Pics of the "Glock Smile"

[RED333]

If you reload for a Glock you HAVE to look for these!!!

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I've had a few of them before I learned to tone down the charge. :D I remember one I had that looked

like a real bad hernia. Ouch!

[GoneBallistic]

Excessive pressure? And why is this specific to Glocks?

[Lumber_Jack]

Thanks for posting. I'm gonna load some 10mm this summer and have never seen pics of this. Of course I'm going to try to reach "ludicrous speed", but still want to stay safe.

[Lumber_Jack]

Excessive pressure? And why is this specific to Glocks?

Yes.

The case is not fully supported by the barrel. The smile area is in open air when charge goes off. So too much pressure causes that part of the case to bulge.

[Garufa]

And why is this specific to Glocks?

 

"Unsupported chambers".  That's the sweet spot where the chamber does not fully enclose the case.  The one weakness of the Glock.

[Caster]

I went to a Lone Wolf barrel in my G19. I don't have this problem.

Red, I thought you upgraded to a L/W barrel too???

[Lumber_Jack]

Edited March 31, 2013 by Lumber_Jack

[Guest 6.8 AR]

It won't even show up until you get too much charge in there. Just have to be careful when loading

and not get frisky like I have in the past on .45acp, primarily. The first .45's I loaded weren't starting

charges and working up to. I hit the max charge and let some rip. Got some nice big smilies. I learned

before I had to endure a failure. My son was in the next lane when I was shooting my new loads one

day, and after each blast, he went "whoa!". I backed off the next batch and after seeing the smilies.

Figured it was heading for failure.

[kieefer]

I had a friend reload some 9mm's and some of the brass had the "smile" and wouldn't chamber in my SR9. Both of us went through the rounds and tested each one in a barrel.

Checking each load this way would be a good practice especially if you get your brass from different sources.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

That smilie won't clean up in the sizing die, either. I haven't had any 9mm's do it. That's an odd one to happen,

but Red's is a .40 and I thought they were kind of normally hot from the factory, or I assumed they were. Just

goes to show you have to watch the charge.

[wewoapsiak]

I thought newer Glock models didn't have this issue as badly and this is an issue in other semi-autos as well?

 

Edit:  Found the pictures and thread I've read before over on calguns.

 

Edited March 31, 2013 by wewoapsiak

[RED333]

Yes Caster My Glock does have a Lone Wolf barrel, but we 5 others that do not.

The smile will come from a case that has been fired to many times as well as

over pressure, if you reload, be looking for it.

The Glock firing pin will leave a square dent in the primer, make it easy to tell

when you get fired brass from a source that you dont know.

 

Good pics Jack

[ddavis6161]

I have seen this before not a pretty site !

[AMSting]

Lumber Jack: When you load for 10mm, smiles are pretty common.  Not that you should try to get them, but you will if going to ludicrous speed.  Hopefully you have a chronograph.  If not, get one.  Powder also makes a huge difference.  My favorites are 800-x and No.9.  I never got smiles with the No. 9, but the 800-x is touchy.

[trevorst]

Loading the Glock 10mm with a factory barrel is a great way to run up your brass costs.  Save up, get a 6" LW or KKM barrel and enjoy your nuclear rounds.

 

On a positive note the Gen4 Glock 20 factory barrel is pretty well supported very close to my LW.

[trevorst]

Lumber Jack: When you load for 10mm, smiles are pretty common.  Not that you should try to get them, but you will if going to ludicrous speed.  Hopefully you have a chronograph.  If not, get one.  Powder also makes a huge difference.  My favorites are 800-x and No.9.  I never got smiles with the No. 9, but the 800-x is touchy.

You should try Longshot and PowerPistol, its replaced 800x and BlueDot for me.

[piercedan]

What about gen 3's?

[Jason in TN]

Have loaded and shot a lot of 9mm in my glocks never had this but I keep on the low end on the powder loads as long as it is running good why try to push it. Hard on gun and a waste of powder to load to hot.

Jason

[Patton]

My Gen4 G23 has more support than my Gen 3 G19. Supposedly early Gen3's can still have a unsupported chamber somewhat.

[frankmako]

this was a big thing with older glocks.  the 40 s&w glocks were real bad.  glock has correct in some small manner the unsupported chamber.  i reload for several different calibers glocks and in all of them i use a after market barrel.  

[leroy]

Take a look at any semiauto pistol in the barrel/feed ramp area; and you will see this to varying degrees.  We used to have this same problem with the old time colt 1911's chambered in 38 super (...70s era...).  The problem is that the bottom of the barrel at the junction with the feed ramp needs to be relieved a bit to get the right geometry to get the round in the chamber as the pistol cycles; and to make it do so reliably.  That's why OAL for ammo is so important in semiautos.  It needs to be long enough to chamber without stubbing on top of the barrel hood; and the nose needs to be able to slide up the feed ramp and by the relief at the barrel junction smoothly.  

 

The main thing to remember about all this "smile" business is that all semiauto pistols have the barrel/ramp area relieved to some degree; and that when ya "hot load" the rounds; ya may get to see what happens when one of the cases blows out.  I have had this "problem" bunches of times; all of them self-inflicted by heavy reloads.  I'm a bit more "calm" now; so i dont do that kind of stuff anymore.   "Sane" reloading practices go a long way toward fixin this problem.

 

leroy

[kieefer]

If you have an aftermarket barrel and you drop it in a puddle of mud, jello, or freeze it in a block of ice, will it still shoot?

 

I know this is a big selling point for Glock users and would hope changing out an inferior barrel wouldn't change that.  :D

[AMSting]

You should try Longshot and PowerPistol, its replaced 800x and BlueDot for me.

 

Neither has gotten the speed I was getting with either the 800-x or No. 9.  Longshot also had sharper felt recoil.  Power pistol is decent, but not as good as the others.

 

One thing that causes a big difference is the grain weight.  No.9 and 800-x work for heavier bullets.  Longshot might be great for lighter, but I have not gone below 180 grain yet.

Edited April 1, 2013 by AMSting

[Lumber_Jack]

You should try Longshot and PowerPistol, its replaced 800x and BlueDot for me.

Neither has gotten the speed I was getting with either the 800-x or No. 9. Longshot also had sharper fel recoil. Power pistol is decent, but not as good as the others.

One thing that causes a big difference is the grain weight. No.9 and 800-x work for heavier bullets. Longshot might be great for lighter, but I have not gone below 180 grain yet.

I bought No 9. David said that's THE powder for 10mm