Gen4 Glock 9mm 1sthand reports thread

[aaron_c]

This is related, but a little off-topic. I ask this as a serious question, and have extensive experience with many types of handguns:

On this forum, an AR15 thread like this would be peppered with, 'Could you depend on this gun to save your life if SHTF? No, not reliable enough, buy a COLT (DD or Nov, whatever).'

A sidearm is far more likely to be near you when SHTF, so why give Glocks the pass on the ejection issues? These issues have been present on multiple generations of their products. But you never hear, 'Glock is a low Tier gun manufacturer, if you want reliability you should get a _____.'

It really seems like a double standard, from a group forum that normally dispels double standards.... I am in no way a "fan boy" of a particular handgun manufacturer, but I can say with confidence that Glock is not in my top 3, for exactly these reliability reasons.

So my question is, why go so easy on Glock? These are huge issues with a platform they should have figured out by now.

I agree 100% with you- anyone who 'goes easy' based on brand loyalty or fanboyism loses credibility very quickly. If my Gen4 G19 didn't function flawlessly, I'd have sold it long ago for something else without hesitation. My Gen3 never had a failure but slung casings at my face- this was my first Glock ever and I was extremely disappointed. Glock exchanged it for my Gen4 and it has also never had a failure, AND puts the casings in a nifty little pile on the ground. I'm with you though, if it didn't, I'd probably have an M&P or something (although they are not entirely eithout issue, no firearm is).

[JSantoro]

It's a "report" thread.

Folks are reporting, and passing judgement as they will, be it sound or otherwise.

You may attribute any double-standards to individuals as you see fit, but don't presume to do so for the forum at large.

You don't spend nearly enough time observing, much less policing, M4C, and your assessment of such trends is understandably incomplete.

[MJLman]

Gen 4 FDE G19
1250 trouble free rounds;
-lawman
-gold dot
-UMC

Manufactuer date of 3/5/12

Keeping fingers crossed!

[Sensei]

IMHO, this is more than likely due to the fact that a small dimension on the extractor changed (that is not really visible).



C4

This should be easy to confirm by replacing the extractor with an OTM part when issues arise in an otherwise reliable gun. Things should return to normal (for another 3-5K rounds at least) with the new OTM extractor. I'm not saying that you are wrong - just that this hypothesis is very easy to test.

I would do it myself, but I stopped counting rounds at ~5K on my Gen4 G17. I purchased it 2 years ago when the Gen 4 was released and it has progressed through the various RSA iterations without failures at any phase. It has had zero stoppages shooting AE 115/124 grain and GD 124+P/147 grain. I also have purchased within the past 2 years a Gen 3 G19 (x2), Gen 3 G17, Gen 4 G23 FDE, Gen 4 G22 (x2 including 1 FDE), Gen 3 G34, Gen 3 G20, and Gen 4 G21 that have been reliable. Granted most of these are less than 1K rounds.

[9mmsteve]

Gen 4 17, 2010 manufacture. Occasional btf and one stovepipe until about 1000 rounds through it. At 1000-1500 it began stove piping every 30 rounds. Sent it back to glock and a new ejector was installed. Extractor stayed the same; will hit the range this week to see if issue is resolved.

[LowSpeed_HighDrag]

4th day of ownership. Round count now to 360.

Today was 50 Brown Bear, 100 Federal Target, 50 Winchester Ranger +P, and a handful of mixed full power loads.

1 piece of brass hit me in the forehead during a mag dump with Brown Bear and using a G18 Magazine.

1 Piece of brass hit me in the shoulder using the Federal with a standard G17 magazine. All others were consistently to my 3:30, slightly short of the ejection distance of my 2010 OD G19.

Again, not bothered by this as Ive taken random brass to the body with multiple brands before. This was two random short ejections with under powered ammo (Brown Bear anybody?).

Before I get jumped again by non-readers, I will continue to update this thread until I get to 1000 rounds fired. Firing my Ranger +P's is starting to get expensive, so I'm gonna stick to the Federal from now on.

[MAP]

The GEN 4 had three major issues. RSA, ejector and extractor. As they (Glock) started to share parts with the GEN 3, those issues migrated to them as well.

I know think that the Glock RSA and ejector problems are solved with the latest versions. The extractor one is not. Luckily, the Apex Tactical extractor should fix this problem.


C4

I was at a Glock Armorer's School 2 days ago. They will not admit to any extractor issues. If a new RSA or ejector does not solve the ejection issue they want the pistol back to the factory. They also believe that it is not a wide spread problem. The subtly hint it is caused by ammo or limp wristing.

[Heavy Metal]

I was at a Glock Armorer's School 2 days ago. They will not admit to any extractor issues. If a new RSA or ejector does not solve the ejection issue they want the pistol back to the factory. They also believe that it is not a wide spread problem. The subtly hint it is caused by ammo or limp wristing.

You will not get anything like an admission of fault at a Glock Armorer's class. The Instructor is usually directly employeed by Glock Professional, the training arm of Glock and thus would be directly criticizing his employeer. The party line they give is the new Ejector will fix it.

"Comrade, we have ALWAYS been at war with Eastasia!"

[aaron_c]

Another 50 perfect rounds through mine today during the CCW course.

Just a general question, out of curiosity- at what round count do you expect a semi auto handgun to start having problems due to wear? At what point does replacing a $5-20 part become 'okay' with you regarding round count? I ask because if that number is around 3000-5000 rounds, that would classify a hypothetical Glock as properly functioning if that's when the issues start cropping up right? Again, not defending them, just something to consider.

[Alaskapopo]

Another 50 perfect rounds through mine today during the CCW course.

Just a general question, out of curiosity- at what round count do you expect a semi auto handgun to start having problems due to wear? At what point does replacing a $5-20 part become 'okay' with you regarding round count? I ask because if that number is around 3000-5000 rounds, that would classify a hypothetical Glock as properly functioning if that's when the issues start cropping up right? Again, not defending them, just something to consider.

That really depends on the gun in question. A 1911 requires a very intensive maintance schedule while a Glock 17 can run over 100k before it needs a new mag spring.
Pat