Glock keyholing?
- Thread starter Radny97
- Start date
johnwilliamson062
Moderator
Can we combine this with the 357 ROF thread?
When I got my G19, I tried it out with plated-bullet handloads. They keyholed most of the time and shot horrible groups. Same with my G17. When I switched to jacketed bullets, groups tightened up nicely and no more keyholes.
It's not just lead bullets that cause problems with Glocks.
It's not just lead bullets that cause problems with Glocks.
I believe the plated bullets are considered "lead", or at least in the same class as lead, as far as load data for them goes. At least thats been what Ive run into just recently, as Ive been giving them a try.
Ive loaded the Berry's plated bullets in my .380's, which Ive shot from my Gock 42's with no issues, and just in .357mag, which I was just shooting yesterday. No issue there with my S&W Model 28 either.
Now, both of these loads were loaded a bit under what I normally load the same rounds when I use jacketed bullets, and closer to the upper loadings in the manuals, for the lead bullets, as Berry's recommends.
Ive been considering trying them in my 9mm Glocks, but from some of the reports on accuracy issues Ive seen, and the fact that the jacketed bullets only cost a little more, Im really not seeing the point.
The absolute worst case of leading I ever encountered was with plated bullets. In all fairness, it became obvious later that the plating was very thin and the bullets were dead soft. I think that thicker plating probably acts much more like a jacket. Maybe the manufacturer would provide such information.
jglsprings
New member
JohnKSa - what round / caliber / velocity were you shooting? I had bad results driving plated bullets in a 44 mag. They don't respond well to magnum velocities. Very bad shedding and leading.
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Understood. The X-treme brand bullets seem to have a pretty heavy plate and thus act more like a jacketed round. Interesting to see what different results people are getting with different plated bullets. As someone said, having manufacturers state the thickness of the plate would help us adjust our expectations, and the safe practice of working new loads back up after changing components needs to be followed.
I didnt see Berry's listing the thickness, but from what I saw, they do plainly state that they think you should treat them like "lead", and should start with that data, and dont seem to recommend going above the lower end of the jacketed data, when loading them. They also recommend a light crimp.
Dont have any experience with any of the others, but I would think if you looked around on their sites, they probably have similar recommendations as the Berry's do, or at least point you in the right direction so you can have a positive experience with their product.
Regular Joe
New member
Plated bullets and Glocks work perfectly fine for me. I've shot something over 7,000 from Ranier, and I currently load Xtreme 115 HP's to "normal" jacketed spec. My Glock barrels remain shiny and clean, and accuracy depends entirely on the gun and load.
I've never seen keyholing from any pistol I've ever owned, and that amounts to something over 200,000 rounds.
I've never seen keyholing from any pistol I've ever owned, and that amounts to something over 200,000 rounds.
The ammunition was purchased in a pawn shop very early in my shooting career. I don't remember the brand, but it wasn't one I had ever seen before or have ever seen since. It was 9mm ammo, 115gr as I recall and there was nothing on the box that indicated the ammo was plated, not jacketed nor any information about velocity.
I discovered the problem when I started getting obvious misses and keyholing. The bore in the Beretta 92FS had leaded so badly that it was a smoothbore. After I checked it I was afraid to shoot it any more that range trip for fear of an overpressure event due to partial obstruction. It took me forever to get that bore clean.
It's been so long that I can't remember what I did with the rest of the ammunition now...