Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Glocks and Cast bullets

I am new to Glocks and cast all my pistol bullets from wheel weights. I have always heard you are not supposed to use lead/cast bullets in a Glock. I know there are aftermarket barrels, but I have not found one for the model 41 in 45 ACP. Are the lead/cast bullets really an issue in the Glock?

Yes, according to a tester (name escapes me now) who did just that and cross-sectioned the barrels.

I've shot lead in Glocks and scrubbed hell out of their barrels before shooting jacketed bullets again.

Lots of coated and plated bullets are available now and if I wanted to keep my OEM barrel, I'd use them to be on the safe side.

Powdercoat and shoot, no problem.

KKM makes an aftermarket Glock 41 barrel.

Thanks I will take a look at KKM.

Heat treat the WW's, size to fit the throats and check function.

Leading in Glock polygonal rifling is caused by stripping at engagement due to shallow rifling and minimal groove support. Softer alloys with minimal size diameter exacerbate this.

I've never used a gas check design in a Glock, but those ought to work as well.

Cast isnt an issue. Not sure why this issue keeps going round and round.
Use the stock barrel. Shoot all thevcast tou want. Have fun.

I have shot over a thousand rounds of 200 gr hard cast bullets through a Glock 20 with the factory barrel with no ill effects YMMV

Bingo

Thanks for all the response!
I rarely shoot more than 50 at a time, I will keep the barrel clean and shoot away!

I shoot Buffalo Bore 220 Gr cast bullets in my stock Glock 20 10 MM barrel , changed out my spring to a heavier one per Buffalo Bore recommendations

I do not switch to jacketed bullets without cleaning the lead out first. Accurate and works well with BB 220 Gr cast, loads.

Cast from clip-on wheel weight alloy and properly sized is fine. If you're casting from mixed or stick-on wheel weights, you may run into leading problems. Get an aftermarket barrel if it worries you, but lots and lots of cast bullet shooters shoot cast in Glock bores with no problems when it's done right. Almost all of what I shoot are cast, personally, although it's even easier with powder coating these days.

For aftermarket barrels, any gen 4 6" Glock 21 barrel will also fit your G41; same thing.

For those that shoot lead in their stock Glock barrel . . .
How much lead do you get when clean the barrel?
How many rounds?
WW or "Hard Cast"?

The barrel should still look shiny when held to a light and looked through.

Lead shouldnt layer or accumulate. Bottom line, if you have to clean the barrel to have accuracy, its accumulating lead and something is amiss, no matter the round count. Cleaning with a fine bristle should wipe out fine lead powder, not chunks.

Fixed chambered autos are like fixed chambered rifles; size to the throat and check function, use the hardest bullet as possible, reputable lube and all should work fine.

Hawk pretty well covered it. With clip on WW lead, air cooled and properly sized with the right load, there was never any measureable amount of lead removed from the barrel; the bore would be shiny with just a light silvery "wash" from lead. Of course when any of those things were wrong, lead buildup could be an issue, but that's true in any barrel. In fact, several of my aftermarket replacement barrels were more prone to leading than the OEM Glock barrels.

After switching to powder coating in ~2013, I don't even see a lead wash on the bores, just powder fouling and nothing else. They're not nearly as sensitive to having all the load details just right either.

Since you're new to this and have been infected with the "Glocks cant shoot lead fallacy ", inspect your barrel throat for lead buildup. Do it after 20 rounds. Once you get past this myth, lead will be a real cost saver for volume shooting.