Kaboom'd Pistol

if you use .355 dia. swaged bullets in your 9mm loads, you really need to clean your barrels often or shoot a few jacketed rounds at the end of your shooting sessions. Most 9mm barrels have .357 dia. barrels.

If you use .355 lead bullets and don't clean your barrels, you can damage your guns. My Brother ignored my warnings on his reloads and lack of cleanings and blew up his mintish Inglis HP. His Berreta 92 fired brass exhibited a bulge on the case just forward of the case base. The gun was not damaged, but both it and the Inglis were heavily leaded from the chamber to over half the length of their barrels.
 
Glock 22 has unsupported barrel and 40 S&W brass is very week. Your gun looks OK in comparison with mine. When I blow up my 22 even slide opened up at the loading gate and barrel went in two pieces. Do not use reloads in 22, specially non jasketed bullets
 
if you use .355 dia. swaged bullets in your 9mm loads, you really need to clean your barrels often or shoot a few jacketed rounds at the end of your shooting sessions. Most 9mm barrels have .357 dia. barrels.

If you use .355 lead bullets and don't clean your barrels, you can damage your guns. My Brother ignored my warnings on his reloads and lack of cleanings and blew up his mintish Inglis HP. His Berreta 92 fired brass exhibited a bulge on the case just forward of the case base. The gun was not damaged, but both it and the Inglis were heavily leaded from the chamber to over half the length of their barrels.

I think it is fairer to say some 9MM barrels are .357. Early European barrels tended to be larger. Most 9MM barrels of recent manufacture are now .355. If you cast your own bullets sizing 9MM bullet either .356 or .357 for modern pistols should eliminate most of the leading cuased by gas cutting. The Glocks version of polygonial rifling seems to lead more than say the Tanfoglio version as my Tans polygonial barrel in .40 cal has nver shown any signs of leading using cast bullets. If in doubt slug the barrel. You want lead bulelts to be at least 1.1000th over bore and as much as 2/1000ths over.

Cleaning your pistol after shooting lead bullets is an absolute must if you are expereincing any leading at all.

As an aside I have never had any sucess in "shooting out" lead using jacketed bullets. My experience has been is all you do is iron the lead into the rifling.

Easiest way to remove leading from the barrel is to use strands of 100% copper Chor Boy cleaning pads wrapped around an old cleaning brush. A couple of strokes and the lead is out of the barrel.

Take Care

Bob
 
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I should add shooting lead swaged bullets with a diameter of .355 is a recipe for leading in any gun chambered for 9MM. In addition to being to small in diameter ie. 355, swaged bullets are much softer than cast . Gas cutting, the major cause of leading, is inevitable in any 9MM gun never mind just Glocks.

Take Care

Bob
 
Not true.
Hard cast lead sized correctly will not lead if you don't try to push it over 1100 fps or so, give or take, depending on the bore of the gun and the lube. Undersized bullets are going to lead no matter what you do, as flame cutting around the base will solder lead onto the barrel. I have fired 800 rounds of lead thru a XD9 without cleaning, and not had any measurable amount of leading. On the other hand, i had some undersized 45 cal. bullets that made the rifling dissappear in a springfield loaded in less then 4 mags. (what a ##### she was to clean out).

Soft bullets ROCK in revolvers, again, if you don't try to hammer them with out a gas check. Most auto's are to hard on soft bullets and deform them when they feed.

If you have soft bullets, or slightly undersized one, a good stiff charge of a fast powder may cause the base to obdurate enough to seal properly. Bullseye and unique are good for this in my experiance.

Contrary to popular believe, shooting jacketed ammo after leading has occured just hammers the lead down onto the bore, polishes it so its harder to see, and if your really lucky lays copper foulling down on top to make it even harder to clean.
 
Contrary to popular believe, shooting jacketed ammo after leading has occured just hammers the lead down onto the bore, polishes it so its harder to see, and if your really lucky lays copper foulling down on top to make it even harder to clean.
I think you will find that it depends on the level of leading present prior to using the jacketed bullet. Minor leading is easily cleared with the use of jacketed bullets and does not compress it, hiding it from sight. Your results may differ but as mentioned above it is dependant on the amount of leading present. In no way would I suggest using a jacketed bullet as a means of clearing a barrel that is moderately+ fouled with lead deposit as that is a formula for disaster.
Cheers
dB
 
Not true.
Hard cast lead sized correctly will not lead if you don't try to push it over 1100 fps or so, give or take, depending on the bore of the gun and the lube. Undersized bullets are going to lead no matter what you do, as flame cutting around the base will solder lead onto the barrel. I have fired 800 rounds of lead thru a XD9 without cleaning, and not had any measurable amount of leading. On the other hand, i had some undersized 45 cal. bullets that made the rifling dissappear in a springfield loaded in less then 4 mags. (what a ##### she was to clean out).

Soft bullets ROCK in revolvers, again, if you don't try to hammer them with out a gas check. Most auto's are to hard on soft bullets and deform them when they feed.

If you have soft bullets, or slightly undersized one, a good stiff charge of a fast powder may cause the base to obdurate enough to seal properly. Bullseye and unique are good for this in my experiance.

Contrary to popular believe, shooting jacketed ammo after leading has occured just hammers the lead down onto the bore, polishes it so its harder to see, and if your really lucky lays copper foulling down on top to make it even harder to clean.

.355 swaged lead bullets ARE undersized by 1/1000th of an inch going in. That and swaged lead bullets are SOFT. Lead bullets must be at least 1/1000th of an inch over bore to seal properly. This is particularly true with the 9MM with it's fast twist rate. Neither Bullseye nor Unique, the latter not being a particularly fast pistol powder, more mid range, are going to obturate a hard cast bullet that is undersized sufficiently enoug to seal the bore if the bullet is undersized ie .355 or less.

Take Care

Bob
 
.355 swaged lead bullets ARE undersized by 1/1000th of an inch going in. That and swaged lead bullets are SOFT. Lead bullets must be at least 1/1000th of an inch over bore to seal properly. This is particularly true with the 9MM with it's fast twist rate. Neither Bullseye nor Unique, the latter not being a particularly fast pistol powder, more mid range, are going to obturate a hard cast bullet that is undersized sufficiently enoug to seal the bore if the bullet is undersized ie .355 or less.

Take Care

Bob

thought thats what i said, guess i didnt' say it well. Undersized = leading Soft undersize you can smak up a bit to seal, hard is difficult to without higher pressures, (357 - 44 mag range).

I still wouldn't recomend shooting jackets over leading, and have never read anywhere that did recomend it. I could be wrong, happened lots before:D
 
I agree that shooting jacketed bullets doesn't do much other than iron in the lead that is there and if your gun is bad enough could lead to bigger problems turning cleaning the barrel into an academic exercise. The Chor Boy strands around n old copper brush gets the lead it quickly and leaves your barel squeaky clean.

Take Care

Bob
 
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