Glock 43 Failure to Feed

[Pappy35]

<snip>
...do you yet have a list of what alternatives might be considered?

I need one for home defense so that can be a range toy by which I mean a 5" barreled 1911 of good but not not ridiculously expensive quality. I need another that is easily concealable in summer clothing. Currently, those roles were filled by a G19 (my first Glock that I just traded in for G43X) and the G43. I was picky about ammo commonality so 9mm would be a plus.

I'll look into this in more detail depending on how things go with Glock. If they can't fix the 43, then that also puts the 43X into question given the similarity. It is having an ejection issue similar to others I've read about though that problem doesn't seem to be one that impedes it's shooting. It doesn't eject rounds when clearing the gun after firing making it without a vigorous pull. This is more of a nuisance rather than a reliability issue so we'll see.

Clearing G43/48X: skip to 6:20

[L-2]

The G43X, and the similar G48 supposedly have Glock's "breech face cut", which apparently makes clearing a loaded round a bit more difficult (the regular G43 doesn't have this "breech face cut"). The G43X and G48 also use a different magazine design from the regular G43. As we don't know why your specific G43 is having a feeding problem, I hope your G43X won't have any problems.

While I've got a good amount of experience with 1911s, I'll seldom recommend one nowadays. Of the total of nine I've owned, I'm down to three. It's unlikely I'll be getting another 1911 at this point in my older lifetime. I shoot a lot and the cost in time and parts replacement just seems to high for me nowadays.

If you do insist on getting a 1911, however, PM me and I'll give you some suggestions.

[Trooper224]

I need one for home defense so that can be a range toy by which I mean a 5" barreled 1911 of good but not not ridiculously expensive quality.

It depends upon your definition of "ridiculously expensive", but affordable and quality really don't go together in the 1911 world.

[Pappy35]

It depends upon your definition of "ridiculously expensive", but affordable and quality really don't go together in the 1911 world.

Yeah. I know. I'm thinking around a grand for 1911. My first-ever gun was a Para-Ordnance P12-45 from the mid 90's-ish. Not a great gun but I've always loved the 1911 platform and so I'd probably get a mid-range Colt 45. That and stick with some kind of 9mm compact/sub compact.

All this talk about other guns though...I need to figure out what's what with the one I'm having trouble with.

[10mmfanboy]

I live about 2 hours north of you, I can take a look at it if you'd like. I'm not a gunsmith though, but I have a lot of experience dicking around with glocks. Most of the problems I've encountered with glocks is the slide lock ( the spring by locking block on older gens) slide stop wires bent or not installed correctly under pin. Worn out recoil springs (usually corrects most problems majority of the time)
Worn out magazine springs. Cracked locking block pin.

If it were me, I'd replace recoil spring assembly and or polish feed ramp. If you polish the feed ramp it will probably void your warranty though.

[Pappy35]

Update:

Heard from Glock today. After almost 75 rounds they did actually have the failure and that once it started it happened regularly. That great news because lacking a failure in their hands they wouldn't have had anything to go by.

He said they replaced the locking block and a couple of other parts that I can't recall at the moment and are shipping it back tonight. I'll have it Friday and will go shooting with it Saturday to test it out. I'm pretty much convinced though that I'm going to trade it in for a P365 and I'd feel better about that knowing it's fixed.

This issue got me looking at other guns which was bad for Glock because it seems like the 365 cleans their Glock <groan...rimshot>

[ViniVidivici]

Nice! That is progress, in more ways than one.

We like our Glocks, but they ain't the only game in town.

[StraitR]

Update:

Heard from Glock today. After almost 75 rounds they did actually have the failure and that once it started it happened regularly. That great news because lacking a failure in their hands they wouldn't have had anything to go by.

He said they replaced the locking block and a couple of other parts that I can't recall at the moment and are shipping it back tonight. I'll have it Friday and will go shooting with it Saturday to test it out. I'm pretty much convinced though that I'm going to trade it in for a P365 and I'd feel better about that knowing it's fixed.

This issue got me looking at other guns which was bad for Glock because it seems like the 365 cleans their Glock <groan...rimshot>

I completely understand your frustration with this gun, but have you looked at the multitude of issues encountered by 365 owners? Not picking on it, just pointing out that Sig isn't perfect either, and I've lost count of how many revisions the 365 has underwent (four?). Point is, there are no infallible manufacturers or pistol designs, and even high dollar gun makers crank out turds from time to time.

[psalms144.1]

I was thinking about this the other day, and chatting with a buddy about it. I'm not sure how we got where we are today, with expectations that every manufacturer should be able to turn out a full power pistol the size of a match book that's 100% reliable. I grew up on 1911s, and the understanding was, clearly, that anything shorter than a Commander slide was going to be a reliability disaster waiting to happen.

This isn't a poke at anyone in particular, but I think the makers are responding to market pressures to make smaller/lighter pistols, and we've past the tipping point on where that can be accomplished reliably. For me, I've reached the point that if I need something smaller than a G26 or G43X, I'm going all the way down to an LCP in the pocket. I want to love the P365, but I couldn't work mine - it was accurate enough, but I had repeated failure to return to battery, or slide lock on a partially full magazine (the latter almost certainly due to the way my hand interfaced with the slide release lever). And, again, so this isn't all me bashing on Sig, I've sold off all my tiny Glocks as well...

[Pappy35]

<snip> ...but have you looked at the multitude of issues encountered by 365 owners?

You are very right. I would hate to get one only to buy into different trouble. The 365 seems to have stabilized as Sig has introduced revised parts. The XL however seems to be having a lot of issues (of course, this is the internet so it's hard to really gage the actual failure rate based on a few, compared to the total population of guns sold, reports on the forums). I'll wait until my 43 gets here later today and the range testing tomorrow to decide. If the 43 knows what's good for it it'll behave itself.

The 365 appeals to me mostly for round count, its overall fit to my hand, and concealability (which is really the same as the G43). If I had never had this issue I never would have even known that Sig had produced the 365.

<snip>...I'm not sure how we got where we are today, with expectations that every manufacturer should be able to turn out a full power pistol the size of a match book that's 100% reliable.

We certainly do expect better and better reliability these days. My 19 and 43x and the Para P12-45 I had years ago have tripped up every now and then. Auto loaders by their very nature have a higher probability of FTF so I agree that it would unreasonable to expect 100% reliability. The problem I was having though happened often enough that I couldn't consider the gun sufficiently reliable to carry.