Before today, I had 388 rounds through my G21 Gen 5, almost all of it being Speer Lawman 230gr TMJ. I've been extremely impressed with how accurate I am with it, particularly with the Dawson target sights and Talon grip (sandpapery texture). As I've stated before, I consistently shoot the Glock 21 of any generation better than any other pistol when measured objectively. Recoil with standard pressure 230gr is about like shooting 9mm +P out of my G19. This particular G21 Gen 5 was purchased second hand from our local CCW instructor. He bought it new blue label, put the Dawson sights and Talon grips on it, shot less than 150 rounds, and sold it with 9 magazines for a steal. I have another G21 Gen 5 that I haven't shot yet because this one stole the show.
Today, on my 246th round of the range session, (634th round total, not counting the less than 150 the previous owner fired through it), I had a very strange stoppage. I will post pictures because they can illustrate better than I can describe it. The base of the cartridge was stuck in the magwell with the front of it sticking up sideways. I dropped the mag (1 round left in it), cleared it, loaded it in the mag again, and it fed and shot fine. I shot another 2 mags through it and it didn't do it again, but after so much flawless performance, it makes me wonder what happened. I've had lots of Glocks and never had one fail to feed during the first 1000 rounds.
My intentions were/are to get 1000 flawless rounds through this before I would consider it for carry. I guess I'm starting back at 0 now, and .45 ain't cheap, even for reloading relatively speaking. The magazine this happened with was one of the 3 Gen 5 mags that came with the gun. Considering it had less than 3 boxes through it before I got it, I find it hard to believe the magazine spring was already giving out.
What causes a stoppage like this? And when you are vetting a gun for carry and stoppages happen, how do you proceed with your vetting process at that point?
I really love the G21, and the Gen 5 may be the best shooting out of all of them. I'm planning to pick up a G30 Gen 5 when they are released as well. Does anyone have any reports on their G21 Gen 5 to compare notes with?