Glock 19 Gen 4 troubles

[Guest bravio]

I have been reading posts and reviews about the gen 4s from Glock. Everyone is praising them, but I am not.

I bought a G19gen4 in Sept. 2010. I gave it to a lady friend for Christmas 2010 and because of the bad weather, she didn't get to shoot it until March 2011. By that time I had seen the YouTube video about its spring being too strong.

When she first shot it, it would stove pipe ever 3rd or 4th shot. I tried it and noticed the rejected shels were hitting me on the forehead quite often or falling down the front of my shirt. I called Glock and mentioned the problem and immediately with no argument they send a new spring and I installed it.

Now it is hanging with FTFs 3 or 4 per magazine. I have tried MagTec, Remmington, Winchester and even some re-loads. All of the shells do the same thing. She nor I can shoot a full magazine without 3 or 4 FTFs. I called Glock again. Fred Burchard said for me to send a magazine for them to test. I did and received a sheet back with the magazine saying it was in specs. I even tried some other 9mm mags to see if that would help the problem and it did not.

I own 17, 19, 22, 23 and 30 Glocks. None of these are Gen 4s. And they all work very well and handle shells that my CZs and XDs complain about. So I don't think this is a typical Glock. So I wrote to the CEO of GLOCK, Inc., USA on March 31, 2011. Today, April 19, 2011 I have not received a response.

I am getting angry. I think Glock should fix the problem. Any ideas?

[Erik88]

Can you tell me which spring they sent you? It should be the 03 spring IIRC.

Check the end of the spring and let us know. Also, since you only had 1 magazine tested you should label all 3 magazines and see if you are getting malfunctions from all of them.

I had FTE problems with my Gen 4 23 and I finally narrowed it down to a single magazine. After removing that magazine from the lineup the gun has been flawless.

Once you figure out if the problem is caused by a bag magazine or not then you can move to the next possibility which could be:

1) bag spring

2)faulty extractor

There may be other possibilities I'm leaving out. Maybe a Glock Armorer will chime in. Seaslug, where you at?

[Guest rebeldrummer]

I think the course of action you have taken is the best thing you could have done. If no response soon, write another letter. His time maybe print off some of the forum talk about these problems so they get the point? Good luck bro....looks like Ill stick with my gen3's for now

[Karnage]

Here are my suggestions:

1) Shoot only ammunition with 124 grain or heavier bullets for the first 250 rounds. Most people who have experienced this problem with the Gen 4 9mm Glocks were shooting ammunition with 115 grain bullets. Shooting ammunition with heavier bullets has fixed the problem and allowed the redesigned recoil spring to break in.

2) Detail strip the slide, clean, lube and try #1 again.

3) Send the pistol back to Glock. They will make it right.

Let me know if this works.

[Guest bravio]

Can you tell me which spring they sent you? It should be the 03 spring IIRC.

Check the end of the spring and let us know. Also, since you only had 1 magazine tested you should label all 3 magazines and see if you are getting malfunctions from all of them.

I had FTE problems with my Gen 4 23 and I finally narrowed it down to a single magazine. After removing that magazine from the lineup the gun has been flawless.

Once you figure out if the problem is caused by a bag magazine or not then you can move to the next possibility which could be:

1) bag spring

2)faulty extractor

There may be other possibilities I'm leaving out. Maybe a Glock Armorer will chime in. Seaslug, where you at?

Thanks Erik. The problem with the spring and ejection is not the problem since I received the new spring. The problem if the Failure to Feed. The shell jams part way into the battery(chamber) at an angle. The shells are now flying away as they should. I have no idea which spring they sent.

[Guest bravio]

Thanks Karnage,

You may be onto something. I read somewhere that Glock designs then 9mm with the idea of the user shooting 124 gr. and full charge powder. I will give the 124 gr ammo a chance and hope it will fix the feed problem,too. Since I have used different mags, the mags that feed correctly on the other Glock 9mm guns, then I think that it is not a magazine issue. But you could be onto something. Thanks.

[Erik88]

Thanks Erik. The problem with the spring and ejection is not the problem since I received the new spring. The problem if the Failure to Feed. The shell jams part way into the battery(chamber) at an angle. The shells are now flying away as they should. I have no idea which spring they sent.

I realize the problem may not be the spring but I would still like to know which spring they sent you. If you take the spring out and look at the end of it there should be 2 numbers. I believe it should be 0 3.

It sounds like you need to send the gun into Glock. They will make it right!

[Karnage]

I will give the 124 gr ammo a chance and hope it will fix the feed problem,too.

I believe that your feed problem is being caused by the recoil spring. I think that the lighter ammo is not powerful enough to push the slide completely to rear. The slide is being pushed far enough the eject the spent cartridge but not far enough to reliably chamber the next cartridge.

[Guest gw2and4]

I believe that your feed problem is being caused by the recoil spring. I think that the lighter ammo is not powerful enough to push the slide completely to rear. The slide is being pushed far enough the eject the spent cartridge but not far enough to reliably chamber the next cartridge.

This.

[Guest bravio]

I realize the problem may not be the spring but I would still like to know which spring they sent you. If you take the spring out and look at the end of it there should be 2 numbers. I believe it should be 0 3.

It sounds like you need to send the gun into Glock. They will make it right!

Erik, the Old Spring was 03 - the new spring is 04.

[Erik88]

Erik, the Old Spring was 03 - the new spring is 04.

That's interesting. I would consider sending it to Glock for service but before you do that you should run a box or two of the 124 gr NATO and see if that helps.

Honestly though, Glocks should run on 115gr ammo just fine.

[GLOCKMEISTER]

Honestly dude you should have taken the gun back to the dealer you bought it from a long time ago. They should be taking care of this issue for you. If their Glock Armorer cant correct it then they should send the gun back to glock for you. This shouldnt be a problem for any reputable dealer. I would have done this before I sent an email to the CEO. If you havent done this, then his hands are tied.

[Guest bravio]

Thanks Glockmeister,

I went back to the dealer. He is the one who told me to call Glock in the first place. I reported back to him about the spring. I reported back to him when the feed became an issue. He said to call Glock again. Never did he ask me to return the gun and he would handle the problem. I did talk to Doug in Warrenty today. He is happy to replace the 4th gen with a 3rd Gen but the lady likes the smaller handle on the 4th. He told me that there had been so many problems with the G19Gen4 that if he sent me another gun, the same thing might happen. My daughter lives there in Goodlettsville. Thanks for your input.

[Guest bravio]

Hey Erik,

I just got back from buying 250 rounds of the Winchester 124gr NATO. I want to try to "break it in" with the heavier round before I send it back to Glock for an exchange to a 3rd Gen. But you are absolutely correct; it should handle the 115 just fine. My other 9s do.

[Erik88]

Hey Erik,

I just got back from buying 250 rounds of the Winchester 124gr NATO. I want to try to "break it in" with the heavier round before I send it back to Glock for an exchange to a 3rd Gen. But you are absolutely correct; it should handle the 115 just fine. My other 9s do.

Just so you know. Glock will NOT exchange your gun for a gen 3 so if you send it in they will just fix the gen 4 for you. I'm sure if you send it in that they will solve the problem.

Let me know if the 124gr NATO does the trick.

[Guest 10mm4me]

You can't fix what's wrong with the Gen4 9's. Go over to www.pistol-forum.com or www.pistol-training.com and see what's going on. It's pretty bad and I will never buy a Gen 4.

[Guest bravio]

Gentlemen,

For those of you who have been following this thread of Glock Gen4 problems, I have and update:

I decided to try the suggestion of using the NATO ammo. So went to the range today and put 100 rounds through. Not one single FTF! Since I had only brought 100 rounds, I decided to now try the Winchester 115gr that had jammed before. 2 mags= no FTFs. so I decided to try the low powder re-loads. 2 mags=no FTFs. Hummm. Now I am getting confident. Tried the Remington 115gr. They had jammed before. One shot=1 jam. another shot= another jam. So decided to try the Remingtons in my 3rdGen Glock 17. They shot and fed ok, but wow!! They smoked like cheap Russian Ammo. Could it be that the powder burn speed has something to do with it?

I am not convinced the problem is solved until I shoot a couple hundred more NATO through the Gen4 Glock 19.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will get back later.

[Karnage]

I'm glad you got it working ( for the most part). Shoot some more 124 grain ammo and then go back and try the 115 grain ammo.

[Erik88]

glad that helped. It sucks that you have to use the 124 grain stuff but at least it's working.

Glock should have left the recoil springs alone. They had it perfect with the gen 3 springs.

[Guest bravio]

I'm glad you got it working ( for the most part). Shoot some more 124 grain ammo and then go back and try the 115 grain ammo.

Thanks for your original suggestion, Karnage.

[Guest bravio]

Erik, I agree wholeheartedly. Reminds me of the adage, "if it ain't broke..."

[Will Carry]

I mostly shoot 115 grain ammo in my G-19-4. I have shoot hundreds on rounds with zero failures. I love my Bavarian Brick! Sorry you are having problems dude.

[Guest bravio]

Thanks, Will Carry, for the good wishes. Glad you didn't have the same problem. I am hoping that by shooting another 150 NATO through it that it will perform like a Glock is supposed to. My Glock 19 gen 3 has never "hiccuped" once and I thought this Gen 4 would be the same. Luck would have it that I gave it as a gift and to beat it all, to a lady who is not very experienced with guns. Thanks for the post.

[Guest bravio]

Thanks to all of you who have posted replies to my thread and thanks for all the advice. Let me tell you of the latest updates.

Monday, May 9, we put an additional 150 NATO rounds through the gun. No FTFs. Then since we had put 250 through, we decided that it was time to go back to standard 115 gr. ammo. So after about 600 rounds (250 was NATO) we shot about 400 mix of Remington, Winchester and reloads. She only had 5 FTFs.

Today, May 13, she put 150 rounds of reloads through and had not one FTF. I am thinking and it appears that the gun is getting better and having fewer and fewer FTFs. Today, she decided to keep the gun since it feels good in her hand and her accuracy is much, much better than other 9s that she shoots. We had one shell that did not seat and we checked it against the barrel of a CZ RAMI. The shell had a slight bulge on it and it would not go into the Gen 4. But it fell right into the RAMI. It seems that this Gen 4 Glock 19 has a smaller oriface for the ammo to enter. Could that also be a problem with FTFs. I received a message saying there were many problems witht the 19. I tend to agree that Glock has messed up the 9mm Gen 4. I should not have had to send 750 rounds through for it to shoot well. I will not buy another new Glock until there is a lot of testing by the public. My new M&P 45 and 40s are wonderful...maybe S&W has won me over..

[Erik88]

well i hate to hear that the 115gr still isn't working. Make sure that you give her some HOT 124gr ammo for protection. I like the 124gr +P Gold Dot's in my G19 and G26. Best of luck!