CAUTION from Glock on Dry Firing!

[iodonnel]

Maybe Glock should make a better product ;)

[SKS Ray]

I don't care though. I love Glocks.

Same here. They're the AK of pistols.

[Jaxon]

Be nice

[FPrice]

Does anyone know which caliber(s) this is happening to?

[BillO]

I wonder what defines extensive dry firing. After a chamber check I always dry fire my Glocks when putting them back in the safe.

[RKG]

GlockTalk has had a number of pictures of the problem but I've never saved a picture and have no idea where it would be. Basically the steel back of the slide behind a normal case breaks out in the shape of a cartridge rim.

Yes, the logic of this is not unique to Glocks. I'd be wary of creating a similar problem on any other semi-auto as well.

Therefore, snap-caps all around is a good and safe bet.

Actually, the issue with respect to Glocks (to wit: the striker slamming into the forward-most part of the striker tunnel in the frame) would not apply to pistols based on the 1911 design (i.e., inertial firing pin struck on the rear by a hammer). The reason is that major force (the hammer) is trapped by the firing pin stop plate, which is designed for this impact (since even on normal firing, the hammer fall is stopped by the stop plate while the pin continues to travel forward) and since the force of the pin once its rear face has moved forward of the hammer's forward face and is now being retarded by the firing pin spring is far less than that of the Glock striker still propelled by the main spring.

Said a different way: the Glock issue is based on the absence of a cartridge and primer to cushion the forward blow of the striker. But with a 1911-style pistol, the cartridge and primer does not cushion the forward travel of the hammer, in any event.

Also, if you look at the shape of 1911-style firing pins, it is clear that the shoulder that ultimately stops their forward travel is far further aft on the pin that it is apparently on the Glock strikers, which would seem to make the notion of punch through all but impossible.

Kuhnhausen does not caution against dry firing 1911 pistols.

I would guess that a similar analysis also applies to pistols based on the 1911 inertial firing pin design, even where they do not have a separate firing pin stop plate (e.g., Sigs, Browning HPs), but like the 1911-style pistols, also do not rely on a cartridge and primer to cushion hammer fall.

[RKG]

I wonder what defines extensive dry firing. After a chamber check I always dry fire my Glocks when putting them back in the safe.

With the exception of some .22 rimfires, I wouldn't worry about a single occasional dry fire, and it is a good idea to store firearms with the main springs uncompressed.

With rimfires, there is some risk of the pin hitting and peening the chamber, particularly on .22 revolvers with rebated chambers, and so I'd lower the hammer by hand. Likewise with bolt actions: you can usually lower the striker by pulling the trigger as the bolt handle is lowered, without the need of dry firing.

[xring]

One more reason to hate glocks!

[Jaxon]

One more reason to hate glocks!

To each his own.

[rog54]

A picture is worth a thousand words!



BTW: MY Google search found a site that implied that this happened on another brand of pistol as well.

Hi Len,

I am a little confused about the picture and the subject matter? The picture with the crack seems to me to be the near mirror image of the outer circumferance of the casing? Hmmm

The smaller circular image appears to be the approximate diameter of the primer. which is approx 1/32nd to 1/16th larger than the partial circular structure around the tip of the firing pin.

If the impact of the firing pin body striking on the inside toward the out was to be responsible for a bludge or in this suggested case, the "crack" it seems to me that the crack should be in at least the near vicinity of the repeated impacts, not 2.5 to 3.5 times away from the diameter of the object striking?
Have you ever broke a hole in a cinder block with a hammer? Striking in the same place produces a hole nearly the same diameter as the hammer head. Certain types of wood as well. I have seen simular with metal repeatedly stress in one area. If in fact the crack was the result of dry firing I would bet that it was indirectly caused by the dry firing stressing a very weak or defective area in the metal casting or forging which would be the true cause of the crack. Still curious that it appears at the area the rim would reside?
Any thoughts? Am I missing something here?