Recent problems with Glock 19

[CWE]

Background info on gun:

Gen3 Glock 19 made in 2009
Approx 3,500 rds fired
Stock internals except OEM 3.5# connector, has ameriglo sights, vickers slide stop and mag release
Shooting mostly WWB, Wolf, Tula, and my reloads
Cleaned about 650rds ago
Lubed before every range session

I recently began having some issues with the gun. I purchased a new case of Wolf 115gr ammo and have been getting several failure to fires out of this case which is something I've never had issues with. I would say 2 or 3 per 50rd box. The primer will have a striker mark on it, I will manually eject the round and continue firing. I thought the problem was some quality issues with the ammo but, last night I tried some of my reloads that I have had no issues with and had 2 rounds fail to fire out of 25. Another issue that I had the last two range trips was after a reload I will pull the slide back and the slide feels sluggish going forward and will cause the round to not chamber, causing a jam. I supposed I could have been riding the slide and this might be something that I'm doing wrong but, I thought I would throw it out there to you guys. When reloading from slide stop I had no issues. I will not be able to go to the range for the next week and a half so I was hoping to get some feedback on possible issues. Here is what I'm going to order OEM replacements of:
OEM RSA
OEM Striker Spring
OEM Trigger Spring

Thanks!

[JBP55]

Sounds like a garbage ammunition issue. Clean and lube the pistol making sure the firing pin channel is dry and try some quality ammunition.

[KevH]

Detail strip the gun and make sure everything inside is dry, especially the firing pin channel. Gunk and lube in the firing pin channel is known to cause light strikes in Glocks on occasion.

Glocks don't need much lube at all and only needs them at certain points. When we do our once a year armorer inspection we frequently see overlubed Glocks.

Replacing the RSA never hurts. Replacing the striker and trigger springs isn't a bad idea either, but probably is not needed.

Once the gun is clean and the springs are changed, try shooting some WWB or Federal American Eagle. If that goes well, try shooting some of your Wolf/Tula/reloads.

[CWE]

Copy that.

I will detail strip and clean everything up. I will be out of town next week so I'll check back and give an update after that.

Thanks

[HopetonBrown]

Use the slide release after a reload, sometimes people ride the slide forward when slingshotting/powerstroking.

[OnionsAndDragons]

I have had this experience with my former G21. It ate a lot of Tula 45.

I stripped it all out, blasted the slide with brake cleaner and then cleaned everything else. No issues afterward. The striker channel was filthy, and I'm pretty well convinced that played a big part in it.


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[Kyle Reese]

Picking up one of these (http://glockparts.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=126610), and respringing your gun every 3500-5000 rounds (for Gen 3 9mm's) is cheap insurance. Concur with the posters suggesting cleaning out the striker channel.

[JHC]

Has it been cold and/or damp where you're shooting?

With some Russian ammo I shot a few thousand rounds of last year you could see the primer failure rate go up as it got cold and wet. Like 2 or 3 out of 50 across multiple Glocks I have that never exhibit that with other ammo. Same ammo literally shut down my shooting my 320 one day with a rate of 4 of 5 failures to fire whereas the Glocks were a few per 50.

The other maint tips offered are the ticket too.

[LittleLebowski]

Russian ammo has hard primers. Replace the firing pin spring (http://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/action-parts/firing-pin-parts/firing-pin-springs/firing-pin-spring-prod22981.aspx?avs|Make_3=Glock) and hose out the entire firing pin channel with non chlorinated brake cleaner (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DDMPSS6/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00DDMPSS6&linkCode=as2&tag=ratio07-20) outside.

You may skip the firing pin spring replacement if the hosing out process fixes the problem.

[punkey71]

At 3,500 rounds I would think your OEM spring is fine for now. I change my springs once a year as cheap insurance. They have a lot more than 3500 rounds on them at that point with no FTFs. I reload and use Win and CCI primers so I can't tell you what Wolf would be like for me.

If you are heavily invested in Russian ammo perhaps a XP striker spring would be a sound investment?

https://www.gunsprings.com/index.cfm?page=items&cID=1&mID=5#131

It's 6lbs vs the standard 5.5. It will add a little to the pull but it should nail hard primers.

I probably have one laying around. PM your address and I will put it in the mail so you can try that first if you like.

Harold


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[CWE]

thanks for the replies. i cleaned the gun tonight, it was very dirty and really need it. im going to replace the RSA, striker spring , and trigger springs with OEM parts if the cleaning doesn't fix the issue.

JHC - it has been colder here the last few weeks. im going to try it in another glock 19 that I have to see if the issue carries over.

punkey71 - much appreciated but, after this case is shot up I'm going to be shooting mostly my reloads, just have to get around to loading them! thank you for the offer though!

[CWE]

So I cleaned the gun last week and the striker channel was pretty filthy. I have not replaced any springs or parts yet.

Tonight I took it to the range but it was a short trip due to rain.
Rounds Fired:
50 rds of Wolf 115gr
40 rds of 124gr reloads w/ Tula primers
I had one failure to fire with my reloads (dimpled primer) and none with the Wolf. I just started using the Tula primers recently so I've only shot around 200-250 of them and this is the first problem I've had. You guys think I should change out the springs or try some decent factory ammo first?

Thanks

[Nephrology]

So I cleaned the gun last week and the striker channel was pretty filthy. I have not replaced any springs or parts yet.

Tonight I took it to the range but it was a short trip due to rain.
Rounds Fired:
50 rds of Wolf 115gr
40 rds of 124gr reloads w/ Tula primers
I had one failure to fire with my reloads (dimpled primer) and none with the Wolf. I just started using the Tula primers recently so I've only shot around 200-250 of them and this is the first problem I've had. You guys think I should change out the springs or try some decent factory ammo first?

Thanks

try decent factory ammo. I've had many issues with FTFs with tula and wolfs. No issues with any other ammo.

[JonInWA]

I am not a big proponent of Tula ammunition; I've found it to be both dirty and highly variable in velocity, even in a given box of 50 rounds. Using it is inexpensive, but in my opinion begging for trouble.

I would do the following:

-Detail disassemble your slide, and remove and clean all components. As previously discussed, accumulated grunge in your striker channel, as well as in the extractor/extractor channel/slot may well be causal factors.

-Replace your Recoil Spring Assembly; recommended replacement interval for Gen 3 (and earlier) flat-spring RSAs is every 3K rounds; you're more than there. The assembly is presumably engineered with a margin, but accumulated grunge may have eliminated that margin-and you're overdue for the RSA replacement anyhow.

-While I doubt that your striker spring is insufficient, they're cheap. I'd concurrently replace the spring cups as well.

-While probably good as they are, it wouldn't hurt to replace your magazine springs now. At least you'd be starting out with a "clean slate," and eliminating a potential subtle causal factor in your issues.

-Test with quality ammunition-you don't have to spend a fortune. I've found CCI, Federal (both Federal branded and American Eagle) lines to work nicely. I'd avoid WWB if there are better alternatives.

Best, Jon