Problem with my Glock sub-compact - thoughts?

[CambridgeGuy]

So whenever I load the last round into my Glock 29 magazine (so 10+1 in the chamber), the slide won't come out of battery. What do you think is causing this? I just got the slide and barrel hard-chromed at Metaloy, but I can't imagine the coating is what's causing this....

I have always had a problem where the magazine needs to be given a pretty good smack to seat into the pistol if the mag is full or there is a round in the chamber. But I've never had a problem where I couldn't get the slide out of battery. I'm reluctant to shoot it like this (loading a full mag with one in the chamber) for fear that if it won't come out battery dry, something bad will happen when that first round goes down-range, but I prefer to carry it with a full magazine.... so it's a bit of a quandary.

With 9 rounds in the mag and 1 in the chamber, the pistol works flawlessly.

Thoughts?

 

[Supermoto]

Hard chroming does increase the thickness of parts and sometimes requires the gun to be broken in.

 

[drgrant]

What do you mean come out of battery? You cant pull the slide back?

Dry? You're not lubricating the gun?

Not sure what you're getting at here.

-Mike

 

[CambridgeGuy]

If I place a full mag into the pistol with one round in the chamber, I cannot pull the slide back. The gun is lubricated.

By dry I simply meant not "live" firing

 

[bostonasphalt2]

never had that problem with my G29, but never had any part of it hard chromed. Perhaps the chroming thickness has something to do with it?

 

[01SVTvert]

Did the gun do this before the metalloy treatment? How hard are you pulling the slide back? With just a full mag and an empty chamber does it do the same thing? How are you loading the +1? Does it do this with just one mag or more than one?

Have you ever tried firing it in this condition? Before people jump all over this you could simulate the same thing by holding onto the back of the slide when firing, therefore not allowing the slide to cycle. You wont get hurt as the pistol won't unlock.

 

[bpm990d]

Did they chrome the inside of the barrel?

B

 

[CambridgeGuy]

Did the gun do this before the metalloy treatment?

Nope. It was hard to push a full magazine in, but it always functioned fine if you seated the full mag properly.

How hard are you pulling the slide back?

Pretty hard - it feels sort of jammed up so I am reluctant to really yank on it with live rounds in my house!!

With just a full mag and an empty chamber does it do the same thing?

Yes.

How are you loading the +1?

Opening the slide, inserting a partially loaded mag, and pushing down on the slide stop. I can also load it by inserting a partially loaded mag with the slide closed and racking the slide, which works fine (you can cycle rounds in and out and they extract just fine).

Does it do this with just one mag or more than one?

It does it with both of the mags.

Have you ever tried firing it in this condition?

No - I just got it back from Chris at Metaloy.

Before people jump all over this you could simulate the same thing by holding onto the back of the slide when firing, therefore not allowing the slide to cycle. You wont get hurt as the pistol won't unlock.

Not sure I know what you mean. I am a little nervous that if I can't rack the slide under normal hand strength only to eject the round in the camber and load a new one and I fire, the pistol will get damaged (or I will get damaged!)

 

[CambridgeGuy]

Did they chrome the inside of the barrel?

B

Nope.

 

[01SVTvert]

Pull the slide back with force with an unloaded chamber and a full mag. If you have snap caps and that makes you fell less nervous, go for it. Remember, I doubt you can pull that slide back any faster than a normal 10mm round can propel it during cycling.

I am assuming that it works as normal with one less round in the mag. Mags are relatively new? What number follower is in the mag? With a full mag how far down can you depress the top round? Total round count for the gun?

I am guessing that the slide itself where it contacts the top round now is a tiny bit thicker and that combined with the strong spring tension pushing the top round up is just making the gun really tight.

What I meant about shooting the gun in that condition is that you can actually hold the slide in place with one hand and pull the trigger, firing a round. The slide doesnt move and you are NOT injured doing this, nothing will happen to the pistol. I was not advocating doing that, just firing the gun the way it is to see if it cycles. I am going to assume that it will not cycle properly and will short stroke. Honestly this would prove nothing proably, as the gun is so tight is is almost guaranteed to not cycle fully.

Some people who have never done this will tell you that you are going to injure your hand. With a non-blowback gun there is minimal force moving the slide back if the barrel is not allowed out of battery.

 

[BearArms]

So it was fine before but right after you had it chromed it screwed up?

 

[FreeWillie]

Take it to the range load 10 in the mag and shoot about a 100 rounds through it. Now try with 10 + 1. The gun just needs a little wear after the chroming. It should function just fine with 10 + 1 after a few 100 rounds.

But it's a Glock so it just might blow up (j/k - I own 4 of them and they operate flawlessly)

 

[GSG]

What do you think is causing this?

I think that the questions 01SVTvert is asking are the correct ones. My guess is that this was caused by the recent chrome job, since it worked fine for you before that. Shooting it a bit to break it in might get it back to the way that it was before, but that's the only way to really tell.

If you've had anything changed on your gun, including sights, controls, grips, etc. you should take it to the range and pound some rounds through it to make sure that it still works correctly. You don't want your life to depend on something that may not work.

With 9 rounds in the mag and 1 in the chamber, the pistol works flawlessly.

I have never had a single issue with cycling in a semi auto handgun that was loaded this way (i.e. chamber loaded off of a full mag, mag not topped off). I have seen and heard of people having similar issues to yours when a mag is fully loaded in the gun, especially with the G29/G30 sized pistols. My guess is that in 9mm, the smallest Glock caliber, there's more room for error with the way that the mag, ammo, follower, feedlips etc. all come together. With bigger cartridges slight variations in size of the parts become more of an issue, especially since Glocks were designed around the 9mm round, and later modified for the other calibers, then further modified for the compact and subcompact models.

IMO the definite one round advantage of topping off the mag like that isn't worth the very possible feed reliability issue that it may cause. The G29 will accept 15 round G20 mags, so if you want more ammo, carry more spare mags, or have more available if this is a home defense gun. Pre ban mags do exist for the G20, although they might be a little hard for you to find. Mag issues are the #1 cause of problems in semi autos, if there's any possible way for you to have spare mags available then you should.

I am guessing that the slide itself where it contacts the top round now is a tiny bit thicker and that combined with the strong spring tension pushing the top round up is just making the gun really tight.

Yup.

 

[S. Kelly]

I'd say it's the metalloy. Maybe shooting a few rounds will wear it in. Adding non factory items to a Glock can cause problems.

 

[BigMike]

I've had similar problems with pre and post ban mags in a G22 DPD. Load a full mag, chamber 1, eject mag and top off....mag now very tight to seat in gun.

Also, slide forward....insert full 15rd mag and it needs extra force, and trying to rack the slide can get caught sometimes. Have shot all my mags 3 or 4 times, and keep them loaded just in case it is a a matter of stiff springs

 

[01SVTvert]

Forgot one thing, Check the number of coils on the springs in the mags if they were not new when bought. Some people think that adding full size springs to a subcompact mag makes for better mags...it does not. 11 coils springs should not be used in the subcompact mags.

Although with the problem happrining after the metalloy I still say a tiny addition of metal is really the problem.

 

[GSG]

I'd say it's the metalloy. Maybe shooting a few rounds will wear it in. Adding non factory items to a Glock can cause problems.

Yes, but this is true of any gun or other mechanical device.

Forgot one thing, Check the number of coils on the springs in the mags if they were not new when bought. Some people think that adding full size springs to a subcompact mag makes for better mags...it does not. 11 coils springs should not be used in the subcompact mags.

The subcompact Glocks (G26, G27, G33 & G39) all use the same magazine springs as the compact Glocks (G19, G23, G32, G38) when they come from the factory; this is why you can add a +1 grip extension to a subcompact Glock without needing to replace the spring like you do when adding them to the compact or full sized pistols.

I don't have any experience with the G25/G28, and I have very limited experience with the G20/G29 & G21/G30, but it seems likely to me that the same thing would be true, although there's no compact sized magazine in the 10mm/.45 ACP Glocks. If I'm wrong, someone jump in and correct me, I hate spreading bad info.

ETA I just noticed that you mentioned full sized springs in subcompacts, which might void my whole post.