This is a long story so I’ll make every effort to keep it concise:
I bought my Glock 20 (SF, Gen 3) in California, in 2013. As most know, Ca has a 10-round mag capacity cap. I bought extra (10rd) mags – possessing eight total. I load my own and bought a fair amount of factory ammo. I bought a Lone Wolf barrel and a 20Lb tungsten guide rod/recoil spring. With all different combinations of barrels, springs, and ammo, the gun functioned near flawlessly – like a Glock.
In ’22, I moved to Idaho, where some residual freedom still exists. I quickly bought four 15rd mags for my G20. I didn’t get around to shooting my G20 with the new mags until last fall. I brought all four mags out, and two different types of ammo: Both 180gn, both my handloads. One was a Montana Gold JHP, using Power Pistol (fairly hot round), with an OAL of 1.255.” The other was an X-treme plated FPRN, using AA#5 (somewhat de-tuned round) and an OAL of 1.245.” I had the tungsten guide rod, and the Lone Wolf barrel in the gun. I always bring a clean, lubricated gun to the range.
I got lots of failures to feed. And a very specific failure: The tip of the bullet would lodge at the chamber breech at about the 10-o’clock position. All I had to do was pull the slide back about ¼ of an inch and the bullet would drop in. Back into battery, the gun would fire fine. This jam could occur at any time, but seemed to do more so on rounds two, four, and five – especially four. As the mag emptied, it would happen less, but still from time to time. There also seemed to be no co-relation to which mag – they all seemed to do it. Autumn was approaching and it gets cold here early (especially for a California pansy like me), so I let the issue rest until this year. I left all four mags fully loaded during the winter.
This year, I re-approached the issue. First, I put the gun back to stock. Second, I bought some factory ammo – Federal 180FP. Third, I decided to deal with just one mag – mag “#2,” I have them marked. #2 was picked at random.
Out to the range with five types of ammo: Factory 180JHP PPU (de-tuned, OAL 1.250”). Factory Federal 180FP (the ammo I just bought – de-tuned, OAL 1.247”). Factory 180XTP HPR (it’s a boutique company that uses Hornady XTP’s, and they’re hot, OAL 1.262,” SAAMI max is 1.260”). The Montana Gold 180JHP handloads previously mentioned. And an X-treme 180RNFP handload, using AA#7 (de-tuned, OAL 1.245”)
The result was basically the same: Rounds two, especially four, and five would “hang up.” I only had a couple hang ups after round five. Most of the time, when round five hung up, it would detach from the extractor claw; so, I would have to drop the mag and let the round fall out through the well. But that happened to just round five.
Noteworthy, was that the de-tuned ammo did better – far fewer hang ups. The hot stuff (HPR, and Montana Gold) would hang up much more.
I brought two 10rd mags with me. Both performed flawlessly, with all the ammo.
So I’m not seeing much rhyme or reason here – other than the mags, and softer ammo tends to do it less.
I also brought my Glock 29 with me. If functioned flawlessly with all ammo, with a Lone Wolf barrel and tungsten high-strength guide rod/spring.
I generally try to fix this stuff on my own. But this one is a bit of a head-scratcher. I know there’s a lot of Glock guys out there who may have something to share. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
I bought my Glock 20 (SF, Gen 3) in California, in 2013. As most know, Ca has a 10-round mag capacity cap. I bought extra (10rd) mags – possessing eight total. I load my own and bought a fair amount of factory ammo. I bought a Lone Wolf barrel and a 20Lb tungsten guide rod/recoil spring. With all different combinations of barrels, springs, and ammo, the gun functioned near flawlessly – like a Glock.
In ’22, I moved to Idaho, where some residual freedom still exists. I quickly bought four 15rd mags for my G20. I didn’t get around to shooting my G20 with the new mags until last fall. I brought all four mags out, and two different types of ammo: Both 180gn, both my handloads. One was a Montana Gold JHP, using Power Pistol (fairly hot round), with an OAL of 1.255.” The other was an X-treme plated FPRN, using AA#5 (somewhat de-tuned round) and an OAL of 1.245.” I had the tungsten guide rod, and the Lone Wolf barrel in the gun. I always bring a clean, lubricated gun to the range.
I got lots of failures to feed. And a very specific failure: The tip of the bullet would lodge at the chamber breech at about the 10-o’clock position. All I had to do was pull the slide back about ¼ of an inch and the bullet would drop in. Back into battery, the gun would fire fine. This jam could occur at any time, but seemed to do more so on rounds two, four, and five – especially four. As the mag emptied, it would happen less, but still from time to time. There also seemed to be no co-relation to which mag – they all seemed to do it. Autumn was approaching and it gets cold here early (especially for a California pansy like me), so I let the issue rest until this year. I left all four mags fully loaded during the winter.
This year, I re-approached the issue. First, I put the gun back to stock. Second, I bought some factory ammo – Federal 180FP. Third, I decided to deal with just one mag – mag “#2,” I have them marked. #2 was picked at random.
Out to the range with five types of ammo: Factory 180JHP PPU (de-tuned, OAL 1.250”). Factory Federal 180FP (the ammo I just bought – de-tuned, OAL 1.247”). Factory 180XTP HPR (it’s a boutique company that uses Hornady XTP’s, and they’re hot, OAL 1.262,” SAAMI max is 1.260”). The Montana Gold 180JHP handloads previously mentioned. And an X-treme 180RNFP handload, using AA#7 (de-tuned, OAL 1.245”)
The result was basically the same: Rounds two, especially four, and five would “hang up.” I only had a couple hang ups after round five. Most of the time, when round five hung up, it would detach from the extractor claw; so, I would have to drop the mag and let the round fall out through the well. But that happened to just round five.
Noteworthy, was that the de-tuned ammo did better – far fewer hang ups. The hot stuff (HPR, and Montana Gold) would hang up much more.
I brought two 10rd mags with me. Both performed flawlessly, with all the ammo.
So I’m not seeing much rhyme or reason here – other than the mags, and softer ammo tends to do it less.
I also brought my Glock 29 with me. If functioned flawlessly with all ammo, with a Lone Wolf barrel and tungsten high-strength guide rod/spring.
I generally try to fix this stuff on my own. But this one is a bit of a head-scratcher. I know there’s a lot of Glock guys out there who may have something to share. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
