glock 45 acp blow-ups
- Thread starter gunney 67
- Start date
I am a portland oregon resident and my father a former portland police officer. The police switched from their G17's to the G21 and two officers were injured during training and they switched back to the G17. There are many articles out there with more information pertaining to this. http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=174365
Portland PD, in its infinite wisdom, refused to let Glock/Smyrna examine the G21s in question, even when Glock offered to fly Portland PD's so-called in-house "expert(s)" to Glock/Smyrna to witness the examination.
Bad ammo, plain and simple, confirmed by White Labs.
This is the same Portland PD that opted out of the Terrorism Taskforce.
I've fired tens of thousands of rounds of my reloads through G21s. If there were a systemic design problem, I'd have found it by now.
Bad ammo, plain and simple, confirmed by White Labs.
This is the same Portland PD that opted out of the Terrorism Taskforce.
I've fired tens of thousands of rounds of my reloads through G21s. If there were a systemic design problem, I'd have found it by now.
Walt Sherrill
New member
Someone already said bad ammo, confirmed in tests, but that would have been my guess.
A local University's police had a similar episode with Berettas -- the ammo maker made it all good, since nobody was badly hurt. (Some "stung" hands.)
A local University's police had a similar episode with Berettas -- the ammo maker made it all good, since nobody was badly hurt. (Some "stung" hands.)
I accept it could have been bad ammo......but but a key piece of information for me is did the Glocks fail when other brands might have survived?
There is bad ammo out there, but if the Glocks failed when others might not have failed, then that's a mark against Glock. Now if any brand would have failed with the same ammo then that's a different story.
There is bad ammo out there, but if the Glocks failed when others might not have failed, then that's a mark against Glock. Now if any brand would have failed with the same ammo then that's a different story.
riggins_83
New member
I suspect it's the glock unsupported barrel syndrome. That when coupled with bad ammo it's a nasty combination. Not speaking against glocks, I carry a Glock 36 myself. My only problem with Glocks- when they do go it often tends to be with a bang!
Actually your comment is absurd. I was asking a question. You don't know and I don't know about empirical facts because we no not have all the information. You are just making the normal emotional defense for Glock.
Having said that, I am interested in guns that are over-designed for higher than normal pressure rounds. And not all higher pressure is do to loading, it can also be caused by set-back. People rightfully raise this concern with Glocks because of a history of Kabooms. I know normally the defense is that the ammo was bad, but that's not good enough for me. I want a pistol that will take over pressure rounds without a Kaboom.
PS: I my next purchase is going to be a Glock 26. I believe the Glock 9mm Luger's are not borderline for high pressure rounds.
m.p.driver
New member
I want my Glock 21 to be redesigned so i can shoot overpressured loads too,something in the 3000-3400fps range.And if it lets go then by god i'll sue.All in all i cant complain i've shot something like 10,000 rounds in my 21 and not a hiccup,but then again i'm not an armchair engineer just a dumb ex-MP
Yes, G21 are good guns, and as long as the rounds are in SAAMI specs you are OK. I am not surprised that you got 10,000 rounds without a problem.
I did serve in the Army so I will not even comment on the MP quote.
I am a retired Mechanical engineer and I am sitting in an armchair.
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bdb benzino
New member
Man I can't believe how many glock guys take it as a personal shot to their manhood when somebody simply states that they wonder if other brands would have held up better.
It's always hard to get the emotion out of Glock discussions. Basically they are great guns and deserve lots of credit for pistol design innovation when others were sitting stagnate.
But..........I think I would rather be using my P90 when shooting bad ammo than a Glock. The discussion about Kabooms is often about bad ammo, but in my opinion, it should be about mechanical over-design to take the occasional high pressure round.
I don't remember the details, but I read about this here:
http://www.thegunzone.com/glock/greatest_hits.html
I am sure you can find it if you look around.
Here it is:
http://www.thegunzone.com/glock/ppb.html
http://www.thegunzone.com/glock/greatest_hits.html
I am sure you can find it if you look around.
Here it is:
http://www.thegunzone.com/glock/ppb.html
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Officer's Match
New member
The only thing about Glocks that could contribute to kabooms it that they will chamber rounds that other pistols may choke on (out of spec). A round that won't feed won't kb. So you could say their reliability could be a contributing factor. That, and gazillions of them in service.
Glocks also utilize polygonal "rifling" which creates a more efficient gas seal, therefore slightly higher pressures and velocities. And in some of their earlier versions the did have less case head support than some other designs. This is no longer the case, and hasn't been so for a good while. I believe that Glock builds some of the sturdiest barrels in a production defensive handgun.
Glocks also utilize polygonal "rifling" which creates a more efficient gas seal, therefore slightly higher pressures and velocities. And in some of their earlier versions the did have less case head support than some other designs. This is no longer the case, and hasn't been so for a good while. I believe that Glock builds some of the sturdiest barrels in a production defensive handgun.
Sounds like bad ammo. I'm not a Glock zealot but they are good handguns and I seriously doubt it was a defect in the gun. As far as the thoughts on how another gun would have handled the event my FNP choked down a bad 45 round and had it blow up in its mouth. Blew the mag out the bottom and broke off the decocker lever. Aside from that the gun was unaffected and shot perfectly. Bad ammo happens. I do not think I would feel comfortable firing any handgun that I knew would fail or come apart in the unlikely (but possible) event of a defective round.
I had heard that they went to Berettas, but did not know that for a fact. You may be right about the G17s. I didn't mean to start a fight over this OP. I hope we can all remember the immortal words of Rodney King. By the way, I have a G19 that I think rather highly of. Anyway, thanks to all who responded.
12GaugeLosAngeles
Moderator
Oh snap (coffee burns mouth)... i keep Hornady +P 230 grains in my G21SF... I'm i okay, am I within SAMMI specs? I never shot that load, mostly reloads, in fact... only range reloads so far... are +P rated rounds good for G21's?