Glock 34 Gen 5 - Light Strikes or Failure to Ignite?

[deflave]

I bought a G34 a couple months back with the sole intent of shooting USPSA. It's got around 5-600 (give or take 100) and I haven't had any issues.

Until this past Sunday...

I was shooting a local Steel Challenge match and I had a failure to fire on my second run of the fourth stage. That was with 147gr. Ranger.

Today I was doing some drills and had it happen again with some 115gr. White Box. I'm not totally new to Glocks but I've also never been married to them like I am this one. Is there a recall I'm not aware of? Is this common with factory Winchesters?

Any thought or remedies are appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Firing pin assembly:



Ranger on the right, White box on the left:

[JTQ]

Is this gun completely stock?

[deflave]

Is this gun completely stock?

The only alteration's I've done are grip tape and sharpied the rear sight.

[L-2]

Keep any lube or oil out of the firing pin channel.
The photo of the firing pin assembly appears to be a bit too wet for my liking.

I'd detail strip the entire gun to determine if there were any unusually worn or non-stock parts.
It helps to have another Gen5 Glock present for comparison should there be any doubts on how a part should appear.
Experience at this time is very important if unfamiliar with Glock internals.

The primer hits look good in the photo. Perhaps it's just a bad batch of ammo.

[WDR]

It appears that you might be lubricating the striker assembly... if you are, stop. It should be dry. As should the channel its riding in. Not sure if that is your issue, but I have heard of lube catching junk and or (with excessive amounts) slowing down the striker enough to cause issues. In any event, the first thing I'd do is make sure the striker channel and striker and clean and dry. If that didn't help, and the striker itself looked okay, I might try a new set of spring cups (cheap, and I always have some on hand). Channel liner and the sleeve on the rear of the striker maybe too.

With the slide assembled and the safety plunger depressed, how much of the tip of the striker is sticking out proud of the breech face when you push it forward?

I have never had hard primer issues with Winchester ammo... but it's possible things have changed. I'd be inclined to try a different brand just to see what happens. If it happens with another brand of ammo, it might be time to send it back to Glock and have them look at it.

[deflave]

Keep any lube or oil out of the firing pin channel.
The photo of the firing pin assembly appears to be a bit too wet for my liking.

I'd detail strip the entire gun to determine if there were any unusually worn or non-stock parts.
It helps to have another Gen5 Glock present for comparison should there be any doubts on how a part should appear.
Experience at this time is very important if unfamiliar with Glock internals.

The primer hits look good in the photo. Perhaps it's just a bad batch of ammo.

Do you mean removing everything from the frame as well? I hadn't stripped the slide prior to this afternoon and I'm hoping the cleaning I gave it will remedy any potential issue with the gun.

My (and other guy's at the match on Sunday) had the thought of a bad batch as well. But I just purchased the 115gr. White Box stuff yesterday, and the 147gr. stuff was acquired months ago.

[deflave]

It appears that you might be lubricating the striker assembly... if you are, stop. It should be dry. As should the channel its riding in. Not sure if that is your issue, but I have heard of lube catching junk and or (with excessive amounts) slowing down the striker enough to cause issues. In any event, the first thing I'd do is make sure the striker channel and striker and clean and dry. If that didn't help, and the striker itself looked okay, I might try a new set of spring cups (cheap, and I always have some on hand). Channel liner and the sleeve on the rear of the striker maybe too.

With the slide assembled and the safety plunger depressed, how much of the tip of the striker is sticking out proud of the breech face when you push it forward?

I have never had hard primer issues with Winchester ammo... but it's possible things have changed. I'd be inclined to try a different brand just to see what happens. If it happens with another brand of ammo, it might be time to send it back to Glock and have them look at it.

I am not lubricating the striker assembly. The gun was purchased brand new and I only removed the striker assembly after my range session earlier today. I have since cleaned it and put it back dry.

[WDR]

Firing pin protrusion looks good to me.

Questions: What specific ammo are you using. Is it the FMJ flat pointed stuff Winchester recently started making for the military contract? Round nose FMJ plain "white box" in bulk boxes? The Ranger: Is it the foreign contract stuff SG Ammo was selling a while back? I'd be suspicious of harder primers in the military or contract ammo. If its plain WWB... I've never had a Glock not pop that stuff. Winchester QC has been sliding for quite a few years, and I mostly reload these days... so I may be out of the loop a bit.

I'd try some Federal and see what happens. Glocks generally light off anything their fed unless it has some really hard SMG type primers in it. If Federal or CCI ammo wont run without light strikes, it may be time to send it to the mother ship.

[deflave]

Firing pin protrusion looks good to me.

Questions: What specific ammo are you using. Is it the FMJ flat pointed stuff Winchester recently started making for the military contract? Round nose FMJ plain "white box" in bulk boxes? The Ranger: Is it the foreign contract stuff SG Ammo was selling a while back? I'd be suspicious of harder primers in the military or contract ammo. If its plain WWB... I've never had a Glock not pop that stuff. Winchester QC has been sliding for quite a few years, and I mostly reload these days... so I may be out of the loop a bit.

I'd try some Federal and see what happens. Glocks generally light off anything their fed unless it has some really hard SMG type primers in it. If Federal or CCI ammo wont run without light strikes, it may be time to send it to the mother ship.

[cornstalker]

Both of my Gen 5 19's and my G43x had oil in the striker channel from the factory. Looked just like the 34.5 photo.