9mm ammo &G17

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ExAgoradzo

ExAgoradzo

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So my buddy just bought a Glock 17. I told him to buy 500 rounds of the cheapest ammo Walmart sells to break the gun in. There was a total of 3 manufacturers in that buy. I'm wondering if anyone disagrees and would have bought one kind or expensive ammo???

Greg
 
I've never seen a Glock that needed 500 rds to break it in. When the LE agency I worked for got Glock 9mm in the late 90s agents would shoot about 800 rds in a transition course. The only malfunctions were due to limpwristing. I dont think a Glock would have any issues eating up any 9mm ammo Walmart sells.
 
In my experience 4th generation Glock 17s like hotter ammo. Don't be surprised if a few shells eject into his face. Have him wear a hat and eye protection. In my experience WW White box is a bit hotter than Rem. UMC and Federal Champion.
 
Actually, varying the types of ammo first put through a new gun can help find an individual firearms preferences for a certain type of ammo. The next step would be to track down some ammo of varying bullet weights to check for a preference. Most ammo makers offer fmj, or practice ammo in all three popular weights. The heavier a bullet, generally the more expensive the ammo is.
 
IMO Glocks do not need a break-in period, they run like champs right out of the box. My Glocks eat everything including that cheap Federal aluminum. The cheap ammo that I get at Walmart is Federal 115gr FMJ "Champion" - in 100 rd boxes. 123gr ZQI "NATO" FMJ, the 115gr Federal Aluminum and the 100 rd cans of Brass Maxx - 115gr FMJ.

I did have a problem with the Fed Aluminum once but I'm 100% certain it was due to the cheap Korean mags I was using. I never had a similar problem with stock Glock mags.
 
they don't need a break-in but every firearm that you're going to depend upon should be run through the ringer so that you know it'll function as expected. FYI - I have a G17 Gen 4 in my collection and it is my EDC.

IMHO, I would run a box of FMJ through it and then at least one box of the ammo that you'll use of EDC. After that I would run a mix of ammo (any type) until I got to about 500 rounds. If no failures then I would call it good and then run one last box of my EDC ammo through it.

I've got well north of 10,000 rounds through mine and use my own reloads (coated lead bullets) for range practice and competitions and then commercial hollow points for EDC.

Never had a failure that couldn't be traced back to a bad round.
 
Both of my Glocks eat anything I throw at them straight out of the box. Which is typically something like Federal Aluminum or TulAmmo or Federal Champion. As far as I know Glocks simply don't need a break-in period to function flawlessly.

I only once had ammo related problem and that was with a 50 rd box of TulAmmo that consistently shot low and left; I blame ammo and not the gun.
 
Yes, he's a new shooter.

I thought that I would buy some of the HD ammo and have him run it through after the 500. I appreciate your thoughts guys!

Greg
 
I recently bought a Citadel .45. For break-in, I bought Winchester white box 230gr. ball. It's certainly good enough for break-in.

Break-in is more than anything else, a test of reliability.

I would do at LEAST 100 rounds of break-in for ANY gun I planned to carry or use for home defense, INCLUDING a revolver. I once bought a police surplus 3" Smith 65 from CDNN. Before carrying it, I took it to the range where I discovered that it was EXTREMELY unreliable, requiring multiple hammer strikes per chamber to get through all of the rounds in the cylinder. It turns out that the genius who had it before me cut down the strain screw to lessen the pressure on the mainspring and "lighten" the trigger, while allowing the screw to be turned all the way in... which also caused light hits. I'm glad I never had to pull it on somebody and gotten a "click" instead of a "bang".

After proof of basic reliability, I shoot at least a box (usually more) of what I plan to carry.
 
Wouldn't worry about break-in.

Glock 9mms are designed for and will run better with hotter +P or Nato pressure, or heavier bullets like 124 or 147. I would recommend Winchester WB 115 or 124 Nato fmj.

You might have problems with Federal Champion. Others have. It's about the weakest power wise.

M
 
My first Golck was a G17 that I bought in 1987 or so. That pistol wouldn't cycle anything except the most stout of ammunition.

Though I'm not sure what changed from that earlier generation G17 and the current generation, here's the story behind that pistol. Whether any of this information helps or is even remotely applicable, I don't know.

A college girl that was friends with my wife bought it NIB, she mentioned to me that this young lady couldn't get the pistol to cycle reliably, in fact it was jamming constantly. So I invited her over, and then asked her what she was shooting, and she opened her range bag to reveal a large variety of high end self defense stuff she had tried, and a bunch of other lower end stuff as well, none of it would function reliably in that gun. At this point the firearm had been thoroughly following each range session, so that problem had ben completely confirmed.

I then proceeded to assemble some reloads. I first put together some Speer 125 jacketed soft point using HS6, I started at mid table, but it still wouldn't sysle worth beans. So I worked up to the top of the table before that G17 would cycle to anything considered reliable. But it still failed about once per magazine.

So I changed gears at this point and decided to go with Blue Dot, and I started with a load just shy of max, like 8.5 or 8.6 grs. if I recall. I ran the same 125's. We didn't have a lot of jacketed bullet options back then for 9mm. Bottom line, that G17 ran flawlessly with those reloads, but it wouldn't run on factory ammo no matter what I tried.

This poor girl was so frustrated with that G17, she didn't have any intention of ever reloading, and didn't want to have to rely on me to keep her in supply so she offered to sell it to me for a couple hundred bucks, to which I accepted.

I probably put 500 rounds of my reloads through that pistol, and then one day I decided to give the factory stuff another try. I had probably 8 or 9 partial boxes of factory she gave me with the gun when I bought it. To my surprise and amazement, that G17 ran perfectly on the factory, all of it.

So my opinion and experience regarding Glocks, they need to be well broken in, at least the older G17's did. Back in those days there were quite a few people I talked with at the ranges that wouldn't have given $20 for a Glock, because they were just so stinking finicky and needed so much break in. Several folks told me they had sent their's back to Glock because they couldn't get them to function reliably, to which I started hearing stories that Glock was changing the springs to a lighter one.

So like I said, I don't know about today's generation G17's, but those older one's were tough to break in. I never bought another Glock because of that first experience with that G17.

GS
 
gamestalker said:
My first Golck was a G17 that I bought in 1987 or so. That pistol wouldn't cycle anything except the most stout of ammunition.

Though I'm not sure what changed from that earlier generation G17 and the current generation, here's the story behind that pistol. Whether any of this information helps or is even remotely applicable, I don't know.

A college girl that was friends with my wife bought it NIB, she mentioned to me that this young lady couldn't get the pistol to cycle reliably, in fact it was jamming constantly. So I invited her over, and then asked her what she was shooting, and she opened her range bag to reveal a large variety of high end self defense stuff she had tried, and a bunch of other lower end stuff as well, none of it would function reliably in that gun. At this point the firearm had been thoroughly following each range session, so that problem had ben completely confirmed.

I then proceeded to assemble some reloads. I first put together some Speer 125 jacketed soft point using HS6, I started at mid table, but it still wouldn't sysle worth beans. So I worked up to the top of the table before that G17 would cycle to anything considered reliable. But it still failed about once per magazine.

So I changed gears at this point and decided to go with Blue Dot, and I started with a load just shy of max, like 8.5 or 8.6 grs. if I recall. I ran the same 125's. We didn't have a lot of jacketed bullet options back then for 9mm. Bottom line, that G17 ran flawlessly with those reloads, but it wouldn't run on factory ammo no matter what I tried.

This poor girl was so frustrated with that G17, she didn't have any intention of ever reloading, and didn't want to have to rely on me to keep her in supply so she offered to sell it to me for a couple hundred bucks, to which I accepted.

I probably put 500 rounds of my reloads through that pistol, and then one day I decided to give the factory stuff another try. I had probably 8 or 9 partial boxes of factory she gave me with the gun when I bought it. To my surprise and amazement, that G17 ran perfectly on the factory, all of it.

So my opinion and experience regarding Glocks, they need to be well broken in, at least the older G17's did. Back in those days there were quite a few people I talked with at the ranges that wouldn't have given $20 for a Glock, because they were just so stinking finicky and needed so much break in. Several folks told me they had sent their's back to Glock because they couldn't get them to function reliably, to which I started hearing stories that Glock was changing the springs to a lighter one.

So like I said, I don't know about today's generation G17's, but those older one's were tough to break in. I never bought another Glock because of that first experience with that G17.

GS
Click to expand...


I specifically went with Glock as my first pistol because they were supposed to be flawless out of the box.

G17 Gen 3 - used TulAmmo, Federal Champion, Federal Aluminum, the white box ammo from Walmart (forgot the manufacturer), Speer Gold Dot, any ammunition would work flawlessly. I'm talking the first 300 rounds or so.

G26 Gen 3 - all of the above, again any of that ammo worked great out of the box. I actually shot the TulAmmo, the Federal Aluminum cased, and Speer Gold Dot on my first outing with a brand new pistol, and not a hickup.

So whatever problems Glock may have had back in the 80s are long gone. Now they are some of the least finicky pistols out there.

They do have two issues. First, they can be limp-wristed. So a proper grip is a must. However even my 12 yo daughter can shoot them. Second, every now and then the G17 would send a spent case up at my head instead of to the right. This seems to be related to using particular brands of ammo - e.g. I had this happen with Federal Champion but never with TulAmmo. The worst was a brass about every 2 mags so probably 1 out of 30. It's a small annoyance. Never happened with G26 but then I haven't shot it as much yet.

As a beginner shooter at that time, I am very glad I went with Glock. If I had to work out kinks with my pistol while learning how to use it right, I'd likely blame myself and would get discouraged. However I quickly realized that my gun was super reliable, forgiving, and more accurate than I ever was. Easy to take care of, easy to feed, and a joy to use.
 
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That's the first 'bad Glock' story I've ever heard. I expected you to say she limp wristed it. And this is a Gen 3 (Gen 4s are off list in CA--my beloved state!). But I'd be surprised if any gun didn't work better, even if only my confidence concerned, until a couple hundred rounds were expended.

Greg
 
Instead of shooting 500 rounds in one go, i will recommend that you shoot about 200 of ball ammo (mixed) and 50 rounds of whatever HP ammo he'll be using for self defense, then leave the other 250 rounds to practice every week. reason been that 500 rounds for a new shooter may be a little to much if it's his first time. it's better to practice 100 rounds every week than 500 rounds every 6 month...
 
If you look at Ballistics 101 - 115gr Blazzer Brass FMJ is one of the lightest shooting 115gr loads available, my Walmart doesn't sell it, but I've but many many boxes of Blazzer Brass through my Glocks and never had a problem. I've also put Wolf steel-cased ammo through them and never had a problem. I didn't list it because my local Walmart doesn't sell it.

It would be a shorter list to call out the ammunition that did cause my Glocks problems - none, zero - there is nothing on that list.

I had one failure to feed once with Fed Aluminum but I'm 100% certain it was due to the cheap Korean mags I was using. I had a failure with the mag when I was just loading and stripping them manually. I would load them and then use my thumb to strip out the rounds and a round got hung up in the mag - just got stuck. It was the same mag that had a misfeed in my Glock and I never had problems with Fed aluminum out of stock Glock mags.

I only use the Korean mags for the range, I load them up ahead of time to save me time loading on the firing line.
 
I know the problem has been fixed, I see a lot of folks shooting them, but I just can't bring myself to even look at a Glock again.

GS
 
Good guns of any manufacture should shoot anything (including steel) without fail. That list includes XDs, M&Ps, CZ, Sig, Ruger ect...

I admit I often times will start a gun out on factory rounds before switching to my reloads just to assure there are no issues.
 
My gen3 G17 ate any and all ammo that I fed it right out of the box. The only problems that I have heard with new Glocks, is with the 10 round magazines that are supplied to socialist states like California for the G19 pistols.

It is good that your friend bought a few hundred rounds though. Hopefully he will try and use that ammo to hone his marksmanship skills.
 
If it needed a break-in, it wouldn't be the pistol it is.

I'm wondering if anyone disagrees and would have bought one kind or expensive ammo???
Click to expand...

No disagreement here; shooting a gun for fun, for getting used to it, for training, it's all good. For practice ammo, cost is the biggest factor. Buying online and in bulk tends to yield the best prices, but given a reputable manufacturer I won't balk at the name on the box if it gets me trigger time.

Now, if the gun will serve in a defensive role then it becomes important to test it with the intended carry ammo.
 
Indoubt we'll shoot 500 rounds in the hour we rent...

Yes, defense ammo later: this is just the break in period...

Glad to have so much love for his gun: maybe I'll save my pennies for someday...
Greg
 
I bought a G26 and a G19 around the trouble period for Glocks. I had a couple malfunctions in each within the first few hundred rounds but didn't think much of it. I was aware there had been issues with the RSA recall and within a few hundred rounds, neither had any more problems with jams or BTF. They've worked fine ever since. I don't think they need a break in but I'd let him know not to sweat it if he has a couple jams here or there. Once the RSA gets worked a little, should be fine.
 
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