Jim
Much great information being shared in these posts, but reading the reload posts made me feel the need to point out one thing.
While reloading ammunition for revolvers and most conventional handguns is easy and fun, it is a different story for Glocks.The Glock is designed with an “Unsupported chamber” barrel which makes firing untested reloaded ammunition a dangerous affair. If the specs on the reloads are off even just a little, the result could be a nasty problem.
The ammo could cause the gun to self destruct, especially if it is a 40 caliber model. If you don’t believe me, do a Google search for the term “Glock Kaboom.”
Read it carefully, and pay close attention, it has happened many times with reloads.
I should note that I own two 9mm Glocks and fire some really well done reloads from a commercial reloading company. The ammo I shoot is specially made to be tolerated by Glocks and I’ve never had a problem with any of it. The rub is, I have nearly 2K rounds of it left from an initial lot of 4K rounds and the company where I purchased the ammo seems to have dropped off the face of the earth.
Well done reloads work fine in most 1911s, CZ-75s, SIGs, and other modern semi auto handguns. If you carry the Glock, like me, then you are obligated to do a little more research. – LK from WV
Jim,
In defense of what I said in my first letter about the simplicity of this system, I cannot understand how one could possibly have a near-disastrous KaBoom, if the directions were followed. There are always ways to succeed in screwing up, and I have done so myself in the past, but not with a disaster like that. Possibly if you had several different lee loader sets, and got the scoop from two sets mixed, I could see this happening.
AVL is correct in that semi-autos will feed more reliably with cases that are full length sized, you should go one step further, and get what are called ‘small base’ dies, so they will feed. At the same time, with a semi-auto, it can be very difficult to find your cases to re-load in the first place, and, the hand loader is really slow, a semi-auto will burn through ammo faster than you can get your kids to reload it!
For bolt-action rifles, especially if you are shooting the cartridges in the same rifle they were originally fired, there should be no problem closing the bolt, till the cases have stretched to the point where they need trimming. To not do this could also result in a catastrophic event. RCBS has dies that they claim prevent case stretching, and I have some, but have not used them enough to know if it is so.
The bullet supplier that I mentioned is a fledgling outfit that puts out good product, and might expand operations to rifle calibers, too, if things get rolling. Thanks, – Sid Near Niagara Falls