Glock Problems

[mes228]

Glock

Someone posted "Glock's are over rated" in this thread. Not from my experience with Gen 3 Glock's (all I've owned were Models 17,19,22,23 - several of each Model and all Gen 3's). GLOCK GEN 3'S are terribly UNDER RATED. I have a Model 23 that has well over 15k rounds with never a malfunction. Total rounds through the many Glock's I've owned (still have 5) for the last 15 years would be an incredible number of thousands of rounds. I've had exactly 1 malfunction in all those years and all those Glock's. That was last week with a Glock 22 and the ammo was suspect. Very, very old Winchester Ball (truncated flat nose rounds). I've also had a bad hi-cap Korean mag that failed after being stored loaded for several months (thrown in the trash). A Glock Gen 3 with a Glock mag is the most UNDER RATED pistol out there for reliability in my opinion.

 

[5-SHOTS]

I'll close with another bit of wisdom from Todd Green's website. In his endurance test of the 4th Generation G17, he shot 71,260 rounds over 473 days before ending the test due to potential damage to the breech face of the gun. During the months that he tested the G17, he only cleaned it a total of 9 times. Over this time, he had 19 stoppages, 0 malfunctions and 3 parts to break. Even considering the potential damage, Glock said the gun was likely good for another 10,000 rounds and Todd said he would continue to shoot the gun for practice and in comparison tests. That's 1,425 boxes of ammo through the gun with little cleaning and it was still working but likely had suffered damage.

Now tell me again how crappy these new Glocks are.

Now that I'm reading the whole thing, he had a bunch of problems with his Glock 19 Gen4 (http://pistol-training.com/archives/4508) and the factory replacement of it, the Glock 17 Gen4 used for the test (http://pistol-training.com/archives/4553). I can only imagine the comments if it was a Taurus pistol...

 

[Teachu2]

I see many members reporting no issues with their Glocks which I'm sure it's true, but I have one question for you: have you ever let someone take a look at the ejections of your Glock while shooting?

I haven't suffered with BTF yet, and couldn't care less beyond that. I shoot any ammo that comes my way, and a lot is WWB, UMC, PMC, and other generic bargain ammo. I shoot mostly at an indoor range with partitions, and the brass gets deflected anyway. If you can set a coffee can on the ground and catch all your brass, sell tickets to watch. I grade every autoloader on a pass/fail brass ejection scale, with bonus points if it throws it down someone else's shirt.

 

[gym]

Glock is the only gun I would take off the shelf, clean, load up and carry without much concern. I have never had a malfunction with a dozen or so that I have owned over the past 25 years.

 

[Robert101]

I have more 1911's than Glocks but I see much more reliability in my Glocks than any other gun I own. It seems that people love to put the Glock through demonic testing. I think they pretty much prove the nay sayers wrong. In my opinion the Glock is extremely reliable and very much so reliable right out of the box.

 

[5-SHOTS]

If you can set a coffee can on the ground and catch all your brass, sell tickets to watch. I grade every autoloader on a pass/fail brass ejection scale, with bonus points if it throws it down someone else's shirt.

Well maybe not a coffee can, but a shoe box is going to catch all my brass with my P99 AS, and I also shot cheap range ammo. Not to mention how a CZ 75 ejects brass, for example. Again, I don't know if erratic ejection can affect the reliability of a gun, but watching the ejection port of a recent Glock while shooting is a funny experience, to say the least. However Todd Green's Gen4 Glocks suffered worst problems than erratic ejection... And not because I don't like Glocks, I see me owing one in the future, but I have the same concerns of the OP purchasing one right now.
My father had a Gen3 19 some years ago and we all regret the moment he sold it (that 19 ejected brass like the new ones with one of aftermarket extractors made to solve the ejecting issues, i.e. near the shooter, and was 100% with factory ammo) and I personally pushed him to buy it, so I'm not a Glock hater but I don't put my head under the sand neither.

 

[Gtscotty]

This is an odd thread. Most of the responses seem to be reassuring the OP that Glocks are generally a safe bet, but at the same time, the OP seems to have decided that the opposite is true based on nebulous Internet complaints.

Any time you buy a gun (or anything else for that matter) you are taking a chance on getting a lemon. There are no guns that you can buy off the counter and know with 100% certainty that they will work as advertised. This is exactly why folks say buy from a company with good CS and shoot X number of rounds before you ever carry a gun. These risk mitigation measures are good advice for any gun, and Glocks are no different. If you want a Glock, get one, if you don't, get something else, either way you will be rolling the dice and you may end up with a gun that has to go back to the factory to be fixed, but that is not the end of the world either. In my opinion your chances of getting a good Glock is as good as any other brand and better than most, but in the end its your life and your call.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

This is an odd thread. Most of the responses seem to be reassuring the OP that Glocks are generally a safe bet, but at the same time, the OP seems to have decided that the opposite is true based on nebulous Internet complaints.

+1 on this...^^^^^^

I frequently "research" a lot of stuff via the 'Net in my job and for personal interests and find the results gathered from discussion forums to be often of little help. There is a preponderance of dubious advice on some subjects and, while many forumites here and elsewhere are *very* experienced and knowledgeable the vastest majority of experts in any field, on any subject, are in the field doing it and not on discussion forums talking about it.

I didn't buy a Glock/shoot Glocks for decades because of the hype ( I hate hype pro or con) and purchased one to find out exactly what was "The Deal" in my hands at my range with my money and my ammunition. I was utterly shocked (and extremely frustrated) that my Glock Experience was awesome. I wanted my Glock 26 to be something much less than stellar or at least not "all that and a bag of chips" but my sincere experience is that it is probably the finest gun (in terms of reliability and accuracy) of any gun I own or have shot this last Summer.

Be careful reading Internet Experts advice and conducting yourself to the letter of what you find....many of the experts are regurgitating what they have read other places amplified by personal biases good or bad. In the end you'll have to make a list and plunk down yer money and shoot them (a lot) to get the proper perspective and information in real time. The good news? If you buy 'em and it's not for you it is a quality product and there will be someone standing in line to buy it used and take it off your hands. You'll take a small hit money wise but if you price it out it will be cheaper than searching for hours all over the 'Net for information that is, sometimes, largely useless.

IMO/YMMV.

VooDoo

 

[Ranger Roberts]

I have 4 Glocks (G17, G19, G23c, G22) including my duty weapon and all of them have been flawless. Glock has fantastic customer service and most repairs are free.

 

[Dogguy]

Everything is a POS based on selected internet forums and owner-generated reviews. If you believe only the negatives, that is.

I had wanted a SIG since the mid 1970s when they started being imported, first as a Browning .45 BDA. Finally decided to lay out the cash for one a few years back but started reading the SIG posts in gun forums. One complaint after the other, people saying SIGs are no longer good guns and the only ones worth having are the old folded sheet metal slide models made in enchanted Germany by Black Forest elves who sprinkled them with magic dust. So I didn't buy a SIG until I finally did reluctantly buy one with the hope that ALL those negative comments were just internet background whine. Turned out to be one of the best pistols I've ever owned, as have every SIG I've owned since then.

Just sayin'....

 

[sink45ny]

I have a Glock-23 gen 4. It has cycled 1000+ rounds flawlessly and accurately. I'd buy it again in an instant.

 

[rodsanlsutigerfan]

Well, I have not read all the posts here, but it from what I HAVE read, it seems many are doubting the reliability of Glock Generation 4 pistols. I can only speak from my experience in regard to the Generation 4 Glocks as I have not had the pleasure of owning a Generation 3 or earlier model Glock. I am now retired but have spent some time in law enforcement. I had the choice to use what was issued to us or buy my own. I chose to buy my own and was most happy with my Glock Model 22 Gen 4. I shot literally hundreds and hundreds of rounds with no issues whatsoever. I am told that some different models of the Gen 4 had some issues, which were promptly alleviated at no charge by the manufacturer to the owner. Now, having been around for more than a few years----I am not a youngster anymore---- I can honestly say I have seen that there are few things made by man that can not have problems develope unforseen by ANY manufacturer and Glock is no different in that respect. Most all reputable companies will stand by their product, just as Glock does. I for one, would not hesitate to spend money on a new Glock. I know it's reputation and it will stand behind what they manufacture. Just my two cents worth......

 

[Strahley]

I have shot thousands of rounds through Gen 2 and Gen 3 Glocks of every size and caliber except .45 GAP. Never a single malfunction in any of them. Heard there were some early issues with the Gen 4s, but I don't care to touch one of them. I would suggest going for a Gen 2 or 3 and shoot it until your trigger finger needs a break

 

[jimbo555]

Update on my glock 36 intermittent fte. I replaced the extractor with a non-lci version purchased at the glockstore. Amazing how easy it is to disassemble the slide! It works flawlessly with all my ammo so far so i'm pleased. I could have sent it in to glock but I was afraid they wouldn't see the problem and send it back without fixing anything. The older style extractor has a different cut angle to it and seems to grab the case better.

 

[HexHead]

BTF is overblown, and not a Glock problem per se. I've never had any pistol that didn't throw an occasional case back at me. It's more ammo related than anything else.
My new HK P30, ejected 115gr Federal, arguably the cheapest, softest shooting commercial ammo out there flawlessly. Yet, it occasionally throws my 147gr target ammo cases back at me, which I expected. I loaded it just above minimum power factor for matches, and that just comes with the territory.

I discovered a lot about ejection when working up a target load for my Gen3 G17. At the recommended starting load, I had a single shot pistol, it wouldn't move the slide enough to eject. As I went up a tenth of a grain of powder at a time, it ejected to the left, straight up, back at me and finally to the right and where I wanted it to eject. All this was within just a few tenths of a grain of powder difference in load.

I read on a reloading forum about a guy pulling some WWB apart and weighing the charges. Within just seven rounds, he found a four tenths of a grain variance. So yeah, you're onna get inconsistant ejection based on my experience.

People are so quick to blame their $500 gun, but never question their $9 box of ammo.

 

[hentown]

The problems about which the OP frets were solved by Glock a couple of years ago. Buy, shoot and enjoy.

 

[HGM22]

Are the Loaded Chamber Indicator (LCI) extractors interchangeable with the non-LCI extractors? I thought I read somewhere that there was a point where all previous Glocks took one type of extractor and subsequent Glocks took a different type of extractor. Did this occur before the LCI extractors, so therefor there'd be: Early Type non-LCI, Post Type non-LCI and LCI?

Also, HexHead that is very interesting. Hard to blame the gun if shooting cheap ammo.

 

[gym]

I have rarely heard of glocks having problems with any of their parts. Having owned a dozen over the years and 2 now, I find them to be the go to weapon should a tragedy strike. Your instructor is wrong, the glock stock sights work just fine. If you do upgrade, most put on Night sights. You should have them on your home defense gun along with a light, If that is your nightstand gun. The light slips off in a second for day time carry.

 

[JDR]

I think I figured out the problem. Here's a quote: "Around 2009 Glock started making the locking block, firing pin and extractor (these are the parts that have been confirmed by Glock) by MIM."

I have 30 years experience in aerospace procurement and Metal Injection Molded (MIM) part technology has gotten a lot better over the years. You would be surprised to learn how many MIM parts are in aircraft and even in satellites up in space. In fact, the Food & Drug Administration approved a MIM cobalt chromium implantable device to be used in metal on metal hip replacements. So as we get older we might have to deal with MIM parts in our hips as well as in our Glocks! If the FAA and FDA approve the technology for critical medical and aerospace applications, it should work in a firearm!

 

[SIGLBER]

I've been dealing with the G19 GEN3 and GEN4 problems for over two years. I've been through all the problems with these guns. In fact Glock has sent me 5 replacement guns (6 if you include my original GEN3 I purchased to avoid the early GEN4 problems). 2 would not work out of the box they were so bad. They were the earliest made guns. One a GEN3, the other a GEN4.
The others had problems anywhere after from 400-2000 rounds. Erratic/weak ejection, failure to feed, brass to the face, the whole nine yards. Glock tried the limp-wristing, weak ammo excuse thing early on. Problem is I've been shooting for 40 years and teach shooting classes. That and my older Glocks shoot anything I put through them. Those that believe the Glock was "designed for defensive ammo" as has often been quoted must also believe in the tooth fairy.
Right in the owners manual it says the gun is designed to shoot SAMMI and NATO spec ammo. All the American made ammo meets SAMMI specs. The early GEN4 G19's weren't designed with enough room in the dust cover for the new dual recoil set up and were shaving frames. Which at first Glock tried to say was normal. And would eventually stop. It didn't. Obviously poor testing and engineering. Also used .40 springs in a 9mm. The guns were oversprung. Went through 4-5 RSA changes.
Then the ejector change to try to get the guns to stop batting people in the head. Then going back to a straight extractor (still MIM though). During the whole time denying the problems while trying to implement fixes. Colt and Kimber both tried MIM extractors and it was a mess. Also all manner of quality control issues. And people are still getting problem guns freshly made.
With the newer guns with the new RSA's, ejectors (30274), extractors the guns are much better and your chances of getting a good one are much better. But if you get a bad one some are easily fixed with a few parts changes. Some still are so bad that Glock just replaces the gun. So you may get a good gun. The problems are not completely solved, although better. So I guess if you want one bad enough it's worth the risk. At worst your probably looking at replacing a few parts if their are problems. But Glock has not completely resolved the issues. In fact they've migrated over to the G21 GEN4's. Goo luck in whatever you decide.