Need help, Glock 21 jamming regularly

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Does anyone else have this problem? I have been told that some Glock 21 guns will jam or are known to jam.

Here's my setup (I am listing everything):

Glock 21 3rd gen FGR with factory night sights
Lasermax internal laser
Insight M6 light/laser
Ajax grips

I use non-metal lined magazines which are cleaned regularly to get the residue build up out. Those things get way more gunked up than most people realize. I have 8 magazines and it happened to 5-6 of them regularly. so I think it might be the gun that's doing it, not the magazines, but I am not sure.

It's jamming about every 3rd or 4th round, including Wolf FMJ, Winchester Ranger SXT, Winchester FMJ, and PMC FMJ.

Every few rounds, the bullet gets hung up on the feed ramp like the spring is not pushing it out all the way before the slide comes back and jams it against the front of the feed ramp. Sometimes the round doesn't even come up out of the magazine and the slide comes down on an empty chamber. That is the weird one, it recoils, kicks out the brass, resets the trigger, but the chamber is empty.

I am thinking it is the Lasermax recoil spring but since I didn't bring my stock guide rod last night, I couldn't swap it out to test.

The armorer inspected my weapon and detail stripped it and didn't find any components out of whack. He did say the Insight M6 sometimes will cause earlier G21 to jam because the recoil spring of the earlier guns (which mine is) will not handle the additional weight on the front and it causes the recoil to be off and the gun will not feed right. He said the M3 is fine since it is not as heavy. Has anyone heard of this?

I am going to take out the lasermax for sure and I am on the verge of buying new magazines to feed the hunger. Sometimes I feel like just buying a G34 and selling the G21 to be done with it.

Does anyone here have any info on Glock 21 being prone to jamming as I have been told by the armorer and a few other shooters I talked to? Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is my main gun and I need it to work.
 
The g21 is just as known for reliability as any of the other glocks, so they should be troubleshot the same way. I have had a lasermax in my gun for 2k rounds. I doubt its the lasermax itself, though it could be the spring. How many rounds have been shot out on that spring? Almost all weapon lights can cause problems with glocks. I would take it off and shoot without it also, see what happens.

The big thing that springs out at me is that you say the rounds nosedive, or the gun fully cycles but doesn't strip another round. That sounds an awful lot like a magazine issue to me. The NFML mags are known for having issues and being in general junky. I would still lean towards a mag issue. Get a brand new FML magazine and try shooting that.

ETA: as far as the g21 being prone to jamming, thats a crock of BS. Whoever told you that probably couldnt crack the nut so they passed the buck.
 
I use non-metal lined magazines ...
Click to expand...
:confused: Aftermarket?

Every few rounds, the bullet gets hung up on the feed ramp like the spring is not pushing it out all the way before the slide comes back and jams it against the front of the feed ramp. Sometimes the round doesn't even come up out of the magazine and the slide comes down on an empty chamber. That is the weird one, it recoils, kicks out the brass, resets the trigger, but the chamber is empty.
Click to expand...
I agree with the post above that it sounds like a magazine issue. That spring has its work cut out for it pushing all those heavy cartridges up in time.
 
Another post came up recently about the Glock 23 jamming up ONLY when a light was attached to the light-rail. Supposedly, it ran fine without the light/laser.

In the same thread it was mentioned that some police departments were ditching their Glocks because of this problem. Don't know if there's any truth to this, though.

The theory is that the extra weight of the light on the front of the gun is causing the slide to cycle too quick for next round to feed properly.

Now, I don't know how realistic this theory is but it just might be your issue. I doubt it though.

My advice is that you should try shooting it without the light and the lasermax. Also, make sure you are using glock factory magazines. Try another brand of ammo too.

If all that doesn't work, send it in to Glock. They will take care of you. Good luck!
 
Thanks for the quick and informative feedback guys! I love this forum for a reason.

The magazines are all factory Glock but they are the LE/Govt marked ones from back in the days when they had to be marked that way. I took them apart to clean the gunk and saw they are all non-metal lined.

Sorry, forgot the pertinent part that this gun was bought in 1999 and since then, had maybe 2,000 rounds through it, plus or minus 500 rounds.

The Ajax grips are the stick-on type that is pre-cut to the Glock shape.

The gun only started jamming recently within the last year or so. The armorer also took apart my magazines and didn't find it faulty.

I will go to the range tonight I guess to see if I can sort the gremlins out.

Variables. Mag. Lasermax. M6.

I do love my M6 though but I can do without the lasermax since it would be kinda redundant.
 
Oh, I also rotate my magazines. Every 6 months, I swap out the 4 loaded ones for another batch so the springs don't fatigue. So much for that, eh?
 
I thought it was the ammo too but it's the same Winchester Ranger SXT T-series that gets issued to about... oh... 2,500 others around here.
 
So are you saying that you are having this issue with all 4 magazines then? If so, maybe it's not your magazines?? I'd still be willing to bet that it is, though. If I were you I'd still consider picking up a few new/used mags that are of the new style w/ the metal lining. It doesn't hurt to have extra mags anyways.

I agree that you should ditch the lasermax since you have the laser/light combo anyways. Sell it for some extra $$. I think Glock knew what they were doing when they decided to go with their polymer guide-rods vs. something else.

Btw, keeping your magazines loaded won't fatigue your springs. Springs only fatigue with repeated compression, not continuous or long-term compression.
 
Also, I know your local armorer inspected it, but did you/he clean it recently?

How many rounds have you put through it since the last time you changed your recoil spring?
 
Actually, it's all 8 of my magazines... one time or another.

How much would a lasermax for a G21 be worth anyway? I just want rid of it now. Don't need it and it's not allowed anyway.

I went to the academy store and they were out of G21 mags and they will be backordered for a while from what I was told.

Since I live in California, there are very limited venues where I can get my mags.
 
CPS, I clean my gun and lube it everytime I shoot it. I cleaned it before yesterday, the armorer took it apart and cleaned it as well. I also cleaned it after the shoot. Maybe it's too clean?
 
I know... just waiting for them to come in so I can buy some. I tried last week but they told me they were backordered for a while and no idea when they will ship.
 
Good idea... I was browsing the Wolf catalogue yesterday.

I did take all my mags apart yesterday and scrubbed them out. They weren't dirty at all, unlike the first time I took them apart and found all kinds of gunk.

So... the springs don't fatigue under a constant load but will fatigue if you load and unload it a lot?
 
Glocks are usually pretty reliable with factory parts. Other than the grip panels I would put it back to factory and see what happens. I doubt it is the mgazines. I have read several reports of Glocks having problems with lights hanging off them.
 
Yep, go with the factory guide rod, I've seen a lasermax rod cause trouble before in a model 23 Glock. The M6 light might cause a problem but this type problem is usually seen on the .40 caliber Glocks...Glock came out with an extra power mag spring to correct it. If you can take your empty pistol with an empty magazine in place and quickly pull the slide to the rear (simulating a recoiling slide) and it lock open, the mag should be fine...but with the addition of the light it couldn't hurt to have new/extra power mag springs. Yep, it's the compressing and decompressing of the springs that cause them to wear out. I never load a magazine to full capacity to "save" the spring a little and also to aid in reloading with a closed slide and for that little less bit of pressure on the slide during that first firing cycle...every little bit helps..;) ..... I recommend having carry mags and range mags so that your carry mag springs get less use and should always be good to go....
 
JMR, do you have any links to those stories of the M6 causing problems?

Do you guys recommend any different weight recoil springs instead of mag springs?

My mags all lock the slide open on last shot so I know that part works.
 
Is the magazine release maybe worn and causing the magazine to hang a bit low?
 
mag spring

I realize that this thread is almost two years old. I happened on it accidentally and having just gotten my glock armorers cert, I think I may be able to shed a little light on this issue. We were told that the addition of a tac light/laser adds rigidity to the frame. Whereas without one, the entire frame flexes a lot during the firing sequence. This caused a lot of issues such as the one described by the OP. The solution was an added coil in the magazine spring. This is why it is often a pain to get the last cartridge or two in the mag. The OP is using old non-metal lined mags without the extra coil! Have your armorer order mag springs with one more coil and I believe your problem will go away.

Sorry to bring back such an old thread, I think there is value in my passing on learned info. I hope this is acceptable for your forum.
 
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