Good morning.
I've just finished helping out NLEFIA with a pistol instructor course. The class was held at the HERO indoor training facility in Woodbury, MN. Nice place!
Anyway, we saw a couple things with an agency's Gen 5 Glock pistols. One is a somewhat "known" issue while the other is probably not.
First up, the guns may develop a tendency to go to slide lock unexpectedly. This is caused by a slight deformation to the little shelf the slide catch spring contacts. Glock seems to be aware of the problem and has increased the diameter of the spring so that it doesn't interface with such a small area. It sounds like the problem is fixed on the latest guns but it is something to keep an eye on especially for those who may have older production guns.
Hopefully the image above is clear enough to show the issue. Look just above the tip of the punch at the semi-circle cutout. There's a little bit of deformation to the edge of the shelf. If this area gets worn enough the spring may no longer have enough strength to lower the slide catch fully and/or keep it fully down as the slide cycles. This may lead to premature slide lock.
The other issue relates to the new firing pin and "snap caps" with an empty primer pocket. Once the striker is released and fully forward, the tip of the firing pin extends through the breech face into the primer pocket. Attempting a "tap rack" with the muzzle down or slightly depressed with the firing pin extended into the primer pocket results in the pin snagging and making the slide hard to retract. Tipping the barrel up allows the pin to fall back out of the pocket. Once the pin is back the slide will open without undue force.
One officer had a tendency to slightly lower the muzzle for malfunction clearance especially while working behind cover. This is when we noticed the gun(s) binding up. Elevated muzzle and gun up in workspace is likely the best choice when working malfs, reloading, etc so this turned into a teaching point. Still, it is less than ideal that the gun doesn't really like primer-less dummy rounds.
Just a couple things to watch out for for those who are issued or carry G5 guns.
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