Glock 27 with problems

[Ersel]

Hi!

I went shooting for the 4th time ever with my Glock 27 (.40) and I've never had a problem with it--it's 3 years old and only seen about 400 rounds. FYI-It had been sitting for 3 years, so I did oil the slide and the other areas Glock recommended and yes the gun was clean while it sat for 3 years.

Today everything was working well (about 100 rounds into it) until I squeezed the trigger and nothing happened. I did this a total of 15+ times and nothing happened. I checked the bullets and the firing pin did hit the casings in question, but they did not go off. The problem was intermitant throughout the shooting time. Some bullets I tried 3 different times and had three different pin marks, but nothing happened.
I changed magazines...same problem. I did have someone test my ammo in their Glock and all of my "bad" bullets worked fine in their gun. The last 4 shots I took with the gun it did work, but I had to slide the hammer back 3x and dry fire and then the gun worked again.
Anyone know what could be wrong with my gun and what I should look for when I clean it tonight or what I should do?
Thanks!
P.S. The firing pin marks (in general) on the "bad" shots were not in the dirrect center of the casing.

 

[DogWithGun]

Most of the replies will probably adress the striker pin spring and striker pin. Either some corrosion or foreign debris in the striker channel or even possibly the striker pin taking a set. However I would think the former much more likely. you should dissasemble the slide tonight during cleaning I would think.

[edit] - Perhaps even as easy as the striker pin channel just being good and gunked up with old semi-solidifed lube.

 

[Ken Rainey]

Yep, what DogWithGun said.....probably just needs the firing pin channel cleaned out - remember, no oil in there! Also, check and make sure the tip of the firing pin hasn't broken off.

 

[Powderman]

P.S. The firing pin marks (in general) on the "bad" shots were not in the dirrect center of the casing.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIRE THE PISTOL UNTIL YOU HAVE IT REPAIRED, OR UNTIL YOU REPAIR IT YOURSELF.

What you seem to be experiencing is an out of battery condition. The slide is closing enough to let the striker function; but not enough to center the cartridge on the breech face.

Now, here's how to troubleshoot:

First, check the basics: Is the pistol lubed and clean?

Check the barrel, inside and out. Remove the barrel from the pistol, and take a loaded round; check for a "drop fit". The round should literally fall into the chamber with a solid "click".

If the round does not, check the chamber and the leade (first 1/2 inch of the rifling) carefully.

NOTE WELL!!! IF YOU HAVE BEEN FIRING LEAD BULLETS IN YOUR GLOCK, AND YOUR GLOCK HAS A FACTORY BARREL, STOP!!!! CLEAN YOUR BARREL THOROUGHLY, USING A GOOD STIFF BORE BRUSH. NOTE THE AMOUNT OF LEAD RESIDUE THAT IS REMOVED FROM THE BORE.

EXERCISE DILIGENCE IN CLEANING THE CHAMBER AND THE LEADE, IF THIS IS THE CASE. (And, if this is the case, know that this is the EXACT reason that Glock says to NOT use lead bullets in a factory Glock barrel.)

You'll need a snap cap for this one:

Place a piece of masking tape on the base of a snap cap. Chamber it fully, from the magazine. (Remember, don't ride the slide!)

Pull the trigger. Now, eject the snap cap, and look for an indent of the firing pin, centered on the base. If the indentation is not centered, check the following:

a. With the pistol in battery, the barrel hood should be even with the top of the slide.

b. Make sure the pistol's clear, then pull the trigger. Hold the trigger, then cycle the slide. Release the trigger slowly. Did you feel the disconnector release, and the trigger reset?

If all of these are present, check the following:

Dirt/carbon/debris buildup on the front of the barrel hood locking surface (forward edge);

Burrs/nicks/dents on the lower edge of the extractor;
Same on the breech face.

Finally, check the recoil spring itself; make sure that it is serviceable and not kinked or broken.

Hope all of this helps--if not, contact Glock, and return the pistol. for factory repair.

 

[aguyindallas]

Is it possible you were limp wristing the gun a little. This might let the slide go back ALMOST all the way into battery, enough to reset the striker, but when you pull the trigger...no go. Since the slide MAY not be all the way forward, you get a light strike.

I learned this from my SigPro when I first got it...

 

[Rockstar]

If the strikes were centered, then the pistol was not slightly out-of-battery, and the problem is that the firing pin channel needs cleaning out. You can't clean the channel out unless you remove the firing pin assembly. More-than-likely, oil in the channel congealed over the time that the gun was in storage.

I use non-chlorinated brake cleaner to blast out the firing pin channel. If you use Q-tips, you just might be compressing gunk against the end of the firing pin channel.

Oh, if the pistol isn't going into battery, could be it's not lubed properly and/or the recoil spring assembly needs to be replaced.

 

[kent m. lane]

Take the firing pin out of the receiver clean no oil and never shoot lead ammo ot of it.

 

[Ersel]

Thank you all for responding. I'm not too adept with my Glock and all its parts, but I do know how to shoot and I wasn't limp wristing it + other shooters that day had the same problem with my gun.
I didn't have time to clean the gun yet, but did perform the firing pin check in my Glock manual and everything checked out okay.
The bullets I bought for it were S&W and not sure about the lead thing...I didn't pay attention, but bought them from a major sporting good store.
Should a novice attempt the cleaning you all are talking about? Again, I know how to break down my gun and clean/lube it, but that's it.
Again, 90% of all the rounds went off w/out a hitch and the firing pin hit the center of the casings. The other 10% didn't hit the center...and fired sporatically. I saved some of the bad casings just in case.
Thanks

 

[DunedinDragon]

Hold one of the bad cases in your hand and smack the back of it with a ball peen hammer. That should tell you whether it's just a bad round or not..

 

[Ken Rainey]

You can go to www.Glockmeister.com and look under "Free Tech Info", then look under "slide disassembly" and it will show you how to disassemble the slide...all you need is the Glock disassembly tool (a 3/32 punch) or even a small flat bladed screw driver for this procedure, oh and maybe safety glasses - them little plungers can fly - hold your hand over the rear of the slide while removing the cover plate slowly!

However, if you have done the firing pin check (holding the firing pin safety pushed in while shaking the slide to see if the firing pin moves freely and the tip is in good shape) then it probably isn't in need of cleaning...on the other hand it will eliminate that as a possible cause of the problem and it is easy to do (watch out for flying springs and plungers).

The ammunition would be another thing that needs looking at....use reputable, factory loaded, jacketed ammunition: Winchester, Remington, Federal and Speer come to mind. Don't use reloaded ammo and especially no lead bullet (without a copper jacket) ammo.

The recoil spring assembly would be another possibility if it was damaged or weak. It wasn't locked back those three years it was left sitting was it? To check the recoil spring for function: UNLOAD the pistol. Hold a clean and properly lubricated * EMPTY * pistol pointed upward and pull and hold the trigger, then pull the slide down and ease it up slowly letting the recoil spring pull the slide back into battery, the recoil spring should pull it completely into battery, if it stops short you need a new recoil spring assembly - with only 400 rds thru the pistol this shouldn't be the case but it's an easy check to perform.

Let us know.....

 

[TheEgg]

If the strikes were centered, then the pistol was not slightly out-of-battery, and the problem is that the firing pin channel needs cleaning out.

+1

Highest probability, IMHO.