Catastrophic G19 (Gen 3) failure - Breech Face Crack

**Kilo 1-1** · 11-19-11, 20:12

I never thought I'd be making this thread, but my slide is inoperable because the breech face cracked, making an almost perfect circle.

I found this when I was cleaning my G19 after a shooting session (no issues then) and realized I couldn't rack my slide (the protrusion was preventing the barrel from dropping free). I was shooting Speer Lawmen 115gr in today's session.

I've heard about breech face failures in the past, but it
s almost mythical because of the rarity of it happening. This is a Gen 3 Glock 19 (with Austrian roll marks) assembled in Feb. 2009. I'm in the process of contacting Glock.

Check your breech face and inspect your handguns when you can. Even though these kind of events are rare, they still happen.

I never used Glock's customer service before and noticed there's no email address....is the only way to contact them by phone?

Pictures:

**Robb Jensen** · 11-19-11, 20:16

It's actually not all that uncommon. I've seen it at least 10 times with competition shooters guns, lots and lots of dry firing Glock replaced the slides free of charge each time.

**Kilo 1-1** · 11-19-11, 20:18

That's good to know, thanks for the heads up Robb.

**Loki** · 11-19-11, 20:27

How many rounds through your pistol?

**Heavy Metal** · 11-19-11, 20:57

Holy Cow Batman!

I would have never imagined the striker could stress the slide more than the detonation of the powder charge!

**Kchen986** · 11-19-11, 21:05

Whoa, so I shouldn't dry fire my Glock w/o a snap cap?

**J8127** · 11-19-11, 21:18

Originally Posted by Kchen986

Whoa, so I shouldn't dry fire my Glock w/o a snap cap?

That's up there with the 9mm vs .45 debate.

I dry fire my GLOCK with out and don't worry about it. If it happens, I'll deal with it.

**C4IGrant** · 11-19-11, 21:21

Originally Posted by Kchen986

Whoa, so I shouldn't dry fire my Glock w/o a snap cap?

You shouldn't dry fire ANY gun without snap caps.

C4

**ST911** · 11-19-11, 21:37

The number of shooters that will dry fire a gun to a point of failure is exceedingly small. Those shooters may benefit from the impact attenuating dry fire devices like snap caps.

In my experience, Glocks demonstrate the most resistance to dry-fire induced issues. Those using other types may also benefit from such devices.

The benefits of dry fire far outweigh any potential issues, with or without snap caps. I know I have training dummies for various calibers, but I don't think I own a single snap cap.