Glock press release regarding recent problems at Portland PD

[drone23]

http://www.gssfonline.com/hot_topics/pressrelease.htm



24 March 2004

GLOCK, Inc. has been made aware of two incidents involving the Portland Police Department in which two GLOCK Model 21 pistols were damaged while allegedly using Federal brand Classic HI-SHOK practice ammunition.

This will respond to an article dated March 4, 2004 in The Oregonian newspaper wherein Chief of Police, Derrick Foxworth, was quoted as stating “the bureau’s training division did further analysis and determined the explosions may have been caused by a defect in the weapon or a design problem.†GLOCK, Inc. absolutely disagrees with this unfounded conclusion and stands behind its Model 21 pistol, which has had an excellent service record since its introduction in 1991. It should be noted that the Portland Police Department has used the GLOCK Model 21 pistol for the past 12 years.

We have repeatedly asked the Portland Police Department to allow us to do technical examinations of the pistols and ammunition. As of the date of this Release, our requests have been denied. The Portland Police Department has only provided us with pictures of the damaged firearms. A review of these pictures appears to indicate a classic over-pressured ammunition problem.

Additionally, we contacted the Portland Police Department to schedule a meeting at our headquarters in Smyrna, Georgia at our expense to examine the pistols and ammunition. Thus far, the Portland Police Department has not agreed to this meeting.

Our products are manufactured under the highest standards and are submitted to rigorous testing before leaving the factory. GLOCK pistols have been adopted by thousands of military and law enforcement agencies throughout the world because of its excellent safety and reliability record.

For further information, please contact us at 770-432-1202.

GLOCK, Inc.

 

[rich2u]

Well one thing sets my antenna wiggiling is the police won't let them see the guns...Hmmmm thats a little strange. After all their expecting Glock to replace all those pistols. If I was Glock I would sure as hell want to know what happened on that pistol range. Especially after they've been using glocks for 12 yrs... Just something not right here

 

[Waxed Canvas]

Glock put that out for all the loyal coolaid drinkers. What a stupid way to ruin your market presence--------------- start a urination match with a Police department. What short sightedness. Yes Glock should defend their position but press release is not the right method here. In sales always take the high road----always. Glock is just as culpable as OPD by assuming it was the ammo.

9mm Glock? Heck yes-------as good as it gets. Larger caliber? I don't think so. There is just too much overpressured big bore ammo floating around out there or something is up with the Glock design.

 

[El Tejon]

Gaston Glock of EastEmpire was quoted as saying, "Minen vaffen es perfkten!!!"

Maybe the whole sorry house of cards will start to collapse? Nah, just give the coppers deeper discounts or extra mags.

 

[Waxed Canvas]

How about this for an ad byline:

GLOCK ARROGANCE

 

[mete]

Glock has every right to examine guns that have been claimed to be 'defective' and that the PD won't let them seems to be a bit suspicious. After 12 years without complaint and now they're going to dump them ? Sounds like the cheif needed an excuse to get new guns !

 

[tc300mag1]

Gaston (jim jones) Glock says the coolaid is a s good as it has ever been drink up ..

On a more serious note i too think glock or at least a 3rd party should eb able to examine the guns.. Even if it was a design flaw or just problem of the gun glock would never admit to it hence 3rd part exam

 

[Josey]

Speaking as a retired CLEO, no manufacturer WILL admit fault. The Chevrolets that killed officers were never admitted by GM. The recent failures of ballistic vests were never admitted by their manufacturer. The older S&W failures due to QC were never admitted. Destructive third party testing is expensive. Glock won't foot the bill to prove their firearms are faulty, maybe. There is a chance. Glock won't take that chance. Nobody would.

 

[Gordy Wesen]

I agree with mete.
Turn the guns in...especially seeing how you got a trade. My guess based on what I see so far would indicate that repeated loading of the same cartridges set the bullets back.
It is a rare adult (or cop) in todays world who confesses to doing something wrong.

 

[9x19]

Corruption and obfuscation within the LE community?!

Simply hard to imagine...

 

[Lone_Gunman]

My guess based on what I see so far would indicate that repeated loading of the same cartridges set the bullets back.

Thats what I was thinking too.

Its very weird that the police department won't let Glock look at the busted guns. If I was Glock I wouldnt replace them unless I could see them.

 

[BIGBORESNUB]

I posted this over at glocktalk thought i would share it here.


I remember i bought this big grab bag full of ammo one time.It had like 500rds of all kind of 45 ammo for i think 30 bucks.It had some black tallon, some sabers, some old war ammo,some tracers,lotta reloads Well we were at the range,and i get to the tracers of course i'm really impressed with these,some of this ammo is like 40 years old,hahahahah.
But then i get shootin some of these reloads,that got a least twice the kick as anything else, and g21 the shoots these massive 12in'or so" flames out of the barrel,everyone with me, moves over about 15 feet away and we kinda smile at each other as i proceed to shoot the rest of it up Don't know what these were loaded too,but when the other guys move away 15 feet and smile and go sheeeeettttt what was that,it's pretty hot...

I Shot off about 450 grab bag rounds that day,i don't know about everyone elses 21, but mine sure was tough....

The g 20 shoots alot higher pressure rounds than the 45,seems there would be a lot of g 20 failures

 

[Chuck Dye]

...right to examine...

There is no such thing.

There are ways, however, by which Glock may purchase the privilege of examination.

Of course, absent examination, Glock is has no obligation to resolve the "problem."

 

[Flashman]

Perhaps the Portland Police Bureau remembers the way Glock dealt with the Slam Fire issue they discovered around 1990 and Glock's refusal to admit there was a problem. I think this was the first function related bad press that Glock suffered via national news.

 

[Badger Arms]

We must remember here that we are dealing with the Portland Police who caused their last Glock problem. What's to keep a department that intends to replace the guns anyhow from overloading some rounds, blowing a few guns up, and then crying foul to keep from having to pay for the guns it already intends to replace?

 

[1911Tuner]

A Federal Story

Jumpin' into the fray here, a story that might shed some light.

A couple years back, a friend of mine brought an Auto Ordnance to me that he'd bought for a song. The first thing that I noticed was that the
barrel throat had been "smithed", and the case head support was
severely compromised. He brought it because of case head bulges
and wanted to ask me if it would be a bad thing to reload the bulged cases.
The answer, of course, was yes.

Then he advised me that the bulges only occured with two kinds of brass...
Federal and R-P...PMC, Winchester, Sellier & Bellot, and WWC didn't
bulge at all, or at most, very little. Federal produced the worst bulges,
and on examining some of the brass, it was pretty apparent that another
thousand or so pounds of pressure would have blown the heads.

At my urging, he replaced the barrel. Oddly enough, a Springfield drop-in
service barrel did just that, and the pistol has been runnin' fine ever since.

Just my nickel's worth...

Tuner

 

[Lone_Gunman]

Why would the Portland PD have discovered 2 seperate and unrelated Glock problems?

Chances of that would seem low.

 

[DBK]

Yeah, it couldn't be anything BUT the GLOCK!

 

[WonderNine]

I'm surprised Glock didn't offer to have them send all of the guns in for a free "upgrade".

 

[Archie]

Goofy all around....

One of the first articles I read about this indicated the guns had been sent out (to an unnamed independent lab) for testing. That could explain why PPB (Bureau, not department) isn't sending the guns to Glock. You can bet your sweet bippy that if Glock gets those guns, no one else in this universe will ever lay hand on them again.

However, the manufacturer will never admit a problem with a product.

Nor will a law enforcement agency ever admit their agency, policies or personnel were in the wrong.

I'm not a big Glockist, but 10 years is a long time to not have a problem and then decide they are unsuitable or untrustworthy.

Also, having been a resident of Portland for some 20 years, more or less. PPB has always been a political football and subject to some really goofy firearms policies.

Sounds like more of the same old "governmental agency versus big corporation" stuff. They will agree to a negotiated settlement behind closed doors and never release the real skinny.

 

[Gewehr98]

Gott im Himmel!

Wir haben nichts perfektion? Schlechterdings unmöglich!

 

[JohnKSa]

To date, only the Portland Police have examined the guns.

The entity which examined the ammo was the Portland Police Training Department. PPB still has the guns.

 

[HankB]

Gee, my Explorer broke. Will Ford send me a new one if I don't let them see the broken one?

My Sony TV broke. Will Sony give me a new one if I refuse to let them see the broken one?

My Toro lawnmower broke. Will Toro replace it, if I refuse to let them see the broken one?

Portland's Glocks broke. It's understandable that Glock won't replace them when Portland won't let them see them, even at a joint meeting, to be held AT GLOCK'S EXPENSE!

I don't worship at the Glock Altar, but if the press release is accurate, something smells in the Portland PD.

 

[WarMachine]

I would have to agree with HankB and the others who share pretty much the same ideas. If I was the owner of the Glock firearms company, I wouldn't do a thing until I as able to see for myself the damaged products. If the guns were being used according to my recommendations and something went horribly wrong, then yes, I would indeed replace them. But atleast extend some common freakin curtesy and ship me the damaged pistols so that I can see for myself

I do not presume to know all the details of the case in question, but it does not require a engineering physicist to know that companies usually want to see the damaged product, before they take action. This is true everywhere from Wally$$$World to the local corner store.

I say that PPD finish whatever testing they want to do, and ship the "defective" pistols to Glock for final analysis. My personal opinion (do not take this as fact) is that certain model Glock pistols have less 6 o'clock chamber support than some other competing designs. Now from what I have seen and heard, they usually work fine as long as you follow the manufacturers guidelines. However, when set-back bullets and overcharges come into effect, the probability from of a failure to occur increases.

There is no single handbook for all handguns. Gun companies give you guidlines for a reason. Ruger tells me that is fine to fire lead bullets and +p ammo through their pistols, and I do. They tell me that reloading is not recommended, and I don't. But if I were to begin shooting my own reloaded ammunition, an activity that I intend to start as soon as funds allow, I would not go crying back to Ruger and telling them give me a new gun without a fee. If I was using factory fresh ammo, it would be different story

Rant Mode Deactivated