Failure to feed/failure to go into battery

[Mr. Tettnanger]

Sort of long:

I took a newbie to the range yesterday to let him shoot several handguns. I brought a revolver and a few semi-autos. He did really well and shot respectable groups, handled the firearms with respect and I believe he had a good time. We got up to my Glock 30 45, and he shoots very well. About the third or fourth magazine, maybe the middle of the stack, the gun failed to go into battery. He layed the gun down and I came over to help. I had carpel tunnel surgery 3 weeks ago, so I was not able to hold and yank the slide open. We called the rangemaster over and after a few tries, he managed to get the slide to rack and all was ok. He asked me when was the last time that I lubed it? It was about three months ago, the last time that I shot. He said that was the problem and that I should have cleaned and lubed it before coming! oooooooookkkkkkkk! I guess that thinking works well when you are placed in a self defense situation. We load up another magazine and have at it. No issues. The next magazine, maybe midway. through........JAM-O! Same issue. We call Rangemaster over, he can't get it to open. He gets another Range Dude who muscles it a while and can't get it. He finally gets a small gunsmith hammer and carefully taps and taps the slide in until he gets the round to chamber, then he fired a few rounds with no problem. He asks me about the lubing, but agrees with me that it probably wasn't that, and that he was even more surprised that it happened in a Glock than I was.

What could be happening?

1.) 1st two mag rounds were Winchester White Box that I have put about 1000+ loads thru without a hiccup.
2.) The following mag rounds were a fresh box of Federal ball ammo, same grain as Wnchester.
3.) The magazine was one of my spares. I do not record what mags that I use everytime, but I have two that I use only for carry, and the mag that was in the gun, was not one of those.
4.) We used the same mag the entire time.

Any suggestions, thoughts, ideas? This bugs me quite a bit. I don't buy the lubrication deal. I think it is either magazine or ammo related.

Overall, I am glad that the newbie got to see that STUFF happens and it is a learning experience that is very valuable!

 

[ROBBY.1911]

just for grins make sure the trigger safety plunger moves freely and the hole it sits in is not gunked up. for more grins check that dual recoil spring for foreign matter. i own a G30, so i'll keep thinking.

 

[rcmodel]

Try cleaning the chamber with a bronze bore brush & solvent.

Hard powder fouling build-up can cause exactly the problem you discribed.

rc

 

[glocks rock]

Was the round fully in the chamber, just wouldn't fully go into battery?

 

[Runflat]

I have had problems with my G27 and failures to feed and return to battery. I haven't found the problem yet. The guys that I bought the gun from seem to think that its either a feed ramp issue or that I may be limp-wristing the gun. It has been happening with all of my mags so I have already removed them as the cause. The main spring is clean, the gun is well lubed and well cared for. I have removed my-self as the cause, because the gun even jams when I lend it to others to test fire. I am headed to the range this week with lots of ammo and a pad of paper to keep track of the number of jams and when they occur.

My ftf and ftrtb occurred mid magazine and with both Winchester 180gr fmj and Federal American Eagle 180 gr fmj.

It's puzzling. If I cannot locate and fix the source of the problem I will need to go to my back up carry gun permanently.

 

[Mr. Tettnanger]

Was the round fully in the chamber, just wouldn't fully go into battery?

The round was not in fully in the chamber. It looked like it got caught up, stuck, jammed, or whatever from the magazine into the feed ramp/chamber.