Glock 23 Failure

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bakon

New member
I wish I had a picture to post but our department finally had a problem with a Glock 23. The feed ramp on the barrel cracked. Looks to be ready to split off.

Ofc is one of our SERT operators. (SWAT for you old guys) He shoots a few boxes a week for the past several years. Stated the gun jammed open about 1 to 2 inches after firing. Could not be moved either direction. Had to remove magazine and fumble around until they got it apart. The ramp was cracked and pushed down (or up I guess). Crack is total across the point of attachment. It was probably 1/32 of an inch opening and almost all the way through where it attaches to the barrel.

He was using reloads at the time, but not his. We dont reload. Bought on the cheap for the SERT team to chew up on the range practicing. I cannot tell you anymore about the ammo.

Gun is slightly more than 10 years old. He is the only officer ever assigned to it and shoots a ton to stay on the team (requirement of expert to stay on). He is not a natural shot so probably practices more than most to keep up.

Age:We have had the G23 for almost 20 years and these are our second issues. The first were traded in for these when the gun ban came in years ago for the magazines we had. These just had the night sights replaced, which last 10 years. So we figured the age to be roughly 10.

Rounds, who knows, 100 week, 52 weeks, 5 years, plus his regular qualifications for all 10 years and practice for the first 5 years. 26,000 to 30,000 or more.
 
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Sixer

New member
He was using reloads at the time, but not his.
Click to expand...

I think I found yer problem :)

I reload all my range/plinking ammo. One of the first things I was told about reloading... never trust ANYONE else's reloads. I don't even like to let my friends shoot my reloads. I trust myself when it comes to reloading, but we all make mistakes and it makes me a bit nervous to let anyone else shoot the ammo I've reloaded.
 
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41mag10mm

New member
bakon, did the crack run laterally or vertically? I could visualize a hot reload causing a vertical crack. Otherwise it sounds like a metal fatigue break. You're just going to replace the barrel right? Will Glock replace for free?
 
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gandog56

New member
I wouldn't have had time to damage a Glock or have it fail. They just don't make one single model that fits in my short fat fingered hand.
 
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jhenry

New member
I doubt the cause of this failure was the reload. Unless I missed something there is no indication of a kaboom, or case rupture. Just how would a load, factory or reload, NOT rupture, and cause the feedramp to fail. The case is just a gasket, and is the weakest area. For the overpressure to be enough to crack the barrel in the instance of a vertical split, the case would give out, causing the classic kaboom. If the feedramp is split off of the barrel, non vertically in other words, I don't see how a bad reload without enough pressure to blow out the base of the case, would then magically pop off the ramp.

Absent other information, or evidence of a ruptured case, I suspect simple metal fatigue. It happens.
 
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voyager4520

New member
He was using reloads at the time, but not his.
Click to expand...

There you go. I've never seen a case where such an integral part of the gun was damaged unless it was caused by overpressure from a bad reload. I'm surprised the magazine didn't drop its floorplate and dump the ammo all over the ground.

Edit: It may have been damage caused over time that finally resulted in a failure of a part of the gun. It doesn't mean that exact round that he shot at that time caused the problem.
 
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hickok45

New member
Interesting, but I wouldn't necessarily blame the reloads either. Guess they could have contributed to it over time if some were not loaded properly. Anything mechanical can fail, and when you consider how many people on this planet are putting Glocks through their paces every single day, bound to hear about failures.

As with Glocks, if a vast number of civilians and the vast majority of police officers drove the most reliable car on the road, whatever that might be, we'd naturally hear about problems with this particular car because of the extensive use. Because of the numbers of people with them, we might even be convinced that this car is not very reliable, when in actual fact, it could be by far the best, most reliable car on the road when the percentage of failure is tallied.

I had a Glock 40 locking block break after 10 years of extensive shooting with it. Didn't bother me a bit; I just replaced it and kept on shooting and carrying that gun. It's still my favorite Glock, and I depend on it. Another gun shot that much might have had problems every six months - who knows.

Sorry if I got off topic. I just know how Glock haters love to see problems with Glocks, some of whom don't stop to consider the reason we hear so much about Glocks, both good and bad.
 
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