When your trusted carry gun jams....

D

Deaf Smith

New member
Yep, on the range with a Glock 43 (got it for $320, with tritium night sights by Truglo tg-h3 and grip reduction by Taran, and Taran +1 magazine floor plates on both mags) and decided to empty my Glock 26 carry gun (it was also a consignment gun I got 6 years ago for $400, with Henine night sights and Bowie Tactical Concepts grip reduction.)

Well the Glock 26, using Winchester T series +p+ 127 gr JHPs had a failure to extract. Bummer I say!

So when I got home I totally disassembled the slide, firing pin, extractor, firing pin safety, etc...

Cleaned everything up, inspected the extractor (looked fine), and reassembled.

But folks, never ever carry a UNTESTED GUN. So I have to shoot a bunch of ammo, with no jams, before I can let that 26 back in the holster.

Happily for me I had my 'other' carry Glock I don't pack much. Glock 32 in .357 using Gold Dot 125 gr JHPs. It's very accurate, powerful, and TESTED. I just slipped it onto the same holster and same mag pouch my 26 rides in and went out to eat with my wife!

Moral of the story.... have a second carry gun in case. Never know when you might have to take your primary out of service.

Deaf
 
Any chance you had a bad round?
What happened after you cleared the errant round? If so, did the gun continue to perform?

You are well aware that practice on the range includes the inevitable failure to fire or eject. I can't see a single instance changing the way you do business, at least not yet.

I have no issue with you stripping and cleaning. But I don't think your work is done with the "26" just yet. I think you go back to the range with a variety of ammunition, including the Winchester T, and see what the results are.

Best of luck to you.
Be safe.
 
Thanks for sharing.

Has anyone ever had a failure from factory new pistol right out the door? From a well-know brand such as Glock?
 
Has anyone ever had a failure from factory new pistol right out the door? From a well-know brand such as Glock?
Click to expand...
I've seem multiple Colt revolvers that failed before they were fired the first time by locking up during dry firing. Most were Detective Specials

I've not heard of it happening with a good name brand semi-auto
 
Had that Glock for SIX years. Maybe 5000 fired out of it (I have another Glock 26 for a practice/IDPA gun.) Yes shot many types of ammo.

Will see in a day or so if my cleaning and disassembling fixed the problem.

Deaf
 
I don't know what happened.My hunch?
A high percentage of FTE's in semi-autos has to do with high pressures.
Your Ammo was +P+
I might tend toward thinking the gun may be reliable,but the source of the lack of reliability is the +P+ ammo.
Everything involves trade-offs.It might be a few FPS buys you a few FTE's.

Which MAY negate the perceived value of the second +

OR,I certainly could be wrong.
 
I would tend to agree with HiBC

+P+ ammo in a small short gun like the G26 is probably the root cause. Im guessing that ammo increased slide velocity to the point that the extractor just couldnt hang on to the rim. Bango-presto....FTE

Since there is no SAMMI standard for +P+ ammo, its anyones guess what that ammo was actually running pressure-wise or if the slide velocity was within normal operating specs
 
You are well aware that practice on the range includes the inevitable failure to fire or eject.
Click to expand...

I do have to chuckle at this, so different from the threads were some people are insisting autos are the most reliable of firearms extant.

Had that Glock for SIX years. Maybe 5000 fired out of it (I have another Glock 26 for a practice/IDPA gun.) Yes shot many types of ammo.

Will see in a day or so if my cleaning and disassembling fixed the problem.
Click to expand...

How are you going to know if you've fixed it, if you had one malfunction in 5,000 rounds?? Wouldn't you have to go another 5,000 without one, to know?? :D (sorry, just couldn't resist)

I don't know (or really care) what the internet commandos consider enough rounds to be reliable. Old timers used to say 200 to 500 rounds (depending on the person saying it) of trouble free use was enough for them to consider the gun and the ammo acceptable for carry. (and it is a package deal, a few hundred trouble free rounds through the gun you will use with the ammo you will use. 500rnds of ball, then loading JHPs for carry doesn't cut it.)

Yes, it is important to have a back up carry gun, and one that you have tested. Not only for when/if your main gun fails, but also for the time when you do need to use your carry gun (hopefully never, but....)

If you do need to shoot, expect the cops to take your gun. It is now evidence. After ALL legal issues are sorted out, you should get it back, BUT that process can take some time (days, weeks, months??), so having another gun at home is not a bad thing.

Having something in the same family so you can use the same holsters and mags, etc. is even smarter.
 
I carry a 1911 and as a semi auto gun I always expect a failure simply because it is mechanical. Luckily it has not happened but I never ever consider it to be perfect, and as posted above even revolvers can fail.
 
I don't think my trust in the gun would be too shaken by one FTE in 5,000 rounds. Honestly, I kind of suspect the ammo. I might ruffle a few feathers by saying this, but I've really not had the best luck with Winchester ammo over the last few years. I actually used to choose 127 gr +P+ Ranger as my go-to 9mm ammo and I've still got 100 rounds or so around, but having everything from overpressure WWB .44 Magnum rounds, WWB .38 Special rounds so deformed they wouldn't fit in the chamber of my revolver, .41 Magnum Platinum Tips with their hollowpoint cavities clogged full of tumbling media right out of the box, and Super-X .30-06 ammo that fires out of battery in a semi-auto rifle I'm really hesitant to trust it. Personally, I think I'd be inclined to try some different JHP ammo if I were you and see if the problem persists in order to rule out the FTE being ammo-related.
 
I would say that even in terms of malfunction rates amongst ammo alone, you've been pretty lucky.

So, when taking ammo as the possible culprit, together with a 0.02% malfunction rate with that gun and the likelihood of even needing the gun in an emergency situation, I still think this gun has proved its dependability.

All that said, though, 5000 rds is usually the accepted interval for replacing recoil springs and other parts on semi's is it not?
 
If I get 1-2 per year on a proven gun, i clear and move on. If i get 2+ in a session, i analyze, make a change, fire 100 rnds....if good, move on.

Springs do need changed over time.
 
First off, I don't , won't , wouldn't carry a Glock(but that's just a personal thing).
Second, if you feel the need for +P+, you should be using a different caliber.
Third, apparently sight and grip upgrades don't improve or guarantee function.
 
I dont see what the problem is. Sooner or later, some sort of malfunction is going to happen, no matter what it is. Just do your IAD and move on. Nothing is perfect and thats why you practice the IAD's. At least the autos are usually not DRT when they stop, like the revolvers.

I carry a 17 and a 26 (both loaded with the +P+ Ranger T's) and they get shot a couple of times a month. Never had any issue with the Winchesters Ive shot, and thats been quite a few over the years.

I also shoot another pair of the same guns weekly/biweekly in practice, and combined, those guns have close to 150,000 rounds through them. Due to shooting my reloaded brass to failure, they basically "wear out" as they near the end of their cycle, and I get to "randomly" practice all sorts of failures all the time, so other than the very rare strange report, they arent even given a second thought. I just do the TRB and continue on.

How often are you cleaning your gun? If youre not regularly cleaning and maintaining them, thats another issue altogether.
 
I might add...Some guns do not like certain brand rounds. My High Standard Sport King does not like one brand (R) so it was recommended for me to change to another (F) that solved my jamming problem. Of course the .22LR had to travel up a ramp to the chamber, and it was pitting the R casing on the way in. Your cleaning seems to have done the trick. Any new firearm needs to be cleaned from factory oiling right out of the box.
 
One FTE in 5000 is a good record. Clean check fire a couple hundred rounds and if OK then keep your proven friend and move on. I do have one thought if you have been firing lots of +P+ ammo in the gun you may have much faster wear than if you fired the ammo the gun was deigned for. Perhaps training with no +P+ ammo and a wee bit of training on +P+ may reduce wear and damage while extending parts life.
 
although mine is not my carry gun, I was betrayed by my relatively new Sig p220 match elite yesterday

enjoyed shooting about 100 rounds, then the slide stuck open (past the slide lock notch). did the palm bump thing and the slide worked fine(so I thought) next round, the slide cycled fully and wa s jammed closed . Took some work to get the gun a part (while on the range) and found the recoil spring was worn on one aspect (the coating was missing) and was covering the entire recoil rod(end to end) thus jamming the slide. Will be calling Sig for a warranty repair Monday :(
 
No Minorcan,

One FTE with one's carry ammo one has been carrying in the gun for the last four months, depending on it for the last four months, is not acceptable.

Deaf
 
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