Are late Gen 3 Glocks as reliable/durable as older Gen 3s?

[SArcher]

New to the site. First post.

I've owned glocks in the past (gen 2 and early gen3s), sold them off a few years ago and would like to purchase a new gen 3 glock 17. I read about the different issues the late gen 3/new gen 4s were having.

Am I good to go buying a new gen 3 17? Thanks

 

[greyeyezz]

You may get a good one, or have erratic extraction issues. Flip a coin.

To remove all doubt, get a used M serial prefix or before. That's what I did. Those will have Tenifer treated slide and parts also.

 

[INMY01TA]

In a nutshell no.

 

[WYO]

I bought a Gen 3 G 19 last month that was made in 2014. I have about 1500 rounds through it, and it has been 100% reliable. I think the more recent Glock issues have been mostly with Gen 4 models and the need for the dual recoil springs to be broken in.

 

[JDR]

Am I good to go buying a new gen 3 17?

Absolutely! It will run every type of 9mm factory you can lay your hands on!

 

[rskent]

INMY01TA

In a nutshell no.

Care to elaborate?

 

[farscott]

I can only go by my anecdotal experience. I had a pair of Gen 3 Glock 19 pistols (SCZ and SFC serial number prefixes) that started out at 100% but started choking around 2500 rounds each. I could not get them to consistently run, the local Glock armorer could not, and Glock could not. Before the saga was done, the ejectors, extractors, spring depressors, bearings, RSA, and I cannot remember what else was replaced. Some parts were replaced multiple times. No matter what was done and no matter who shot the guns, the guns could not run 200 rounds with a stoppage using a wide variety of factory ammo. They still will not, so only see usage for malfunction drills and range practice.

 

[WYO]

I should be over 2500 total in mine in about a month. I will post if it starts giving me trouble, but I don't anticipate it given the variety of loads I have used in it so far. WWM prefix.

 

[HOOfan_1]

My Glock 19 G3 serial# starts with R has 3200 rounds through it..no problems

 

[L-2]

Yes, not to say older gen3 Glocks were always 100% perfect, anyway. Also, what's the OP's alternative? My sample of one G17gen3 needed a gen4 30274 ejector. I'm not hearing about many complaints lately compared to when I bought mine, which was in 2009.

 

[Fishbed77]

One thing is for sure - the earlier Gen 3 Glocks have a better finish than the flatter, scratch-prone, and less durable finish of the newer pistols.

 

[edmo01]

In 20 years of shooting GLOCKs I've never had a malfunction with them... Ever.

I own 8 GLOCKs starting with my first in 1995. I have a Gen2, Gen3s, and Gen4s in 9 mm, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP.

Based on my experiences and the thousands of rounds I've put down range, you will be well served by A G17, regardless of generation. Below are a few after "cleaning day".

Edmo.

 

[tarosean]

As an FYI: One of the top competitive shooters in the world quit Team Glock after the Nationals this year, because of ongoing reliability issues.

 

[LeonCarr]

Who quit Team Glock?

To stay on topic in over 100,000 rounds, mostly Blazer and handloads, fired through mostly Gen 3 Glocks I can count the malfunctions on one hand. Three times from shooting a Glock 34 with the extended slide stop and the thumb bumping the slide stop up locking back the slide with rounds in the magazine, once from the extended magazine release on the same Glock 34 causing the magazine to go bombs away during a match, and once having a magazine base fly off during a speedload in an IDPA Classifier.

IMO/IME most of the reliability problems with Glocks come from people jacking with them. Anything beyond sights and basic trigger modifications is sure to cause problems in not just Glocks but just about any handgun.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[tarosean]

Who quit Team Glock?

KC Eusebio

 

[Richard Head]

Glocks are perfection

 

[mgmorden]

KC Eusebio

It's with noting that KC is mostly an Open shooter.

Hanging a compensator and an optic on a Glock and then running it at 9mm major power factor (about 25% hotter than most factory loads) is a lot different than running it like a standard carry firearm.

 

[Fishbed77]

In 20 years of shooting GLOCKs I've never had a malfunction with them... Ever.

You need to shoot more.

 

[tarosean]

It's with noting that KC is mostly an Open shooter.

Hanging a compensator and an optic on a Glock and then running it at 9mm major power factor (about 25% hotter than most factory loads) is a lot different than running it like a standard carry firearm.

Yeah with full factory support...

Unlike lil ol me, who doesn't run Optics nor Comps, yet still have failures in my 17RTF2 and G35 (g4) that I compete with.

 

[PO2Hammer]

To remove all doubt, get a used M serial prefix or before. That's what I did. Those will have Tenifer treated slide and parts also.

I tend to agree. Not only the tenifer, but the pre-2008 models have the non-mim strikers and locking blocks.

Mim is fine for many parts, but they had some trouble with the point of the mim strikers chipping and the mim locking blocks breaking. Odds are the average Glock will be fine, but if you're looking for the high point of Glock manufacture, I think it's the gen 3's between C and M prefixes, excluding some E prefixes that were subject to 'frame upgrades' (recall).

Gen 2 Glocks had some pretty sloppy chambers, especially in .40 and .45, but should be fine in 9mm.

 

[GLOOB]

the guns could not run 200 rounds with a stoppage using a wide variety of factory ammo.

Farscott, this is extremely interesting news, even if it is anecdotal. Can you elaborate on what kind of stoppages you are seeing?

 

[farscott]

Mostly failures to extract, which made everyone suspect the extractor. There were a few ejected cases that had stove piped. Of course, brass to the head, but that is not a stoppage. I noted that the ejection pattern of both guns was very inconsistent even with hot ammo. That was very unusual in my Glock experience. The other thing that was unusual was that the guns did not run for anyone who tried them. The guns were both stock, with the exception of sights.

I still have the guns, so I should fiddle with them again. My sneaking suspicion is the slide, but I was never able to find data to prove it. Since about everything else in the upper has been replaced, I am down to that. Or there is a weird tolerance stack that results in this issue. Of course, that does not explain why the guns ran for a while when new.

 

[edmo01]

You need to shoot more.

Yes I do! Just like all of us gun guys, I need to shoot a lot more often..

Now convince my wife I need to shoot daily and we will be friends for life!

Edmo