Glocks not as reliable as once thought.???

[Loosenock]

I'm in the market to buy a Glock 17. Thanks to the convenience of the internet I do some research before I buy anything anymore. I've been doing some research on Glock pistols. If you hang around gun shops and folks that share your interest in firearms you cant help but hear very good things about the Glocks. One on going toruture test I read on the internet is about one Glock having fired 300,000 rounds of ammo and still going strong.

The reason I decided to buy a Glock is because of the reliability, simplicity, accuracy and value. But after indulging in a self study I'm beginning to wonder about this.

Its not hard to locate the majority of the problems on the internet. They range from failure to eject, eject to head and face of shooter, not locking open on last shot and slide rail problems.

Here are a couple of thoughts I have to ponder.

1) Glocks are just as reliable as anytime but the few problems get more attention and notoriety.

2) Owners are trying to make a perfect firearm even better but in doing so are actually creating their own reliability issues.

3) Glocks changes in gen2, gen3 and gen4 have not accomplished what Glock wanted to occur. Some of these changes were external only changes.

I haven't been talked out of buying a Glock. Here are my options.

Find a early generation stock Glock.

Adapt the adage that the best thing to do to a Glock to insure its "Perfection" is to do nothing but shoot it.

If problems are a fact what is your take on Glocks slide from perfection?

If you were going to buy a Glock would you buy early generation or gen4?

I know opinions will vary on this, but I would like to read yours.

'loose

 

[Tommygunn]

Keep in mind I own a Glock 19:

IMHO the Glock is one of the ugliest guns available this side of the Milky Way. It is shaped like a brick with a grip that resembles a two by four. It's black. No wood,
Some people think the grip was designed at the wrong angle.

Having said that they are GOOD guns because they're SIMPLE and they WORK.
Use jacketed factory ammo. The polygonal barrels are said to build up lead when used with cast bullets. This will save a lot of worry, atleast.....
Some Glocks have had kabooms and the interwebz are rife with stories about Glocks. Some wag even put together a "animation" showing the Glock as it fires and as it does the video switches to a old 1950s film of a nuclear explosion going off. Ha ha ha.
Seriously though I would not hesitate to recommend a Glock.
There are no manufacturers that don't on occasion send out a lemon, but Glock has a good reputation. I wouldn't buy the advertizing hype but then I would suspect advertizing from ALL manufacturers.
I think you can be confident a Glock will serve you well.

 

[newfalguy101]

Glocks, like ANY machine WILL fail from time to time, especially if neglected or due to other user error.

Get past the idea of "perfection" because perfection is NOT mass produced as mass production calls for a certian amount of compromise, to speed the production process.

If you want a Glock, buy one.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

There have been some functioning problems reported with some recently produced ones, but a new one you buy today is likely to have the problems already corrected, and there is a fix for those so affected.

 

[JC98]

I own 2 a 23 and 17. Both are gen 3. They are not the prettiest gun but I have never had any issues with mine. My 23 has around 15k rounds through it and I have never experienced a FTE or FTF.

 

[Manson]

You seem to already know the reasons to buy a Glock. Simple, reliable, and value. For the price it's hard to find better. I own two and while not perfect they are pretty close. Oh yeah and pug ugly.

 

[jim243]

If you are looking for a good reliable 9mm, get a CZ, but that's just my opinion.

Jim

 

[meanmrmustard]

if you are looking for a good reliable 9mm, get a cz, but that's just my opinion.

Jim

+1,000,000

 

[Shoobee]

I don't think anyone ever marketed glocks as necessarily reliable or unreliable.

They are marketed as cheeeeeap cheap cheap cheap.

Did I mention they are cheap?

 

[Shoobee]

I agree with Jim about the CZs.

Also the S&W model 39 and its modern variants are also great.

 

[allaroundhunter]

The CZ's are great guns.

As are Glocks. Are they less reliable today than in years past? I don't think so.

I have had problems with my Gen 2 G19, but not too many that I dislike it. However, it has been replaced as my primary carry weapon by a S&W M&P9 full size.

 

[19-3Ben]

I don't think anyone ever marketed glocks as necessarily reliable or unreliable.

They are marketed as cheeeeeap cheap cheap cheap.

Did I mention they are cheap?

They are indeed marketed as being very reliable. It was their reliability, in addition to their competitive pricing that allowed them to take over police contracts all over the USA.
As for them being marketed as being cheap I don't recall any marketing that Glock ever put out that describes the guns as being cheap, or inexpensive in any way. I got into guns around 2002 or so, so perhaps those who have been around longer can weigh in.

I can see your argument standing true for something like a Lorcin/Raven, etc... that the only thing they have going for them is price. But Glock? A new Glock is a $500 gun. Not many people would call that a cheap gun. It's inexpensive compared to an H&K, or a Sig, but there is certainly a huge number of guns that are lower priced than the Glock, that truly are "price point" type guns.

And to bring this back on point, I have no reason to think that a Glock is any more or less reliable than any other maker of good quality guns in that price range.

 

[bbuddtec]

If you're going to carry, I'd recommend G19 or 26 instead, but that's your thing.

Personally, I think there's uglier, in fact I'm not sold on ugly at all, but I actually have some...

I was steered toward G's by a LEO friend, and poo-pooed it, until I researched and got one.

a 2x4 grip? ... yeah ok ...not.

and not for nothing, but the tenifer finish is unreal, better than anything else I know.

cheap? yes, and I'm grateful.

the only thing that malfunctioned my glocks were my own underpowered rounds...

 

[sedona]

I would get a 3rd generation if you end up getting a glock.The 4th generation has had some problems.I own or have owned about every brand of semi auto there is and only the glock has had 0 malfuncitons.The CZ's,sigs,H&ks,M&p,XDs and high end 1911s all had a few malfunctions at some time with alot less rounds through them.

 

[coolluke01]

Gen 4's are just fine. Each Gen of Glock brought out "issues". As anything there is a teeth cutting time period. I own 2 Gen 4's and they are flawless.

I think the Gen 4 has great improvements.

Shoobee; I've seen you say the same thing twice now on two different posts. Simply saying something is cheap is not helpful or insightful. Repeating it many times just makes what you say even less credible. Glocks are not cheap compared to other poly guns. They are priced very fairly. It's nice to find something that works and doesn't break the bank. True it's no Sig or custom S&W in price but it's hardly cheap, cheap, cheap.

The popularity is largely in part to the fact that they just work!

 

[Ky Larry]

I love the idiots who say "I carry (insert brand/model here) 'cause it don't jam." Anything built by man can and will fail. I saw a member of Team Glock have a stovepipe in the middle of a match. She cleared the jam and kept on shooting. If you haven't had a flat tire in forever, it doesn't mean you're immune. It just means you're due. Same with jams.

 

[Motownfire]

I have a Gen 1 G22, a Gen 3 G23 & G27. My wife has a Gen 3 G26. They all fire every time we pull the trigger. We have never had a failure of any kind with any of our Glocks, I probably just jinxed us though.

A few of my buddies are carrying the new Gen 4 G22's for their duty guns and they love them. Either way you go you can't go wrong, it's a Glock, you will be happy.

 

[tryshoot]

Ky Larry, I agree with you 110%.

 

[LiveLife]

I'm in the market to buy a Glock 17. I haven't been talked out of buying a Glock.

Here are my options.

Find a early generation stock Glock.

Adapt the adage that the best thing to do to a Glock to insure its "Perfection" is to do nothing but shoot it.

If problems are a fact what is your take on Glocks slide from perfection?

If you were going to buy a Glock would you buy early generation or gen4?

I know opinions will vary on this, but I would like to read yours.

- If you need/want an accessory rail, get Gen3/Gen4.

- If you need/want finger grooves on grip, get Gen3/Gen4.

- If you want reliable/accurate Glock 17, get Gen2/Gen3/Gen4 (you'll probably have a hard time finding a Gen1 G17).

- If you come across a used G17 in good condition, you may just need to replace the recoil spring ($8) and magazine springs ($7) - I alway replace my Glock mag springs with Wolff 10% extra power springs and they are cheaper than OEM.

- If you come across a used G17 in fair condition, you may need to replace the recoil spring, magazine springs ($7), and maybe mag follower ($3) and striker spring ($3),

 

[Rubikees]

Yea, my Gen 4 G17 has a stove pipe issue and it is not the handling. I do not get as many stove pipes in my other pistols like an M&P9.

 

[riomedinamike]

As an earlier poster noted, i have also been involved in guns a long time. Before I got married and had kids, I would buy a series 70 colt, send it off to a 'smith, wait about six months to a year, spends $1,000's of moolah, and have a great reliable pistol.

I still have the colts, but started buying Glock police trade-ins at gun shows at really low prices. I now have almost every gen or model Glock has made(except the 18, which I would trade every Glock for), and my experiences after many decades and 1,000's of rounds is the Glocks go bang every time.

I prefer gen 3 versions because of the light rail option.

They are super easy to disassemble or replace parts. Replacement parts are readily available from Brownells and Midway, to name a few.

The only changes I make are a 3.5 lb connector for a better trigger pull, tritium sights (usually Trijicon), and an extended slide release, and of course
lots of factory magazines.

I also own and like Hi-powers, CZ's, XD's and many others.

Plus, since the Glocks are ugly, I don't wince when they get banged up from rough use.

Personally, I love my colts, but my go to guns are 95% of the time a Glock in one iteration or the other.

 

[Silvanus]

Just get the gun and a whole lot of ammo and have fun. Every gun will fail once in a while, that's why every serious self-defense/combat shooting training involves fixing all possible kinds of stoppages. A good pistol like a Glock may not jam for several thousand rounds, but if you shoot long enough you will realise that no gun is perfect.

 

[Bobson]

Deleted. (Nothin' wrong with Glocks.)

 

[Kiln]

Glocks are like the AK47 in the way that, everyone has heard they're perfect and never have reliability issues or jam...you never have to clean them and they never break. People that know anything about firearms know better and understand that a firearm is a machine and as such may not always work perfectly. So when a new shooter has an issue with the gun in question they're pissed and go straight to the net to let their dissatisfaction be known.

For every Glock, AK, or Hi Point you've read about having issues there are plenty of happy owners out there who haven't hunted down a gun forum to complain because of one thing: their firearm is working as expected and just as they'd heard it would.

Any manufacturer can crank out guns that don't work every now and again, just some companies have a better ratio of weapons that work straight out of the box than others. Personally I prefer other autos over Glocks but they're good guns in their own right.

Check out the XD series or CZ pistols before you make your decision, they're much more comfortable and IMO classier looking firearms.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I carried a G3 as a duty weapon for about 12 years. I never had a single malfunction that I can recall.