Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Glock 21--Troubled Child?

Gentlemen,

I thought about posting this question over on the Glock forums, but I'm hoping to get a more objective review here.

With the cost and the unavailibility of ammo, I recently decided to narrow down my variety of handgun calibers.

I've setteled in on two for self defense--a 9mm for carry, and 45 ACP for home defense.

I hope the question does not turn into a what caliber I should use, but rather I hope to get some concrete information on the Glock 21.

I have been searching the net, and I have found so much conflicting information. It seems like either the Glock 21 is the worst pistol Glock has ever made, or it is the best Glock has to offer. There seems to be no middle ground.

My biggest concern is the "kaboom" accuzation. It seems that this is the most serious detractor with the 21. This really concerns me. I have read comments by seeminly legimate posters (police officers) that this is a real occuarnce.

In the case of the 21, the kabooms seem to be attributed to two things:

1.) The fact that it is possible for the Glock to fire slightly out of battery--that is--within the last 1/16" of slide travel.

2.) The amount of unsupported case due to the 21's feed ramp design.

I am not new to 45s. And I am not new to Glock. I chose a 19 for my carry weapon, and I have both the 17 and 22.

What causes me pause about the 21, is the experince I have with the 22. While I found the 22 utterly reliable and surprisingly accurate, I absoulely despise the "pot belly" fired brass due to the unsuported case. I don't want to see that in the 21.

I want a 45 that will stand up to much range time. I want it to be reliable, and I don't want to wonder if the next fired round is going to be the one that causes the gun to shatter my hand. I am going to stake my life on this weapon.

Can some of you more experianced handguners steer me though the information/misinformation out on the net.

Thanks,
GB

My 21SF has never hiccuped.

My Glock 21 has never hiccuped either. I have about 3000+ rounds through it. Mostly 230gr ball, and 230gr Hydrashok.

Thanks for chiming in Shane, I value your opinion.

Are you shooting the 21 or the 21SF?

Are you seeing the "pot belly" at the six o'clock position on the brass?

I'm thinking that I would shoot new ammo in the 21 and then reload that brass for my 1911. Is this doable?

GB

Mine is a Gen 2 plain Glock 21.

I haven't seen any pot-belly brass from the 45, 40, or 9mm. I had a 10mm Glock 20 that did leave pot-belly'd brass, I traded it off.

Over the past five years there have been two G21s that have come back to the gunshop with significant damage from firing. In both cases, the shooter was using his reloads. We asked to have several rounds from the same batch and in both cases, the loads were inappropriate for the 45ACP. (How about 10.5 grains of AA#5 w/ a jacketed 200gr!) The other case involved using a progressive press and there was a double charge of 231 followed by an empty case. He was an experienced reloader that allowed a mistake to be made. That is sloppy reloading. No incidents in our shop have been reported with factory ammo.

OTOH, there are numerous customers that have the G21 with years of considerable shooting on them, literally thousands of rounds, both factory and reloads, with failures. Glock expressly recommends against reloads in their firearms as they have no control over the ammo quality.

Glock, I am sure, is as liability sensitive as any other firearm manufacturer and would not knowingly continue with a long standing product if they felt there was an issue. The resultant lawsuit would be horrendously expensive to the company and for its PR.

That said, does anyone have first hand experience with factory ammo and the G21 in terms of catastrophic failure? If so, please provide the details, the type of ammo, the circumstances and what happened in the aftermath.

Yes, this is what I'm looking for. Thank you for phrasing is so well.

GB

Here's an article on Glock kBs:

http://www.thegunzone.com/glock/glock-kb-faq.html

If you are worried about the unsupported chamber, there are aftermarket barrels.

I dont recall hearing about any "kabooms" witht the G21, in fact I'm pretty sure Phoenix PD dumped ther G22's for multiple "kabooms" this is fact not heresay. I believe now they are issued either a 17 or 21 at the officers request.

I doubt they would switch from a Glock with known issues to another Glock without testing it for the same issues.

I think you have to take all the internet information with a grain of salt. First consider that we hear of more problems with the Glock than any other pistol because there are more of them out there in law enforcement service than any other pistol. 30 years ago, we heard all the same horror type stories about K frame S&W�s, and I don�t think you�ll find too many on this forum who wouldn�t trust a K frame S&W.

Yes, the Glock has a poorly supported chamber, but that�s by design, to enhance reliability under all conditions
Yes, there are documented cases where a Glock has fired out of battery. But let�s consider how many Glocks are out there, and how many truly documented cases of firing out of battery there are. When you do this, you could begin to attribute this phenomenon to spec creep during the manufacturing process. I really have no idea what the real issue is, I just know that firing out of battery is very rare.

If you like the Glock 21, then I say, put everything in perspective and then just go buy one.

+1............I know of no verified issues with them, but I limit all Glocks to factory ammmo, period.

MM

Georgia Boy,
You have got me confused. You want to narrow down your handgun calibers, and you have settled on 9mm and .45 and you already
have a 17, 19 and 22?
Why would you need another one when you have three already?

For home defense a pump shotgun makes a good choice IMO.
Just wondering?
whelennut

whelennut,

The 17 and the 19 are 9mm. The 22 is 40 s&w.
I am looking at affordability in shooting, and the ability to reload.

Right now 9mm ammo is reasonabily inexpensive to shoot. It can still be had at less than $10 a box.

Factory 40 s&w cost about the same as 45 acp. I am already set up to reload 45 acp.

I figure I could shoot factory ammo in the Glock, and reload the brass for my 1911.

I don't want to get into reloading the 40.

GB

GB,
If you have a 1911 you already have a great handgun IMO.
I always remember the Waco Texas video of a guy shooting himself in the leg while climbing a ladder, and the instructor shooting himself in the foot with a Glock in front of a class.
Whatever you are comfortable with is the right choice for you.
I think confidence is a big part of home defense.
Bill Jordan wrote that if you stick to one thing you will be better at it. He liked 4" revolvers and that is still a good choice IMO. There are not many situations that you can't handle with six magnum rounds.
whelennut

Slightly OT, but I always use a powder that will overflow the case on a double charge when I load with my progressive. If you can't physically double charge, you never will ...

There is always a temptation to use powders that require small charges, in order to get the most 'bang for the buck'.

The large frame Glocks are simply too big for my hands, so I've never been tempted by them.They are the only cartridges Glock chambers that interest me.

I have seen a 22 Glock come apart with Fiocchi factory ammo, it has thin cases that, when coupled with the minimal support in a Glock barrel, became a kaboon-a-thon. I've decided that Glocks just aren't for me.

I have the same problem. The big 45s Glocks are too large for me. I ended up with a XD-45. And now that there's a trigger kit for the XD, my major complaint has been solved.

I like the big 'tactical' model. Here are some comparison shots I took of the XD-45 and 1911

Lol. That's what I'm afraid of. Too much "BANG" for my buck.