excessive lead bullets --> exploding gun?

R

rbf420

New member
i just took my ccw class today... the instructor told us that we should refrain from extensivly using straight lead ammunition in semi-autos, because of the grooves in semi auto barrels are such that lead build up in the grooves would cause the barrel size to get smaller thus causing a stuck round and exploding like shooting a 45 in 40... not the exact words but gets the point across. i asked him about lubed leaded bullets.. as i hand cast for all my guns... and shoot them extensivly... he said he wasnt sure.. he didnt seem to dead set on this but seemed more as if this was info handed down...

is this even remotely probable with properly lubed and cleaned barrels?

would not the proper cleaning of the barrel keep the lead from building up in such a way

i guess if u shot straight lead and never cleaned ur gun i could see build up becoming excessive enough to do damage.. but i think its full of crap

any anwsers?
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I doubt it. I am not expert, but I doubt it, as a firearm that had to be that neglected would probably fail from other problems first. I have been shooting cast 9mm and 38 special, my own cast as well, with no issues, but I also CLEAN my barrels. the only place I have found any lead is in the gas block on my vz-58, and that gets scrubbed out.
 
He's full of crap, I am a firearms instructor and would refrain from trying to explain anything to do about ballistics or gunsmithing during a CCW class. The worst thing that can happen is soft lead will fill up the rifling and accuracy will be lost. The only issue is polygonal rifling in glock and hk handguns. They are speifically warned from the factory not to use lead ammo.
 
the instructor told us that we should refrain from extensivly using straight lead ammunition in semi-autos, because of the grooves in semi auto barrels are such that lead build up in the grooves would cause the barrel size to get smaller thus causing a stuck round and exploding like shooting a 45 in 40...
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The worst thing that can happen is soft lead will fill up the rifling and accuracy will be lost. The only issue is polygonal rifling in glock and hk handguns. They are speifically warned from the factory not to use lead ammo.
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Both of these statements are bogus.

Do a search with my name and the words Glock and KABOOM!
 
If you own a Glock here is some worthwhile reading, if you don't I wouldn't worry about it. For economy's sake I started casting lead bullets for my 9mm, 38/357, 45acp and 303 British. After 4000 some odd rounds no problems yet. Sometimes one kernel or truth falls into an entire sack of mis-information.

http://www.glockfaq.com/content.aspx?ckey=glock_faq_reloading

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

Both of these statements are bogus.

Do a search with my name and the words Glock and KABOOM!
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So what causes the KABOOMS?????? The common factor of kabooms was usually case failure, and most of the failures were with reloaded cases. But remember that factory rounds cause good numbers of KAVOOMS every year as well.

Glock’s research of KABOOMS showed a build up of lead at the point of head-spacing. This caused the cartridges to be progressively set farther back in the chamber farther and farther as more rounds were fired. The design of the older Glocks allowed them to fire (fire out of battery) these rounds which were set back. If the pressure were sufficient, the case would rupture.

What factors can cause over pressure????? Obviously an overloaded round will do nicely. Lead bullets will cause leading in the barrel and the chamber. The degree of build up and the number of shots required to reach overpressure will vary wildly with lead composition/velocity/powder/lube and so on. The leading of the chamber in combination with the increased pressure of a leaded barrel can cause the case to rupture. There are lots of other factors, but will not be discussed here.

Shooting jacketed bullets after lead in polygonal barrels is controversial. Does it clean out the lead??? It is theorized that in reality the jacketed bullets irons the lead to a shiny flat coating and the bore is decreased.

Bottom line. Shooting lead in polygonal barrels is safe as long as you use hard cast bullets, check the chamber and barrel for leading frequently, and clean the weapon more frequently than you would with jacketed.

- Shoney

https://www.thehighroad.us/showthread.php?t=408807

Are you disagreeing with him warning about Glocks and Lead just to be rude? You both seem to agree that shooting lead bullets in Glock barrels can be problematic...
 
... the instructor told us that we should refrain from extensivly using straight lead ammunition in semi-autos, because of the grooves in semi auto barrels are such that lead build up in the grooves would cause the barrel size to get smaller thus causing a stuck round and exploding like shooting a 45 in 40...
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One of the basic tenets of cast lead bullet shooters (http://www.castbulletassoc.org/index.shtml) is that "correct cast lead bullet loads do not lead". There are cast lead bullet shooters (me included), that have shot cast lead bullets exclusively for years without any problems. This also applies to cast lead bullets in rifles and especially revolvers. If there is any significant leading while shooting a cast lead bullet, those who are knowledgeable will look for the cause and correct it.
Best results for auto pistols are usually found with using a hard alloy (heat treated Wheel Weights or Linotype, etc.) and sizing to bore diameter.

The benefit (inexpensive), of shooting your own cast lead bullets results in being able to afford to shoot without even considering the cost of ammunition. That is why I started doing it in 1965.

The fear of "leading", in my opinion comes from inexperianced people starting out with casting and not understanding how to eliminate the cause of leading when it appears. They get the bore severly leaded and finding it hard to remove (not so hard if you know how), and swear-off cast lead shooting "because it leads the barrel".
 
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I wonder how many millions of 45 ACP lead bullets have been fired down range, by all kinds of shooters in all kinds of guns.

The guy should stick to the CCW classes and stay away from reloading.
 
the instructor told us that we should refrain from extensivly using straight lead ammunition in semi-autos, because of the grooves in semi auto barrels are such that lead build up in the grooves would cause the barrel size to get smaller thus causing a stuck round and exploding like shooting a 45 in 40... not the exact words but gets the point across.
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I've shot thousands of lead bullets through my semis with nary a problem. Your instructor doesn't know what he's talking about. I know that there is a concern with lead bullets and Glocks, but with the proper knowledge that's not much of a problem.
 
Bovine excrement!

Just clean the darn thing & this will never happen. If you forget to clean then the "boolitts" will not take the rifling & will become wildly inaccurate & keyhole long before anything else happens.

We had a friends kid shooting a .22 RF pistol, after the 3rd brick of shots without doing anything the thing became a lead-lined smooth-bore & the "boolitts" key-holed at 15 feet.:eek: We scrubbed the heck out of the bore & it was fine again, at no time did anything happen other than the failure to stabilize.

There are one or two self loaders that will plug up the gas port with lead bullets, but that's it they'll just quit cycling with a plugged port, they still won't "explode"
 
As i understand it lead rounds wont blow your gun up normally. But with glocks lead rounds do cause a build up due to the way the land and groves are there not a standard cut.I would say do some research on the issue and find a awnsner that puts your mind at ease on the matter for your gun all the other guns you dont own dont really matter.
 
i just took my ccw class today... the instructor told us that we should refrain from extensivly using straight lead ammunition in semi-autos, because of the grooves in semi auto barrels are such that lead build up in the grooves would cause the barrel size to get smaller thus causing a stuck round and exploding like shooting a 45 in 40... not the exact words but gets the point across. i asked him about lubed leaded bullets.. as i hand cast for all my guns... and shoot them extensivly... he said he wasnt sure.. he didnt seem to dead set on this but seemed more as if this was info handed down...

is this even remotely probable with properly lubed and cleaned barrels?
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Must be a Glock man.

That's simply not a problem for guns with land and groove rifling.
 
I have never seen convincing evidence that firing lead bullets in a Glock can cause a kaboom or any other problem. If any buildup in the chamber can cause the cartridge to seat far out enough that it is not properly supported and the gun can fire, the gun design is deficient. Period.

Nearly every firearm manufacturer warns against use of any handloads or reloads for liability reasons. Since they have no control over, or any reasonable way of knowing, what load was used, they naturally will not accept any blame for what happens if handloads are used.

One possible problem I have looked at, and never seen addressed, is what can happen when someone has guns in both 9mm and .40 and gets the ammo mixed up. If a 9mm is placed in the magazine of a .40, it will be fed into the chamber but will be pushed too far forward to fire. The result can be that the shooter thinks there was a failure to feed, keeps the gun pointed down range, racks the slide, and fires the next round. The .40 bullet on its way out encounters the 9mm round and strange things happen.

Have I tried that? Not having a gun I wanted to blow up, no. But as I say, neither has anyone else to my knowledge.

Jim
 
I have never seen convincing evidence that firing lead bullets in a Glock can cause a kaboom or any other problem. If any buildup in the chamber can cause the cartridge to seat far out enough that it is not properly supported and the gun can fire, the gun design is deficient. Period.
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Listen to Jim.

When we run a class for the day, I have seen over 500 rounds of lead run through Glocks. - No problem.

I hope your "instructor" knows more about concealed carry than he does about lead bullets.
 
Cast Bullets and Barrel Leading

I have been using Oregon Trail Lead Cast Bullets in both 45ACP in IDPA
and 45Colt in SASS for several years and have never had a Blow Up or a Barrel Leading Problem with either Caliber with various Mfgs.Sigs,S&Ws,Rugers,Colts,Kimbers & Ubertis.

My 2 Cents
Hagen
 
I was once told that regular copper jacketed bullets would blow up a Glock:eek:. This came from a cousin who is a police officer. They had a Glock rep do a class and told them this. The only thing I can get from it is a) it was a misunderstanding. Or b) the rep had some interest in selling some moly coated bullets.
 
A quote from Wikipedia.org ...

" ... Dave Spaulding, well-known gun writer, reported in the February/March 2008 issue of Handguns Magazine that when he queried H&K about their polygonally rifled barrels that they commented: "It has been their experience that polygonal rifling will foul with lead at a greater rate than will conventional rifling."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygonal_rifling

The article goes on to talk about the specific problem with Glocks as discussed in posts above.
 
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My 357 S&W Model 19 will foul at a greater rate when I push soft lead bullets over 1100 fps. Is doesn't blow up.

Neither does my Glock when I shoot lead. (Glock OEM barrel had polygonal rifling).

And H&K didn't say it's guns would blow up either. They said they foul quicker.

Go ahead and worry as much as you want and shoot expensive ammo.
 
Only time I have heard of problems like this is when firing copper jacketed bullets thru a heavily leaded barrel. The copper jackets won't peel like lead and the lead fouling can act like any other bore obstruction creating excess pressure. This is why, altho practiced for many years, ''shooting'' the lead out with a jacketed bullet after shooting lead is not recommended.
 
The only problem I have had with lead bullets in Glocks were with 40s &9MM, and it was that the bullets would key hole at 25yds. These were soft lead bullets made from wheel weights. With hard cast (Oregon Trail) I have not had any problems. I have personalty shot thousands of lead bullets through Glocks, 9MM, 40 and 45s. The 45s cast from wheel weight s shoot just fine and show no leading.

I believe that the problems with Glocks K Booming is from over charges, bullet set back, firing out of battery (probably from a fouled chamber) or bad cartage cases (federal had some problems early on) or some combination of these. My Glocks shoot 10 reloads to every factory round and I still have all my fingers and both eyes. The chambers of most Glocks (or at least the early ones) were on the large size of specks. This provides some extra reliability of feeding ammo and is safe with new ammo but can be a problem with reloads. The above is just my opinion from shooting Glocks for the last 15 years.
 
You should have asked him if he had ever instructed a class before?? and If he has a license to do so/// .

I guess my guns are freaks of nature then...

.. because they have shot many many rds of lead downrange....


... no kabooms yet
 
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