Fixing the .40 Glock bulge

[Posit]

I reload for 3 Glock .40 S&Ws. When I first began shooting them, I reloaded normally (resizing die only); after an estimated 4-5 reloads, resizing became difficult on some cases and the die began pressing an extruded ring near the bottom of the case on some pieces.
After some research, I determined the extruded ring was caused by pressing the brass from the 'bulge' to the bottom of the case. I bought a Redding GrX die, ran all my .40 brass thru it; this eliminated the problem. The 'bulge' is too slight to be seen by eye, and, IMO, not common (or severe?) enough to make it worth measuring every case.
Running them thru the GrX die after every firing seemed a PITA, so I bought fully supported after market barrels. Now the only brass I run thru the GrX is range pickups or other unknowns - but I always do so before the first reload.

Incidentally, when brass is pressed thru the GrX, its easy to determine which pieces have 'bulged' a bit -- much more difficult to press them thru.

I do have some extra Glock .40 barrels....

[Bang]

^^^ which begs the question: If aftermarket can produce a supported barrel that still feeds, why didn't Glock do the same? And, does it feed everything?

I'm guessing there is a difference between reliability of the gun when the SHTF versus shooting it on a range where one can select the ammo that works and an occasional hiccup is not a disaster.?

In other words, cartridge fired once and reloading not a consideration, the ramp producing the slight unsupported area is also not a consideration.

[glc]

I'm guessin' the Glock barrel is designed that way so it will feed no matter what.

As for the bulge, I found it to be no big deal, but you would swear it is with all the negative about it.

Maybe the early Glock barrels have more of an issue to be a "big deal", I don't know. I do know some of the cases I've resized must have been from earlier versions, hence the term "Glock Bulge" because they were really bad.

That being said,I have never had an issue just using a resizing die (Dillon). I'm by no means a seasoned reloader, but I've probably reloaded at least 2,000 both nickel and brass new and used for my Gen 4 G23, and have not experienced any, problems. Every single one is checked in a EGW chamber checker too.

btw: the Gen 4 does bulge a bit, but hardly noticeable

[Sshuker]

You can also pretty much eliminate the buldge just by using Lee's final crimp die. It's resizing ring is much lower / not as much as a taper than a standard sizing die.

I can not speak from first hand knowledge on the 40, but I can tell you that is not the case for 9mm. Here is a post on a test I ran when this issue came up before:

From left to right:

Case marked to show how cases were marked prior to performing tested operation

Case marked then put through Lee Deprime/sizing die

Case sized then marked, then put through Lee Factory Crimp die

Case marked then put through Dillon Deprime/sizing die

Case sized then marked, then put through Dillon Crimp die

[mosseater]

I use the M&P tool to eliminate the bulge.

[Bang]

From the Dillon Products forum:

I am a Dealer in Canada and have solved the buldging issue to the point that i no longer even need to chamber check my ammunition. remove the sizing die, grind the bottom lip off the die up to the carbide. this will allow the die to go slightly lower and remove the buldge found around the bottom. the die steel is not very hard and can be ground down very easily with a 5" or 6" bench grinder. The carbide is very hard as well as slightly tapered which still allows easy feeding of the brass into the die. I have loaded close to a million rounds on my 650 with complete sattisfaction.