cracked slide or cracked finish? g23

F

Ferndale

Inactive
Hi. Was cleaning my gen3 block 23 and dropped the slide on my concrete basement floor.

The cut that fits to the frame rail was bent in and the slide had to be forced on (I know, bad idea). Without damaging the frame, I eased the slide back off. After a string of bad words directed at my butter fingers and gravity, I set the slide into a towel and vice, and straightened the bent corner. The slide now rides fine without any audible/visible scraping, but I haven't yet been able to get to the range.

question has to do with hardness of the steel used in the glock slide and the propensity for it to crack under stress versus the finish cracking (see attached pic). If the steel has cracked, is there a fix, hack, etc.? I can't afford a new slide right now and need a reliable pistol.

Any input would be appreciated. Lesson learned about cleaning over a soft surface versus standing at my bench.
 
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Pics would help....2 things hard to understand.....

1) slide bent from a ~4' drop is unbelievable

2) slide bent back with fingers only is more unbelievable

I do believe you did this though....so, without quality pics, this is highly suspect that it is a ng slide....as in base material is ng.

I would not shoot this gun if I had any thought the slid may be cracked near the ejection port. Lots of force on that in firing....could blow up.
 
correct. was not bent back only with my fingers. I set a towel into the vice and straightened out the slide. original post edited.

trying to figure out how to upload a pic of the required size.
 
IIRC the steel in a Glock is a case hardened material. If so a crack in the steel is not repairable !
Send it back to Glock for complete inspection and repair.
 
this is highly suspect that it is a ng slide....as in base material is ng.
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Having never owned a gun that was not made 100% of steel and having no desire to ever own one that isn't, what is "ng"?
 
I certainly cannot tell from a picture, except to say there is a mark there .
I would consult Glock.
A crack there would not cause the gun to blow up in your hand, but it might get deflected again and cause malfunction.
 
i guess life is more complicated than I want it to be. was hoping you guys would say "yeah, everything is a-ok." really can't afford a new slide or gun right now.
 
Glock slides are hardened to a 69 on the Rockwell scale, which is right there with the hardness of an industrial diamond. If the slide bent from a short drop there is an issue somewhere. you really should contact Glock and follow there advice.
 
If the steel has cracked you'd be able to see the crack on both sides. As in inside and out.
"...vice, and straightened the bent corner..." If it's cracked, that's likely what did it. The slide in your picture hasn't been bent either.
"...what is "ng"?..." The polite "NFG". snicker.
 
Looks cracked to me,
Glocks slides are susceptible to cracking and bending in that area when dropped onto a hard surface unsupported by the frame rails.
Maybe Glock will help you out.
 
Glock slides are hardened to a 69 on the Rockwell scale...
Click to expand...
Surface hardened. The underlying metal is softer.
Glocks slides are susceptible to cracking and bending in that area when dropped onto a hard surface unsupported by the frame rails.
Click to expand...
roadrash is correct.

This is an Achilles heel of the Glock and is discussed in the armorer's course. While assembled, the gun is very sturdy and serious damage is extremely unlikely as the result of the gun being dropped.

However, when the slide is off the frame, it is not difficult to damage it by dropping it on a hard surface. This thread provides one classic example--when the gun lands on the slide rails, especially near the rear of the gun it will cause the rail to bend/crack. Another example is dropping the slide so that it lands on the "loop" at the front of the slide where the recoil spring seats.

The slide can not be repaired and the damage is normal for what one would expect for dropping a disassembled Glock slide so that it impacts on a hard surface on the area shown in the picture.

Be very careful with the slide when a Glock is dissembled.
 
Generally when talking about steel, the RC scale is sort of implied, although some softer steels might be measured on the B scale.

Glocks have a metal treatment resulting in a surface hardness that is reported to be somewhere in the range of 64-69RC depending on the source.
 
Diamonds are 100 on the Rockwell "C" scale. 69 is not near 100.
And the RC 69 figure would only be the surface hardness. RC 69 steel is extremely brittle- I doubt the steel in a Glock slide could be hardened to 69.
 
Strip it down to the slide and take the slide to an autoshop that has a magnaflux machine. That'll confirm if it's cracked or not.
 
We have seen several Glocks crack in this exact way. To be safe I would contact Glock.

Yes Rockwell hardness refers to the surface hardness.
 
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