Finally got to head out to the range tonight with the new Glock. I had loaded up 150 rounds a few nights ago and wanted to put at least 100 through the pistol to make sure I was comfortable with it before I started carrying it. My shooting with it was very, very rough. Part because the trigger is the standard Glock trigger and I was used to the 3 lb. one, the second was because of the 7th shot.
Yup, I had a case blow. Felt like someone slapping my hand as hard as they could. I stopped, found the casing, and confirmed my fears. I'm completely certain it wasn't an overcharge as I visually inspect each case before I seat the bullet to ensure the powder is at the right level. This was probably the 4th or 5th reload on that brass and it was 1 time too many for this case.
I can't 100% say for sure that the unsupported region was where it happened, but I'm fairly confident that was part of it. Not that factory ammo doesn't do this, but it is a risk you take when you reload your own. Brass weakens with each use, and that little area that makes the Glock feed so reliably can be a problem for those of us who roll our own.
Surprisingly, that particular shot was dead center and the gun cycled just fine, chambering a fresh round. I disassembled the pistol (after ejecting the live round, of course) and inspected it. There was no damage and I think the sting I felt was the gas escaping through the magazine release hole. There were no more incidents for the rest of the night (there were 3 times the slide did not lock back, however).
So, because I plan on using this as a target pistol and I'm not giving up reloading, it probably behooves me to pick up an after market barrel with full support such as one from KKM or Lone Wolf. This would allow me to shoot lead as well, which has a significant cost savings when reloading. I hear accuracy is also improved with these barrels, but after the way I shot tonight, I'm not sure that'd make a difference or not.
Any recommendations to either company. They both seem to have good reputations, the Lone Wolf is $36 cheaper (I'd pay the extra 14 to not have the logo on the top of the barrel), and they're both stainless steel even though I'd prefer black.
Your thoughts?
Single-stage or progressive?
Never mind... I should have blown the photos up before running my yap. That primer wasn't near as flattened as it looked at first.