Brass with Glock smiley?

[PNWguy]

I've heard of it, but never ran across it until I loaded up a batch of .40 S&W hot defensive ammo (155gr XTP with 7.4gr of Ramshot Sillhouette going 1170fps) earlier today and came across a casing with the telltale mark.

Never really looked into it, but apparently the case is still OK to use as long as it isn't too bad?

I bought it from a local range and they advertised it as once-fired range brass.

What do you guys think?

Read More

 

[TTSX]

I think I've shot more banged up and than that and it did ok. The fact that it's a fairly deep line would give me pause, though. I could easily see it going just fine or horribly wrong so my opinion would be junk it, just like any brass I'm not confident in

 

[LSWC]

I'm sure the brass is fine, but there may be more to it than you're seeing. I had a G22 and shot a lot of .40 and would see this as well. What i found was i needed to add an extra step to brass prep in order for it to resize properly and drop into my case gauges. Read up on bulge busters. There are a few, and the Lee solution is what I purchased and it worked fine.

I've since sold my G22 and have a S&W .40 that has a more supported barrel & doesn't require the extra step with the brass prior to reloading again.

 

[drstrangelove]

I have a Redding GRX pushthrough die for 40/10mm. Smiles don't get sent through it. That crease is from the unsupported sidewall expanding into the unsupported chamber area. Common in Gen 1,2 glocks. It might or might not have been addressed by gen 3 and but certainly was in later models. Is the main cause of Glock KBs. I won't risk it. Brass is cheap. Literally threw out 1/3 of a 500ct "once fired" 40sw brass purchase a couple years ago. Every single one of those cases had a Glock firing pin indention.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I've heard of it, but never ran across it until I loaded up a batch of .40 S&W hot defensive ammo (155gr XTP with 7.4gr of Ramshot Sillhouette going 1170fps) earlier today and came across a casing with the telltale mark.

Never really looked into it, but apparently the case is still OK to use as long as it isn't too bad?

I bought it from a local range and they advertised it as once-fired range brass.

What do you guys think?

View attachment 569077

Sigs also do this. I was asking the SIL when he got a Clock, he said NEVER!!!
I mentioned that the .40 brass I cleaned up during our last shooting session had Clock bulges in every caseing except the Winchester head stamp (shot from my XDM). He said Sigs chambers are also unsupported like the Clocks.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

when in doubt toss it out.

 

[Member 5605]

$.03 isn't worth it.

Toss

 

[ageingstudent]

I've heard of it, but never ran across it until I loaded up a batch of .40 S&W hot defensive ammo (155gr XTP with 7.4gr of Ramshot Sillhouette going 1170fps) earlier today and came across a casing with the telltale mark.

Never really looked into it, but apparently the case is still OK to use as long as it isn't too bad?

I bought it from a local range and they advertised it as once-fired range brass.

What do you guys think?

View attachment 569077

I load a lot of .40. If it has a crease like that I toss it. A bulge buster won't magically fix a weak spot above the web like that. It will flatten any bulge so the brass will chamber but it doesn't repair thin spots or cracks, although it can hide them. In a fully supported chamber it's probably fine, however in a partially supported chamber that weak spot could chamber in the same unsupported spot when in battery. I don't like the look of that case. .40 S&W is a fine cartridge, but it's a little different as there is no +p version. It's already+p. You should be on your best brass sorting behavior with this cartridge and don't get too crazy hot-rodding it. The room for error is less with this cartridge, especially with respect to bullet seating depth and serviceability of brass. If it was me I'd toss it it's not worth the potential trouble. I hate throwing out brass as much as the next guy but you have to draw the line.

My opinion based on experience. Good shooting to you.

 

[ageingstudent]

Sigs also do this. I was asking the SIL when he got a Clock, he said NEVER!!!
I mentioned that the .40 brass I cleaned up during our last shooting session had Clock bulges in every caseing except the Winchester head stamp (shot from my XDM). He said Sigs chambers are also unsupported like the Clocks.

Even within brands there can be significant differences between models Jim. It's certainly worth paying attention to. Look up threads about failures and kabooms and a solid number of them are .40 cal. There's a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding out there with respect to this cartridge. It pays to do your homework.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I reload all my spent brass from the XDM and they do not have any of the bulge symptoms at all.
I've sorted thousands of pieces of range pickup brass and if it's 40 Smith & Wesson I pay particular attention to look for those bulges & then toss em into the recycle bucket.
Since I've had over 1k of new Winchester white box ammo that I've shot through my XDM40 that's all I use to reload.
Thanks for the information.

 

[oli700]

Those look ok , mine are usually more of a bulge look when sized . The only thing I don't like about those are the distinct crease , it looks sharp . But i would probably load it , the web is pretty thick there still .

I made some smileys once ....15gr of blue dot , it was supposed to be 10.5 , lucky .

 

[The Courier]

I would check out CFE pistol, I loaded a 165gr to max charge and no smile.
I will check my load data but I believe velocity is in the 1200fps range with a 165.

 

[Mikej]

Those look ok , mine are usually more of a bulge look when sized . The only thing I don't like about those are the distinct crease , it looks sharp . But i would probably load it , the web is pretty thick there still .

I made some smileys once ....15gr of blue dot , it was supposed to be 10.5 , lucky .
View attachment 570219
View attachment 570220

When I started reloading, 2011ish, I'd bought a K from a member here. I thought it had a very slight bulge. According to your photos, I didn't really have bulged brass.