Author Topic: Did I just get a lemon? (Read 1852 times)

thumper113 · « **on:** April 28, 2013, 03:38:09 PM »

Okay all I've heard is how perfect Glocks are with zero issues out of the box.

When it came time to buy my wife her first handgun I took her to the gunshow and had her handle everything.

The two that felt best to her were the Beretta and the Glock 26. Given its rep and the fact it could take 17 & 19 mags, I got her the 26.

First range trip with it and in the first 4 magazines there were at least two FTF and one FTE per magazine.

Right now, there is no way I would let her carry this gun.

Is there something I need to look at on it?

Oldshooter · « **Reply #1 on:** April 28, 2013, 04:51:42 PM »

OK I am not the last word , but I would make sure the slide is comepletely closed, for a fail to fire to happen that may be the cause. Make sure to pull back on the slide and let it slam shut.

For the Fail to eject a limp wrist will sometimes cause "stove pipe" to occur where the spent cartidge sticks out but does not eject.

There are Glock armorers around here that may know more than I do. but this has been My experience.

A shop with a glock armorer can clear it up quickly.

mcwoodduck · « **Reply #2 on:** April 28, 2013, 05:12:57 PM »

I want to start off by I do not own a Glock, I do not really like them. I do have a S&W copy (the Sigma) of one.
Out of the box is a bad term. I have purchased a few new guns and I do not just shoot them out of the box. I take them home, disassemble them clean off the shipping and packing grease and disassemble the mags and clean them as well.
I lightly grease them and reassemble them. I then run at least 500 rounds through any gun I want to carry before I even think about evaluating them. When I bought my Sig P230 I asked my friend the shop owner if he would put it in as a range gun for a month or two and let someone else pay to break it in. He said insurance issues and he did not want to be liable for it. I would go to the range with a box or two and let anyone in the range shoot it. I really did not want to evaluate the gun until I had a number of rounds through it,
I would suggest cleaning it very well. Make sure it is lightly greesed and reassemble take it back to the range and send some ammo down range.
Was the FTF a feeding problem or was it a light strike on the primer?
A small auto is hard to learn to shoot. The large flash often has new shooters flinching and often pulling back.
Remember a semi auto needs X amount of rear travel to cycle. Let's just call that 2 inches. If the slide cycles one inch and your wife flinches and recoils an inch it has traveled the two inches. Only one inch is long enough to extract but not far enough to feed. Same with limp wristing the gun. Also the small grip makes it dificult to hold onto and it could be twisting in her hand (s) and causing the malfunction that the larger guns do not. You may try adding a 2 round extention to her mags to make the mag longer and easier to hold and give more leverage.
The same cna be said for going forward. The spring needs to have the frame semi solid and not move forward as the energy of the gun needs 2 inches forward movement as well,
Now most of carrying a gun is trusting the gun. If you do not trust the gun for what ever the reason for the malfunctions then you do not trust the gun. Maybe a 3" Model 65 or 65Lady smith with Pachmeyer compact grips with the back strap open would be a better choice. Have her shoot the 130 grain ball or wad cutters at practice and load some self defense rounds for her. The great thing about a revolver is that: A) it is at rest loaded or unloaded. B) it is not recoil operated and flinching, limp wristing, or light ammo does not matter in the function of the gun, point pull the trigger (hammer comes back till it trips and BAng, next pull will rotate cylinder ot new round and trip the hammer. The 3" smith is heavy enough to absorb recoil abd be pleasant to shoot, and is small enough to hide,

Bigeasy · « **Reply #3 on:** April 28, 2013, 06:15:50 PM »

1st. question - Does "FTF" mean failure to fire, or failure to feed?
2nd. question - What ammo were you using? Reloads?

She could be limp wristing it, though Glocks are not as prone to that problem as some other makes. Did you try shooting it yourself?

Unless you got a bad gun, and 4 bad magazines (Unlikely), I am thinking its an ammo problem, whether its poor reloads, or slightly under powered factory ammo, along with a poor grip by the shooter.

If it continues after having several different shooters try it with a couple different makes of factory ammo, then a return trip to the manyufacturer may be in order. Simple fact is that anything made by man is not going to be 100% all the time....

Larry

thumper113 · « **Reply #4 on:** April 28, 2013, 06:21:48 PM »

Sorry I didn't give more details.

It was cleaned and very lightly oiled. Everything I've seen says the Glock likes very little oil.

She was using the 17 mag with the extension, I don't like the small grip and bought her a half dozen of the 17 & 19 magazines with the extensions.

They were failure to feeds with FMJ. PPU, WWB and Federal ammo.

First thought was she was limp wristing it so I let her shoot my 1911 and she cycled 3 mags with no sweat.

I fired it as well and had two failure to feeds in five rounds.

All magazines were only loaded with 8 rounds to give the new mags some brake in time too.

As far as a revolver, lol, not for her. When the Glock worked, she was dead on after the first mag with it, her Taurus 738 and my 1911 but would have been better throwing the .38 special at them.

I brought it home and broke it down again and polished the ramp.

Does anyone know if there are feed issues with the 26 using the 17 & 19 mags?

Bigeasy · « **Reply #5 on:** April 28, 2013, 08:55:30 PM »

Plastic pistols don't much turn me on, I only own a few. Two of them are Glocks, and I own them because they are about as reliable as a handgun gets.. I Have always used the standard capacity mags that are designed for the gun, though many people use a 19 or 17 in a 26, or a 17 in a 19 without issue. I wonder if when the gun is being gripped, there is pressure on the magazine that is somehow causing the problem, though I doubt that is it. I am assuming they are genuine Glock mags, and not aftermarket? When the extensions were added, were the springs and followers re-installed properly? One thing I would check is your extractor. Make sure it is not damaged, or loose, as this will cause issues such as you are having. The vast majority of reliability issues with a semi-auto handgun can be traced to reloads, or the magazine. It is very unusual to have three or four factory mags that are all bad. Last question I can think of is how is the reliability with the stock ten round mags? If they work fine, then you have found the answer. By the way, you mentioned Glocks not liking oil. Not necessarily true - They don't need to be dripping wet like some designs to stay reliable, but do need proper lubrication between moving parts. A totally dry gun can bind up. Good luck.

Larry

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #6 on:** April 29, 2013, 01:53:40 AM »

My first Glock was a 23 , it was a police trade in and it would not feed. I was told by the store to try a new mag. it still would not feed. Then the guy at the store said let me try it ( he also said he had never heard of a Glock that would not feed). He called the next day to tell me the gun was on it's way back to Glock.
Less than two weeks later I had what looked like a new gun but with the same ser. # back ad it was working good with all ammo I fed it . BTW NO CHARGE to me and when the store guy took the gun he didn't take a mag. Well the gun came back with 3 new mags.
So I would suggest if it ain't working send it back to Glock they will make it right. Or since you like a longer grip try a 23 or 19.

mcwoodduck · « **Reply #7 on:** April 29, 2013, 02:48:45 PM »

Big Easy I was thinking the same thing. Play with the mags that the gun came with and then see if other mags work.
Again I would suggest taking the mag apart and making sure you assembled it correctly after you cleanied it. I had a problem with my skills when I first got a Sig P226. The gun ran but I had the mag spring in wrong and it had a tendancy to jam up a little took the mag apart.

Savage · « **Reply #8 on:** April 30, 2013, 03:08:10 AM »

Gen 3, or gen 4? Just curious.
I have substantial experience with gen 2s and 3s. Currently have 5 gen 3s, but have never owned a 26. I have seen and experienced failures and breakages on police ranges as well as in competition. Having said that, Glocks pretty much set the standard for reliability..
To date, I have never seen a new one fail on the first outing unless the gun was not properly cleaned/lubricated, or bad magazines were used.
I have seen them fail from limp wristing. The smaller ones are more likely to malfunction due to this factor.

Contrary to what you hear, Glocks can benefit from a light synthetic grease applied to the friction points, especially a new gun.
Clean it, lube it properly, use the mags that came with the gun and factory ammo. If it fails, have someone else shoot the gun. If it continues to malfunction then, return it to Glock. I'm betting you won't need to do that.
Good Luck!
Savage

FPH · « **Reply #9 on:** April 30, 2013, 03:58:08 AM »

Quote from: Savage on April 30, 2013, 03:08:10 AM

Gen 3, or gen 4? Just curious.
I have substantial experience with gen 2s and 3s. Currently have 5 gen 3s, but have never owned a 26. I have seen and experienced failures and breakages on police ranges as well as in competition. Having said that, Glocks pretty much set the standard for reliability..
To date, I have never seen a new one fail on the first outing unless the gun was not properly cleaned/lubricated, or bad magazines were used.
I have seen them fail from limp wristing. The smaller ones are more likely to malfunction due to this factor.

Contrary to what you hear, Glocks can benefit from a light synthetic grease applied to the friction points, especially a new gun.
Clean it, lube it properly, use the mags that came with the gun and factory ammo. If it fails, have someone else shoot the gun. If it continues to malfunction then, return it to Glock. I'm betting you won't need to do that.
Good Luck!
Savage

Sounds like he has done all you suggested except returning the weapon.

Oldshooter · « **Reply #10 on:** April 30, 2013, 04:06:28 AM »

One thing I will add is that if I hold my 36(compact) and shoot it the way I hold my 21(full size). It WILL "fte" or stove pipe on occasion. I have had to adjust my grip on the 21 so I can practice gripping both firm so as not to have that happen.

The smaller gun is more apt to fail with a limp wrist than the large one.

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #11 on:** April 30, 2013, 04:44:31 AM »

I have had the 26 , 27 and single stack compact 45 and none FTF ( fire or feed). The defective 23 was the only lemon and the factory repaired it pronto. Send it back and get on with shooting.

Savage · « **Reply #12 on:** April 30, 2013, 02:03:31 PM »

Quote from: FPH on April 30, 2013, 03:58:08 AM

Quote from: Savage on April 30, 2013, 03:08:10 AM
Gen 3, or gen 4? Just curious.
I have substantial experience with gen 2s and 3s. Currently have 5 gen 3s, but have never owned a 26. I have seen and experienced failures and breakages on police ranges as well as in competition. Having said that, Glocks pretty much set the standard for reliability..
To date, I have never seen a new one fail on the first outing unless the gun was not properly cleaned/lubricated, or bad magazines were used.
I have seen them fail from limp wristing. The smaller ones are more likely to malfunction due to this factor.

Contrary to what you hear, Glocks can benefit from a light synthetic grease applied to the friction points, especially a new gun.
Clean it, lube it properly, use the mags that came with the gun and factory ammo. If it fails, have someone else shoot the gun. If it continues to malfunction then, return it to Glock. I'm betting you won't need to do that.
Good Luck!
Savage

Sounds like he has done all you suggested except returning the weapon.

Guess I missed the part where he lubed with synthetic grease and had someone else shoot it.

Savage

thumper113 · « **Reply #13 on:** April 30, 2013, 03:41:38 PM »

Thanks guys!

Didn't have the factory 26 mags with us just factory 17 & 19. The extensions just slide over the longer mags for a grip extension and better fit. I don't like putting extended mags in anything without something like that to prevent a bind.

I'm gonna take the little mags to the range and put a couple hundred rounds through it and see how it rolls.

If it doesn't get better guess I'll get hold of Glock. Ever manufacturer in the world no matter how good they are will have one with an issue once in awhile.

Oldshooter · « **Reply #14 on:** April 30, 2013, 03:45:59 PM »

Keep us posted

mcwoodduck · « **Reply #15 on:** April 30, 2013, 03:47:11 PM »

2.5% of all production opps that gets throgh QC. Not too bad when you consider how much is produced. That 2.5% is not of all products just that 2.5% of the screw ups will make it through one QC or another. Most compoanies are more than happy to see them and fix them so they cna figure out how it got out of QC and tighten their controls.

garbhead · « **Reply #16 on:** April 30, 2013, 06:43:43 PM »

I put a Pearce mag extension +1 on my 27 just for the extra length to grab on to. First time out it Failed to feed the last round in the mag every time. I removed the extension and now it still won't feed the last round in the mag. It also fails to hold slide open when empty. I have other larger mags that never fail to feed the last round or fail to hold slide open when empty.

So now I assume I screwed up the spring somehow when I put the Pearce on? I ordered a new tighter spring so anxious to see if that fixes it. Any one have similar problems?

shot1 · « **Reply #17 on:** May 01, 2013, 07:55:58 AM »

I have a G26 with the pinky extender on the original mags that fit my hand perfectly. I have fired thousands of rounds through this pistol without a single problem. Same with my G-17. Never have tried the 17 mags in the 26 though. I myself have never seen one single problem with a Glock unless a part actually broke.

JeffG · « **Reply #18 on:** May 02, 2013, 04:06:13 PM »

Most....feeding malfunctions with Glocks are lack of a stiff wrist behind the gun.(90%) the next reason is worn mags and ammo.

Graybeard · « **Reply #19 on:** November 26, 2019, 05:04:15 AM »