excessive lead bullets --> exploding gun?

[Cosmik de Bris]

Glocks and other polygonal rifled barreled guns say right in the owners paperwork to not use lead bullets.

My HK USP manual says nothing of the sort. Your manuals may differ of course, one thing to remember is that the US is a litigious country and manufactures often have different versions to avoid legal liability. Polygonal barrels have been around a lot longer than jacketed bullets.

 

[JohnKSa]

Polygonal barrels have been around a lot longer than jacketed bullets.

Jacketed bullets came into use as a result of the higher velocities allowed by smokeless powder. So discussing polygonal rifling and lead bullets prior to the advent of jacketed bullets is discussing blackpowder firearms.

There are several good reasons why blackpowder guns did not have any significant issues with excessive pressure due to leading regardless of the type of rifling used.

Here are the ones I can think of without putting much effort into it, but there are probably more...

Lower pressures
Lower velocities
Often patched bullets were used
Frequent cleaning was mandatory due to blackpowder fouling

 

[JerryM]

Some instructors seem to want to WOW the class. This one is flaky. I have fired thousands of lead rounds in SAs. Mostly it has been 1911s, but a fair number in a G26. However, in Glocks I do not shoot many rounds per session so that the build up will not be a problem.

Regards,
Jerry