Glock 42 problems

[John3921]

In my experience, this is usually due to limp-wristing when it's a small gun like the Glock 42. I can't count the number of times a customer will come from our range with problems like you're having, and I'll go shoot their gun and I'll have zero stoppages.

I'm not saying this is definitely the problem, but it's certainly worth looking in to before you decide the problem is with the gun itself.

This is what we found with the wifes 42. She would get 2 or 3 stovepipes per clip. I would get none. As she has learned more about a proper grip she has had less issues. Last time out she had zero problems. We are just shooting 95 gr fiocchi cheap stuff for now, no SD ammo yet.

 

[jad0110]

It doesn't take much to get limp wrist failures, once one discovers the technique. I can get pretty much any polymer frame auto to mess up without too much trouble. But as someone else mentioned it could also be your thumbs touching the slide and slowing it ever so slightly, enough with weaker range fodder than you are getting jams. So it you don't shoot with your thumbs off the gun, you might give that a try.

 

[Pipe Smoker]

I field stripped and cleaned it. It had a bunch of copper colored gunk on slide. I stripped it off and Then used clp. I hope this fixes the issue. The slide is stiff as hell. Why would they use such a stiff spring on a .380?

I have to say it – my aluminum frame SIG P238 .380 has the easiest slide to rack of any CF auto I know of. It eats all ammo, and is 100% reliable, even when deliberately limp-wristed. All of the pistols that I shoot regularly are SAO.

 

[touro1979]

Ok. So cleaned it. Locked slide back for a few days and manually cycled slide 100 times. I bought federal American eagle 95 grain fmj. This gun loved them. Shot the whole box with zero malfunctions. Tried to shoot wwb again and every 3rd shot failed to eject. It was better but still a lot of problems. I shot 25 rounds of Hornady critical defense. Zero problems. 25 rounds of Hornady custom ammo. Zero problems. All in all I'm happy with gun now. It's ammo sensitive but I'm glad I found a cheaper fmj that works. It's extremely accurate.

 

[Warp]

Winchester...not surprised in the least that their ammo sucks

 

[herkyguy]

Never had a problem with WWB .380 ammo in my G42. However, I did run into a lot of problems with a below-max charge of reloads. They cycled fine through my P238, but wouldn't cycle consistently in the G42...

I've read in a few other places that the G42 likes a stout round and my reloads confirmed it. At max recommended charge, it cycled fine. I also had a batch of reloads that was crappy for reliability and I can only speculate that I hadn't crimped them enough and weren't generating enough pressure.

But all in all, the G42 has been less picky than my P238. the P238 only feeds ball ammo reliably, whereas the G42 will push anything up the ramp, but then won't always cycle the slower stuff.

 

[Artofgolf]

... All in all I'm happy with gun now. It's ammo sensitive but I'm glad I found a cheaper fmj that works. It's extremely accurate.

Glad you worked out the issues & found it to be worthy. The G42 is a great little pistol.

 

[rich e]

A few months ago I took my 15 yr old daughter to the range for the first time. She has only shot BB gun rifles and pistols. Long story short.

She shot my Ruger MK2 22lr pistol first. No jams.
Then she shot my Glock 17 with no jams.
Then she shot my Kahr K9, no jams.
Then her first shot with my Glock 42 stove-piped.
I cleared it and said, hold this one a little tight. She then shot two mags through it without a problem.
BTW I can't get either one of my G42s to jam, they eat everything just hold onto it.
Rich

EDIT- Her favorite pistol of the day was my Kahr K9.

 

[MaterDei]

rich e, you're going to lose that Kahr to her in a year or two when she starts driving. She will look at you with her sad face and say "please daddy, can I have it?"

I lost a Bersa Thunder to one of my daughters for her glove compartment gun. She will let me shoot it from time to time but I don't expect it will ever be mine again. I'm glad she wanted the Bersa, it is (was) one of my cheapest handguns.

 

[kokapelli]

rich e, you're going to lose that Kahr to her in a year or two when she starts driving. She will look at you with her sad face and say "please daddy, can I have it?"

I lost a Bersa Thunder to one of my daughters for her glove compartment gun. She will let me shoot it from time to time but I don't expect it will ever be mine again. I'm glad she wanted the Bersa, it is (was) one of my cheapest handguns.

I have always considered the Bersa to be inexpensive, but never cheap.

 

[Robert101]

OP, glad you found the answer to your problem. Cheap ammo can be avoided.
I've also noticed that when someone has a problem with a new gun someone always suggests to clean and oil the gun. Any gun should shoot from the factory without clean and lube - that's my opinion. Glock installs anti-siege for this reason. Do any of the manufactures specifically state that cleaning and lubing are necessary?

 

[David4516]

Why would they use such a stiff spring on a .380?

I wonder the same thing. My wife's EDC is a G42. It only likes to eat rounds loaded to max. Tried it with light and med loads and it was a no-go. Those same loads worked just fine in my .380 Makarov but the G42 choked on them.

The G42 is a good pistol, my wife is very happy with it. You just have to be careful what you feed it, they are one of the most ammo sensitive pistols I've seen. Her carry round is the 90gr Hydra-Shok by the way. Her G42 didn't like the Hornady stuff for some reason, but it loves the Hydra-Shok

The weird thing is that the G43 works with every ammo I've tired. I even reloaded some rounds with a light powder charge and 100gr bullets intended for use in .380s, and they still cycled just fine...

 

[wlkjr]

Since the G42 was designed to be a pocket carry self defense weapon, I would assume that it needs a stiffer recoil spring to handle the higher power self defense loads. And it is more of a range gun than the smaller lighter pistols. It operates better the more rounds put through it.
I shot about 150 rounds through mine today and one of the mags gave me feeding problems. I noticed when I loaded the mag it felt like it had a catch in it and sure enough it caused problems. It was one of the original mags without the 02 on the bottom. Only other malfunction I had was with a round with a slightly high primer. Fired it twice and it didn't go off. I could barely tell it was high. Other than that, it shot great.
All my mags without the 02 have a separation on the left side at the feed ramp between the plastic and metal liner. None with the 02 have that separation or bulge. I'm going to send all of them back to Glock for replacement.

 

[Takem406]

Don't limp wrist it. When we got ours the wife had the same issues. I shot it perfectly and so did she after she held onto it tighter. Thumbs forward and lean into it.

 

[jeepnik]

rich e, you're going to lose that Kahr to her in a year or two when she starts driving. She will look at you with her sad face and say "please daddy, can I have it?"

I lost a Bersa Thunder to one of my daughters for her glove compartment gun. She will let me shoot it from time to time but I don't expect it will ever be mine again. I'm glad she wanted the Bersa, it is (was) one of my cheapest handguns.

Oh how true! My two boys always look longingly at my safe when they visit. They'll get them sooner or later. I'd just prefer it to be later.