Reloading "once-fired" brass purchased online-.40s&w safe?

[reality99]

Forgive my ignorance and this may seem like an obvious question, but I was hoping to get some guidance/clarification from the reloading pros. I'm just getting in to reloading, have several books etc. and was looking at increasing my supply of brass (both .40 and 9). I'm very cautious in general, and seeing horror stories about bulging brass blowing after being reloaded has me hesitant to buy anything "once-fired" that wasn't something I fired myself and know the history of. I know some Glocks don't have fully supported chambers and can bulge the brass to the point it is unsafe or you have to "deglock" it. My question is how obvious is it that brass is unsafe to reload if I buy something that is once-fired? Obviously I will inspect it, but being new to reloading I don't have the trained eye many of the more experienced reloaders do. Any advice on purchasing and reloading used brass would be much appreciated!

[longtooth]

I pick up a LOT of Glock shot prass off my range. Size it & load it. If it is not cracked, split, passes visual check, you are good to go.
Well, Iam good to go.

[rotor]

Lee manual says to "not use reloads in Glock or similar guns with chambers that do not fully support the cartridge due to the intrusion of the feedramp" I do not own a 40 and have no experience personally but there are many details on the internet- google glock kaboom. I believe that if you have a gun with a supported chamber that you would be safe with reloads. I do not know which guns are "safe" to use with reloaded 40s.

[Jumping Frog]

I've reloaded and shot over 10,000 rounds of .40 S&W that were predominantly range pickup.

I've seen a few bulged cases over the years and just toss them, but they are not common.

If you want to be careful and cautious, Lee makes a nice bulge remover kit that is a variation on their pass-through sizer.

[rotor]

Jumping Frog, are you shooting them in a GlocK?

[Jumping Frog]

Jumping Frog, are you shooting them in a GlocK?

No, M&P.

[MoJo]

Here's a LINK to an article by Wiley Clapp on supported/unsupported chambers from the American Rifleman.

I will not shoot reloads in a Glock chambered for 40 S&W. I don't have a problem with M&P, SIG, Ruger, XD etc. The bulk of Glock Kabooms is 40 S&W and a lot of those are reloads that the weakened spot of the brass was oriented with the feed ramp. A buddy of mine shoots thousands of rounds a year through his Glocks, he will not shoot reloaded/remanufactured ammo in his 40 caliber Glocks.

[michael e]

I shoot reloads in my Glock 40's ( 22,23,24,27,35 so all of them) I have not had an issue. I don't load to max levels and have yet to see any bulge. I was reloading 40s&w before I read all over the internet I wasn't suppost to and I would blow my self up.

[jmain]

My thoughtis this is more of an issue if you are shooting a glock and going beyond recommended pressures with bulged brass. Reloads to normal levels are no different than a mfg load, unless you make a mistake.

You can get a resize die.
You can get a supported barrel. Lone wolf makes one and it is so tight that the buldged ones won't even feed, so you still have to case size prior to shooting. You could get it reamed.
My 2011 is reamed and has never puked on any of my brass. My Open glock would have to be case sized to get the buldged ones out. I just shoot the bulgded ones in any of my other .40's.

Also, you probably are not going to see the buldge. You can really only tell when you case size. If you can physically see a buldge, you need to toss it in the trash.

[docbrazos]

If you have ever seen a round fired out a Glock you will notice the spent primer has an oblong dent instead of a round one. If your buying "once" fired brass just check the spent primers you can quickly determine which one's came from a Glock.

[mr surveyor]

If you have ever seen a round fired out a Glock you will notice the spent primer has an oblong dent instead of a round one. If your buying "once" fired brass just check the spent primers you can quickly determine which one's came from a Glock.

the same tear drop primer smear is evident in the Kahr pistols and other striker fired pistols as well .... it's not just Glock.

[Charles L. Cotton]

The only brass I won't pick up at a range is .38 Super. Those are shot primarily in IPSC Open Class and they are usually loaded very hot to get as much gas through the comp as possible. This causes a bulge just above the rim and I can never get them properly resized on my Dillon presses.

I also don't reload .357 SIG because they are bottleneck cases and I'm not about to trim pistol brass! I've been reloading for 40 years and I've never trimmed a pistol case and don't plan to start now.

Chas.

[ammoboy2]

The Glock 40 issue is way overblown. I have been loading it within a couple years of introduction with no blown cases. I pickup everything, do toss some of the foreign brass that does not hold the primer consistenly but that is the only problem. I once did a reloading experiment with a G23 and 6 different kinds of brass. Loaded with 6 gr of WAP and a 180 grain Precision bullet. Loaded in magazine to keep unsupport portion of brass in chamber the same each time. Stopped from fatigue after reaching 27 reloads (and about 1100 rounds fired) in the brass. Had some mouth splits starting about reload 11 with nickel plated brass but never a base problem. So I do not see a problem.

[Backfire]

I started to collect my own Glock 23 40 brass about 6 months prior to me getting a dillon 550b. The dillon sizing die takes care of any bulge that i had on my brass. I have since shot probably 600 reloaded rounds of 165's lead cast 40's with no issues. I do not see why a reloading die "cannot" re-size the casing correctly - enough for reuse. I think the glock bulge - at least when using a dillon 550 - is a non issue. I should mention that i also use a kkm barrel in the glock for shooting lead which is fully supported.