[1911 fan.]

Hoping I can find some help here. Just bought a brand new G19 Gen 3. Went to the range today and I'm very unhappy with this thing.
#1 is the trigger. I'm a 1911 guy. My Kimber rocks a 3.5 # stock trigger. Short take up.. clean glass like break.
Ok, I ordered a ghost 3.3 kit for the Glock. I'll try that.

#2 First shot and this thing did not eject the case. In fact the first 10 rd mag was like that. It also did not cock the striker.
Took is apart and over oiled the slide rails and the recoil spring plunger. It got better but still had 10 FTEs. It at least cocked the thing.
Next mag it started to eject cases but every rd fired I had to push the slide forward to get it in battery.
OK, I'm 30 rds down the pipe and pissed.
I bought this to swap with my 1911 for EDC. Thought a 9mm might be better for me than my 45acp.
I will say my 9mm groups were tighter than my 45acp groups so maybe that thinking was correct.

Right now I wouldn't trust this POS to sink when I throw it in the lake.
How many rds does it take to get a glock to operate right?
So far it's bone stock.
Or do I just cut my losses and sell this thing and buy another 1911 in 9mm.

 

[1911 fan.]

A Gen 3 must be pretty old and probably has been fired enough that break in is not the issue.

I would take it to a gunsmith experienced with Glock or throw it in the lake.

No way you should be carrying it. I have a Glock 19 Gen 5 with probably 3000 rounds through it.....never had a single failure of any kind...I carry it every day.

Good luck.

Hello Gambler, happy at least that someone is out there. Please read my post a bit closer.. You didn't see the line where I said this is a BRAND NEW G19 GEN 3. I have the misfortune of living in California. Gen 4 and Gen 5 are not on our "Approved safe list." California says they are not safe enought for California citizens. Or Glock hasn't paid to have them certified. THANK YOU CALIFORNIA or THANK YOU GLOCK.
I FIRED THE FIRST EVER ROUNDS THROUGH THIS GLOCK G19 GEN 3.
The count is 40 rounds right now.

 

[1911 fan.]

As I stated it did seem to improve as the round count increased. The over oiling helped the most. What really through me was the slide was not coming back enough to cock the blessed thing. To light a load or to heavy a recoil spring. Then suddenly it would eject the case, strip and feed a new round but not go into battery. I had to touch the rear of the slide with my thumb to get it to seat. Like the recoil spring was to light.

I hate the trigger! Spotted that right off. Ordered a new ghost 3.3 link kit. It'll be here tomorrow so I'm stuck with that.

There is a Glock Store 35 miles from me in San Diego. Might have to take it to them this week before I do the trigger. I have a dated receipt and warranty card and they are a factory store. I refuse to take it back to the lgs I bought it from. They say they have a gunsmith but I would never call him that. He should be cutting meat.

 

[1911 fan.]

I have and have shot many Glocks and not had that issue with any of them.

As jb asked what ammo are you feeding it and do you have another mag to try ?

Glocks do not require to be "wet" to run, I would field strip it and clean it up and try it again.

As it is a new weapon, it has been sitting on a shelf some time, and may just need a good cleaning.

I would hold off changing any parts until the issue (s) are resolved, I have many 1911 configurations and the Glock trigger will never match the 3 lb glass on my favorite commander.

It is a combat weapon, not a target gun.

The lgs supplied 100 rds of federal 115gr ammo. I built 100 rds of 124 gr hollow points using 4 grs bullseye. Lyman states 3.8 to 4.5 gr Bullseye. I like light loads to start with. At 4.0 gr i should be getting just over 1050 fps. Problem doesn't seem to be ammo. Because the first 20 were the factory loads. I removed the slide after 10 and over oiled the thing.. The last 10 of that 20 ran like the last 20 which were my loads. So 30 rds bumping the slide into battery.
I bought a replacement recoil spring and stainless steel guide rod. Noticed right off the factory guide rod is 2.875 from top of spring washer to where is touches the barrel. In other words, from inner slide to barrel. The stainless one is 2.925. .050 diffetence. I haven't been to the range again to test it, but I did notice that with the OEM rod and spring if I gently closed the slide it wouldn't go into battery without closing it with my thumb on the rear of the slide. With the new rod and spring it closes fine.
As for cleaning, I NEVER would take a new weapon to the range without first at least field stripping and cleaning it. This one appeared to be clean with minor hairs and such in the barrel. There were traces of copper coat grease on the area where the slide contacts the frame. I removed it and reapplied just to make certain it was clean quality grease.
At the range when it wouldn't eject or even recock the striker I took it down and coated the rails with Hoppe's Gun oil. I'm wondering now if that short guide rod was binding and by taking it apart I helped that issue.
What really threw me was I was able to operate the slide by hand. It didn't feel like it was binding.
Range day is Thursday so we will see how it runs and go from there.
But I'm taking my 1911 Commander with me this time. In 10 years and many many rounds she has never had a FTE or FTF. Except when I tried using cast pointed wadcutters. Ended up pulling them apart and tossing them in the lead bucket for recasting into 230 gr. round nose.

 

[1911 fan.]

Not going into battery can be caused by bulging cases.

A feeding ramp intolerance may cause this.

Take the barrel out and try dropping one of the bullets into it, does it seat firmly ?

Your description of a weak/short return spring does seem to fit the issue.

Been there, Done that. They drop in and drop right back out. All my reloaded rounds fit my case size guage without any issues. I'm anal about that and powder weight. I weigh every charge and test every one for diameter and length. I tested a few of the factory round as well.

As I said, if the slide is closed slowly it doesn't go into battery with the factory rod. You have to push it closed.. That's without a round in the chamber. With the aftermarket rod it clicks right into battery.
IMO right now, I found the problem. The proof is at the range.
Question is how would a quality control person miss that rod length. I can understand the person who test fired it missing it if they only fired one round. But .050 is a huge difference. I spotted it with my eye when I set them side by side right at the gun store before I bought it. I don't understand how the QC person who checked the guide rods length missed it. if there's one short rod in a batch, count on there being more.
I was a quality control manager for a firm that made wire connectors. We dealt with tolerances in the range of .00005 for some our NASA and military contracts. If you found one bad part you checked every one that came off that machine for the whole shift. We alway found more. And I'm sure the tolerance on that part is way tighter than -.050. Probally more like + or - .0015.

 

[1911 fan.]

Welcome to the forum fellow Southeast Asian War Games participant.

Sorry to hear about your troubles with a new Glock. I agree with the previous replies from the others except for throwing the pistol in the lake, I'll take it if you're that upset wit it.

I also reload 9mm for my G19's and for a couple of friends I shoot with. I use Bullseye and CCI primers and 4grs of powder is on the light side for the loads we use. We shoot local Steel matches with no knock downs. One shoots USPCA so he has the heaviest loads for 125 gr bullet 4.5 gr. This following Lyman pistol reload. When we worked these loads 4.1 grs. was not consistent for cycling or accuracy. It does say 4.1 grs with and a 90 gr JHP was the most accurate combination using Bullseye powder.


Gaz

Thank you, thank you, thank you for for that info. I knew it was light but it did lock the slide back on the last 2 mag changes.
I'm new to loading 9mm. Figured it was a starting load.. I load 45acp for my 1911s. 223, 224 Valkyrie, 6.5 Grendel for my AR's and 30.06 for my 1903A3. I had a lb of Bullseye setting on my shelf that I bought by mistake a couple years ago.. $18 and change so maybe longer than that. Saw the Lyman load data and figured I'd put it to use.
Today is range day. I'll post when I'm back.

 

[1911 fan.]

I got the opportunity to tour the huge Carrier Air Conditioning plant in Collierville TN.

It was a several city block facility, with conveyor belt system at waist level and overhead moving all day long.

When we came to the part where mechanical parts are installed, (relays, contactor's etc), and the wiring was applied it was easy to see why if one of the workers were having a bad day, we got service bulletins stating the red wire was incorrectly placed where the blue one belongs ...

And yes it was not just one unit.

It never is. We were using Screw machines. 40 foot long round copper, brass, plastic or stainless stock from ⅛" up to ¾" in diameter to build wire connectors or other "parts". The machines were Computer controlled. Operators job was to measure random "parts" as they came off, adjust the tools as they wore and change them as needed. Sometime they would miss something and we would have a whole bin of "parts" to sort. Could be a thousand "parts" in a bin. We'd mic all dimensions and check all lengths as well as all angles and radius. Breed hole placement and diameters. A simple ½ long part might have 30 different things to check. We have "parts" headed for the space station or plastic parts headed into someone's body. No sending out a repairman on that stuff. They absurdity had to be right the first time.

 

[1911 fan.]

OK. Took it to the Glock store here in San Diego. Figured if anyone could find the problem they could. And figured what's 70 miles @ 5.50 a gallon. It's just a little over 3 gallons of gas.
First off I told Matt the problem I was having.. he worked the slide and then took it apart and asked where I got the old style recoil spring and guide rod. I explained that it came with the gun. He told me the new Gen 3 springs were Silver not Black.. He ran a Qtip in the slide grooves. Cleaned my Hoppe's Gun oil out of it and reoiled it. He then oiled the barrel where it locks up with the slide. Put it together and worked the slide. Said it feels better but stripped it again and changed the Black springed recoil guide rod assm with one that was Silver colored. He picked the spring assm up from under the counter. He worked the slide again and said good to go.

We then went into the range. He fired 5 rds and handed it to me to do the same. I fired 5 rds and I asked what I owed them..

I wasn't charged for his time or the ammo or even the silver springed guide rod. They thanked for my service and turned me loose.
Conclusion and this was not said; Glock must of had a running change on the recoil spring assm. Something my new pistol didn't get.
That's the reason it wouldn't go into battery after being fired and probally the reason it wouldn't eject the first 10 rds I fired because it was binding up in the slide area. Remember it was also .050 shorter than the stainless steel one I bought from a lgs to test it with. So the slide would start to come back, bind and stop..
It was not even enough for the case to clear the chamber so it didn't eject or stove pipe. Yet I could still operate it by hand.

Thanks guys for all your help here. Looking forward to getting to know you a bit better and to getting to know this new G19.

 

[1911 fan.]

Thanks for the follow up. Glad to hear you got proper treatment and a good working pistol.
Enjoy G19's are my favorite but that didn't stop me from buy a G17, G22, G42 ad 43 along with the 2 G19's. My wife made separate them in the gun case so they would stop multiplying.

Gaz

I had that problem with my AR's. Brought one home and it turned in to two. Then they started being different calibers and barrel lengths. Wearing different optics and furniture. Name a caliber that will fit in a 2.260 length mag and I have it except 300 blackout. I can reach out and touch someone 1300 yards away with a couple. At that distance there just dropping below subsonic.. Not bad for a short round.. if we're ever invaded I could arm ¼ the area. Not that I'd need to here with 6 retired Marines living within 1 block of me. Marine Corp birthday is a neighborhood party. Absolutely no crime.. Then what would you expect from the only service founded in a bar but a good time. I'm the only one in the area who played in the jungle. The rest played in the sand box.

You know this is a real change up for me. Since I was 18 I didn't like plastic 🔫 guns. It started when they took my M14 away from me in Viet Nam and handed me an AR16. I swear the pistol grip was stamped "MATTEL. patent pending." Jammed all the time even if it was constantly cleaned. Being plastic it didn't even make a good club. But over time it earned its place in my heart. I sure hope this Glock does.