Glock FTE

[ZeppelinM16]

Shooting my NEW Glock model 22 for the first time, I was on the third magazine with no problems at that point. However, the fifth round of the third mag, something strange happened. The slide locked back and the empty cartridge was stuck halfway out of the breech. I released the magazine, racked the slide and said spent cartridge ejected. Shot about three more mags without any such problem. I was using American Eagle FMJ ammo. Was this ammo related, or some other cause of this malfunction?

 

[jibbs]

I would say initially that it could be from "limpwristed shooting". Glocks are particularly prone too it. I have a Glock 30, and If I take people shooting with smaller wrists or weak grips, it will do it probably every 2-3 shots.

Its caused by the gun catching the round as it cycles back. Sometimes it happens more frequently, sometimes once a session. I have found that shooting lighter grain bullets can help the problem, but not solve it. Maybe someone else here can better explain it.

 

[PO2Hammer]

The slide locked back and the empty cartridge was stuck halfway out of the breech.

Do you mean the case was halfway out of the chamber (failure to extract), or the spent case was trapped half way out of the ejection port by the slide (stove pipe)?

 

[ZeppelinM16]

Halfway out of the chamber. Sorry, poor word choice.

 

[PO2Hammer]

I'm no expert, but the first thing I would do is a detail strip of the slide to make sure there is no crud binding up your extractor.
It's odd the slide would lock back in the middle of the magazine, usually in a failure to extract, the slide jams another round up against the spent case.
Have you had the gun apart?
The slide lock spring leg may be in the wrong spot.
Have you looked at this site?
http://www.glockfaq.com/

 

[Steve C]

Low powered round probably just didn't kick back the slide hard enough to eject the spent case. Low loads sometimes happen when using cheap practice ammo and if coupled with limp wristing and/or dirty or dry gun can result in too slow a slide speed for proper extraction or ejection.

 

[jibbs]

I think the key here is that it is a new Glock coupled with the fact that it is a s&w .40. I see shooters limpwrist these all the time at the range. I would almost be willing to bet he was using 185 gr. ammo too. If there was an obstruction or something the problem would have more likely happened more than once.

I would not detail strip the slide if you are not familiar with the process (especially on a brand new gun), as there are some parts under pressure in there that can disappear really fast if your not careful. I mean no disrespect to any of the above advise, but I just don't think it is necessary at this point.

Steve C I think is on to it, higher velocity ammo and lighter grain bullets can help alleviate this problem if it is a shooting technique problem as I suspect. Trail and error, just go and get some more practice some to see if the problem persists. Hope this helps.