How sturdy are glocks?

[DentThat]

I just bought my first ever gun, a brand new Glock 19

The next day, I went to the firing range with my friends. One of my friends was using my Glock and he jammed it! He said a brass got stuck and he needed to use his fingers to remove it. We believe the culprit was the bad used magazine

I'm sure everyone's heard how "perfect" Glocks are but I'm just anxious so is the Glock going to be OK? Are they built to handle jams?

It fired fine aftewards by the way

Thanks!

 

[Sunray]

"...he jammed it..." He very likely did what is called 'limp wristing'. Too light of a grip and/or relaxing his hand too soon. Happens with any semi-auto pistol. The hand literally holds the frame in place while the slide recoils. Not holding the grip firmly doesn't provide enough resistance for the pistol to work properly.
All new firearms need to be cleaned before you shoot 'em for the first time. They come out of the factory with a rust preventer. Even Glocks. The barrel is steel. If you didn't give it a bath first, that might be the cause too.
Mind you, the ammo might have caused it. Not likely though. You need to try a box of as many brands as you can to find the ammo your pistol will shoot best.

 

[Agent-J]

maybe he's a limp wristing sissy?

i'm pretty sure you could take 2 glocks, shoot one at the other, and it would still function np's.

 

[Pulse]

the phenomena you encountered is almost certainly "Limp Wristing"
below a link to the wiki article wich u found preaty good and explains how to possible fix it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limp_wristing

welcome to the wonderfull world of firearm ownership!

 

[DentThat]

welcome to the wonderfull world of firearm ownership!

Thanks for the responses and link

I sure did not clean it after buying it. Should I do it ASAP? And how do you go about a first clean?

 

[DentThat]

Does this limp-wristing jam cause any permanent damage? And 99% guns jam because the brass did not eject correctly, right?

Sorry for all these questions...

 

[Agent-J]

it only temporarily damages the shooters ego. your gun is fine and probably giggling at you too.

 

[spyderdude]

Limp wristing doesn't do any physical damage to the gun itself, but it would suck if it jammed during a life and death situation.

Welcome to firearm ownership!

 

[mljdeckard]

A few years ago I bought my dad a new pistol for father's day, and he wanted to shoot it right out of the box. I stopped him, asked him if he wasn't going to clean it first. He looked at me weird, and I realized, he'd never had a NEW new gun before. He's bought used from pawn shops and such. So we got a brush and some Hoppe's and cleaned it out, swabbed the barrel with some patches, and he realized it made sense not to scorch whatever preservative came in the barrel. No problem.

I DARE you to try to hurt that Glock. Good luck. I don't have one anymore, but it's not because I don't believe they are more or less indestructible. I mean, don't be silly, they can be killed, but I think you would have to get a little bit creative.

 

[Sunray]

"...Does this limp-wristing jam cause any permanent damage?..." Not at all. It's operator failure. No big deal. Think in terms of the slide needing some resistance to work properly. Your hand provides that resistance by holding the frame in place.
"...because the brass did not eject correctly..." Yes and no. A jam can be a feeding issue or an extraction/ejection issue. Feeding issues, ammo being stripped from the mag and sent into the chamber, are usually mag related. Extraction/ejection issues, the case being pulled out of the chamber and thrown out of the pistol, are usually ammo or dirt related.
"...how do you go about a first clean?..." Same way you normally clean it. Field strip and use a solvent and patches. Got a cleaning kit? A manual? Go here for a free, downloadable .pdf manual, if you don't. http://stevespages.com/pdf/glock.pdf
"...Should I do it ASAP?..." You really should clean it after every day at the range. It's not going to dissolve if you leave it for a few days though.
Cops that carry Glocks rarely do any regular maintenance. Worked in a gun shop, long ago, when cops, up here, still carried revolvers and were only allowed to change the grips. A plain clothes cop came in one day, went to unload to try a set of grips. His service revolver was rusted shut. A pair of 'em came in another time. One guy bought a set of grips. The other guy decided to try a set on his revolver. Reached for it only to find he had left it at home. Had the holster but no gun. His partner went ballistic. Most cops are good guys, but they regard their service piece as a piece of kit they're required to lug around. Most of 'em can't shoot worth beans either.
"...Sorry for all these questions..." No need to apologise. Shooters help new shooters regularly. Go join a shooting club. You'll meet some of the greatest people you'll ever know and most will bend over backwards to help you. Including letting you try their firearms. Belonging to a shooting club opens all kinds of other doors too.

 

[CPshooter]

I think he limp-wristed it..same thing happened with my Glock 19.

I've never experienced a single malfunction with it, but my girlfriend causes the thing to jam up whenever she tries to shoot it. The grip angle of the glock is a little different than most other guns, so if you aren't holding it properly and with even a decently firm grip, it can cause some problems.

In my hands my Glock is 100% reliable and I trust my life to it. In the hands of an inexperienced shooter or someone who can't grip the thing, it might not be. I've even tried to limp-wrist mine, and I can't do it. You're friend must not know how to shoot handguns because it shouldn't happen under normal circumstances.

 

[DentThat]

You're friend must not know how to shoot handguns because it shouldn't happen under normal circumstances.

My friend actually has fired a good number of handguns and automatics. That's why the limp-wrist explanation is a bit bizarre

We think it might be a faulty magazine. Could that be a reason? This magazine doesn't lock the slide once pulled back...but we did take the magazine apart and pulled the spring and now the magazine locks the slide

 

[CPshooter]

My friend actually has fired a good number of handguns and automatics. That's why the limp-wrist explanation is a bit bizarre

We think it might be a faulty magazine. Could that be a reason? This magazine doesn't lock the slide once pulled back...but we did take the magazine apart and pulled the spring and now the magazine locks the slide

If that's the case, then who knows? I had an XD 45. 4" back when they were first released and I had 2 FTF in the very first magazine I ever shot. That was the only failure I ever experienced with that gun. I was using WWB 230g FMJ. I use WWB with all my guns and use it exclusively for testing my handguns' reliability. If it can't shoot WWB without a single failure after the first two magazines, I'll sell the gun. Not a single hiccup in the next 1000 rounds or so before I sold it (for no good reason, too).

Also, my cousin bought a Glock 19 and I was there the first time he shot it. He experienced a FTF (or maybe it was a FTE?) in the first magazine. That was it. Thousands of rounds later and still not a single FTF/FTE in his gun according to him.

Things like that happen sometimes. If it keeps happening AFTER the first few magazines, then we might have a problem. My advice is to go shoot it again, then worry about a potential problem. Good luck!

 

[CPshooter]

It fired fine aftewards by the way

Didn't even see that..that is the point I was trying to make. You're probably fine if it ran ok after your friend shot it.

I'm sure everyone's heard how "perfect" Glocks are but I'm just anxious so is the Glock going to be OK? Are they built to handle jams?

I understand how you feel. I expect the best from my weapons, too. You don't buy a Glock to have it jam on you, nor should you accept a Glock that does. Other guns, however, don't always have a good reputation like Glocks do. Sometimes you are just gambling with your money when you buy a new gun. For example, I gambled when I bought my Kahr pm9 and guess what..I lost

Anyways, you bought a Glock. You'll be fine.

 

[Ben86]

It sounds like a classic sissy wristing. Glocks are some of the most reliable semi-autos ever made. Actually it could be said they set a new standard way back when. But, not even Glocks are 100% immune to malfunctions. Shoot it some more to make sure there is no problem.

 

[jon_in_wv]

If this was any other brand the responses would be that it is BRAND NEW and sometimes they take a few dozen or hundred rounds to break in and be 100% reliable. Of course Glocks are 200% reliable out of the box and you are obviously the problem. You should return yourself to the factory to get fixed.

 

[geronimo509]

Its funny that limp wristing caused the infamous glock to jam. All of my auto loaders do to except for one. I even shot 2 mags in a row and purposely limp wristed it to see what happened. Nothing happened, it kept shooting. I love my new para. Dont get me wrong, i am not bashing glocks, I really like them and have a lot of respect for them. it was just a surprise to hear that. I was under the impression that they could not be stopped.

 

[fineredmist]

In response to your question of destroying a Glock let me recommend that you invest $30.00 +/- and buy "The Complete Glock Reference Guide" by PTOOMA Publications. This will give you all the information you need regarding the care and feeding of a Glock pistol and some of the most destructive tests ever done on new, out of the box Glock.
It is most enlightening reading and I highly recommend it.

 

[rob b]

glocks are the best pistol on the planet
I sold my other autos after buying my g23 as it outshot all the others and will eat anything I feed her
congrats on the purchase of the g19

 

[possum]

congrats on the new gun, and a glock at that, and better yet a 19, you can't get much better than that. great choice. your glock will be fine, one of the finest handguns avaliable.

 

[PhillyGlocker]

Glock is probably the best in the world right now. Problems with a Glock are definitely far in between. I'm on my 7th year with Glocks and only had one problem which was because of a damaged casing.

The End!

 

[jon_in_wv]

How does all the Glock fanboy BS help the OP? There is a time and a place for it but I fail to see how it furthers the discussion or answers the OPs question?

 

[Beren]

Nice choice, I also own a Glock 19. As everyone else has said, it was probably the limp wrist and not the Glock itself that was at fault. I can recall one failure to feed that I witnessed first hand, but it turned out to be the ammunition that was at fault. One round of WWB 9mm had a case length that was a couple of millimeters too long! Thankfully it failed to chamber.

I've witnessed a Glock 27 go kaboom next to me at a firing range. No serious injury, guy said he was using "gunshow ammo." Never really clarified the source.

 

[Drail]

The Glock Fanboy BS. LOL That is just what I was thinking. Seriously now, Glocks are very durable weapons. If you wanted a gun to throw in your tackle box and pull it out 10 years from now it would almost certainly function perfectly even with rust and fish guts all over it. And I say this even though I hate Glocks and all pistols made from PLASTIC! Just keep the bore as clean as you can. They do not tolerate any kind of buildup in the rifling.

 

[rugerfreak]

How does it work with the 2 new mags that came with the gun??