Do Glocks jam for anyone else?

Bad Ammo Jam

I just bought a Glock 19. Put 100 rounds of American Eagle through it. No jams. Second visit to the range I put 50 rounds of Sellier & Bellot SB9A through it. Still no problems. Let it sit for a few minutes while I was shooting my 22.

Next 50 rounds of Sellier & Bellot (different box), jammed every round. The action was not even moving far enough back to eject the shell.

The range has a store in it, so I bought a box of 50 Blazers. Not one jam. Back to the Sellier & Bellot. Every round jammed.

All boxes were marked 115 grain but you could feel the Sellier & Bellot were 1/4 of the power. I'm suprised the first 50 didn't jam.

"115gr" on the box refers to the bullet weight rather than the powder charge. The powder charge is likely to weigh somewhere between 4 and 7gr in a 9mm round depending on the powder used.

Sounds like you got some very underpowered S&B.

I love my Glock. It only has about 1200 rounds through it, and I bought it new in Dec. of 08. I've only seen one malfunction and that was when a friend's girlfriend limp-wristed it, and I am sure that's what it was. If you watch the limp-wrist tests on youtube, Sigs, aren't effected by limp-wristing.

I've seen a .40 and a .45 jam some but not the 9mm I shot some. it was functional 100%. all factory 'range' type ammo in all.

+2 on fastbolt observations.

I can get most semi-auto's to eject right on my forehead on demand.

None of mine have ever jammed or had any malfunction of any kind

Back when I owned a couple of Glocks, I had always heard that limp-wristing could be a problem. I never realized how bad it could be, since I am pretty strong and learned good shooting techniques early in my life.

These videos show just how susceptible the Glock platform is to the poor shooting style called limp-wristing.

YouTube - Limp Wrist Test
YouTube - Another Limp Wrist Test

This is not a dig at Glock, as much as it is just good information for people to understand how their shooting technique affects the firearm... It is just more pronounced in some firearms.

My Glocks have never jammed ever. I do expect that they will in training, during a run and gun, out in the "field" eventually. But they haven't yet.

Only thing close is an aftermarket trigger spring that snapped at the range. I may have put it in upside-down. The gun would click and not shoot, or shoot and sometimes double on its own. I change my trigger springs routinely in my modded Glocks now.

I did see an older lady with small hands having trouble with a G19. She was holding it too low. Afraid of slidebite. I had to show her that its nearly impossible to get slidebite for a G19.

Once she choked up on it, the gun worked fine.

In several thousand rounds through my G19 that I've had since 1998, I've only had a very few (perhaps three or four) sporadic failures to eject. All of them, IIRC, were on WWB which is loaded rather feeble. Ammunition incompatibility cannot be blamed on the gun itself, and it is only for target/range use anyway. I also initially had a magazine problem that resulted in failures to feed, but only with the last round of a JHP. After Glock replaced my magazine followers under warranty this problem disappeared. There have been no consistent stoppages that can be blamed on the gun. My experiences with a G27 in .40 and a G30 in .45 have not been quite as stellar, however.

Maybe you're limp wristing it.

Glocks work in my experience.

Update: I am a schmuck. Turns out that only 2 of the boxes I bought were actually 9mm ammo. The other boxes were marked as 9mm / .380. The boxes were almost identical. I didn't notice and was shooting .380 ammo through my glock 19. I haven't had any jams using 9mm ammo.

So now the question is, have I done some damage to the pistol that I can't see? I put over 100 rounds of .380 thorugh my glock 19.

yep. i've had empty shell stovepipes with both my glock 19's, despite a firm wrist, elbow, and shoulder posture.

holy crap! thanks, now i have to sleep with a nightlight on

rschlack said:

Update: I am a schmuck. Turns out that only 2 of the boxes I bought were actually 9mm ammo. The other boxes were marked as 9mm / .380. The boxes were almost identical. I didn't notice and was shooting .380 ammo through my glock 19. I haven't had any jams using 9mm ammo.

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Well, you're not the first to have done this. Another instance I know of was exacerbated by the fact that Europeans tend to label both calibers as "9mm" (well, they are both about 9mm in diameter, but different in every other way). It's yet another reminder, thankfully free from injury this time, to carefully inspect ammo before using it (especially if your gun is jamming on every round from a particular box), and being able to visually identify each type of cartridge you use wouldn't be a bad idea.

rschlack said:

So now the question is, have I done some damage to the pistol that I can't see? I put over 100 rounds of .380 thorugh my glock 19.

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Probably not, since the respective bullet diameters of 9mm Luger and .380 ACP should be within each other's tolerances. The main danger to both your gun and you was case rupture, but you seem to have avoided that, luckily.

^^ I'd inspect and brush out the chamber. You might have some copper fouling where the rifling starts.

Maybe for you, not for me. The only time I've EVER even HEARD of a GLOCK jamming is on the internet. I've personally fired and seen many other GLOCKs being fired; not once did I see a malfunction. All the GLOCKs I've come into contact with have gone *BANG* every time the trigger was pulled...Unless some snap caps are mixed in with the magazine during requals...lol

THe S&B boxes ARE hard to read. They have their primary graphic and then in tiny white letters on a red background they have the chambering. You are not the first to make this mistake.

it sounds like its malfunction because of you as long as everything else is proper, though the reason for that could be miriad

ETA: I see you found the issue and resolved it

I try to make it a point to not comment on a gun I don't own but since a friend tried to give me two Glocks, a 17 and 26 I'll say this.
I have not shot or been around others shooting Glocks that they haven't malfunctioned.

My friend has those G17, G26 and two G19. I have seen all of them malfunction a number of times.

Another friend recently bought a G19 and it malfunctioned.

During every concealed carry qualification I've shot, Glocks malfunctioned.

Maybe I just give off bad vibes to Glocks but they don't seem to want to be reliable around me.

I gave that G17 and G26 back to my friend. I really tried to like the G26 since I had already refused the gift of the 17.


I do not know if "limpwristing" is a actual problem with this gun or just a catch all excuse for Glock malfunctions. I think it's just an excuse for the gun jamming.
But if it is real, it's a poor designed gun that jams if you don't hold it a certain way.

At the matches I go to, it is primarily 1911s that fail, sometimes over and over.

Not that I havent seen a glock jam, but its rarer.

EDIT: to clarify, neither have ever jammed for me while I am shooting them, but I only borrow. I shoot CZs. Which also havent jammed... so... I guess I am a bad example.

My friend has those G17, G26 and two G19. I have seen all of them malfunction a number of times.

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You have limpwristed friends.

I do not know if "limpwristing" is a actual problem with this gun or just a catch all excuse for Glock malfunctions. I think it's just an excuse for the gun jamming.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh9JhCyFFxA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsewsolPyBU&feature=related

But if it is real, it's a poor designed gun that jams if you don't hold it a certain way.

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No firearms designer is above Sir. Newton's laws. You want the lightest auto pistol in it's class? Lock your wrists.

You have limpwristed friends.

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Yeah right.

Let's see.
Among the several of us that the Glock has jammed on we have over 150 years of shooting experience.
Tell that limpwristing stuff to the newbies.


In any case, since I do not actually own the gun in question that's all I'm going to say about it.

It is possible to produce the effects of "limp wristing" a pistol, even If you have a firm grip on it. Two personal stories to that effect:

1) I've owned several Glocks over the years, and none of them ever jammed for ME... But I had a Glock 30 once upon a time, and my father couldn't even touch the thing without it jamming on him; as soon as I took it back, the jams disappeared. My father has been shooting 45's all his life, and Iv never seen him limp-wrist ANY pistol... But at that point he had never fired a Glock and, for whatever reason, something about the way he was holding that G30 was producing the effects of a limp-wrist, even though he had a firm grip on the gun.

2) A few years ago, I purchased a Ruger P345. I loved everything about the gun, but when I finally went to shoot it, it consistently jammed on me... and ONLY me. I had friends shoot it, and I got some of the range employees to shoot it; it functioned flawlessly for everyone else, but as soon as I started shooting it again the jamming would start. I tried every grip in the book, and I tightened my grip until I was crushing the life out of it.... and it still jammed for me. I was still getting "limp wrist" effects, even though I know my grip was text-book. I ended up giving it away to a friend of mine, who has never had any trouble out of it.

Sometimes you just cant explain why a gun does things.

My g23 was my first Gun and was really concerned on my first 50 rounds the Stove pipes I was getting.

This was during my trying to relax and not let the " Recoil anticipation" cause me to nose dip ....

Sure enough. Limp wristing was the cause. Once I held it with more Firmness I never had another Falure of anything



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh9JhCyFFxA

And at about 2:30 of this video :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsewsolPyBU


It's a very real and common issue with Glocks. Hold it very firm and see the difference.




((EDIT Reaper beat me to it !! )))


So I'll add a new one completely unrelated to the actual Limprist test yet it shows it and he comments on it.


I love this guys reviews , and in this one he's reviewing the LW Drop in 9mm Barrel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLjNXG5MEnk

He mentions in there " But every glock fails the limpwrist test " Start watching at 3:05 .