Glock 22 KB!

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SundownRider

New member
Don't have any pictures, sorry, but I will describe as best I can. Brother in law was shooting, and he's okay, just shaken up a little.
There is a visible split in the chamber of the barrel, starting forward from the rear, just under the numbers on the chamber. Seems like things blew downward.
The side of the grip blew out, right where the magazine release would be on the right side, about a 4-5mm squared hole.
The extractor took off of its own, and might still be going, for all I know.
Slide is jammed tight, although there is not bulging or damage that I can see, I think it is the barrel splitting causing the stoppage.
Case can still be seen in the chamber.

Not a double charge, as far as I can tell, since a double would have blown this gun to hell and gone. Methinks the round was not fully into battery, and a relatively novice shooter didn't know that anything was wrong before he touched it off, like a slide not fully forward. This would have a larger unsupported case area.

Loads were 3.4g of CLAYS behind a Rainier 180g JFP.
 
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Silvanus

New member
Sorry to hear that, but seriously, was it factory ammunition or reloaded? Almost every KB I've ever heard of was with reloaded ammo...
 
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Ralph2

New member
was this the first round of a magazine or a later round? What is the overall length of the cartridge? Hogdon shows 3.5 as a max load with a OAL of 1.125 inches. If the crimp was not tight enough it might have set back. That can cause a pressure spike. 40's were supposedly prone to set back because the case thickness at the opening varies more that with other cases.

I have not used Clays before. What is the volume for a charge of that weight? is it a small volume? I wonder how much of the inside of the case it filled after the bullet was seated.
 
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HSMITH

New member
It was an obstructed bore or setback, either one with Clays and heavy bullets is KABOOM time. Send it back to Glock, they will fix it for a really reasonable charge, and your BIL will be back in business.

He really needs to pay attention to setback prevention, it could happen again.
 
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SundownRider

New member
The loads were relatively mild, actually comfortable to shoot, and the bullets were seated to slightly under overall case length using a dillon case length gauge, and the rounds go though a factory crimp die before heading to the range. The round was the 7th, I believe in the magazine, and we had been using this load for a while without any problems. I was shooting the same load in my XD40 next to him went things went screwy.
 
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nass

New member
This may sound like a dumb question, and maybe it is, but how many pistols will fire if they are not returned to battery??

Glad BIL is OK....
 
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HSMITH

New member
That load is mild FEELING, pressure is at or above normal factory ammunition. Make no mistake about it, running fast powders and heavy bullets feels like a milder load than it is but pressures are not mild at all. If I read your post right he was a little under OAL listed in the data, this raises pressures even higher.

It is entirely possible to have a VERY mild feeling load running WAY over normal pressures.

Plated bullets slip in the case easily, combine that with the factory crimp die smashing the bullet back into shape if one seats a little crooked or something like that and you have every ingredient you need for bad things to happen.

Take the loaded ammo you have left. Push the bullet into a bathroom scale while holding on to the case. Put about 50 pounds of pressure on them. Measure before and after lengths of the rounds. If they are slipping you need to get that fixed NOW, your XD will pop at the seams JUST like the Glock did under the same circumstances. For that matter so will everything else you can name.
 
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BigJimP

New member
Glad to hear everybody was ok.

I'm not a Glock fan - and Glock says no reloads - and I think it's partly because they know a portion of the case is "unsupported". But I think the gun is designed so it won't fire when it's as far out of battery as you suggest - yet something went wrong.

I would recommend you quarantine your reloads - until you can check every one of them using a "case gague" - to make sure they drop in and out of the case gague with no resistance. Personally I use a case gague as a "go" or "no go" and if they stick going in or out I toss the cartridge. But if you get some loads that won't go in and out of a case gague - you need to figure out why ? crack in case, seating depth, resizing problem, etc

I know you are within the max limits of 3.5 gr of clays on that load but you might want to back off it another 0.1 or so ( but make sure you stay at least at the min). Even after I checked all of your reloads with a case gague - I would randomly pick at least 10 cartridges - pull the bullets and weigh the powder drop and see what you have in all of those cases. If you have anything over 3.5gr (maybe over 3.4 gr) I'd pull all of the bullets - dump the cases - and go thru your loader and find out why it is not dropping precisely at 3.3 or whatever you set it up to do. If you can't get Clays to drop what you need, dead on the money, I would recommend you consider another powder like TiteGroup that is a lot "finer" vs the relatively larger flake of "Clays". I like Clays in a 12ga shotgun - but I don't think it drops clean enough to suit me in a handgun.

I don't know if it's possible to double charge a round with 3.5 gr ( or 7.0 gr) but unfortunately, I think it might be possible to fit it in there. It is possible to double charge a round - and it would be a very bad thing. I would really go thru your loading procedures and make darn sure you have everything worked out to eliminate that as an issue. If you can afford it - upgrading to a Dillon XL 650 with the powder check station - might prevent this type of thing from happening. It's a very good press - and not that you can't load great shells with any press - but the powder check station gives me a little peace of mind .......

But please don't just continue to shoot those reloads - without checking them - we can all make mistakes ....
 
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LUPUS

New member
All Shooters,
I strongly advise you to visit the Glock features in www.thegunzone.com.
Please check it and end the discussion about the perfection after seeing phase3 malfunctions,out of battery shooting, KBs with standard pressure factory ammo despite of many upgrades.
Best.
 
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Sturmgewehre

New member
Not a double charge, as far as I can tell, since a double would have blown this gun to hell and gone. Methinks the round was not fully into battery, and a relatively novice shooter didn't know that anything was wrong before he touched it off, like a slide not fully forward. This would have a larger unsupported case area.

Loads were 3.4g of CLAYS behind a Rainier 180g JFP.
Click to expand...

If it were a double charge, the damage you mention sounds about right. A double charge wouldn't grenade the gun, typically nothing more than what you described, sometimes less damage. I've seen a double charged .45 ACP blow out the magazine, blow off the grips but other than that no other damage was done to the pistol.

I would venture a guess and say the KB was caused by either a double charge or a case not being fully resized (although even this is hard to get a Glock to KB given the disconnector will prevent firing out of battery).
 
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Edward429451

Moderator
Another endorsement for steel guns. Plastic is better how?

I accidently fired a 40 S&W Hydrashok in my 45acp 1911 once. No damage to gun at all. Muffled pop, no recoil, gas everywhere, multiple splits to very bulged case, no injury to shooter. Field stripped & inspected, looked good, continued with my range session.
 
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AngusPodgorney

New member
Thegunzone is biased drivel, not worth reading. It is hard to find lower quality information.
Click to expand...

Show me the bias? Just about everything is backed up with cites, etc. You don't have to like the messenger but that doesn't mean the message is tainted.
 
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HSMITH

New member
Edward, shooting a 40 in your 45 doesn't prove anything, that is the opposite of what we are discussing in this thread. Having seen a couple 1911's let go with double charges or a blocked bore I can tell you that the shooter was hurt worse than he would have been with a Glock in the same circumstances, those 1911 grip panels turn to SHRAPNEL when the magazine (made of steel) and magazine catch (made of steel) don't let go. In a Glock the biggest danger seems to be the extractor leaving at high speed......

Angus, there is a lot of history with the author of thegunzone, way too much to go into in this thread. Suffice it to say his writings need to be taken with a grain of salt.
 
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roadrash

New member
How many times has this brass been loaded?I think weak or split brass can cause KBs in chambers that are not fully supported!I love my G17 but I will never buy a .40 caliber Glock!If you want to shoot reloads ,buy an aftermarket barrel!
 
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