Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Glock 40 cal question

S&W is coming out with a 9mm sized(medium grip insert only) 22 pistol. It was at SHOT in FEB and should be out soon. That would be a different grip than the 45 but close. I think the M&P is the new "Glock", or the gun everyone will be chasing. If the Army ever has a new pistol trial, it'll be the gun to beat. They've already designed a gun for whatever hurdle they could place before them, IE, ext safety or not, 9mm or 45.

I got a used Glock 22 12 years ago, and it was so old that the Tritium night sites were dim.
It came with a chamber that was cut with a feed ramp .235" deep, with case webs only .180" thick, but the chamber was cut large in diameter.

The rear of a 40sw chamber is registered with SAAMI at .4284" +.004" and .4274" + .004" when .200" deep into the chamber.

My chamber is .440" at ~ .2" into the chamber.

Most chambers are cut at the small end of the sloppy SAAMI spec, my Glock was cut too big to make spec.

Cases were bulging when I put 25% more powder than Alliant's Power Pistol 135 gr max load.

I welded up the feed ramp, and now I can shoot and extra 146% more powder than the IMR 800X 200 gr max load. That 246% powder charge is the same as the IMR max load for 44 mag, in a much smaller volume.
But the orifice is still .440" wide.

What does it all mean?
1) The 40 S&W handloaded is more powerful than handlooading the weak case head 10mm cartridge.
2) The Glock 22 is an excellent design, that benefits from getting an aftermarket barrel with better case support.

How the hell could anyone be suprised?

And you take .40S&W loads to an "extra 146% more powder?"

Jeez, I hope folks don't load following what you post.

146% more powder , what else can you say?

Oh damn, I handloaded for a G22, with AA#5 powder, too.

No cast bullets, though, and I am pretty religious about tight bullet fit in the case. 4-5 inches at 25 yards were the norm for my gun, and that wasn't good enough to suit me. IIRC I probably shot 7-800 rounds with no troubles.

Uh... KaBoom maybe?

Clark, am I correct in understanding that you are saying that .40 S&W cases are stronger than 10MM factory cases and hence can be loaded to deliver more velocity?
Also, do you consider the Glock 23 (with suitable barrel) to be capable of similar performance?

Thanks

Yes, the longer over all length of the 10mm is not as important as the weaker case head of the 10mm in determining which cartridge, the 10mm or the 40 S&W, can generate more power.

The 10mm case head has a large Boxer primer pocket and deep extractor groove, making it the only case head weaker than the the 7.62x39mm large Boxer primer pocket and the 25acp small boxer primer pocket.

But that is academic, as the 40 S&W max recoil is horrific.
Even with extreme recoil spring assemblies that slide hits the frame very hard with typical slide mass.

Maybe a 62 ounce Desert Eagle with 50 pound triple recoil spring assembly could make use of all the power a 40 S&W cartridge can produce, without painful slide slam.

When you guys read Clark's load data you act like you opened the wrong bedroom door and saw something special.

40 S&W more potent than 10mm. Who'd of thunk it. Thanks for sharing your knowledge sir.

???
what have YOU been smokin'?

Clark has stated basically, that:
Given strong guns, e.g. Glocks with barrels providing good head support,the 40S&W case is stronger than the 10mm case to the extent that it is possible to generate more power from a 40S&W case than is possible with a 10mm. I believe Clark knows whereof he speaks.

If you think clark knows of what he speaks, video it, put it on youtube and post a link. That is if you are silly enough.

Not something I'd try personally.

I have an stout aftermarket 10 mm barrel...
I challenge That idiotic statement!

How can a shorter case ( of the same dimensions ) be stronger?
Think about it a bit...

The 10mm case head has a large Boxer primer pocket and deep extractor groove, making it the only case head weaker than the the 7.62x39mm large Boxer primer pocket and the 25acp small boxer primer pocket.

I have experimentally taken most major case heads to failure. I cannot, but there is another engineer on the internet, Scott Sweet, that does Von Misses calculations on case head designs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Mises_yield_criterion

The correlation between his calculations and Quickload pressure estimates [of the loads I found to be at the threshold of case head failure] is very good.

clark is correct, the same reason the 45 gap is stronger than the 45 acp. my experience comes from shooting major with the 40 in 1911 however and this post is about glocks. I used the 10's in IPSC when it first came out, and like others the 10 never really delivered on its promises. Using 10 mags however allows seating out and with supported barrels the guns would handle major loads better. However more glocks have been kaboomed (as they call it on this web site) trying to make major in 40's than one could count. stuff legends are made of. -- and for the wrong reasons. Has more to do with large dimensional variations in glock barrels than anything.

http://www.glockfaq.com/content.aspx?ckey=Glock_FAQ_Reloading

This person has shot 159,000 reloads through his .40 Glocks. I tend to believe him more than others here who have never tried it but repeat over and over not to shoot reloads through a Glock.

The guy has taken a lot of precautions to ensure he limits his exposure to risk; a lot of reloaders don't go to the same levels as he does. Second, his method for estimating pressure by measuring case head expansion has been proven time and time again to be completely unreliable. That, as well as a few other things the guy writes makes me say; reader beware.

length of the case has nothing to do with its strength. Personally have shoot over 100k rds thru various glocks since there introduction,most on the hot side and all reloads. If you have a doubt as to the reloads, please go to brianenos.com web and ask or research this issue from people who do it on a regular basis, but be prepared for their answer "where you been?"