New Glock 30 ; Should I worry about these issues?

[Snidely Whiplash]

Got a chance to take my new Glock 30 (Gen4) to the range today. I’m a relatively new (2.5 years) handgun shooter so I’m not always sure how much I should be concerned with various issues that arise. I field stripped and cleaned / lubricated the G30 prior to shooting it. While shooting today:

(1) I shot 100 rounds of 230 grain Federal FMJ ammo and on the fifth shot the G30 failed to fully go into battery. A slight tap on the back of the slide put the G30 into battery and it fired. This did not happen again in the subsequent 95 rounds. Should I be concerned with one instance of this happening?

(2) Consistent brass to the face, or more specifically, the top of my head and the bill of my cap. This G30 sends brass back far more than it does forward or to the side. For every round it sends forward or to the side there are 7 or 8 sent straight back. Does this indicate a problem with the gun or is it just a normal issue with the G30?

(3) While at the range I loaded the 10 round magazine (purchased from Pearce Grip with their base plate) and then loaded the magazine into the G30, released the slide, and commenced firing. Once at home I loaded the magazine with 4 rounds, inserted the magazine into the G30 and released the slide to chamber a round, removed the magazine and loaded it to its 10 round capacity. Trying to insert the loaded magazine into the G30 was nearly impossible. I’m not sure the slide would cycle with 10 rounds on the magazine. Is running the G30 with a downloaded (by one) magazine normal?

I’m grateful for any insights you guys might have. I tend to worry about things too much and since I eventually plan to use this G30 as a backup CCW so I want to make sure everything is functioning as it should.

[Sensei]

Issue 1 is not a huge deal if it happened once but repeated FTF are not normal. Issue 2 is not normal and BTF issues may be caused by a number of problems including the extractor, ejector, and even the recoil spring (so I’m told).

[Mitch]

I download all my Glock 30 magazines by 1, for the exact reason you found.

I’ve never had a problem with a Glock 30. A Glock 21 gen 4 I had was very picky about ammo though when it came to ejection. If the ammo wasn’t hot it would come back towards me. However I honestly doubt that’s the case with yours because the recoil spring was not new for the gen 4 30.

I suspect most if not all of your issues were shooter induced, no offense. I would have someone with some experience shoot the gun for a couple mags and see how it does. If all is well there, I’d seek out a bit of training to help your grip and recoil control. As a newer shooter you may find a 9mm of some sort easier to control. I like 45s so if you want to shoot one, I get it. But it’s honestly hard to make a logical argument for one now.

[SAWBONES]

I don't consider that a single failure to return to battery in a new gun should be worrisome.

Can't speak to Gen 4, but I have two G30s ("gen 3"), both in the original configuration, that is, with finger grooves but no light rail, bought NIB as soon as the model was introduced in ?1998.

Both function best with factory magazines loaded with 9 rounds, and though 10 rounds can be forced in, reliable feeding of the top magazine-loaded round (return to battery) with 10 rounds in place is less than certain upon ignition-extraction-ejection of the chambered round, so my magazines are routinely loaded with 9 rounds.

I no longer employ these guns for CCW, but did so daily for some five years back around Y2K, and they were shot a lot then.
I shot them both again at the range just a couple weeks ago, and have taken training classes with them, and neither has ever had issues with BTF or any other form of erratic ejection, or (with 9 rounds or less in mag) with failure to return to battery.

The only alterations I've ever made were replacement of the original two-piece RSA with the modern OEM assembly, replacing the firing pin safety with the Apex Tactical part, and installing a Glock "-" connector in place of the original connector (plus light Dremel polishing of all the metal-to-metal contact points in the trigger-striker assemblies), not to mention substituting SCDs for the OEM slide cover plates.
Strikers, extractors, all other springs, etc. are original.

I agree with recommendations to let others try shooting your new gen 4 G30, and, at least as regards FTRTB, to try some more potent ammunition. Good luck.

[steve]

Got a chance to take my new Glock 30 (Gen4) to the range today. I’m a relatively new (2.5 years) handgun shooter so I’m not always sure how much I should be concerned with various issues that arise. I field stripped and cleaned / lubricated the G30 prior to shooting it. While shooting today:

(1) I shot 100 rounds of 230 grain Federal FMJ ammo and on the fifth shot the G30 failed to fully go into battery. A slight tap on the back of the slide put the G30 into battery and it fired. This did not happen again in the subsequent 95 rounds. Should I be concerned with one instance of this happening?

Nope, run some more ammo through it to gain confidence.

(2) Consistent brass to the face, or more specifically, the top of my head and the bill of my cap. This G30 sends brass back far more than it does forward or to the side. For every round it sends forward or to the side there are 7 or 8 sent straight back. Does this indicate a problem with the gun or is it just a normal issue with the G30?

My Gen 4 30 throws brass to my face with CCI Blazer Brass, Federal 230 FMJ a little less brass to the face. If I use Winchester or Lawman that seems to have a little more power the brass to face is almost non-existent.

(3) While at the range I loaded the 10 round magazine (purchased from Pearce Grip with their base plate) and then loaded the magazine into the G30, released the slide, and commenced firing. Once at home I loaded the magazine with 4 rounds, inserted the magazine into the G30 and released the slide to chamber a round, removed the magazine and loaded it to its 10 round capacity. Trying to insert the loaded magazine into the G30 was nearly impossible. I’m not sure the slide would cycle with 10 rounds on the magazine. Is running the G30 with a downloaded (by one) magazine normal?

Take your G30 mags and load them fully. Leave them loaded for a couple of weeks and they should get a little easier to load 10 into and not be as stiff so you don't have to download.

I’m grateful for any insights you guys might have. I tend to worry about things too much and since I eventually plan to use this G30 as a backup CCW so I want to make sure everything is functioning as it should.

If you are going to CCW a G30 look at a G30S. You can swap slides with a Gen 4 30 and have a Gen4 30S.

[Snidely Whiplash]

Thanks to each of you for taking the time to reply and offer your suggestions. As to the Pearce magazines, I ordered several of those because I was worried about the finger pinch issue some have experienced with the factory magazines. Next range trip I’ll try using the factory magazines and baseplates. That’s an obvious area to check I should have thought of. Regardless, it sounds like the consensus is to down-load the 10 round magazines to only 9 so that’s what I’ll be doing.

As to the ammunition, I’ll run a box of good full-power hollow points through the gun and check the ejection. I thought Federal was really good ammunition but I had a case of shotguns slugs from Federal that was questionable. The Federal FMJ ammunition I was running today was purchased at about the same time as the shotgun slugs so maybe Federal was having some issues at that particular time.

@Mitch No need for you to worry about offending me. I really appreciate the tone and experience of this forum and I appreciate your efforts to provide solid advice and constructive suggestions. My current Glocks are G19, G17, and a G21. Since I’ve never experienced any issues with those Glocks I wasn’t sure how concerned I should be. The issues with this G30 very well could be caused by my lack of experience so I’ll make a concentrated effort during my next trip to the range to make sure my grip, stance, etc. are solid.

On a more positive note, gosh do I love this Glock 30. I’ve wanted this Glock 30 for a couple of years but couldn’t really justify it given the higher capacity and better suitability of the Glock 19 for use as a CCW. I finally just decided I wanted the Glock 30 and was going to buy it wether I really had a defined role for it or not. It fits my hand like it was made for it and I just love the look and feel of it. I’m gonna work with this Glock over the next several weeks and I’m thinking if the issues are a non-factor / can be resolved this might just find a role as a CCW when traveling to those unfriendly 10 round magazine limiting states.

[L-2]

I was shooting my G30SF the other day with aluminum cased (don't recall brand) ammo and steel-cased Tula-brand ammo and got much brass-to-face. I'm guessing ammo quality was my major factor during that shooting session.

This was also on 1/30/2023 and don't know if/how colder temperatures (upper 30ºs most likely) might affect cheaper ammo performance.

I've got just under 13K rounds through this specific gun with its original RSA, too. It's otherwise feeding and cycling its slide fine, so I'm reluctant (i.e. too cheap) to change its RSA out, but getting hit in the face ~25% of the time gets annoying.

I just wanted to say to the OP he's not alone in brass-to-the-face with a G30 variant.