Ammo Feed Problem with New Glock 17

[Katygunnut]

Please keep us posted on how this gets resolved. I have had exactly one failure with a Glock. I own 4 (G19, 21, 26 and 36), and out of probably 2,000 rounds, I had one bad primer that failed to fire (good center strike on the bullet), so not the guns fault.

I'm actually a bit surprised that customer service asked you that many questions. Glocks are usually immune to limp wristing, bad ammo, etc. I'm also more than a bit concerned by the problems with the Gen 4. It looks like Glock may have violated the cardinal rule of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I guess I'll stick to my Gen 3's.

[Middle Age Russ]

OP questioned using modern "hot" ammo in the Smith 5906. Having had a second generation Smith 659 (the predecessor to the 5906), I can assure you that if the pistol is in good working order there should be no issue using any currently loaded 9mm commercial ammunition in it. Those things are built like tanks.

Best of luck with the Glock as well.

[cubbyjg]

Trust me, i learned all this by joining the glocktalk forum. Loads of information there.

Of the 5K people always browsing the forum, I would guess 3 or 4 of them actually know what they are talking about. I would be cautious with the information you get from there and always make sure it isnt a 17 year old who just learned how to field strip his gun for the first time.

Jason

Doesnt this forum provide place to learn, share experiences and information and ask questions? How is glocktalk any different? There are plenty of knowledgeable people (include glock armorers) on the forum who provide excellent information. So far, i havent been led down the wrong path.

[jbirds1210]

Trust me, i learned all this by joining the glocktalk forum. Loads of information there.

Of the 5K people always browsing the forum, I would guess 3 or 4 of them actually know what they are talking about. I would be cautious with the information you get from there and always make sure it isnt a 17 year old who just learned how to field strip his gun for the first time.

Jason

Doesnt this forum provide place to learn, share experiences and information and ask questions? How is glocktalk any different? There are plenty of knowledgeable people (include glock armorers) on the forum who provide excellent information. So far, i havent been led down the wrong path.

You are absolutely correct. The ratio of people on this forum I would trust for armorer advice beyone the basics is about the same. Just remember that anyone with 150 bucks can be a Glock Armorer...I had a VERY famous one screw one of my Glocks up and back peddle to offer me free services and parts. I will say "butch" on GlockTalk is a genious when it comes to tupperware and I have often sent him a PM when I could not get a straight answer.

Jason

[Napier]

Please keep us posted on how this gets resolved. I have had exactly one failure with a Glock. I own 4 (G19, 21, 26 and 36), and out of probably 2,000 rounds, I had one bad primer that failed to fire (good center strike on the bullet), so not the guns fault.

I'm actually a bit surprised that customer service asked you that many questions. Glocks are usually immune to limp wristing, bad ammo, etc. I'm also more than a bit concerned by the problems with the Gen 4. It looks like Glock may have violated the cardinal rule of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I guess I'll stick to my Gen 3's.

The reliability you experienced is exactly what I expected when I bought it. I had no idea that Gen 4 involved design changes other than the grip. But I am sure it will be made good. I am imagining an entire room full of stunned techs saying "It failed? Not possible!" I used a little literay license in describing the conversation. But he was dubious. It arrived in Smyrna this afternoon, so the clock is ticking.

[Napier]

OP questioned using modern "hot" ammo in the Smith 5906. Having had a second generation Smith 659 (the predecessor to the 5906), I can assure you that if the pistol is in good working order there should be no issue using any currently loaded 9mm commercial ammunition in it. Those things are built like tanks.

Best of luck with the Glock as well.

Thanks. That old girl is my favorite pistol. I traded an even older Beretta 92F in to get her, kinda like I traded in my first wife for my second. I shot her today (the pistol) and she still shoots better than anything else I have, even considering my near blindness and total lack of shooting skills. But you don't mess with a second wife, so I stuck to standard pressure ammo today.

[Napier]

Many thanks again to all of you who helped me understand what might be wrong with my new Glock 17 Gen 4. I got it back from Smyrna today, 12 days door-to-door. It was immaculate and neatly packaged. The packing slip noted only that before shipment it had tested out to Glock standards. So off to the range.

You know about the "Aha!" moment? Well, I had an "Ahahahahaha!" moment. My complaint had been that I want to standardize across all my pistols on Federal American Eagle FMJ and Hornady Critical defense JHP. Out of the box the Glock would feed, and sometimes eject, either one only intermittently. Gotta hand it to the techs at Glock. When they were finished tuning it, it wouldn't feed either AT ALL. That was the bad news. The good news is that it would feed and eject six other brands flawlessly. The exception was Winchester white box, which it choked on. Very tasteful of it. So goodbye Hornady and hello Corbon +P JHP or Speer Gold Dot. Also it liked Federal +P+ JHP, which I don't much care for, but I have a case.

But I will have my revenge. I am going to shoot the dickens out of it while still in warranty and drive Glock nuts returning it. Then I am going to buy a Ruger SR9. Cheers, Glock afficianados!

[TheGasMan]

Have you had anyone else shoot the gun? When Glocks first became available I wondered why anyone would buy such an ugly looking machine. It took a while and I finally caved and shot one. Before long they became my favored weapon because of the reliability. In fact I traded away two Kimbers because they were such finicky beasts. I've had several Glocks with several thousand rounds through them of just about every type of ammo I can think of. Everything from steel cased wolf and questionable lead bullet handloads (yes I know this is a no-no) to the primo stuff. I could probably count on my hands the number of FTF/FTE I've had. Never had to send one for warranty. WWB is one of the more accurate loads with my G22. I haven't shot a Gen 4 yet, so maybe there are some problems I haven't experienced yet. The thing I love about all of them is I pretty much know that it is going to bang. Either way, hope it works out for you.

[G.A. Heath]

Many thanks again to all of you who helped me understand what might be wrong with my new Glock 17 Gen 4. I got it back from Smyrna today, 12 days door-to-door. It was immaculate and neatly packaged. The packing slip noted only that before shipment it had tested out to Glock standards. So off to the range.

You know about the "Aha!" moment? Well, I had an "Ahahahahaha!" moment. My complaint had been that I want to standardize across all my pistols on Federal American Eagle FMJ and Hornady Critical defense JHP. Out of the box the Glock would feed, and sometimes eject, either one only intermittently. Gotta hand it to the techs at Glock. When they were finished tuning it, it wouldn't feed either AT ALL. That was the bad news. The good news is that it would feed and eject six other brands flawlessly. The exception was Winchester white box, which it choked on. Very tasteful of it. So goodbye Hornady and hello Corbon +P JHP or Speer Gold Dot. Also it liked Federal +P+ JHP, which I don't much care for, but I have a case.

But I will have my revenge. I am going to shoot the dickens out of it while still in warranty and drive Glock nuts returning it. Then I am going to buy a Ruger SR9. Cheers, Glock afficianados!

Uhm, your plan isn't gonna work. Glock has a lifetime warranty for the original owner...

On the other hand my Kimbers with thousands of rounds have had fewer malfunctions combined than my G19 with the first five, no make it the first two, rounds that I fed it.

[Napier]

Have you had anyone else shoot the gun? When Glocks first became available I wondered why anyone would buy such an ugly looking machine. It took a while and I finally caved and shot one. Before long they became my favored weapon because of the reliability. In fact I traded away two Kimbers because they were such finicky beasts. I've had several Glocks with several thousand rounds through them of just about every type of ammo I can think of. Everything from steel cased wolf and questionable lead bullet handloads (yes I know this is a no-no) to the primo stuff. I could probably count on my hands the number of FTF/FTE I've had. Never had to send one for warranty. WWB is one of the more accurate loads with my G22. I haven't shot a Gen 4 yet, so maybe there are some problems I haven't experienced yet. The thing I love about all of them is I pretty much know that it is going to bang. Either way, hope it works out for you.

I appreciate the feedback. You're not implying?...I'll have the wife shoot it. She's tougher than I am. It DOES shoot like a dream of a pistol. Very accurate. Considering how blind I am. "Was that YOUR target? Oh, so sorry! You want to shoot mine?"

[Napier]

Many thanks again to all of you who helped me understand what might be wrong with my new Glock 17 Gen 4. I got it back from Smyrna today, 12 days door-to-door. It was immaculate and neatly packaged. The packing slip noted only that before shipment it had tested out to Glock standards. So off to the range.

You know about the "Aha!" moment? Well, I had an "Ahahahahaha!" moment. My complaint had been that I want to standardize across all my pistols on Federal American Eagle FMJ and Hornady Critical defense JHP. Out of the box the Glock would feed, and sometimes eject, either one only intermittently. Gotta hand it to the techs at Glock. When they were finished tuning it, it wouldn't feed either AT ALL. That was the bad news. The good news is that it would feed and eject six other brands flawlessly. The exception was Winchester white box, which it choked on. Very tasteful of it. So goodbye Hornady and hello Corbon +P JHP or Speer Gold Dot. Also it liked Federal +P+ JHP, which I don't much care for, but I have a case.

But I will have my revenge. I am going to shoot the dickens out of it while still in warranty and drive Glock nuts returning it. Then I am going to buy a Ruger SR9. Cheers, Glock afficianados!

Uhm, your plan isn't gonna work. Glock has a lifetime warranty for the original owner...

So you're saying I HAVE to keep it? What fun I could have with customer service over my 15.48 year life expectancy!

On the other hand my Kimbers with thousands of rounds have had fewer malfunctions combined than my G19 with the first five, no make it the first two, rounds that I fed it.

[cubbyjg]

Did they provide a note stating what exactly they did? Did they provide the updated spring if your g17 didnt come with it originally?

[jmra]

I've had my G27 for 12 years. Never had a single failure. I'm always reluctant to buy a newer model. Let everyone else work the kinks out first.

[MostlyHarmless]

Have you had anyone else shoot the gun? When Glocks first became available I wondered why anyone would buy such an ugly looking machine. It took a while and I finally caved and shot one. Before long they became my favored weapon because of the reliability. In fact I traded away two Kimbers because they were such finicky beasts. I've had several Glocks with several thousand rounds through them of just about every type of ammo I can think of. Everything from steel cased wolf and questionable lead bullet handloads (yes I know this is a no-no) to the primo stuff. I could probably count on my hands the number of FTF/FTE I've had. Never had to send one for warranty. WWB is one of the more accurate loads with my G22. I haven't shot a Gen 4 yet, so maybe there are some problems I haven't experienced yet. The thing I love about all of them is I pretty much know that it is going to bang. Either way, hope it works out for you.

I appreciate the feedback. You're not implying?...I'll have the wife shoot it. She's tougher than I am. It DOES shoot like a dream of a pistol. Very accurate. Considering how blind I am. "Was that YOUR target? Oh, so sorry! You want to shoot mine?"

Glock sells enough guns that it would be impossible for them not to have a few lemons ou there, yet the vast majority of their customers aren't having problems (notably, quite a number of law enforcement agencies), so the first step is to make sure the problem is really with the gun. Sorry to be indelicate, but the people suggesting you let other people shoot the gun (with the problem ammo) are trying to eliminate the possibility that the malfunctions are shooter-related. No offense, but they often are. They're suggesting that an experienced handgunner with a known zero tendency to limp wrist shoot the gun. No offense to your wife, either, but it's a reasonable guess that she's not the candidate that's being sought to eliminate this possibility, either. Both of you may be world class shooters, but we can't tell from typing with you across the internet. Sorry, sorry...

Other things to try: If Glock put the bronze-colored grease back on when you sent it in. Leave it on for a while, but keep the gun as clean and lubed as you can. Glocks generally prefer to run a bit dry compared to most pistols, and running them wet just gets them dirtier. But, while we're diagnosing problems and the gun is still new and a bit tight, maybe try running it a bit more wet. Keep all lube out of the striker channel, though (PM me if you don't know what I mean). Lastly, store the gun with the slide locked back when you're not shooting it for a week, or so.

Cheers