The Glocks that shouldn't be

124gr Nosler bullets loaded with Blue Dot clocked at 1400fps today. Strangely out of both the 5.25 and 6" barrels, it's like the extra 3/4 inch didn't matter.

Since there was three of us shooting this afternoon (.380, 9mm, .357sig) I was too lazy to check my target between shooters, and all of us were propelling .355 dia bullets into the cardboard. Checking for accuracy went out the window fast.

Muzzle flash was minimal, unburned powder no more than normal and far less than with the 90gr XTPs. Pressure signs are nonexistent. The Nosler bullets are slightly cheaper than the Hornady XTPs, and they load into the casing just as easily as the XTPs, I think I'll stick with them.

As for the Glock 42, the 105gr poly coated lead flat points clocked at 920fps. I was hoping for 1000, but I'll take mid 900's. I don't think I have much more room to bump up the charge, as I was starting to get dragged firing pin marks on the primer.

Something neat; I was letting a friend shoot 147gr 9mm (I couldn't find anything smaller) out of a 3 inch barrel that clocked 850fps. I could see each bullet as he fired it, into the target and backstop. The sun was behind us, and for a fraction of a second, I could see the copper shine. It's not the first time I ever saw the bullet in flight, but it amazes me each time I do.

I then changed barrels in the FrankenGlock to a 6" 9mm barrel and proceeded to shoot the same 147gr ammo just to see what the speed was going to be. I was getting an average of 950 fps from the extra 3" of barrel length. I also learned I need a lighter recoil spring for the 9mm barrel, as the heavy one didn't reliably feed when shooting 9mm.

 

The latest iteration of the GlockenStein-

Yes, I removed a lot of the things I added: The extended magazine release was ugly, and not particularly functional because it would bend a bit before releasing the magazine. I have a better example on another Glock, but I bought it so long ago, I don't remember who made it. The magwell is gone because it would not let the magazines with Vickers baseplates seat properly. I dug out and opted to replace the sighting system with my old Tasco Optima 2000. Back in the late 90's, I bought the little sight and had it on a Glock 27. It was a fantastic setup, the battery does last about 2 years, and I never had a problem with it holding zero. As a matter of fact, when shooting the pistol from a steady rest, I got an amazing 1/2" group at 25 yards. I recently found my old setup and placed it on the GlockenStein. I really like this setup!

My bullet coating jig-

The bullets to coat- Nosler .355 124gr JHP.

Bullets on the fixture to get coated-

Bullets coated! I'm trying Molybdenum Sulfate (MoS4) to see if I can squeeze a little bit more velocity from them. I have the results of these bullets sans moly, now I feel confident enough to try it with. If it is promising, I'll eventually get a small tumbler and the ultra fine, lab grade powdered MoS4.

I can't wait to see what happens.

 

I have an update (sans pictures until the wife returns with the camera), from shooting this weekend. The moly coating didn't seem to have any effect whatsoever, and I was getting the same velocity moly coated as I was coated. One thing I did notice- the velocities for the individual shots were extremely close together, including three shots (not consecutive) the exact same velocity: 1340 fps! I don't think I ever shot anything that I loaded by hand that was that consistent.

The next thing I noticed, was how much fun I was having shooting .357 Sig. I shot a variety of calibers yesterday- .22lr, .380 ACP, 9mm, and 45 ACP. I longed to be shooting the .357 Sig; it has a satisfying thump to the hand, but not too much so you can fire in quick strings if need be. The fireball is impressive, and the report is distinct. I got 2" groups with my old red dot. What's not to love (other than the lack of velocity)?

 

11.1 gr HS-6 propelling a 90gr Hornady XTP, with just the slightest hint of pressure signs (flattened edge of primer) but with normal looking striker marks (no drags or rectangular bulge) and with only slight amounts of unburned powder with a 6" barrel. I'm really liking the HS-6. Too bad I didn't realize that I left my skyscreens at home or I would have chroney data, but alas, I can't seem to get my stuff together sometimes.

I got some 105gr poly coated cast lead bullets from Bayou Bullets that I'm going to try next. They are inexpensive, supposedly do not need gas checks, and can be used in my .380 Glock 42 (already did so, and like them) and 9mm (practice) loads also.

I started to have mechanical problems with one of the monstrosities. I was getting light primer strikes and a failure to reset the trigger, but not consistently. Upon further look, it appears that the trigger housing is getting gouged by the trigger bar. Why it would do this is beyond me. It appears that the trigger bar gets caught on the edge of the gouged area and will not let the slide go forward the last 1/64th of an inch, which is slightly out of battery.

Luckily the rounds do not go off with light primer strikes, or I would be talking about the infamous Glock Kaboom and not trying to expose the original problem for such. I switched pistols and continued shooting with the other. I'll order a new housing, they are inexpensive enough at $8 a piece. I may get a new trigger spring, just in case the current one is not stock and placing a different load on the trigger bar. You never know what is under the hood of a used piece of equipment.