Question for a Glock armorer

[E4 No More]

Without going into detail, my elderly FIL has my G29 for protection.  I have loaded 10mm cartridges to .40 cal pressures for him but he says that he cannot work the slide. The question is, can I replace the G29's recoil spring with a G27 recoil spring to make that easier?

[Erik88]

Would it even fit properly? I wouldn't think so but I've been wrong once or twice.

I hate to say this but it honestly sounds like it's time to switch to something easier for him to use. G29 is a lot of gun for an elderly person.

[E4 No More]

29 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

Would it even fit properly? I wouldn't think so but I've been wrong once or twice.

I hate to say this but it honestly sounds like it's time to switch to something easier for him to use. G29 is a lot of gun for an elderly person.

That's what I'm asking. The G29 & G27 appear to be the same size, so if I can simply put in a G27 spring it would help.

It's loaded with reduced pressure rounds, and it's more about making him feel secure. You'd have to know my FIL to understand completely, but he's not likely to last another year on this earth. I gave him my pistol to keep until he dies to make him feel more secure.

[Erik88]

I'm sorry to hear that.

Hopefully someone else will chime in but I'm almost positive that the 29 is bigger than the 27. I don't think the springs will match.

Could he just leave it loaded and not mess with running the slide?

[E4 No More]

2 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

I'm sorry to hear that.

Hopefully someone else will chime in but I'm almost positive that the 29 is bigger than the 27. I don't think the springs will match.

Could he just leave it loaded and not mess with running the slide?

Yes, he could, but he won't.

[Erik88]

2 minutes ago, SWJewellTN said:

Yes, he could, but he won't.

Is it a dual spring(gen4) or the older style? I think I may have a spare gen4 G23 spring I could send you to try. 

[MacGyver]

It might not be ideal, but the G29 has a squared off rear sight for a reason. Could you talk him into doing a one-handed rack using his belt or something to engage the slide?

[E4 No More]

49 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

Is it a dual spring(gen4) or the older style? I think I may have a spare gen4 G23 spring I could send you to try. 

Yes, it's a Gen4 RSA. I appreciate the offer as well Erik, but the same question would apply to the G23 RSA as well. The G29 uses a 0-9-1 spring group whereas the G27 uses a 0-8-1 group, but I cannot find the assembly dimensions to see if that one spring is the only difference in the RSAs.

Edited October 26, 2017 by SWJewellTN

[E4 No More]

28 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

It might not be ideal, but the G29 has a squared off rear sight for a reason. Could you talk him into doing a one-handed rack using his belt or something to engage the slide?

I showed him how to do that when I gave it to him but I plan on showing that to him again when I go up there for Thanksgiving.

[E4 No More]

I've also posed this question directly to Glock as well but who knows how long they'll take to reply.

[peejman]

Are the springs prohibitively expensive?  If not, just try it and see. Either it works or it doesn't. 

[E4 No More]

11 minutes ago, peejman said:

Are the springs prohibitively expensive?  If not, just try it and see. Either it works or it doesn't. 

Naw, only about $12 for the RSA: however, I don't want it to appear to fit and find out the hard way that it doesn't. Worse yet, I don't want, (in the unlikely event), that he had to use it for him to find out the hard way that it doesn't fit.

[E4 No More]

For anyone interested in the answer from Glock it will not fit.

[Shorty]

When you say he can't work the slide, is it bc of how he's trying to rack it?  My wife doesn't have great grip strength so she has trouble sometimes.  On heavier springs, we got her to use the technique where, with the pistol in her right hand in front of her parallel to her body, she gripes the slide with her left hand.   Using both hands, push the slide and the gripe in opposing directions to rack the slide.  This uses more chest and arm muscles to rack the slide than just using grip strength.

[E4 No More]

7 minutes ago, Shorty said:

When you say he can't work the slide, is it bc of how he's trying to rack it?  My wife doesn't have great grip strength so she has trouble sometimes.  On heavier springs, we got her to use the technique where, with the pistol in her right hand in front of her parallel to her body, she gripes the slide with her left hand.   Using both hands, push the slide and the gripe in opposing directions to rack the slide.  This uses more chest and arm muscles to rack the slide than just using grip strength.

I have no idea because he's in Kansas City. I'm going to show him how to adapt when I go up there for Thanksgiving.

[peejman]

1 hour ago, Shorty said:

When you say he can't work the slide, is it bc of how he's trying to rack it?  My wife doesn't have great grip strength so she has trouble sometimes.  On heavier springs, we got her to use the technique where, with the pistol in her right hand in front of her parallel to her body, she gripes the slide with her left hand.   Using both hands, push the slide and the gripe in opposing directions to rack the slide.  This uses more chest and arm muscles to rack the slide than just using grip strength.

Like this....  https://www.corneredcat.com/article/running-the-gun/rack-the-slide/

This, and getting her past the notion that she might hurt the gun, made all the difference for my wife. 

Obviously this is written with women in mind, but is applicable to anyone with low grip strength.  

Edited October 27, 2017 by peejman

[ohell]

Try Wolff guide rod and spring kit for reduced power, not cheap. Quite a few striker plate rack assist out there like TacRack. “A man’s got to know his limitations”  good luck

[tnhawk]

A revolver may be the best answer.

[TN Song Dog]

A revolver may be the best answer.

X2.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Spiffy]

If I was trying to reduce the spring weight on the gun, I'd get one of those aftermarket Gen 4 recoil guide rods that let you use a single spring and then change them out till I found one that worked for his grip strength and also kept the gun safe to shoot.

[E4 No More]

On 10/28/2017 at 3:37 PM, tnhawk said:

A revolver may be the best answer.

I mentioned that, and the reply I got was that he liked what he had.

[E4 No More]

On 10/28/2017 at 7:54 AM, ohell said:

Try Wolff guide rod and spring kit for reduced power, not cheap. Quite a few striker plate rack assist out there like TacRack. “A man’s got to know his limitations”  good luck

I ended up doing this. They have an assembly that's reduced by 2 lbs. Not much, but the one for the .40 was only 3 lbs so 1 lb should make a difference.