Weird Glock Malfunction

[rolltide13]

I was shooting my gen 4 17, the gun has about 350 rounds down the pipe. I shot 5 rounds, pulled the trigger (which had been let out to what felt like reset) and nothing happened. When I pulled the slide back(which was in battery) the case was empty. Just seems like it didn't cycle, and as far as I recall the slides movement was not being impeded in anyway. Any ideas what happened? I proceeded to shoot 100 trouble free rounds afterward, this is the only malfunction of any kind.

[bkb0000]

so the weapon fired, but didn't cycle? did you notice any difference in recoil? did the striker drop when you pulled the trigger- ie, did it click, or did you just get nothing?

[spr1]

That is a symptom of an overly strong recoil spring. the gun cycled, but not far enough to pick up a round. What ammo?

[rolltide13]

Now that I think about it the trigger may not have reset, there was little pressure during the pull. It did shoot, but did not cycle. I immediately disassembled it to see if it was a squib. There was nothing in the barrel and it looked fine.

ETA the ammo was WWB, I have an 02 spring. I left locked back the first 2 days it sat in the safe and the first hundred rounds were Winchester NATO

[bkb0000]

That is a symptom of an overly strong recoil spring. the gun cycled, but not far enough to pick up a round. What ammo?

sounds like more than that.

if the weapon didn't even reset, the slide didn't move much, if at all. a stiff recoil spring wouldn't cause the weapon to completely fail to cycle for one round, yet be problem free for all others.

[bkb0000]

Now that I think about it the trigger may not have reset, there was little pressure during the pull. It did shoot, but did not cycle. I immediately disassembled it to see if it was a squib. There was nothing in the barrel and it looked fine.

ETA the ammo was WWB, I have an 02 spring. I left locked back the first 2 days it sat in the safe and the first hundred rounds were Winchester NATO

i don't know, man.. it's beyond me. must have had something hang it up, though... a load weak enough that it didn't even reset the trigger wouldn't have had enough umph to get the bullet out the muzzle.

hopefully one of our master glocksmiths has an idea.

[spr1]

Ammunition has variability. It is not uncommon to see a 50 fps variation in a box of ammo. However, a Glock resets at a fraction of its overall travel, so it would have needed to be a combination of factors, like - a weaker round, a slightly looser grip, and perhaps a fairly new gun with minimal lubrication.
This might be very hard to diagnose from afar.

[MarshallDodge]

I am thinking a squib load that had just enough power to make it out of the barrel.

[Magsz]

Did the round print on your target?

[Unforsakn]

I am thinking a squib load that had just enough power to make it out of the barrel.

+1

or you didn't fully reset your trigger like you were saying.

[rolltide13]

I am thinking a squib load that had just enough power to make it out of the barrel.

It may have been a squib, although the report was still loud and the recoil felt similar if not the same. I was really just shocked when I saw it was in battery and when I pulled the slide back and empty came out.

[P2000]

Craziness.

Could it have failed to extract, and during that failure to extract the slide lost enough velocity to not move back far enough to pick up the next round(or even reset the trigger), so the slide came back and re-chambered the empty?



Are you positive it was an empty that came out?

[PaulL]

I saw a guy's 34 do this a few years back. Some sick miracle of timing, worn out parts, and a weak load allowed the extractor to slip off the case and leave it stuck in there, while slowing things down enough to not cycle. It did reset, though, and the round hit at least a foot low at 10 yards.

That gun, however, had somewhere between 100k and 200k rounds on it.

[skyugo]

i've had a load strong enough to get the bullet out of the barrel, but too weak to cycle.
i think the slide moved a little, but it was over a year ago. :confused:

i belive it was sellier and ballot ammo, in my glock 19. (gen 3)

[OutlawtotheEnd]

I had this happen once on a friend's G17L, however in this scenario the slide was not completely in battery.

The rounds fired and the projectile was not lodged in the barrel. However the casing was slightly bulged from not being fully supported.

It was just a tiny bit out of battery, went completely unnoticed. I think because there wasn't a full seal the slide didn't cycle and instead the gases took it out on the shell casing.

[D. Christopher]

Rolltide13,

I've seen this happen before with a Gen 3 G17. Too many variables that we can't be sure of without being there, but almost certainly a weak load with a new (stiff) recoil spring.

Locking the slide back won't "break in" or "soften up" your new, stiff spring. Only repeated cycling of the action will do that. Keep shooting and good luck.