There has been a lot of written articles about not using Teflon reloads on the stock .40S&W Glock barrel as this would be prone to the kaBoom! or kB! issue. I thought about getting one of those aftermarket barrels which Twin Pines is selling for P7.5k, they are also recommended for shooting Teflon reloads, but then I noticed that a lot of Glock .40S&W owners also has been saying that they have been using Teflon reloads on their stock Glock barrels, so I decided just take a chance and start using reloads. Besides, I just could not afford to keep shooting brandnew FMJ ammo at P21.50 per pop.
As of this writing, I have shot around 950 rounds of Semi-Wadcutter Teflon reloads on my Glock, of which 350 rounds was fired at full auto, and so far I have had no serious issues yet. I do understand the risk, perhaps one of these days I will regret this action and ruin my precious Glock. But, then again, in my humble opinion, as long as I use quality reloads, I should have a good chance of continuing of having a good, shooting experience.
By "quality" reloads, I mean reloads from the major shooting ranges (i.e., those with multiple branches, like Jethro Dionisio, Armscor, etc.). If the shooting range is a small, mom and pop or backyard affair, I think it is worth the risk of buying reloads from major reloaders (i.e., Stronghand, Magnus, etc.), and just bringing it to the range and paying for the corkage fees.
I do make it a habit of cleaning a pistol thoroughly (especially the barrel) within 24-hours of each shooting session. My late father told me you have that amount of time before the corrossive components of the powder residue starts corroding and pitting your barrel. I don't know if that's true, but it does make for a great shooting habit.
One problem I do see with using reloads, is how dirty the gun can be afterwards, especially since I average firing 100 rounds per shooting session. The dirt gets into the nook and crannies of my unit, so I have to detail strip it every time I clean it, to remove the smell and the soot. Strangely, though, the barrel doesn't seem to be excessively fouled up after a shooting session. The barrel remains in excellent condition, with no pittings on it.
'Extended Magazine Release Replacement'
Since day one of owning the Glock, I've always wanted to replace the stock magazine release button. I found it too small and too short to comfortably activate without shifting my grip too much. I finally was able to get an Extended Magazine release from Lone Wolf recently which I ordered online, and which arrived two weeks later. From a functional point of view, it is a huge improvement in terms of functionality compared to the stock or factory mag release. I am now able to easily manipulate and release the magazine without shifting my hands too much off the pistol's grip.
However, now seems a bit too long, to the point that it looks like it will be easy to accidentally release the magazine during concealed carry. As I don't carry my unit that way yet, it is not much of a bother for now.
Lone Wolf Extended Mag Release
Here is a good video from Youtube on how to replace the magazine release:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE_AM6GWVsQ
'Combat Trigger Replacement'
Another item I had replaced, is the trigger. I play around with my Glock a LOT, and the serrated face of the trigger, combined with the heavy New York 1 trigger eventually resulted in some pain in my trigger finger as the sharp edges dig into it. I also found that when trying to control bursts in full auto fire, the serrated trigger again digs too much into the flesh of my trigger finger, causing discomfort and pain.
Glock uses smooth-faced triggers (also called "Combat" triggers) for their full-sized units, and serrated-faced triggers (also called "Target" triggers ) for their compact and sub-compact units for some reason. Those smooth-faced triggers can fortunately be used on the compact and sub-compact models also, so its just a matter of buying them and putting them into your unit.
I bought the new trigger from the Rock Your Glock website along with the Extended Magazine Release. The Combat trigger solved much of the pain issue on my trigger finger, but did not completely solve it initially. The trigger safety protrudes a bit off the trigger face, and it still caused pain when I tried it out during a full-auto shooting session, although on a much smaller area compared to before.
I decided to use a cutter to file down the face of that trigger safety so it will sit more flushed to the trigger face when depressed, and that seemed to have solved the problem. One concern before I did this was that if I file down that trigger safety face, it might result in the safety not being depressed enough to disengage it. However, this did not occur, the safety still got disengaged despite removing some material off that face.
I also noticed that when using the Combat trigger, you do lose a little bit of control, they don't "stick" to your finger as well as the serrated ones, and sorts of slips a bit. But for me this is a good compromise, losing a little bit of control for more comfort.
One thing to remember when changing triggers, is that you may need to re-fit your FSSG, if you are using one. Remember that the FSSG works by depressing the trigger bar to allow the striker to be released along with the slide, so changing the trigger bar will likely mean refitting that FSSG. In my case, the slide would not slide to full battery when I used the metal FSSG given to me by the gunsmith the first time I used it with the new trigger. I had to file down the sword-like protrusion on the FSSG a little bit using a metal file with ultra fine teeth, mainly to smoothen the face and remove the burrs. The problem was immediately solved after doing this.
(End of Part Five)
--> My Glock 23 Review Part One
--> My Glock 23 Review Part Two
--> My Glock 23 Review Part Three
--> My Glock 23 Review Part Four
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