slide lock fell out of my G19 while shooting

[Jeep]

My Gen 4 is relatively new (bought it in late 2012), and has the new style spring. The odd thing is that my spring did not break. It came of out position, but once we put it back, it now seems to be fine.

I have a Gen4 G19 made in 2012 that did the same thing. I replaced the spring though. My guess was that a couple of sessions where the pistol got very hot altered the spring, even though it seemed to work ok after I put it back together. I now make changing that spring every 7500 rounds or so a normal part of preventive maintenance. It might not need it--but they are cheap enough that I figure it makes sense.

[trailrunner]

What's the date on the spent casing package that was included with the gun?

24 October 2012

serial number begins with UAX

[trailrunner]

I have a Gen4 G19 made in 2012 that did the same thing. I replaced the spring though. My guess was that a couple of sessions where the pistol got very hot altered the spring, even though it seemed to work ok after I put it back together. I now make changing that spring every 7500 rounds or so a normal part of preventive maintenance. It might not need it--but they are cheap enough that I figure it makes sense.

That's an interesting theory. I think the last time I shot it was at a class and I remember the gun got pretty hot. But I'd expect the plastic to melt before the spring warped.

But to be safe, I have a new spring on order. $3 is cheap insurance.

[Chuck Haggard]

I've only seen this sort of thing when the lock itself is installed backwards or the spring breaks.

[SAWBONES]

Had the slide lock spring break on my Gen 3 G21.
No reason, it just broke off at the bend.

Out of nine other Glocks in 3 calibers owned over a period of 25 years, I've never had that happen otherwise.

I keep spare slide lock springs for all my Glocks ever since.

[SamuelBLong]

It's a weak point in the design. Over the lifespan of my gen3 g19, I've had to replace that spring 3 or 4 times due to it breaking.

The last time I broke one, the gun still continued to function fine, but I found it during a detail strip & clean. I hope you never have the issue I did on the last one where it was broken behind the bend where it inserts into the frame. Not fun trying to dig one of those out.

It's just one of those things to look for now.

[Jeep]

That's an interesting theory. I think the last time I shot it was at a class and I remember the gun got pretty hot. But I'd expect the plastic to melt before the spring warped.

But to be safe, I have a new spring on order. $3 is cheap insurance.

Maybe a bunch of improperly heat-treated springs in 2012? I'd never changed a slide-lock spring before so overall, I look at it as a fortunate occurrence. It made me pay more attention to such things.

[David Armstrong]

Maybe a bunch of improperly heat-treated springs in 2012? I'd never changed a slide-lock spring before so overall, I look at it as a fortunate occurrence. It made me pay more attention to such things.

I'd wonder that also. I run Gen 2 guns, but with 100K on the G17 before replacing that spring as part of a general overhaul I had no indications of problems, and as we approach the 2nd 100K it still hasn't manifested itself. My G19 only has a bit over 50K rounds through it, but again no issues. Did this only start to show itself in later guns, or have there been reports from earlier guns?

[JV_]

It's certainly been an issue since the early 2000s, I don't have first hand data before that time.

[Jeep]

I'd wonder that also. I run Gen 2 guns, but with 100K on the G17 before replacing that spring as part of a general overhaul I had no indications of problems, and as we approach the 2nd 100K it still hasn't manifested itself. My G19 only has a bit over 50K rounds through it, but again no issues. Did this only start to show itself in later guns, or have there been reports from earlier guns?

The slide lock spring shouldn't normally get much abuse, so those round counts without problem don't seem surprising (good work with shooting that much, though!). My guess for the issue is occasional bad batches of springs. I probably replace them too often now--but at $3.00 a part it seems like cheap insurance against a slide going down range at an unfortunate time.