How Hard is it to Disassemble a Glock Slide?

[Bama5.0]

Hey guys, I'm new here, but I've been around firearms my whole life. I just recently (well 6 years ago) got into handguns, when I turned 21. I have looked around a little about disassembling my Glock 21SFs slide, and I've found disassembly instructions, but none for assembly (although I admittedly haven't looked too hard). Is it really tough to reassemble or something? Most of these sites that offer disassembly instructions warn heavily that if you mess up you will be taking the gun to a smith for reassembly. BTW, I AM TALKING ABOUT FULLY DISASSEMBLING THE SLIDE NOT FIELD STRIPPING.

I am very mechanically inclined, and have never taken anything apart to later fail at reassembly. I was just wondering, because I like knowing how and why every part works in guns, cars, etc. I know it's not really needed to fully strip and clean. Any recommendations on how often (if ever) the gun should be fully stripped and cleaned?

 

[Cfish]

Not hard at all. Try these instructions.

http://www.guerrillagunsmith.com/glockdetailed.htm

 

[LiveLife]

Any recommendations on how often (if ever) the gun should be fully stripped and cleaned?

Do not, for a moment, subscribe to the notion that Glocks don't need cleaning. Glocks do indeed require regular cleaning to remove fouling build up that may impair proper functioning of the pistol after firing enough rounds to cause fouling build up. I have seen several Glock KaBooms at the range over the years and this notion that Glocks never need cleaning should not be perpetuated, especially here on THR. Glocks, like all semi-auto firearms, are prone to fouling build up but due to design features (like self-clearing slide rails, etc.) and looser tolerances (like of the chamber), are more tolerant to fouling build up but are not immune.

I have several Glocks and they get detail cleaned (disassembled down to each individual part) once a year. I field strip for quick wipe down of fouling and barrel gets cleaned after each range session of 200-500+ rounds. If I shoot lead reloads, I inspect and clean the barrel as necessary of any fouling/leading build up on the rifling at the chamber end every 200-300 rounds as this build up may increase chamber pressure in already tighter polygonal rifled Glock barrels. If there is any fouling/leading that won't come out with Hoppes #9 solvent and copper bore brush, I use copper scrubber (like Chore Boy) wrapped old/smaller bore brush to remove the fouling/leading. Be sure the copper scrubber is not copper plated steel (use a magnet to check).

Here are disassembly/reassembly and cleaning videos. Only thing I would add is that if your Glock has a lot of rounds fired (say 5000+) or have never been cleaned before, I normally inspect the bottom of tube that striker pin assembly goes into (back side of the breech face with hole that striker pin pokes through) for hard/caked on black fouling with a bright flashlight. This build up causes light primer indent and sometimes misfires. The hard/caked on build up may require soaking of solvent (block the striker pin hole) and small flat screwdriver to scrape off.

Detailed disassembly/reassembly by vaguninfo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No4SA6v6xjE

Detailed cleaning and disassembly/reassembly by hickok45 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VTIqAMPOco

 

[Bama5.0]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. I figured it wouldn't be hard, I just wanted to make sure before I started ripping things apart. That's actually pretty rare for me!

 

[LiveLife]

Bama, welcome to THR.

Been there myself (One time, long ago, I had to look for small springs that popped off on the carpet for like 40 minutes - Doh! ). Glocks are great pistols and with regular maintenance and cleaning, perform even better.

 

[fmcdave]

I have several Glocks and I inspect them after every trip to the range. Every couple of trips I clean the barrel, breach face, and such. About every 1000 rounds I completely disassemble and clean out and relub as necessary. I bought a $10 book which details the disassembly and reassembly but quite frankly, the link provided CFish is a little better.

 

[REAPER4206969]

A drunk, retarded monkey could strip a Glock slide inside of three minutes armed only with a Dum-Dum sucker.

 

[GLOOB]

I can do it with one hand, except for removing the striker cups and spring. Reassembly, too. The only thing to watch for is to position your finger to stop the extractor spring from shooting out when you slide the back plate off.

Reassembly is the amazing thing. There is absolutely no fiddling or puzzles to get the thing back together. It's completely obvious and foolproof without needing a third hand or tweezers. There's no wiggling/jiggling/banging or frustrating moments.

I can completely disassemble and reassemble most of my other firearms, too. But I'm loathe to do them unless absolutely necessary. They're either a headache, a lost or bent spring waiting to happen, a limited number of reassemblies before a roll pin gets buggered, or all of the above. Glock = none of the above.

 

[smince]

Remember:

Polymer on polymer

Metal on metal