Glock 23 crushing brass

[Chrisg67]

at the range yesterday i was gathering my brass and took a look at some spent brass and noticed how deformed they looked. i also noticed there is a decent scrape where its deformed....thinking its the extractor(?) on the barrel being very dirty, but i never saw this with my M&P is this ok?

also noticed a decent bulge on my brass from the unsupported barrel area, is it normal to bulge?

 

[Tweed]

, is it normal to bulge?

Yes. get an aftermarket barrel if you want to reload.

 

[lord1234]

bulge is what happens when you use an unsupported barrel.

 

[Chrisg67]

i know it happens, just didnt know if it was normal to happen every time

my question is more about the deformed brass than the bulge

 

[wolf223]

alrighty then,

I shoot my G23 with both the factory and 9mm Lonewolf barrels. my brass is perfectly round unless i step on them.

 

[M1911]

at the range yesterday i was gathering my brass and took a look at some spent brass and noticed how deformed they looked. i also noticed there is a decent scrape where its deformed....thinking its the extractor(?) on the barrel being very dirty, but i never saw this with my M&P is this ok?

Both are common with Glocks. I wouldn't reload the cases.

 

[drgrant]

That deformation is weird, not sure what would cause it.

The bulge is pretty much par for the course though with a .40 S+W Glock using
a factory barrel.

-Mike

 

[M1911]

I believe that the deformation occurs during ejection, when the case mouth hits the slide on the way out. I've seen it on Glock cases from multiple Glocks.

 

[Another_David]

I think Glock made a design change to the extractor and ejector. Not sure if this effects your 23.

See

http://glockmeister.com/faq.shtml

UPGRADES
Q: How can I determine if my Glock .40 cal. needs an extractor/ejector upgrade?
A: The gun will have an ejector with the part number 4340 stamped on it.

Or maybe your barrel is worn and even less unsupported?

 

[Chrisg67]

I think Glock made a design change to the extractor and ejector. Not sure if this effects your 23.

See

http://glockmeister.com/faq.shtml


Or maybe your barrel is worn and even less unsupported?

hmm im going to pull it apart and check that out.

it was worse on the first few mags, and eventually lessened how deformed it was

 

[DukeInFlorida]

There's two places for the flat edge on the case to occur:
1) On the way into the feed ramp, as the round gets loaded into the chamber. Not common, but it happens.
2) On the way out, if the case slaps something on the way out. More common, and I see it on a lot of brass that I pick up at the range. Sometimes, opening the ejection port (a job for a gun smith) can fix that.

Bulging is commonly an issue with IMPROPER HEADSPACE. When you fire the round, if there's too much loose space behind the brass, in front of the bolt (slide), as the brass pushes backwards from the explosion, the rear end of the case is UNSUPPORTED on the sides, and the pressure in the case will cause it to bulge. Most people don't ever look at their spent cases, and never see that they have the issue.

Improper headspace can sometimes be fixed by a gunsmith, and certainly by the factory.

.40 S&W headspaces on the front edge of the brass when it is in the chamber. So, some combination of the chamber getting eroded and the slide (bolt face) not being where it should can cause the bulging.

Improper headspace is an issue that needs to get fixed. When it gets too out of spec, it can cause side bursts in the case.... not good for the gun or the shooter.

Reloaders always look at their brass on the range, since it's their way of checking how their reloads are doing.

I would urge everyone, whether they are shooting reloads or factory rounds, to check their brass. It tells a long story!

 

[jkelly]

It doesn’t make sense to me that the flattened edge of the case happens as the round enters the chamber. I’d guess the case gets wacked, or wacks something, on the way out. You can load marked cases, one at a time, to help determine what it is hitting and then why.

If the bulge you see is typical Glock type bulge then I'd only be concerned with pressure causing problems.

What load are you shooting?

Respectfully,
jkelly

 

[jkelly]

double tap

Respectfully,
jkelly

 

[DukeInFlorida]

The rounds leave the magazine, and bump into a "ramp" at the back end of the chamber. Open your slide, and look at the back end of where the round goes in. That shiny incline at the bottom is the ramp.

Take your gun to a range (safe place), and slowly rack a slide, and watch the round ride up that ramp, into the chamber. That's how the ramp gets shiny like that. If the alignment of the round in the magazine is too low with regard to that ramp, the edge of the brass can get a little trampled by the ramp. It would show up IF you look at a round that has been auto loaded into the chamber, but not fired yet.

If you check a round that has been auto loaded, and not fired, and it doesn't have the flat edge, then it's not a ramp issue, but rather the brass hitting something on the way out.

Usually, if the brass it hitting something on the way out, it will show an oblique scrape on the flat spot. If you slowly watch how an ejector yanks the brass out of the chamber, and tosses it, you'll see that there's sometimes a slight rolling action to the process. Try manually ejecting some empty brass from the chamber, and see if you can detect what's happening on the way out.

UPDATE: I took another look at that second picture. The one showing the side view of the flat spot. I do see the tell tale signs of ejection port damage to the brass. There's a slight angle to the scrape marks. See them? So, that tells me that the denting is happening as the already emptied brass is being ejected from the gun. It's hitting something on the way out. It's probably always been there, and you just picked up brass and noticed it for the first time.

Some area of the ejection port will show a shiny spot where that brass damage is occuring. A good gunsmith can sometimes open up (grind out) the ejection port in that area, to eliminate the issue. Or, if it's not that bad, and you are able to reload that brass (the dent isn't as bad as some I have seen) OK, then just leave well enough alone.

It doesn’t make sense to me that the flattened edge of the case happens as the round enters the chamber.

 

[jkelly]

The rounds leave the magazine, and bump into a "ramp" at the back end of the chamber.

Bumping into a ramp is not going to crush the case to this extent as the case is still holding the bullet as it enters the chamber. But even if it could crush the bullet and case, and still chamber and fire, the case distortion would disappear when the case pressurized. So the crushing happens after it’s fired.

He could compare the angle of the striations on the dented portion of the crushed case to others to see if the case was being held when the dent occurred or was randomly wacked. He could mark his cases or use the striations vs bulge to check this also.

Respectfully,
jkelly

 

[Chrisg67]

i know its not when its entering, since when i unload my gun, the previously chambered round is fine.

im pretty sure its the ejector(whatever the ejecting ramp is on the barrel) is causing this, but i see no shiny spot since like i had mentioned, it seemed to phase out after shooting a bit

 

[OCB]

I took my new to me 23 (gen 2) to the range the first time today, and as I was collecting brass from my first couple of mags I noticed that there was some pretty seriously bent casings. Found this old thread that makes it seem like it's not an uncommon occurance, but the cases I'm seeing look way more deformed than the OP. Doesn't sound like it's a safety issue, as the consensus seems to be that it's happening when the case is ejecting. Anybody know of a reason I should be concerned about this?

 

[Chet0729]

Wow, a few of them are pretty bad

 

[Fixxah]

They are all reloadable. Some will go a few more than others.

-Proud to be dad every day, a licensed plumber most days, and wish I was a shoemaker on others.

 

[OCB]

They are all reloadable. Some will go a few more than others.

-Proud to be dad every day, a licensed plumber most days, and wish I was a shoemaker on others.

I don't reload, so I'm not really worried about that. More concerned about any potential mechanical issues - this is my first Glock so I have no frame of reference.

 

[OCB]

Wow, a few of them are pretty bad

Yeah, no kidding. If I had been smart, I would have kept track to see if this was happening in any particular order (i.e. beginning or end of mag).

 

[Supermoto]

where is the brass landing?

 

[OCB]

where is the brass landing?

Probably 90% are landing about 4 o'clock. The others likely bounced off of a post I was standing next to and were all over the place.

 

[M1911]

Probably 90% are landing about 4 o'clock. The others likely bounced off of a post I was standing next to and were all over the place.

How far away are they landing?

 

[Gammon]

Usually when I have this problem is is due to the gun short stroking. The slide is not going far and fast enough to the rear to allow the cases to eject without striking the edge of the ejection port. Other possible problems are a bad ejector or extractor.

I would try hotter loads or a lighter recoil spring; the easiest and cheapest solutions.

 

[OCB]

How far away are they landing?

Within 3-4'.

 

[M1911]

Might be underpowered ammo and/or an overpowered spring.

 

[otasan56]

at the range yesterday i was gathering my brass and took a look at some spent brass and noticed how deformed they looked. i also noticed there is a decent scrape where its deformed....thinking its the extractor(?) on the barrel being very dirty, but i never saw this with my M&P is this ok?

also noticed a decent bulge on my brass from the unsupported barrel area, is it normal to bulge?

This dent isn't too bad. The resizing die will straighten it out completely.

 

[ColdDayInHell]

My Glock 36 used to do that, always thought it was one of those recalled ejectors.