by Seismic Sam on Thu Jul 01, 2010 4:06 pm
Unfortunately, you are missing one very important point: Chamber support for the cartridge!! You take your standard 1911 or Hi-Power or CZ or EAA or SIG, and there is pretty much full support for the case in a 360 degree direction.
Add to that the fact that Nowlin has made a name for itself with ramped (meaning beefed up barrels in the rear chamber area) barrels in hot-rodded 38 Supers where the case is even MORE fully supported, and the decision of Gaston Glock to go in the opposite direction with LESS supported chambers for the sake of compactness or whatever, and I think the root problem is exposed. As further evidence, the well-known phrase "Glock Bulge" pretty much describes what happens when you deliberatly decide to not support some portion of the lower area of the case.
Now: This problem is pretty much centered on the 40 S&W Tupperware. It's a scaled down 10mm, has an ABSOLUTE ceiling of performance, and God Help you if you try and hot-rod this cartridge, or load it to max levels and are not an EXPERT handloader. If your taper crimp is weak on a 40 S&W max load in a Glock, the bullet sets back and you get a kaboom. Interestingly, the Redding 40 cal push-through die specifically EXCLUDES brass fired in Glocks.
Added to this are the SAAMI pressures for various calibers. The 45 ACP is only 18,000 - 20,000 PSI, it's a low pressure load to begin with. The 9mm is in the middle to upper 30's, but it's a small case and has pretty substantial case walls because it's also an SMG cartridge. The 10mm is a pretty tough case designed to run at 37,500 PSI, and I've never heard of a 10mm Glock kaboom. You go to the 40, however, and an internet search turns up kaboom after kaboom.
As such, I think that the arguement that "a load that will blow up a Glock will blow up a 1911" is patently false. In 10mm or 9mm where the CASE is the limiting strength factor, this may be true. With 40 S&W, it most definitely is NOT true. The case support is the limiting factor with the 40.
As added evidence, consider the 38 Super. The actual 38 Super has been hot rodded with Nowlin ramped barrels so the case is supported all the way back, and you can get IPSC Major levels with a ramped barrel and the right smokin' hot loads in 38 Super brass. On the other side of the fence, consider the 9x23mm Winchester. The case is essentially a cut and reamed .223 RIFLE case straight up, and it's designed to run with RIFLE primers at 52,000 PSI in plain old 1911 and CZ barrels!! The case is so robust that it picks up the slack that a 38 Super case can't in a normal barrel.
So: 1911 vs. Glock without a consideration of SAAMI pressures in combination with barrel support AND case strength is a bogus argument. You take all three factors into consideration and the 40 Glock sticks out like a sore thumb, PARTICULARLY when it is handloaded. If you don't know EXACTLY what your taper crimp value is to the nearest mil with a Glock 40, you're asking for trouble.
