Reloading for Glock 26
- Thread starter Wendyj
- Start date
You are referring to what is commonly known as the "Glock bulge". The earlier Glocks, Generation 2 and older, had severely undercut chambers. In other words, a large portion of the lower side of the case, when chambered, was unsupported. So, in those pistols, anything but fairly light loads had a tendency to cause the brass to bulge when fired. Said brass was then considered not really suitable for reloading. Glock did not design the earliest versions of their guns for reloaded ammo - so they didn't care about this issue. They were designed as service pistols, in which reloaded ammo would likely never be used.
The Generation 3 and 4 Glocks are different in this regard. Glock changed the chambers, so that the "Glock bulge" is no longer a problem.
The Generation 3 and 4 Glocks are different in this regard. Glock changed the chambers, so that the "Glock bulge" is no longer a problem.
It's not that the earlier Glocks won't work with reloads, the issue is that they tend to distort (bulge) the brass IF using fairly hot loads. If you are not getting bulged brass, then your loads are not hot enough to cause the problem. Therefore, if the problem does not appear....there is no problem.
Wendy, I reload for several 9mm's and one of them is a G26. Since I'm in CA, we are stuck with Gen 3 version. It takes all my reloads perfectly. Having said that, since I shoot pistol in an indoor range I end up with Range pickup brass.
When I reload it's pretty easy to spot Glock brass by the tell tale primer strike (at least where I shoot). Every now and then I'll see one with the bulge...
What I do is tumble, inspect and reload as usual, but before I put the reloads into my ammo cases, I run them through a Lyman chamber checker. I would say about 4 out of a 100 will not pass. Visually they look perfect, but sometimes it could be the bulge or the rim has a blemish/scratch that won't let it pass. (when I mean pass is they fall in and out easily! If they catch in any way they have failed this test)
These get run through the Lee Bulge Buster, and I use a 9mm Mak FCD die because the 9mm is a tapered round. You'd be surprised how much leverage you need to run these through the die. Heck I've even resorted to lubing the base a bit with some imperial wax to make it easier. BUT, after running them, and yes they are loaded, through they pass and shoot perfectly. This to me is just insurance that I won't have a FTF, or FTC.
To date this has proved foolproof to my shooting 9mm.
When I reload it's pretty easy to spot Glock brass by the tell tale primer strike (at least where I shoot). Every now and then I'll see one with the bulge...
What I do is tumble, inspect and reload as usual, but before I put the reloads into my ammo cases, I run them through a Lyman chamber checker. I would say about 4 out of a 100 will not pass. Visually they look perfect, but sometimes it could be the bulge or the rim has a blemish/scratch that won't let it pass. (when I mean pass is they fall in and out easily! If they catch in any way they have failed this test)
These get run through the Lee Bulge Buster, and I use a 9mm Mak FCD die because the 9mm is a tapered round. You'd be surprised how much leverage you need to run these through the die. Heck I've even resorted to lubing the base a bit with some imperial wax to make it easier. BUT, after running them, and yes they are loaded, through they pass and shoot perfectly. This to me is just insurance that I won't have a FTF, or FTC.
To date this has proved foolproof to my shooting 9mm.