9mmHolePunch,
I didn’t have a chance to try the ejectors side by side because the Glock techs threw away the “old” one that the pistol came with. However, prior to that the recoil spring assembly was changed from the 0-3 assembly I bought it with, to the 0-4-3 assembly Glock VP sent me. That had no discernible effect on the functioning of the gun. The extractor was also changed from the original MIM Glock extractor to a Lone Wolf Distributor, and then to an improved Glock extractor, neither of those fixes in any combination with either of the recoil spring changed anything for the better. Different ammunition was also tried to see what effect that would have, and it made no difference. The extractor plunger assembly was also replaced because of speculation on the internet that it may have something to do with weak ejection, and because my stock one had become abnormally damaged through routine use. That too failed to produce reliable ejection with any combination of recoil spring assemblies or extractors. So the gun was sent back to Glock for repairs. As far as I know the only changes that were made were the ejector was replaced with the redesigned ejector that is now in it, and they replaced the damaged stock extractor plunger assembly. The tech said the wear on the plunger was not abnormal per se, but it was very abnormal for the number of rounds fired. They’ve seen plungers like that before, just usually on guns with 10’s of thousands of rounds through them, not one with 1,025 rounds through it.
From the 300 rds I’ve fired since the ejector was replaced I would say that the ejector was the problem, but without having the old ejector to verify that, I can’t say definitively. Just from all indications I have, that was the cause. I could put some of the old parts in it and see if the problem crops back up, but I would expect that if the new parts didn’t solve the problem before, the old parts shouldn’t bring it back, with the exception of the ejector. I suppose I could try that, but it might take awhile.
The good news being that if the ejector is indeed the problem, that’s something anyone can check at the gun store by locking the slide back and looking down on the ejector. If it’s blunted on the end, you should be good. If it’s the older style very sharp pointed one, get a different model.
The new extractor plunger is being worn in the same places, but it’s to a normal degree this time. It looks slightly used and has a polished area around half of it, but there is no pitting or gouging like there was before. The newer Glock extractor falls free during disassembly like the Lone Wolf did, to my knowledge this part was not replaced by Glock when the pistol was returned for service, if so the part number or vendor code, whatever it is, is still “10” like it is in the photos and video I made comparing the extractors. The Lone Wolf is marked with a 4 on one of the top inner surfaces; the Glocks are marked on their inner edge. The pistol as it is currently set up has a Glock extractor plunger, the “newer” Glock extractor that does not have the depression or sprue mark, an 0-4-3 recoil spring assembly, and their new squared off ejector. It consistently ejected whatever I shot during the last 300 rd session, to include some softer reloads that only chrony to 900 some odd fps.
I still don’t feel comfortable using it as a carry gun however. It is MUCH better than it was, but I don’t know. We have history, and most of it isn’t good. It’s going to take this particular gun a long time to earn my trust, if ever. It may live life as a paper puncher or it may live life with someone else, I’m comfortable enough in it’s functioning that I would sell it now, but I’m at a loss what to replace it with if I did. I picked a G19 for a reason. They beat everyone on capacity, weight, size, and up until recently reliability, and I’m invested into them. Getting something else means ditching magazines, holsters, parts, etc. I may try to find a NIB older Gen 3 prior to the M serial numbers or something, I’d have to do more looking and find out when they changed the extractors.
I’ll try to post up some more pictures or maybe a video or 2 about the current parts later. I have all the folders and stuff for this on another computer and want to keep the photos organized in the same way and place, so I can’t do it from here.
