why do glocks blow up?

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Industry?

Drcohen wrote - "Let's dispel the rumors. I work in the industry, and know first hand that ALL of such reports, which are true, is due to home made ammunition and/or double loaded rounds."

Dean Spier has posted an interesting overview of the KB issue in Glocks. (http://communities.prodigy.net/sportsrec/gz-glock-kb.html)
Looks to me like a couple of the KBs are not "home made" (reloaded or remanufactured) ammo related.

Your thoughts Dr. ?

"Agrip, a wonderful synthetic antislip wrap for Glocks, can protect you from schrapnal (misspelled) upon an explosion."

There is no detonation (explosion) with firearms unless an explosive is introduced. The term is "burst". Shrapnel (correct spelling) is a product of an antique cannon round. Fragments may be the term your looking for - more accurate anyway.

Care to comment?

Giz



[Edited by Gizmo99 on 02-22-2001 at 07:19 PM]
 
Glock kabooms

Could it also be that with all the stories of Glock "owners" shooting hot loads for self defense, hunting, whatever, people are believing that rubbish and having their own guns blow up?
 
Walt said it the best...

There are probably 3 times as many Glocks out there then any other gun....and that has to account for something...
 
Assuming some 40 Glocks have blown (I personally havent seen any) it is probably because the user did not follow the instructions in the owners manual. I'll leave it at that.

As far as guns I have seen blown,the vaunted 1911 wins hands down. Probably 1000 to 1 over anything else.
 
Thanks for the advice, drcohen, but I don't think I want a pistol where I need after market grips to protect my hand and fingers from detonations during firng.
 
Hard Ball,

... 'druther pick walnut splinters outta your palm? ;) A double-charged round is gonna blow no matter which it's stuck in: a G21 or a 1911 hand made by Saint Browning.
 
Funny, I followed the link to MarkCo's excellent work on the Glock KB's, and it makes more more sure of my Glocks, not less. Basically, virtually all the ones he examined were due to "operator error". I'm responsible for what I stuff in the magazine of my gun, as well as my care of the gun. I like it that way, and I have no desire to see it change. If I screw up, I pay the piper, it's as simple as that.
 
Vyper005,

You state that there are 3X the number of glocks vs. any other handgun. I doubt that VERY much. The 1911 has been around for ninety years and was the US Army sidearm for 70 years. There have also been more than a dozen manufacturer's for the 1911 type pistols (Colt, Springfield, Kimber, LLama, Thompson, Les Baer, Infinity, Wilson, Coonan, AMT, Charles Daly, etc., and many foreign licensed manufacturer's). I'd be willing to bet there are more 1911's in existence than Glocks.
 
i have learned a lot on this thread,first being that if you dont hold your glock a certain way it will jamm up,secound being you can only fire a very limited brand and type of ammo in it and third that packing a loaded glock is like packing a 1911 cocked and un locked,i dont think the glock is for me,thank you
 
Does anyone have a link that shows a picture of a blow up? I have read this post and would like to have a picture in my mind of what it looks like Thanks
 
automainea said:
i have learned a lot on this thread,first being that if you dont hold your glock a certain way it will jamm up,secound being you can only fire a very limited brand and type of ammo in it and third that packing a loaded glock is like packing a 1911 cocked and un locked,i dont think the glock is for me,thank you
Click to expand...

Well, I don't know where you "learned" any of that in this thread, but none of it is correct.

ALL large caliber semiautos need to be held properly to function correctly. The frame must remain in a solid grip so the slide can cycle.

You can fire any brand or type of ammo you wish in a Glock, as long as you are RESPONSIBLE about it. If you shoot lead you need to clean it often. If you shoot reloads you are depending on the reloader to have done it right. A double charge will blow up any handgun, thats certainly not restricted to Glock.

Carrying a loaded glock is absolutely NOTHING like carrying a cocked/unlocked 1911. A cocked/unlocked 1911 has ONE safety left engaged when cocked/unlocked holstered, and NONE engaged when gripped/cocked/unlocked. A glock has THREE safeties engaged at all times and remains UNcocked until you pull the trigger.
 
automainea,

a 5.5# trigger that must trave .5 inches to fire is not a unlocked and cocked 1911. the glock isn't even fully cocked until the trigger is pulled. all polyganal rifled barrels are for jacketed ammo only. i belive that hechler and koch uses them as well maybe even sig sauer. if you are too much of a weakling to not limp wrist a glock, then you are too weak to thumb off a safety or rack the slide on a 1911jamamatic.
 
I know I should just let this thread die, but here are my opinions, not facts, just opinions. First, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of first time handgun buyer's buy a glock because of its image in popular culture. This would also seem to explain some of the fanaticism found among the glock cult. Since these people are new to firearms, and if they decide to reload, they may not realize all the pitfalls that are out there to loading your own. This can cause problems as one might as well expect. Also some newbies just don't clean there weapons like they should, and in the case of polygonal bore and lead bullets, this can lead to problems.

Second, the glock just doesn't have as large of a factor of safety, compared to other handgun designs. This is evident by the larger and more unsupported chamber in glocks. This means there is less chamber material to handle a hot load, and more room for the brass to extrude. Also, as has been said, a glock can fire out of battery. I do not know firsthand if this is true, but if it is, well your just asking for trouble. Any gun that can fire out of battery is not a safe gun, period. As far as I know, all other modern firearm designs make sure the gun is in battery before the firing pin can make contact with a primer.
As has been said already, the oversized chamber might allow defective ammo to be chamber, or partially chamber, and if the gun fires out of battery, well, its not pretty.

I have a g30, and I reload for it, so I guess I am not too worried about it. As has been mentioned earlier, if it does go, at least I don't have to worry about blowing my hand off.
 
automainea,

I think I've picked up on the vibe that you don't care much for Glocks. That's fine and dandy--there are pistols that I don't care much for either--but let's just chalk it up to personal preferences. To claim that Glocks "blow up" any more than any other handgun, that they are finicky with ammo, or that they need to be held in a different way from other pistols to function properly, is just unsubstantiated and doesn't seem to coincide with the experiences of many Glock owners, civilian and LEO. You figured they're not for you, great! Find a gun that suits you better.
 
Fanaticism related to Glocks is due to Glockers being new to firearms? Now, THAT is funny.

"New" shooters who like Glock:

Leroy Thompson
Chuck Taylor
Massad Ayoob
Clint Smith
Jim Cirillo
FBI (the firearms instructors selected the Glock and these guys know their business quite well)
LASD (same as above)

Those are just off the top of my head. Any others?
 
automaneia wrote: "i have learned a lot on this thread,first being that if you dont hold your glock a
certain way it will jamm up,secound being you can only fire a very limited brand and type of ammo in it and third that packing a loaded glock is like packing a 1911 cocked and un locked,i dont think the glock is for me,thank you"

This thread is great! I haven't heard such humor in a long while.

1. Limpwristing: that's a problem for most polymer pistols for most recoil operated weapons. But, if you're not holding it tightly enough to prevent limpwristing, you're not holding it stable enough to shoot properly. So, the problem is you, not the weapon.

2. Can only fire a "very limited brand and type of ammo"? Try the majority of ammunition around. Most ammunition for autoloaders is jacketed, not lead. And most ammo is factory. This is a red herring.

3. A Glock is like 1911 off safety? Get real. Try a 1911 with the hammer at the half-cock position and with an effective firing pin safety. That's a closer comparison. The only difference is that the Glock can be used in that situation, where the 1911 can't without a lot of fumbling.
 
Want photos of kB!s?

Posted by gjviii:
Does anyone have a link that shows a picture of a blow up? I have read this post and would like to have a picture in my mind of what it looks like
Click to expand...
There's a number of them at the Glock kB! FAQ pages.

Don't just look at the images, though, read the text or risk going off half-cocked. It's not as bad as it looks.
 
After reading everything I can find on Glocks and talking to some owners, I've come to the conclusion that a Glock's virtue is the same as it's vice - it goes bang when you pull the trigger.

That's what I want, and a G23 will be my next purchase.

Tony
 
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