Glock 19 and the KB! Factor

T

Therapydude

New member
I'm seriously considering the purchase of a new Glock 19. I've read about KBs! occurring in the twenty-something (and at least one thirty-something .357 Sig) model Glocks. However, I've never heard of a Glock 17 or 19 going KB! I like Glock products, but also enjoy firing reloaded ammo. Are the Glock 9mm barrels (17,19, etc) fully supported or is it that the 9mm just produces less pressure in the case? What are your feelings on firing reloads through the 19? I usually shoot handguns chambered in .40, and thought of buying a 23 and dropping in an aftermarket barrel, but 1. this is too expensive and 2. I would prefer to leave the gun stock. Therefore, if I can buy a 19, leave it stock, fire reloads through it, and have peace of mind; I would be pretty happy. Any response would be appreciated.
 
The KBs have happened in the .40 and .45 caliber Glocks. They generally happened due to serious problems with the loads -- greatly overloaded factory ammo (which is what happened locally with a College's police force weapons -- a big bad lot of Federal ammo) or handloaders using lead and hot loads.

The problems seem no more frequent with Glocks than with other guns that have unsupported chamber areas (ala 1911s, etc.), perhaps less frequent given that there are so darned many Glocks out there. (The one case that I saw personally was a .40 -- the owner bought handloads at a Gun Show, and didn't know anything about the ammo, the loader, etc.)

Some of the after-market barrels for the larger calibers are supported... and have the added advantage (because they are not polygonal) of being able to shoot lead.

The 9mm versions have fully supported chambers.
 
By far, the most reported problems have been with the .40S&W models, with a smattering of reports on .45ACP guns. I've never heard of any problem with the 9mm Glocks, and I don't worry about it with my .45ACP ones either.
 
The most important thing about shooting reloads in Glocks is not to use lead bullets unless you are very careful about cleaning the lead out of the barrel frequently and thoroughly. The polygonal rifling of the barrel reacts badly to lead deposits. If you're determined to shoot lead, I would get an aftermarket barrel.

As to jacketed reloads, you should be ok if you (or the reloader) know what you're doing. The kB problem occurs primarily with the .40 S&W, which is a high-pressure round to begin with, and with 357SIG, which tends to suffer from bullet setback. Could you blow up a G19 with a double-charged round? Hell yes, but that's true with any gun.

The whole Kb issue with Glocks is vastly overstated by ignorant people who enjoy running down things they don't like. Get that G19 and have fun.
 
I have kaboomed [case head separation] with a CZ52. The out of control varible in the load work up was brass. The case support on the CZ52 is all the way to the web. I inadvertantly used a 1955 Polish case when I had been using S&B new stuff. The Gun was totalled and everything in the extractor's path was endangered.

The Glock 19 has the same case supprort problem as a Kel-tek P11: the case sticks out .190" and the web of the case is only .16" thick. That means there is .030" of thin case wall unsupproted. I have taken 4 bullet types and 10 powders to 48,000 cup with new RP brass. This is the equivalent of 9mm +P+++.


Contrast the bad factory G19 case support doing 48k cup all day with the good CZ52 case support blowing up at 42k cup. The difference was the brass.

Most of the kaboom stories are about G22s with 180 gr bullets, nuke loads, and yes, tired old brass.
 
Use jacketed factory ammo and your odds of a "Kb!" are roughly equivalent to your odds of getting struck by lightning. I am surprised that folks who shy away from .40 cal due to the whole mythology that has sprung up around "Kb!'s" will allow themselves to do something as patently suicidal as operate a motor vehicle or take a shower.

------------------
"..but never ever Fear. Fear is for the enemy. Fear and Bullets."
10mm: It's not the size of the Dawg in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog!
 
Actually, the 45acp Glocks have the most KB's, especially with lead bullets and near maximum charge weights. The 'unsupported' chamber is not a factor per say, all the Glock and aftermarket barrels are unsupported. If you double charge a 45acp with a high density powder, like Bullseye, it's going to blow up! The closest I have come was shooting 230 gr lead in front of 4.5grs of Clays in a stock G21, it 'bulged' the heck outa the brass. Since that time, both my G21's and G30 have aftermarket barrels. The G17 and G19 are stock, but I don't shoot lead in a 9mm. For actual data on KB's, do a search for a post by MarkCO.
 
KB's and case head separation are two completely different failure modes. KB's are due to extreme overpressure, either from double charging, or excessive lead build up. Case rupture is normally not a factor. The only measured data online is by MarkCO. He is an engineer, as I am, but his discipline is in 'forensic engineering', ie, investing product failures.

By the way xxero, which vendor makes fully supported barrels? I have a Federal, AccuMatch, and Bar-Sto; none are fully supported.
 
The case in a typical 1911 is as unsupported as the case in the .45ACP Glock pistols. This is simply not a problem! I have a Kimber and a Springfield 1911, and also two .45ACP Glocks. The 1911's have at least as much unsupported case as the Glocks.

As far as the 9mm being a high pressure round, so what? The 9mm Glock was never indited in the KB problem anyway.
 
I had a case head separtion that destroyed the pistol. I though that was a genuine Kaboom experience, but maybe it was only a false kaboom.

[This message has been edited by Clark (edited August 22, 2000).]
 
On case support:
Take the barrel out of the gun, and put a case in the chamber,
and scribe a mark on the case as far into the chamber as
the feed ramp and extractor cut will allow. Compare that
distance from the case head to the mark, if that distance is greater
than the thickness of the web [cross section one of the cases]
then there is unsupported thin case wall. A chamber that is supprorted up to
the web is not really a "fully supported chamber" but it is so much
better than the stock Glock barrels. People who shoot nuke loads in Glocks usually
get a Bar-Sto or Jarvis, or some other good aftermarket barrel with better case
support. Federal Arms quality is a problem.
 
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