Epic Glock failure today...ugh...

[mythaeus]

Please use this image for story reference:


I'm still shaking mad at what happened. Went to the range and put the first range mag into my primary carry, a Glock 26, racked the slide, pulled the trigger and the trigger would not move all the way reward and no bang. The entire slide was moving so tapped, racked, round ejected, squeezed...the same so I unloaded and disassembled. I noticed that I was able to move the firing pin freely. Usually, when you grab the protruding firing pin tip (#5 above) and push the firing pin assembly rearward, you have to exert force and the firing will return to forward position if you let go.

Shit! I was certain that some spring or something broke so I took the slide downstairs. While walking down, I pressed the firing pin safety (#9) as I was walking to a Glock armorer at my range, all of the sudden the firing pin returned to normal tension. I explained to the armorer what happened, so he used a small screw driver to remove the slide plate cover (#15) and pulled all of the internals out. They were disgustingly gummed up. It must've gummed up enough to caused something/spring, possibly the firing pin safety, to lock up. We gave the all the parts a good scrub down with some Hoppe's #9 and screw driver tip and reassembled everything. I went back up and pu 50 rounds through and not a single problem. When I got home, I took my Glock 19 out and removed the firing pin assemply and cleaned everything throughly.

Anyway, I'm still pretty upset since I've been carrying a non-working gun since my last trip to the range a couple of weeks ago. I usually clean my gun after a couple of trips to the range, but only basic fieldstrip cleaning. I highly recommend cleaning out the firing pin assembly and firing pin safety/extractor assembly every so often. When cleaning your Glock, check the firing pin by pushing it rearward and be sure that it returns to forward position (ease it down, don't let it snap forward) with proper tension (follow your Glock manual to do Firing Pin Safety Check, page 38, step 4 of my manual). I'm now not so convinced of all the Glock torture tests. Well, torturing may be OK, but regular usage without proper cleaning beyond basic fieldstrip clean is not.

Al

[mpi]

i did something like that years ago with a smith M57 i bought from a friend, i carried it on duty due to another weapon being at the shop for mods. when i finally got to the range to test fire it, it wouldn't fire. it had the tip of the firing pin chipped off!

this was enough to keep it from contacting the primer and the gun wouldn't fire! that's a lesson i learned the "easy" way and thank God i didn't have to pay the full toll for that one!

[fingers80002]

But, but, but, there perfection...........

[Nic]

Just a question or two... what lubricant are you using on your G26? ...where are you putting lube?

[FNG19]

They were disgustingly gummed up. It must've gummed up enough to caused something/spring, possibly the firing pin safety, to lock up.

If I understand what you're describing correctly, this can be caused by getting cleaners/etc in the firing pin channel. Over time, these cleaners/etc build up in the channel and gum up the works, leading to what I believe you're describing. I typically clean the area immediately to either side of the channel as well as the face of the channel by dripping a little CLP (Weaponshield, in my case) on a clean patch and just wiping the area clean.

[mythaeus]

i did something like that years ago with a smith M57 i bought from a friend, i carried it on duty due to another weapon being at the shop for mods. when i finally got to the range to test fire it, it wouldn't fire. it had the tip of the firing pin chipped off!

this was enough to keep it from contacting the primer and the gun wouldn't fire! that's a lesson i learned the "easy" way and thank God i didn't have to pay the full toll for that one!

This is one of the reasons I will not carry a gun that I haven't test-fired myself first. Good thing you didn't need it.

Just a question or two... what lubricant are you using on your G26? ...where are you putting lube?

I lubricate only in the 5 spots where there manual recommends. I use Hoppe's gun oil.

If I understand what you're describing correctly, this can be caused by getting cleaners/etc in the firing pin channel. Over time, these cleaners/etc build up in the channel and gum up the works, leading to what I believe you're describing. I typically clean the area immediately to either side of the channel as well as the face of the channel by dripping a little CLP (Weaponshield, in my case) on a clean patch and just wiping the area clean.

It's definitely a high possibility that lubricant got into these parts and caused dirt to accumulate more than they normally do. I use Hoppe's #9 when I clean and brush the channel with my bore brush. My cleaning habit/method carries through all of my guns and the G19 has not had that problem and there was no significant build up in the G19. The one thing is that the G19 was cleaned using the ultrasonic cleaner once after 1000 rounds (it has around 4500 to date compared to about 3000+ through the G26).

Al

[Nic]

If you shake the slide while your Glock is field stripped, you should be able to hear the firing pin move/slide freely in the channel. See the hole near the breech face? It leads into the firing pin channel and is there to allow any debris in the channel to work its way out. If lubricant gets in there, it will literally gum up the channel with brass shavings, debris, etc. that would normally work its own way out through the hole.

[geist262]

I make sure when I am cleaning my G19, that I do not over lubricate it. Glock mentions it in the manual. Over lubrication will cause powder residue and dust to collect in places that hinder performance.

[1861]

But, but, but, there perfection...........

[mythaeus]

But, but, but, there perfection...........

indeed...the more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to chalk this up to operator's error. I should've paid attention to where my cleaning solvent may have pushed the gunks to and do additional cleaning and checking for proper function each time.

Al