Found 9mm Ammo That Won't Work In My Glock 34

B

BubbaBlades

New member
I took my new Glock 34 to the range to check it out with 14 different types of 9mm ammo including 115, 124 and 147 grain FMJ and Hollow Points. This is my third Glock 34 so I did not expect any problems.

I had no problems or issues with the first seven types of ammo but the 115 grain hollow points that were the eighth ammo tried would not feed. I talked to the range manager (a Glock expert) and he came out on the range and saw the hollow points stick on the bottom of the feed ramp.

He told me that my mag spring was worn out and showed me that the top round in my mag was pointed slightly downward. I was loaned a mag from one of the range's rental Glocks but it did the same thing as my mag.

I skipped over box number eight and completed shooting the remaining six types of ammo (including two different brands of hollow points) without any further problems.

When I got home and finished cleaning the Glock, I used calipers to measure the hollow point ammo that would not feed. The ammo checked out to the same diameter as my other ammo.

It was then that I noticed something strange. The ammo that would not feed was rimmed 9mm. It looks like a .38 short. The rim was what caused the ammo to point downward when loaded in the magazine.

I have been shooting for over 50 years and this is the first time that I have ever seen 9mm rimmed ammo. Too bad this is not stocked in my local gun stores. It would be nice to use in my 9mm revolvers as an option to moonclips.

Mark
 
Kind of figured that is what you had from your description. That stuff is like gold to those who shoot 9mm revolvers
 
Damned if I knew there once was a rimmed 9mm casing.

But why the high pressure? It would seem that if it were standard pressure, then any revolver chambered for 9mm could shoot it.
 
The problem with these rounds is that it can chamber and fire in the old 38 s&w revolvers. the results would be very very bad
 
The 9mm rimmed was developed for use in revolvers chambered for 9mm Parabellum (9 mm Luger). Most police officers have gone to 9mm Luger (so departments can get good prices on milsurp ammunition) but a few liked the old small revolvers, so a few companies make (made?) revolvers that can fire 9mm Luger. But the rimless auto pistol cartridge presents extraction problems, so Federal developed a 9mm rimmed cartridge with the power of the 9mm Luger, but which could be used in revolvers.

Then came the "ooops". The 9mm rimmed would fit and fire in old iron frame breaktop revolvers even though it ran three times the pressure of the .38 S&W for which the old guns were made. The 9mm Federal was withdrawn from the market, and has become a collectors item. The new revolvers will still function with standard 9mm Luger (though extraction is purely manual).

Jim
 
The other historical footnote about the 9mm Federal Rimmed cartridge is that its introduction in late 1989 was supposed to coincide with the release of the Charter Arms Pit Bull (two words) revolver designed to fire it. Unfortunately, Charter Arms almost immediately went out of business, and the guns are hen's teeth as a result. (I seem to remember reading that fewer than 50 were built, and most were not sold to the public, but I can't find a citation.)

Consequently, the ammo hit store shelves without the gun intended to fire it. This fiasco plus the .38 S&W liability issue prompted Federal to drop it from production very quickly.

The Charter Arms brand was subsequently resurrected, and the new company has recently released the Pitbull (one word) revolver in 9mm, but this gun incorporates a special mechanism allowing it to function with standard rimless 9mmP.
 
Sharkbite said:
So much for the expertise of the “expert”
Click to expand...

He might have been a Glock expert, but he didn't know the ammo. The rim explains why the topmost rounds seemed to be slightly nose-diving (and his belief that a stronger mag spring was needed.) His diagnosis didn't explain why the second mag (implicitly a "known good" mag) had the same problem. I suspect that MOST of us would have been confounded by that problem.

I've had a number of different guns that will feed 9mm ammo from a .40 mag, and vice versa -- and a few that won't.

I recently ran into a similar problem (hp round catching on the feed ramp) when trying to run 9mm hollow point ammo from a .40 mag in a 9mm gun -- hardball ammo fed fine. *I suspect the wider feed lip gap of the .40 mag lets the REAR of the 9mm round (which already be higher) set a bit higher and the sharp mouth of one brand of hp ammo would catch on the feed ramp. (I later bought a couple of 9mm mags for that gun, which I was using with a 9mm conversion barrel.)

*In rereading, I saw that I didn't explain my point as I wanted to... maybe the underlined part above makes more sense. The angle of the round hitting the ramp might be different with the nose dipping down a bit more.

I wouldn't have been surprised if the rim of that round caught on the feed lips of the mag -- a mag not intended to cope with rimmed cartridges.

Question: is this a straight-walled case like most revolver rounds, or is it slightly tapered like the 9x19 round?

.
 
Last edited:
Walt, the case appears to have the same taper as a standard 9x19 round. I measure the outside of the case approximately .380 to .390 taper.

Colorado, I keep one row (10 rounds) of various 9mm ammo in 100 round plastic ammo boxes for testing each of my 9mm guns. I found a second 100 round plastic box with five different 9mm loads in it. That second box had the rimmed 9mm in it. I have no idea of when I obtained the rimmed rounds or what they cost.
 
wow.

Just...wow...
This is just about a "perfect storm" of errors...

First, you have the wrong ammo for the gun.
second, the wrong ammo is in the same box as the right ammo. (and apparently not identified in any way)
third, you don't notice its the wrong ammo when loading the magazine
fourth, you don't notice its the wrong ammo looking at it when the gun jams
fifth, the range "expert" doesn't notice its the wrong ammo
sixth, you load the wrong ammo into a "good" Glock mag again, without noticing its the wrong ammo.
Seventh, and it seems final, you only notice its a rimmed round after you get home and clean the gun...

It would appear you ought to give some thought to the level of attention you pay to your ammo. Lots of us have ammo (and other stuff) that we don't remember when or where we got it, or how much it cost, I get that.

But, we do know what it is. I find it strange that you knew it was a 115gr JHP, but didn't know it was 9mm rimmed!

Congratulations on your luck! Finding the mistake in the ammo at the range was the most painless of possibilities. Count your blessings and go buy a lottery ticket, just in case you have any of that luck left! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top