conclusion is that Glocks are more suseptable to bullet set back due to their feed ramp geometry. Apparently the slope of the ramp is such that it puts undue reaward force on the bullet, making improperly reloaded bullets more suseptable to bullet set back. The result, more Glock KBs.
Glock recognizes the problem and FORBIDS reloads in their guns. Many shooters, however, use reloads in their Glocks with NO PROBLEMS. How is this? Well, I suspect that they know how to assemble a proper reload, with maximum neck tension! "
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A post in reply had the following URL:
http://greent.com/40Page/ammo/40/180gr.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
And, as well:
http://communities.prodigy.net/spor...b-notes.html#A2
And from that, the following excerpt:
"I found that the duty ammo took quite a beating in 6 months. Also just about every ammo manufacturer will tell you that the ammo is only rated for two (2) times through a semi-auto pistol (chambering/extracting), and both Winchester and Federal as recently as two months ago confirmed this again. After two times bullet set-back could start.
I can talk to you about bullet set-back... but let me just say that if you are using a .40 S&W caliber weapon, that tests have been conducted that show very little set-back has raised pressures around 60-70,000 psi (way above a proof load). This could cause, and has caused, weapon blow-ups in the .40."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, what I want to get clear on is, just how often can I reload a .40 brass?, and what are the risks?
It would appear that one should be very judicious reloading .40, especially when shooting a Glock, due to the feed ramp angle, and risks for set-back.
If I cannot reload the casings multiple times (thus saving some money on ammo), or B), have inordinate risk for KB'ing, I may prefer to stay with my Kimber Pro Carry HD .45 ACP.
But, I love my Glock 22 / .40, and can't afford to shoot practice and IDPA WITHOUT reloading.
Anyone's thoughts and experience on this would be greatly appreciated!