Glock anomaly.

[LiveLife]

Hand loads. Loaded to spec, OAL 1.090 115 grain. Berry’s Plated

How would bad Ammo lock up a slide where it would move rearward but not completely retract.

Reloads locking up the slide could be from:

1. Case base not fully resized (if using unknown mixed range brass, culprit could be from 9mm Major brass)
2. Case mouth flare not returned flat on bullet / not enough taper crimp
3. Case neck bulge from deep seated/thicker case wall/tilted bullet

1. With your shell holder/plate in the uppermost position during resizing, if you see any daylight, adjust the dies so you don't to ensure you are fully resizing the brass down to case base. If you are using unknown mixed range brass, your problem could be from overly expanded (especially case base area where sizing die can't reach) brass loaded to 9mm Major power factor (Sadly, these unmarked brass are left on the ground by USPSA match shooters for unsuspecting reloaders to pick up to reload ... )

Now when I encounter increased resizing resistance with 9mm brass, I make sure the brass will readily fully chamber in my tightest barrel. If not, I will resize the brass again but if second resizing fails, brass is tossed for bulk recycling.

To check, drop your resized brass in the barrel. If they don't drop in freely with a "plonk", mark the brass with a marker and see where it rubs the chamber wall. If the rub mark is at the case base, it is from not full length sized brass and/or overly expanded brass.


2. This is less of an issue but still can contribute to slide not returning to full battery, especially due to reason #1 reloading on a progressive press. If shell holder/plate upward movement is limited (can see daylight between bottom of die and top of shell holder/plate) perhaps due to overly expanded case, case neck flare will not return back on the bullet and can prevent full chambering of the round.

To check, measure the case mouth of finished rounds. I usually add .022" to the diameter of bullet for taper crimp amount so for .356" sized Berry's plated bullets, I use .378" taper crimp. (For my various factory/aftermarket 9mm barrels, case mouth measurement larger than .378" will start to not fully chamber)


3. Over the decades, especially with non-domestic headstamp brass, I have noticed thicker and thicker case walls on 9mm brass. This has resulted in bulging of case neck especially about 0.200" below case mouth where case walls are thicker. You are using Berry's plated bullets which are typically sized larger at .356" (instead of more typical .355") and seating the bullet deeper at 1.090" (I am assuming RN?) will certainly cause bulging of case neck, especially with thicker case wall brass.

Check the headstamp of offending rounds and if they are the same, thicker case wall brass may be your problem. This thread/post lists case wall thickness by headstamp 0.200" below case mouth for your reference - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...d-bullet-setback.830072/page-3#post-107138221.

To check, drop your finished rounds in the barrel. If they don't drop in freely with a "plonk", mark the round with a marker and see where it rubs the chamber wall. If the rub mark is around the case neck, it is from bullet base bulging the case wall. If the bulge/rub mark is only on one side, it could be from tilted bullet during seating as bulge around the case neck should be uniform/even. If the bulge is uniform, you can try using longer OAL to see if the bulge decreases enought for you to fully chamber the round. If the bulging problem is only with a particular thick walled brass, sort out that brass. Another option is using smaller diameter (.355") sized bullets.

I hope this helps.

 

[whughett]

LiveLife: Thank you sir. Good advice. The “plonk” test has been discussed. These rounds do go plonk.

 

[ponchh]

Wednesday while trying some new 9MM in my sons 17, the pistol fired the first round, ejected and chambered the second but didn’t go all the way into battery. Thinking a damaged case mouth I first tried to nudge the slide into battery and when I could not, tried to rack it manually, nope, nor could I dismount the slide. Could not budge it. Fired the last 49 rounds thru a Walther PPS with no problems.

At home finally got the slide on the Glock back and ejected the round. No apparent damage.
Loaded 5 factory rounds in the magazine, pointed the gun in a safe direction and manually operated the slide and released it, round chambered and I manually ejected it, twice, the third didn’t go into battery, but I was able to push it in. Pulled the slide back, would move a fraction and hang up.
Now I’ve got a loaded round in the chamber and I can’t eject it. I’m home in my basement and I’m reluctant to fire it in the house.
Twenty mile drive back to the club where I fire the gun, load and fire five more rounds. No problem. ***.

Now I can dismount the slide. Everything looked normal, put the slide back on and the gun seems to operate normal. I’m almost reluctant to try it again at Monday’s range session. Don’t like Glocks, don’t own one but my son likes it and it’s his favorite.

To disassemble a Glock that won't go into battery or the trigger can't be pulled in your case, the back plate on the slide can be removed and remove a couple of parts and the slide can be removed from gun.

 

[whughett]

To disassemble a Glock that won't go into battery or the trigger can't be pulled in your case, the back plate on the slide can be removed and remove a couple of parts and the slide can be removed from gun.

Yes, please tell me how to do that with slide all the way forward.

 

[Elkins45]

Learn something new everyday. Been under the illusion if the round fits the magazine it will fit the chamber. Glocks are a different breed of cat I guess.

I still don’t like them. Ugly damn things. And don’t even get me started on that rifling and lead bullets.

It’s not just a Glock thing. I have some loaded ammo that will chamber easily in some of my guns and totally won’t let the slide close on others. It totally depends on the chamber depth and rifling profile.

 

[ponchh]

Yes, please tell me how to do that with slide all the way forward.

He explains good as any but there are other videos.

 

[AK103K]

The plunk test is really only going to do you any good, if you check every round. In my case, the rounds that are the issue, are in the minority, so, unless you check every round (I dont), youre likely going to miss them and find them when you shoot.

The plunk test also doesnt guarantee that the gun will feed the round properly either. I have a new Springfield 1911 that all of a sudden, took a dislike to some of my SWC loads, that it liked in the past, and all my other guns feed without issue. Those rounds drop right into a barrel or gauge, yet keep getting stuck in the chamber when fed while shooting.

I would eliminate the reloads form the mix and shoot a couple of boxes of decent factory ball, and see how it goes. I have a feeling, its going to work fine. If not, then there is likely something else going on.

Something I dont remember seeing mentioned too, and maybe I missed it, but is the gun "clean" and been maintained? Not saying its the case here, but Ive seen a lot of guns choke, simply because they werent cleaned and maintained.

Ive bought more than a few guns "cheap" that were supposedly "junk", and once I cleaned and lubed them, ran fine.

 

[fxvr5]

He explains good as any but there are other videos.

Read the OP's comment again. How do you remove the slide when the slide is stuck FORWARD?

 

[ponchh]

Read the OP's comment again. How do you remove the slide when the slide is stuck FORWARD?

I did read it and I quote

"Pulled the slide back, would move a fraction and hang up"
If the slide will move to the rear just a fraction the plate can be removed if you want it out enough to try.

 

[whughett]

Ponchh :Thank you. You’ll notice he could move the slide all the way back and lock it. I could not do that. I watched all the way thru and at the end he confirmed, I think, what I had mentioned later in the thread. I had cleaned the gun and reinstalled the slide putting the spring and rod in the wrong notch. It belongs in the lower one, but to me it looks like it fits in the upper. 1st Generation gun Maybe by the 5th they had changed it.

I’ll know Monday. Range day with son, I’ll have two different brands and a box of reloads.

I’ve cycled a full mag by hand in the basement, gun pointed at a pile of books, no problems strip, load eject fast as I could slingshot the slide, so my uneducated guess operator error on reassembling sfter cleaning.
Edit for content
Just read the post before this. I couldn’t see where he stuck that pointed tool to release the plate. The slide move back but I don’t think it was far enough.

Early, just before the return trip to fire off the gun I had learned I could trip the little lever on the trigger If the slide was withdrawn enough to be out of battery. The slide would then go into battery. I still couldn’t rack the slide and eject the round or even draw it back far enough the clear the ejection port.

 

[fxvr5]

I did read it and I quote

"Pulled the slide back, would move a fraction and hang up"
If the slide will move to the rear just a fraction the plate can be removed if you want it out enough to try.

Gotcha. My apologies.

 

[crestoncowboy]

currently have guns Gen 2 through 5, and have yet to have a round (within spec) that fit in the mag not chamber in the gun.

I haven't in 9mm, 40 or 45 glocks. but in 10mm glocks I have. With some 180 gr hard cast I had to shorten the O.A.L. significantly to get reliability. Got occasional FTF even close to the specified length. The rounds would almost go all the way in but they would be slightly angled and lock up the action a fraction of an inch short. They plunked fine too since the round is dropped in straight when testing

 

[rskent]

fxvr5. Not a newbie to handloading, 40 years and tens of thousands of rounds on various presses. However I’m no expert, don’t wildcat or push the envelope but can and do make occasional errors. The Berry bullet is a 115 round nose and seated to an OAL of 1.090, that’s shorter than Blazers 115 FMJ at 1.156. It’s visible shorter.

Not sure if it matters at this point. But my “Glock Chow” is a 115 plated bullet (Berry’s mostly) over Tightgroup. I load them to 1.135”. I also use a bit more powder.

I am curious, you said the slide came back a bit. Did the gun drop out of battery? Did you figure out if the round was stuck or if the gun was put together wrong?

 

[barnetmill]

Berry bullets and I can tell from the Posts that the OP is not highly knowledgeable about some of the finer points handloading. Correct overall length is not an absolute that a round will chamber, especially with a short chamber. I have had such happen with factory wolf ammo in a .45 ACP 1911 that had a 'wadcutter' barrel. When I reload I always make sure that the round will chamber and I have never measured overall length. The round must fit in the magazine, feed when the gun is cycled, freely enter the chamber, and the entire intact round freely eject.
One should be able to get clear that gun without firing it. And in a basement one should be able to safely fire the gun once to clear also.

 

[whughett]

Not sure if it matters at this point. But my “Glock Chow” is a 115 plated bullet (Berry’s mostly) over Tightgroup. I load them to 1.135”. I also use a bit more powder.

I am curious, you said the slide came back a bit. Did the gun drop out of battery? Did you figure out if the round was stuck or if the gun was put together wrong?

The round was NEVER stuck in the chamber.
I’m 99 9/10 % sure, after much fiddling around that I had reinstalled the spring and rod assembly in the wrong notch. I can duplicate the problem.

One wag just observed That I don’t know the “finer points” of handloading. I agree. But I know My guns. and my handloads. The Glock isn’t my gun but now I know it. Out of five 9MM’s in the house that ones the
Safe queen.

 

[zaitcev]

I’m 99 9/10 % sure, after much fiddling around that I had reinstalled the spring and rod assembly in the wrong notch. I can duplicate the problem.

Good job finding the root cause. However, something is not quite right still. Normally, if one puts the rod on the wrong notch, the gun cannot be assembled completely. If one insists, the slide cannot be pulled far enough to the rear.

 

[AK103K]

The round was NEVER stuck in the chamber.
I’m 99 9/10 % sure, after much fiddling around that I had reinstalled the spring and rod assembly in the wrong notch. I can duplicate the problem.

Can you elaborate on this?

Im not understanding how you get the gun back together with the spring in the wrong notch.

I just tried it on two of my 17's and one of my 19's, and the gun wont go back together, unless the spring is in the right notch.

 

[whughett]

I’m no smith but it’s the only explanation I have. I just tried it again and this time the slide racked part way and closed and left the rod sticking out of the front.

Here’s a photo of the gun. The tag shows the markings on the barrel lump (?). There is also what appears to be an Eagle with a number. The slide has FS576 stamp.

The frame same FS576 US.

 

[LiveLife]

I just tried it again and this time the slide racked part way and closed and left the rod sticking out of the front.

If this is happening with an empty pistol, it's not ammo related.

Can you post pictures of recoil spring assembly installed and how the rod is sticking out?

 

[AK103K]

That gun in your pic isnt a Gen 1. Gen 2 maybe. Is the RSA a captured single spring on a plastic rod?

If so, how are you putting it in? The round flat part should be to the rear, on the shelf/notch against the barrel lug, and the smaller, dimple end to the front.

I have a Gen 2 and just checked it, and I cant get the gun together if the RSA isnt in the gun right.

If you have things in the right place, the gun should go together smoothly and easily, you shouldnt have to use any force. It should go on like it slid off.

From your description, it sounds like youre doing something wrong putting it together, but I cant really see what or how that would be, unless youre forcing things.

 

[LiveLife]

Looks like a Gen2 due to flat checkered front strap without finger grooves.

how are you putting it in? The round flat part should be to the rear, on the shelf/notch against the barrel lug, and the smaller, dimple end to the front.

I have a Gen 2 and just checked it, and I cant get the gun together if the RSA isnt in the gun right.

Yes, that's why I asked for a picture of RSA installed.

If you have things in the right place, the gun should go together smoothly and easily, you shouldnt have to use any force. It should go on like it slid off.

Yes, I am curious too.

 

[whughett]

Here’s the spring and plunger installed. I replaced the slide and it functioned.

Tomorrow’s range day. I’ll see what happens with two different brand of ammo plus s box of reloads.

Perhaps this whole thing has been just an “anomaly” after all.

 

[AK103K]

That looks like its in the right place. The rod looks a little bent, but its kind of hard to tell in the pic.

The cost $7 and should be changed fairly regularly anyway, especially if youre shooting a lot. Might want to try that and see if that doesnt fix things.

 

[whughett]

Here’s a shot of the slide. What do I do push in to remove that back cover plate.

 

[rskent]

One wag just observed That I don’t know the “finer points” of handloading. I agree. But I know My guns. and my handloads. The Glock isn’t my gun but now I know it. Out of five 9MM’s in the house that ones the
Safe queen.

I’m not questioning your handloading skill. I just noticed that your loads, which you apparently load for non-Glocks, are quite different from my Glock loads. I was trying to be helpful. O well.