Information for Glock users

[denfoote]

This one is a no brainer!!

The weapons were ten years old and have had 25k rounds through them.

Mechanical failure

There are many different kinds of mechanical failure, and they include overload, impact, fatigue, creep, rupture, stress relaxation, stress corrosion cracking, corrosion fatigue and so on. Each produces a different type of fracture surface, and other indicators near the fracture surface(s). The way the product is loaded, and the loading history are also important factors which determine the outcome. Of critical importance is design geometry because stress concentrations can magnify the applied load locally to very high levels, and from which cracks usually grow.

Over time, as more is understood about a failure, the failure cause evolves from a description of symptoms and outcomes (that is, effects) to a systematic and relatively abstract model of how, when, and why the failure comes about (that is, causes).

The more complex the product or situation, the more necessary a good understanding of its failure cause is to ensuring its proper operation (or repair). Cascading failures, for example, are particularly complex failure causes. Edge cases and corner cases are situations in which complex, unexpected, and difficult-to-debug problems often occur.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure_causes

In layman's terms, after 25K rounds, the part wore out!!

 

[JohnKSa]

25K shouldn't wear out those guns. However, here's a clue to the solution.

Also, our weapons did not receive new recoil springs until last year, so the weapons in question were fed a steady diet of a very hot round, without the benefit of a stiffer spring to mitigate the shock. We are now moving to re-spring (completely) all of our agency's weapons, and will work as quickly as budgets allow to replace the older series of weapons, which may be irredeemably compromised, at this point.

I'm not a fan of either the .40S&W or the .357SIG, but if I were shooting Glocks in either of those two calibers, I'd replace the recoil springs every 3,000 rounds. I think you'll have a hard time finding an official recommendation like that in writing, but let's just say I didn't make that number up...

 

[Frank Ettin]

I'm not a fan of either the .40S&W or the .357SIG, but if I were shooting Glocks in either of those two calibers, I'd replace the recoil springs every 3,000 rounds...

Makes a lot of sense, especially when you consider that SOP on 1911s is every 2,500 rounds or so; and that's a much lower pressure cartridge. Changing recoil springs regularly has always seemed to me to be cheap insurance.

 

[jakemccoy]

I noticed that the original poster did not come back to post once. Draw your own conclusions regarding this thread.

 

[Frank Ettin]

I noticed that the original poster did not come back to post once. Draw your own conclusions regarding this thread.

While the OP hasn't been around, the PD armorer who reported the failures has been here, posted several times and provided considerable detail (as well as his email address). See posts 9, 15, 40 and 41.

 

[jakemccoy]

While the OP hasn't been around, the PD armorer who reported the failures has been here, posted several times and provided considerable detail (as well as his email address). See posts 9, 15, 40 and 41.

OK, I see now. Unfortunately, there are so many trolls on the Internet that when I see I thread like this, I first scan to see if the original poster has come back to re-post. If not, I consider the person a troll. It's not my fault. Blame it on the nature of the Internet.

I went back to read the posts you noted. The reported story doesn't knock my confidence in Glock. The weapons at issue had old recoil springs and lots of rounds. Meanwhile, the shooters were using relatively hot loads. The idea of replacing a recoil spring is not for conversational purposes. Do it. Mechanical parts can and will fail.

 

[wardog911]

Glock 23 Lower barrel lug fail w/pic



I also use Speer Lawman 155gr. and 165gr. TMJ but only about 1K rounds used on this barrel.
It is a replacement barrel by Storm lake. This is my CCW and i am also concerned about the barrel / Ammo combo. Anny additional experiences would be appreciated.
I am going to be contacting storm lake to see if the ammo may have some thing to do with it but it shouldn't i would guess. i guess i should have read all the post i will also replace the spring as i bought the gun used and the spring probably has a lot of ware on it.
Thanks guys for your posts.

 

[wesessiah]

i'm curious to know if these firearms fall in the EAAXXXUS to EZZXXXUS serial number range that had the frame cracking issues. it applied to .40 and .357 sig. btw, i don't think anyone is really trying to slam glock in this thread, we should all know that even if something is due to manufacturing, with such high numbers produced things occasionally happen.

 

[JohnKSa]

...fall in the EAAXXXUS to EZZXXXUS serial number range that had the frame cracking issues.

Completely unrelated. COMPLETELY.

Those guns didn't have a "frame cracking issue", they had a potential slide rail failure issue due to an improper manufacturing process. It had nothing to do with any particular caliber nor with fatigue due to use. The rails were bent with too sharp a radius and Glock's analysis indicated that there would be an unacceptable failure rate. So they offered to replace any frames in the affected serial number range at no cost to the owner regardless of whether the rails failed or not.

...only about 1K rounds used on this barrel.

The question isn't how many rounds there were on the barrel but rather how many rounds there were on the recoil spring.

 

[wesessiah]

Completely unrelated. COMPLETELY.

Those guns didn't have a "frame cracking issue", they had a potential slide rail failure issue due to an improper manufacturing process. It had nothing to do with any particular caliber nor with fatigue due to use. The rails were bent with too sharp a radius and Glock's analysis indicated that there would be an unacceptable failure rate. So they offered to replace any frames in the affected serial number range at no cost to the owner regardless of whether the rails failed or not.

ah, thanks for the info. i thought it was a frame cracking problem due to my brother-in-laws g22 having the frame crack. i guess his just had the potential rail problem and was replaced. though, the rep told him it was first identified by some pd's.

 

[Micro]

Subsailor, you registered at this site solely to report this issue? It seems your only posts here are related directly to this subject, despite the "large number of reports" from 25 other agencies regarding these or other Glock failures. Why have you waited so long to save us from our Glocks? Your information might have been helpful to recent buyers of the gun, since your information is the first I've heard, and apparently the first others have heard, about these types of "failures."

 

[possum]

i personally dont think that the glocks were worn out after 25k rds, however it does seem to me that this kinda thing could and was most likely caused by improper preventative maintenance. ie not changing out recoil springs when they are supposed to be. this could cause extra wear and tear in that part of the gun.

as for the light primer strikes, this could be caused by not changing the striker spring, and or not cleanning out the striker channel. as we all know most police officers are like soldiers, the majority of them are not "shooters" or operators, and the majority shoot when they qualify annual or bi annually and no more. how many of them know how to self diagnose a problem, and if they do do they know how to fix a problem like light primer strikes? i would bet that there are several that have had light primer strikes, cleared the malfunction and thought nothing else of it. do these people in question know to have the springs changed? when to clean out the channels? how to clean out the channels? and the fact that you don't want to leave oil etc in there to imped the strikers ability to hit the primer with enough force for it to set the primer off?

 

[JohnKSa]

as for the light primer strikes, this could be caused by not changing the striker spring

The way the Glock design works, light primer strikes can be a symptom of a worn-out recoil spring.

If the recoil spring is kaput, the trigger pull can actually move the slide slightly out of battery due to the way the trigger operates on the striker under the tension of the striker spring. That will result in light strikes.

 

[weisse52]

I am sure I am going to get hate on this one.

May I ask why some want to doubt this as a troll or rumor? Seems like the person responding gave quite a bit more information than I would expect from a troll.
Could it be he only came on to share information and decided that after his "warm" welcome he was gone?

All guns break, even my Colts break, why is that so hard to believe?

 

[nyresq]

I think the problem is due to weak recoil springs more then anything else. the recoil spring is probably the most overlooked item in a LEOs firearm. My agency makes agents keep a log for their weapons (sig 229 in 357sig) and when the guns get to 10,000 rounds they are shipped to the HQ armorer for a full respring and the frames are magnafluxed for any cracks. we have had guns make it past 40,00 rounds with zero failures and they at that point get converted to simunition guns for training... but we have also had a few that had small frame cracks at 20,000, so like anything else manufactured, sometimes you get a good one, but some times you get a bad one.

I dont think a G22 with 25K on the recoil spring can realisticly be expected to survive much longer without something breaking. I am amazed it made it ot 25K and reinforces my trust in glocks...

 

[JohnKSa]

Just to reiterate, if I were shooting a Glock chambered in .40S&W or .357SIG I would replace the recoil spring every 3K rounds. Unlike hammer-fired guns, the recoil spring is the only thing retarding the rearward motion of the slide during recoil--neglecting the recoil spring in the .40S&W & .357SIG guns is likely to cause issues.