That $200 parts kit has parts that will probably never be replaced on a Glock.
Locking blocks and pins do sometimes break in the .40 guns.
When my work had Gen 3 G22s, we had a couple of guns go down for broken locking block pins at the seven year mark. They were soon traded for G23s. This is year ten for the G23s and one academy assigned gun broke a locking block during a Basic Jailors School range session. Glock sent a new one and the gun went back on line with no other issues.
These issues and two broken strikers on our first Gen 2 G17s were the only parts failure issues we had using Glocks since the late '80s.
I regularly see problems with Glock pistols at matches. Most of them could be prevented by avoiding most after market parts generally, and after market trigger/striker parts specifically.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
Yup. And while I've got a pretty comprehensive set of back-up Glock parts, really about the only parts I've needed to replace has been recoil spring assemblies-and that was in accordance with my replacement interval protocol, not due to any issues or failures. Coil trigger return springs, slide lock springs, and slide stop springs and an extractor are about the only other ones I'd feel a compelling need to recommend. I guess a striker spring and an EDP spring also wouldn't be a bad idea to have on hand, but I haven't actually ever had those wear out on me. Ditto for the magazine catch and magazine catch spring...
Frankly, I really think that the only things most Glock owners will ever need are spare RSAs, trigger coil trigger return springs, and a spare extracer (just in case of chipping)...
Best, Jon
I think it is the rare Glock owner that shoots enough to wear parts out, and even rarer is the owner that breaks stuff through round count and possesses the knowledge to replace parts. I would recommend a second pistol, though.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
Personally, I think the best protocol for keeping a Glock running is to change the RSA at very conservative intervals (springs are cheap), and the trigger return spring and slide lock spring at conservative intervals, as well. Since those last two springs will cause the gun to go down - and they fail without warning - PM is the only way to address reliability.
Extractors on the other hand, will usually give you some indications of wear and the guns still work surprisingly well even with partially broken hooks. Replacing them as a part of a PM plan is prudent, but they seem pretty durable in the models we use. Failed parts like strikers, pins, locking blocks, trigger bars, slide stops, etc, have been relatively random, not related to round count necessarily and none of which caused the gun to go completely tits up.
Towards the end of our last academy class, we had 2 trigger springs fail in as many days. We'll see if that trend continues with the next session.
The path of least resistance will seldom get you where you need to be.
In 9mm, most probably yes, but in .40 (or other high pressure calibers) the RSA gets used up pretty quick.
Even when I shot a lot more (but still much less than you) I had a couple of trigger return springs break on me (one with a Gen 2 G21 during an Insights class).
RSAs and trigger springs (the coil ones in particular) are what I'd keep as spares first, then add other parts.