Frickin #^$%@# Glock Piece Of #$*^........help!!

[bullseyekp]

Background: I shot a Ruger P95 for about three years in IDPA and about six months in USPSA. I became pretty proficient with the Ruger and worked my way up the food chain. After much recommendation from friends, and after shooting one a few times, I bought a G34.

Problem: I've had the gun about five months and it has approximately 3500 rounds through it. I cannot seem to shoot one full match without the gun malfunctioning. The major malfunction (pardon the pun) is that the gun will occasionally send rounds into the chamber without actually going into full battery. If you can picture it, there will be a round in the chamber but the slide will be 3/4 of an inch out of battery, sitting on the top round in the magazine. This almost always happens on the first round fired with 10 in the mag and one in the pipe. I have tried the following bullet weights and types: 115 HP, 125 HP, 125 RN and 147 FP. All of them, I repeat, all of them have experienced the same problem. I haven't had any problems running full power ammo (~150 pf) through the gun but all of my IDPA and USPSA loads are in the 128-130 range. I have the same problem using the stock guide rod assembly or a tungsten rod and weaker springs (13# or 15#). I reload all my ammo on a Rockchucker and a 650XL and I doubt it's a round-out-of-spec problem.

Theory: New style extractor sucks!? While hand-cycling rounds through the gun at different speeds, occasionally the extractor will not engage the round and will push it into the chamber. In other words, the front of the extractor is pushing the rounds ahead of itself instead of catching the rim of the cartridge. The live-fire malfunctions have occurred with WIN, R-P and FC brass so I don't think it's the brass. Several people have told me that the new loaded chamber indicator type extractor has caused them problems and once they replaced it, they rarely had a hiccup again.

Solutions: Unless somebody convinces me otherwise, I am going to order the old style extractor from Glockmeister. If that doesn't work, I guess I will try shooting 135-145 PF ammo in the matches as a last ditch effort to make the gun run jam-free.

ANY SUGGESTIONS?? Please help as I have about a month before my next state match and would like to fix the problem before then.

Thanks,

Daniel

[ErikW]

Use a heavier/stiffer rate recoil spring.

Lighten the extractor tension. (Not sure how to do this on a Grock.)

[Nik Habicht]

3. If you're using Glock ten rounders, they produce a lot of tension on the underside of the slide if you're loaded to ten + one. Try leaving your mags loaded for a week or more to get the springs to take a set. I've had good luck with that in my 34s, but I've also been using Wolff +10% mag springs for the last few years.

4. Make sure you have a rock solid grip, up high.

5. Your current power factor for the ammo is lighter than 135, right? Do invest in a case gage and case gage all match ammo. Reject any that doesn't drop right in and slide right out. Use it up in practice ---- if it fits the case gage.

I've had one jam in a match in the last year; I isolated the mag and I haven't been able to replicate in several thousand rounds of practice since. My guess ---- an out of spec round slipped through my quality control.

[Matthew_Mink]

This isn't the first time I've heard of this with the new style extractor.

I initially thought of ammo being the problem, but bad ammo wouldn't cause it to feed ahead of the extractor. Let us know what you find out, cause I am going to get another Glock and it will probably be new, with the new extractor.

[rhino]

There are some other solutions to any Glock problems:

Kimber, Springfield Armory, Colt, etc.

[Matthew_Mink]

Why would we shoot slower guns?

[Custom Glock Racing]

Case guage all your ammo, check your OAL to make sure a long round is not getting stopped on the rifling when chambering. Reduce the spring tension if using 10 rounders, load em and leave em or cut a coil off the spring.

[John Thompson]

There can be no problem with a glock they are after all "Perfection"

[tightloop]

Tm Snd Cptn

Qualify your statement about slower guns. You nor anyone on this forum can operate a 1911 faster than it can fire...so give all of us dinosaurs who shoot them the benefit and explain that statement to us.

[Nik Habicht]

Tightloop,

Limiting the discussion to me only for the moment ---- in my hands a 1911 of any type is a vastly slower gun to draw, shoot, reload, transition with, etc. than a Glock. So I for one don't want to change to a slower gun ----- and I fully realize that after a period of adjustment I'd probably be as fast with a 1911 as I am today with a Glock. (But during that same time period without a gun change, I'll be even faster with the Glock, so I'm not changing!)

[tightloop]

Nik

No one can approach the max rate of fire with either pistol, so it is a personal thing. I just take exception to the statement that the gun is slower.

Always the Indian, never the arrow.

I am sure you ROCK with your Glock... sounds like a limerick, so I will close.

[SiG Lady]

Now, although it sounds simplistic, one of my two problems with the G34 (which I sold, in part from exasperation with it)* was that the gun wants to be held not only firmly, but parallel to the ground, otherwise it jams, stovepipes, misfeeds, and god knows what all else. With an adjustment in grip tension and keeping it parallel, the aforementioned bummers vanished.

*the other reason was some blatant lust about a 1911.

[EricW]

I've seen a similar failure before with my G19 and older hicap mags. It was a combination of deformed feed lips along with weak mag springs plus the +2 base plates.

[Wrongness Mode ON

I know that everyone gets a lot of satisfaction out of gaming the system with low-power ammo, but with a 9mm Glock I really question the point. I shoot max loads out of my G19 --- in the literal sense. I'm getting about 147-150 PF out of a short barrel. As wacky as it sounds, I actually think it speeds up my followup shots. My gun just snaps back on target automatically by making the frame flex work for me. I'm much more comfortable about a hose-a-thon with my Glock than my STI because of it.

My offered solution: Shoot full-power ammo and use the Matt Burkett patented system of messing with your grip pressure to get the proper sight return.

[Nik Habicht]

Eric,

I used to shoot 138-142 power factor 115 gr. ammo out of my glocks. Pretty snappy stuff. A couple of months ago I was turned on to 147gr. at about a 133 power factor. They seem to shoot much softer and I spend less energy fighting the gun. I can shoot either load well, but the lighter load just feels better. We'll see after I have 10,000 rounds shot. Hmmmm, I wonder now if my experience is different because I primarily shoot 34s. Sounds like an excuse to dig the 19 out of the safe and see if that makes a difference....

[EricW]

Nik,

I don't doubt for one second that the lighter loads feel better. Mine are hot enough that my trigger finger turns black from the hot gasses and my finger does gets a little tingly from the beating after a lot of rapid fire. But --- my gun runs 100% and my sight pops into the notch reliably, so I stopped caring about the negatives.

[Matthew_Mink]

Tm Snd Cptn

Qualify your statement about slower guns. You nor anyone on this forum can operate a 1911 faster than it can fire...so give all of us dinosaurs who shoot them the benefit and explain that statement to us.

tightloop, this ------> means I wasn't serious. For years I have borne the brunt of plastic jokes, so I thought I would send a couple of errant rounds back at the single stack guys. (FWIW I own several single stacks and a 2011).

[pwalker]

You said, "almost always happens on the first round fired with 10 in the mag and one in the pipe".

Are you using a 10 round magazine? If so, how do you get that "one in the pipe"?

If you are racking it in from the top of another magazine, that should be OK.

But, if you are placing it into the barrel through the ejection port, then the extractor would not be properly engaging the case rim, hence the jam (and damage to the extractor).

My apologies to you if you already knew about this...

[Nik Habicht]

....My gun runs 100% and my sight pops into the notch reliably.....

And that's really all that matters ---- and maybe all any of us can ask for.

[TRG65]

I have tried lighter springs than stock, with light load and with heavy loads. I have always found my way back to the stock recoil spring and a pf min of about 132(for me this is regardless of bullet weight). This is the combination that I need to get reliable functioning. I use a very tight grip and have let some other people shoot my loads and they can't get the gun to function from a full 10+1 situation. You need to find out what the min combination is for you. If you say that full power 145pf ammo cycles your gun consistently, then you might need to load your ammo to that level. Heavier pf ammo is not necessarily a bad thing the gun does seem to snap back on target a little faster, this might be an illusion it might not I have never clocked my splits.

Good luck

[bullseyekp]

Yes, pwalker, I'm getting my round in the pipe from a Barney mag. I guess before I buy an extractor and start clipping magazine springs, I will load my ammo in the 135-145PF range. I have also been having one he!! of a time getting used to the timing of the gun. Maybe snappier recoil is what I need!?

Thanks for the tips guys.

[Flexmoney]

ANY SUGGESTIONS?? Please help as I have about a month before my next state match and would like to fix the problem before then.

Thanks,

Daniel

OK...I had to go back and start over from the original post.

I reload all my ammo on a Rockchucker and a 650XL and I doubt it's a round-out-of-spec problem.

You are probably right that your ammo is in spec. But, you have GOT to KNOW for certain. Case gauge every round. Check that your OAL is not so long that the bullet is engaging the rifling.

Don't doubt here. It is too easy to be 110% sure.

This almost always happens on the first round fired with 10 in the mag and one in the pipe.

This is a big point. Running 10 +1 with the "new" Glock 10 rounders flat bites. The spring tension in the mags is so tight, that is slows the slide speed down too much. In your case, it stops the slide before it goes into battery.

The easiest thing might be to clip one of your mag springs down and see how it runs.

I haven't had any problems running full power ammo (~150 pf) through the gun but all of my IDPA and USPSA loads are in the 128-130 range.

Yep, it really seems like the slide is traveling too slow to feed the round.

Of course, it could be all of these things...stacking up to make one problem.

1. Check the ammo (be sure)

2. Load your mag to full, and leave them loaded for a week or so. Or, clip some on the mag spring...get the tension down.

3. Use a full power recoil spring AND some ammo with some push to it (bump that power factor up...a soft gun is no good if it doesn't run).

Then again...that new extractor might be a problem too. I don't have any experience with it.

[vincent]

I had a G19 that would occasionally not go all the way into battery. It would stay out of battery about 1/16" of an inch, just enough to keep the trigger from working. I tried changing/checking ammo, changing recoil springs, changing to a steel guide rod, dressing the extractor (removing any unecessary sharp edges with a stone), and polishing the feed ramp. In my case I had magazines that were known good in several other guns so that wasn't an issue. I finally just replaced the extractor and the problems stopped. To be honest I couldn't visually see any difference between the two extractors. I disposed of the bad one so it never ended up in one of my other guns. Sometimes the tolerances just add up and create a problem.

[soap Box]

Nothing is "Perfection". IMO a Glock is a fine pistol, and it is on my short list. However don't let Glock's advertising brainwash you into thinking that they always work, that parts don't break, or the design is superior. Just take a look at the history of Glock's "upgrade" process, the continuous magazine redesigns, and the ever present GSSF match "gun rebuilds" as proof. Why do you have to "rebuild" my almost new pistol with less than 1000 rounds throught it if it is both indestructable and perfectly designed? I often wonder if the GSSF wasn't the brain child of one of Glock's liability lawyers. People think that if it is a free service then it is good. Free is OK, but an honest disclosure of information is a must.

When will Glock start really supporting competition shooting? Where is the Elite II Glock, or the Glock Sport, or the Glock Limited. Beretta, Sig, CZ, etc all think that the competition shooter is worth catering toward. Why not Glock? Sponsering some pro shooters to sell more of the current line isn't support...it's Marketing.

[/soap Box]

[Fireglock]

[soap Box]

Nothing is "Perfection".  IMO a Glock is a fine pistol, and it is on my short list.  However don't let Glock's advertising brainwash you into thinking that they always work, that parts don't break, or the design is superior.  Just take a look at the history of Glock's "upgrade" process, the continuous magazine redesigns, and the ever present GSSF match "gun rebuilds" as proof.  Why do you have to "rebuild" my almost new pistol with less than 1000 rounds throught it if it is both indestructable and perfectly designed?  I often wonder if the GSSF wasn't the brain child of one of Glock's liability lawyers.  People think that if it is a free service then it is good.  Free is OK, but an honest disclosure of information is a must. 

When will Glock start really supporting competition shooting?  Where is the Elite II Glock, or the Glock Sport, or the Glock Limited.  Beretta, Sig, CZ, etc all think that the competition shooter is worth catering toward.  Why not Glock?  Sponsering some pro shooters to sell more of the current line isn't support...it's Marketing.

[/soap Box]

Well I usually don't do this but this one begged for a reply.

vincent you're right, nothing is perfection. And you're almost right about GSSF, but for the wrong reason. If it was to fix guns, it's a failure, the armorers are a service to be used if you need it. Personally I find it useful occationally when a mag spring is playing games. GSSF is designed to show Glock does something other than produce "killing machines."

Glock manufactuers firearms for the military and LEO. We (the civilian market) just happen to be a profitable sideline.

And just who do you think produces firearms for competition for reasons other than making a profit? You know it's marketing, another item to separate you from your coin. Face it, if Glock produced another pistol for competition the hoards would start howling about Glock is just after profit. They would be but then again so is everybody else.

Glock's not perfect, GSSF is not perfect, but they are there, they do work and I for one enjoy both.

[SanduneCC]

I was having this same problem until I discovered I was stuffing 11 rounds into my 10 rounders. The witness holes are misaligned, the 10th round doesn't register in the hole but the 11th one does. I wasn't counting back then, just stuffing and eyeballing the witness hole. Now I count to 10 and the jams disappear.

[zen_grasshopper]

With the new style extractor it is probably the Spring-Loaded bearing (if you remove the slide cover plate this will be the first part of the extractor assembly that you see). Glock accidently shipped several new Glocks out with the older style bearing for the old style extractor. On new guns with the indicator, the spring loaded bearing has to be shorter then the original ones, to insure proper extractor tension. Call Glock explain to them the problem and they will ship you a new bearing free of charge.

Jonathan Anderson