Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Glock blows up on W.V deputy.

Found this on another board. From WTOV.

http://www.wtov9.com/news/21866969/detail.html

Thought some of you may find it interesting.

Dave.

I have known about the Glock KaBooms for some time and have posted here about them. Glocks are famous for the KaBooms and Accidentle discharges, not a safe enough pistol for me to carry

Yeah, I like Glocks, but the fact that they can and will fire out of battery, has convinced me to sell mine off....

Tom

Counting down until the Glock apologists start running down every handgun design except the one that blew up.

I would say that I have heard about more Glock 21's having issues like these than any other model.

Wonder what the same circumstances with the same design but made of metal would have done?


Mike

More info here about Glock Kabooms


http://www.thegunzone.com/glock/glock-kb2.html

I was present when two when up...one on a handload and one on a factory load...both were 19s in 9mm. A friend had his .40 S&W blow and it split the frame. Glock fixed it all back to new with no questions asked...

Bob

How are they going to fix you if it blows up on you when you need it most?

Make mine a 1911, thanks

I am no Glock fan, but I am not convinced that the Glock pistol is inherently flawed or dangerous.

That said, I would be inclined to eschew any Glock pistol chambered in the high pressure .40 S&W round ... and 'now' in the venerable old .45 ACP cartridge.

If I ever do buy a Glock, I'll buy mine in 9MM.
9MM's hardly ever hurt anybody ... on 'either' end.

9mm Glocks go Kaboom also, just google Glcok KaBooms and read away

Thanks, Glocks are OFF my Christmas list.

Hey I've 3-4 Glocks for sale in the classifieds!

any bids

anyone?

no one?

Aw c'mon now ... You can still shoot your Glocks.

You just need to use some common sense is all, and take some precautions ...

If your right-handed, Shoot your Glock left-handed ... AND vice-versa.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

That way you can still live the rest of your life and be able to do some things like you used to ... if you still have one eye left.

...you are not going to endear yourself to any Glock fans with that one...but I must say that is the best solution to the Glock "problem" that I have ever read....

Bob

I note they said this was the first time the pistol had ever been shot. Hmmmmm.

Shooter must have been limp wristing it.

Or, just hand the Glock to the bad guy and tell him to shoot you.

Well in all the Glocks out there in the world today, the unfortunate mishaps are very very few and if you took the number or Glocks sold verses the mishaps reported, it would be lower than most in the industry.

I have seen Ruger single action pistols blow apart the cylinder and bend the back strap from a bad batch of ammo! Not once but twice and it was no fault of the gun.

Glocks get a bad rap from those who don't wish to own one or just believe everything they hear on at the Barber-Shop or on the internet talk forums. RELOADS not done properly can and will cause the pistol to explode!!! Now this is why GLOCK states not to shootr reloads in the first place. I know of NO GLOCK that has ever blown up from using Remington, Winchester or Federal ammo......FACT!

I reload our own ammo but make darn sure everything is loaded properly and re-check those loads going through my progressive press. Now in all these GLOCK pistol "blow-ups" I have never heard of the type of ammo that was used by various police deparments. I know for a fact they all use reloads and by the cheap ammo too, it fits into the departments budget better I guess.

Tonk,
You're right, they do shoot reloads, and I had a Glock Representative tell me that it WOULD NOT void the warranty. Also told me that limited shooting of lead bullets was not bad for their hardware either.

That fella always seemed to be talking out of both sides of his mouth to me.

Besides denial, your basis for this statement is ...?

I'd be willing to wager that there are more 1911's than Glock an a hell of a lot less KaBooms for the 1911

But I can promise you this, some Fiocchi ammo will make a Glock go Kabooom. Seen it happen, Glock 22. Don't get over-wrought because someone doesn't like Grocks, they're just another pistol. Uglier, and less ergonomic than others, maybe, but just another pistol.

Seems to me that in the past limp wristed had a different connotation.

Gee, I dunno. Glock claims to have made 2.5-million pistols. That would take 1911 production all the way to the year 1918. A few might have been made since then.

Well I was a wondering if the police had an armorer, and if the pistol had been shot, checked out, pissed on for good luck. I dunnow.
Assuming cops were using factory stuff.
Even factory stuff can be bad.

I have seen one have catastrophic failure on one occasion. The magazine shot out the bottom and the hand grip split doen the right side and pinched the offciers hand. It was a personally owned pistol and they were shooting ultrmax remanufactured ammo.

The shooter had no serious injury though his hand was sore where the grip expanded and then closed on the skin of his hand and i'm sure it stubg a bit.

It was faulty ammo. I have not seen one fail in similar manner (catastophic) in the nearly 2000 we have issued in the past 10 years.

I am suspicious of both Glocks and ammunition from small, obscure, lowest bidder manufacturers.

I might be interested 1akhunter. Send me a link to your sale. But they better be really cheap----if I've got to take a chance on one blowing up on me.

270

1911's have blown up plenty, glocks are excellent handguns.There are people that have shot their glocks 200,000 + rnds ,try that with a 1911.

You know of 1911's firing out of battery and the steel frame blowing up like the plastic Glock frame does? I would be interested in hearing of those incidents.

I'd love to hear of those as well...

I've been running Glocks for almost 17 years. I had a first generation 10mm. I have seen the result of one Glock KaBoom; a gun dealer at a local gun show had it on display right next to his dazzling array of 1911s. I'm not afraid to shoot Glocks, in fact, I rather enjoy it.

When I was young enjoyed setting off fire works, until one went off in my hand, wasn't as much fun when that happened

Yeah, then you learned not to hold the firecracker when lighting it.

No, John, there's nothing in those "kaBoom" stories that worries me.

The only reason I have never blown up a Glock is that I won't own one. I only blow up good guns...

Well Well Well! Only blow up good ones hey, now that is a crock of Bull Crap!!! I do own several makes of pistols from the Springfield, Kimber, Colt and Smith & Wessons. I have NEVER blown up one pistol in my entire 45 years of shooting pistols....must be a dumb arse to blow up a pistol.

Now I also own several GLOCKS and have become a Glock convert to the cause of what really works, not just looks great in the eyes of a collector. My CCW tools are GLOCKS....WHY you say, because they work everytime out the gate and will take far more abuse than most other pistols on the market and still function and shoot bullets down range, even those made of stainless my pistol shooters.

You want to see abuse of a pistol, then go to U-TUBE and watch those GLOCKS go through all sorts of tests and nobody's pistol can match the torture tests that those GlOCKS go through and still operate and shoot period.

I know people that regularly drive with excessive speed and have never had an accident, so I guess (useing your logic) that means that the National satistic that show excessive speed to be dangerous should be ignored?

I think shrapnel has blown up some guns. I seem to remember reading about some of his escapades in the Wolfe publications, if it's the same shrapnel.

Please sell me all your junkie Glocks! I will rid you of those dangerous junk things at a low discounted price due their low value! I have had 3 over the past 10-years and have not had one blow yet.

Thousands and thousands of guys have done that with 1911's. I've done it twice myself. In handgun competition the 1911 platform is the undisputed King. Glock guys say "2,000 rounds in six months with no problems". I've had days like that and I don't shoot much compared to lots of guys.

If you took every shooter in the US who shot as much as you say those gents do, they'd comfortably fit in a gymnasium.

It would only be comfortable until a Glock exploded.

25,000 rounds a year isn't even 500 per week. The guys that fit in a gymnasium will fire 500 rounds daily Monday thru Friday then have matches on the weekend.

I'm not arguing specific numbers. The type of shooter you're talking about is the equivilant of, and in some cases, is, an olympic shooter. They have no life outside of shooting. If not for the unarmed martial arts I'd be perfectly happy shooting like that. Of course, my wife would divorce me after about a month of that type of devotion to anything but her or our children, and I'm not sure even the kids would qualify for that kind of devotion. I'll tell you this; I don't believe a man who has children has any business shooting at the level you're talking about, even if he can afford it.

I'm not a huge Glock fan, but then again I've never owned one. I'm sure I will someday, probably a 40 S&W, if I happen to run into a good deal. Certianly wouldn't be worried about their reliability or strength. Any mechanical device can and will fail at some point. I've always been under the impression that the Glocks were the AK47's of the handgun world. And I mean that in a good way.

orion,
You might do a little research on the .40 S&W in the Glock platform before buying one. Of all the cartridges they are chambered for that is probably the most problematic.

Thanks for the heads up.

Don't think I've ever heard of a Hi-Point pistol Ka-Boom.

Just sayin' ...




__________________________________________________
Doing the easy thing isn't always right, but it's always smart.

Dang, I didn't realize I was being immoral. Oh well, back to more conventional pursuits like drinkin' and ho's.

Guys that shoot 100K rounds or more a year either make money at it or are trying to make money at it. Free ammo and paid to shoot, kinda like being a gunwriter without having to actually write anything. My point stands regarding "try that [200K rounds] with a 1911" - the guys that shoot that much overwhelmingly use 1911's.

I never put up those kinds of totals. There were years I reloaded around 50K rounds, but I would account for a half to two-thirds of the empties. Firing 25K rounds would cost me around $50 a week. That's not chicken feed, but it's a lot cheaper than a new bass boat.

Ouch, you're nasty.

I woulda left it at the Hi-Point being so much more svelte...

I've seen a 1911 blow. It was a 10MM with a standard feed ramp. The case ruptured, blew the magazine out of the bottom, split both grips, and sent pieces of brass into the shooter's face. Anything can have failures.

You're right. Glocks are different because factors in the design, intentionally used to enhance reliability, contribute to the frequency failures. I don't have anything against Glocks, but I jump into these threads to point out the problems with the Glock design are easy to avoid: Don't fire reloads, and if you do, replace the barrel. It's that easy. Consider it a public service announcement.

Buy a Ruger revolver and don't worry about it.

I will only use Glocks in 9 and 10mm. And only with factory ammunition or good commercial reloads.

I�m not talking about the money invested; I think once you get set up with a good progressive reloader you can save some money on ammo. I meant time away from the family. If you�re shooting 250K rounds per year, and carting your equipment back and forth, and getting set up, tuning your mags, tuning your gun, breaking down all your equipment, cleaning everything when you get home, dry-firing, position practice�.I think you�re taking ALL your time away from your kids.

Holly Crap Batman! I don't remember reading such dribble since the old 9mm vs 45ACP days. I have Smith 5904, Glock 19s, two of them and one saved my life. and my Colt 70 Gold Cup and Commander, and my USA made Springfield. My Smith is my house gun because of the three safeties, the Glock 19 has been my carry gun for 15 plus years and my 45 is my open carry gun when I want to say "stay the F away from me unless you want a big ass hole in your chest. My Glocks are stock except for better triggers professionally installed. I shoot reloads except for carry and that's for legal reasons. All my guns shoot lead but mostly XTP's and Gold Dots. I don't limp wrist my Glocks and I have never had a single malfunction.

Is it just Glocks or have other polymer frame gun come apart with some regularity? I notice the KAHRs have polygonal rifling which I understand the Glocks do to. The reason given for not using lead bullets in the Glocks is the the type of rifling they have and the lead build-up. This has been given as the reason for some "KA-BOOMS" when switching back to jacketed bullets.

But the frame didn't come apart in the shooters hands either, did it? I once saw a stainless S&W .40 semi-auto let loose from an over pressure round and it acted exactly as described. The magazine jetted out the bottom, the grips split, brass splashed back onto the shooter, but the frame held together and caused no injury to the shooter.

God gave you a spare hand in case one gets blown up, so might as well.

as i recall portland police had a couple "kaboom" issues. glock asked to inspect and replace these pistols and was told no way. they never even got to see what the problem may have been! i wonder what ppd was trying to keep out of the publics eye just to save face? i know glock has a parts replacement interval that allmost no one listens to. i wonder what would happen to my car if i didn't change the timing belt EVER? yep my oil's still slick after 75,000 miles. nope i don't own a glock. i have seen a few other mannufactures guns come apart however. if you make enough of a single product you're bound to have a couple issues with some. it dosn't what the product is. just my opinion

I have a very good friend who worked as a firearms instructor for the State of Georgia. He did almost all of the state's training in Forsyth.
I asked him that very question about the 40 S&W. He only commented that in his 5 years of traing, and 1,000s of rounds fired, he had never seen a problem.
He commented that some of the Glocks were there before he was, and had beed fired who knows how many times. He had seen hundred's of different Glock 40's on the range.
He also commented that during the coarse of a week that several officers may qualify with the same weapon. That weapon may go for 1000 - 1500 rounds before cleaning.
I am also aquainted with a gentlemen who shoots on a weely basis. He personally told me that he has over 23,000 rounds fired from his Glock 23. Never a problem.

I have some reservations about Glocks in anything bigger than a 9mm. I read the kaboom stories on the net as well.

I have 500 rounds through my 21. Just a drop in the bucket. But it has shot everyting I have fed it. And it has shot everthing surprisingly well.

GeorgiaBoy,
Others have documented problems from that particular cartridge in the Glock platform. My department had some issues with the G22. I dunno, some love 'em, some hate 'em.

I'm a real fan of a glock. I have other pistols including series 70 colts and a springfield 1911 built by armorer Jack Maples from the AMU.

I trust the glock more.

Glock torture test

http://www.theprepared.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90

I won't be a smartazz...must resist...fail.

"There's another one for ya".

JOG - you are a bad boy!

One failure to feed and thats all?
How many 1911's have had the same probs?

I always thought the "Glock torture test" was seeing how long you could stand to listen to a Glock-pologist blather on about their gun?

To be precise, one failure to feed and two kaBooms!

Which 1911 are you asking about? There have been dozens upon dozens of manufacturers and tens-of-millions made all over the world in a wide variety of chamberings, in everything from ultra-compacts to hi-cap wide-bodies, military and target models with everything in between. We have bull barrels or bushing, extractors moving around, different types of safeties, stainless steel, carbon steel, polymer, aluminum alloy, scandium, ramped and no-ramp barrels, and dozens of magazine designs.

To say 1911 in a generic terms makes as much sense as lumping a Glock in with a Jennings.

The Glock guy's go and on about how Glocks never jam an then when it is pointed out that Glocks acctualy do jam, they immediately jump to attack the 1911.

1911's have been very reliable for me for over 30 years

good for you. I carried a 1911 for years and it worked fine. I maintained it well and it worked. The glock on the other hand works well no matter what, maintanence or otherwise. choose what you will, I see glocks everywhere in use overseas, 1911's, hardly ever.

Who's apologising. Not me. I know what works, they both do. I've carried both and I prefer the Glock by a wide margin. Marginally trained troops can make the Glock work, can't say the same for the 1911.

That is the only advantage, buton the other hand the Glock have moe AD than any other pistol. A deputy's Glock in his glove box fired when the officer was involved in a traffic accident. A pencil found it's way in the rigger guard and caused the weapon to fire. That would not have happened with a cocked and locked 1911 because of the thumb safety and the grip safety

But, but, but they call it a SAFE ACTION pistol! It has 3 safeties (that are all deactivated when the trigger is pulled [or pencilled?]).

Aren't they on their third firing pin design to try to stop them from blowing up?

And the danged cheap piece of tupperware has the ergomonics of a brick - ya'll can have my share of 'em. :P

You guys win. Glocks suck and 1911's rule. I guess that's why all the "real professionals" in the the US carry the 1911, and the rest of us carry glocks because we like exploding,self firing junk guns.

Gazillions of rounds fired by Glock shooters that have never had any problems. Gazillions of rounds fired by 1911's (or whatever) by other shooters that never had any problems. There are incidents of failure in each and every one of them.

Incredible how it always comes down to one group having to figure out a way to lob disparaging remarks at another.

If I had to concede anything about Glocks it'd be their use of the term "Perfection". Pretty haughty, inaccurate applied to anything created by man, probably rubs some the wrong way enough to lash out a bit. That ninja types are often associated with the make probably doesn't help either. Not to say some of the uber-customized 1911 crowd can't get pretty full of themselves either.

Carry what you want and be as responsible as you can about it.

If Glock didn't constantly claim "Perfection" and so many people didn't swallow the myth, it wouldn't be so much fun to tweak them with the documented failures.

A good 1911 needs no hype.

+1..................

Don't hate them personally, just don't want one and, yeah, I think it's pretty silly to think that a plastics engineer could design the "Perfect" handgun when real gun designers have been pursueing that Holy Grail for centuries.

Oh and then there are all those AD's from the "Safe Action," too much marketing hype for me.

Ummmmmmmm you don't say! Well, I just happened to be in Oaky land not long ago with dogs and ran into several of those people who praise their Glock pistols. I myself hate with a passion Poly or Plastic on cars and especially guns of any kind.

Nonetheless, GLOCK has shown me the light of day and they are as good as the old Timex watch I used to wear. It just kept on ticking no matter what it had to go through. It was extremely dependable, I had that wind up watch for over 10 years. Never a problem!

GLOCKS are in the same dependability class bare-none guy! NO other pistol out there can take the abuse of a Glock and still keep on firing. You can check out the U-TUBE video's of people putting Glocks though those torture tests.

I can only say, I don't like their looks, Plum Ugly savvy but they are a pistol I can bet my life on in a tight situation and when pulling that trigger those GLOCKS have NEVER failed to go BOOM!!! This by far is the most important issue when should think about in a Self-Defense weapon...tight groups are nice but I don't need a 1-moa at 25 or 50 yards in a self-defense situation. I need a weapon that will in fact go BOOM BOOM BOOM when I pull that trigger!

A sensible perspective!

I've carried a 1911 in 45 ACP under the seat of my truck for many years the gun will get covered with dust and is not maintained and it always goes gang no mater what ammo I feed it. I shoot and shoot it before it is ever cleaned in fact it will litterely be fillthy from powder residue before it is cleaned and it still always works.

Glocks do not have the corner on reliability

If frequency or commonality of use - overseas or otherwise - was the indicator of what is best, we should probably all be packin' Beretta pistols or maybe Makarovs and AK47's.

Government contracts (including local governments) might reflect what is economically prudent (or not). They might reflect what is politically acceptable. But that's a poor way to judge what is best for individuals or even best overall. What works passably in third-world conditions doesn't necessarily translate to the best choice for individuals in a "civilized" setting. Same goes for what works best for "organizational" purposes.

But if that's your criteria for picking your personal arms, it probably won't hurt you.

Some of the design issues that make Glocks so reliable also contribute to the Kabooms. With all these pages, no one has spoke of the actual issues involved.

Glocks have a HUGE chamber that is not supported. When you add in extremely high chamber pressures of the 9mm and the 40 S& W to the fact that the chamber is not fully supported, you indeed will have issues with bulged-weakened brass wanting to explode in an unsuported chamber.

I do reload for my two Glocks, jacketed bullets. I buy once fired brass from police ranges. It is obvious that the brass that has been fired from Glocks have a bulge in the brass in front of the web. If this brass were to be fired with a hot load, you indeed have the makings of a KaBoom.

Since the brass that I reload has a bulge in it to begin with, it is obvious that I should use a replacement barrel that has a fully supported chamber...I had rather be safe than sorry.

I shoot IDPA matches, and it is surprising how few shooters reload anymore. If more shooters reloaded for their glocks, then you would see a frequency rate perhaps 3x it's current rate of Kabooms....all due to to the huge unsuported chambers with brass previously shot out of another glock.

Send all your glocks to me.

I will take those dangerous firearms off your hands free of charge.

I carry a glock on a daily basis. They are the most widely used firearm by police both federal and local!

Never had a problem with mine. Esox3006

Numerous Glocks have KaBoomed with factory ammo. I am personally aware of two which occurred on LE ranges with issued factory .40 ammo; and another 10mm that let go on the first round of a reload we had been using by the hundreds in Colt Deltas. (Knowing Glock would howl "It's the ammo!" I personally fired the rest of that box of 10mm through a Colt Delta Elite.) I am aware, via NCIC bulletins, of literally dozens of other LE Glocks cracking up over a ten year period and the vast majority of them were being fired with factory loads at the time.

Then, the reports just sorta tapered off into nothing. Why? I have long contended that Glock, who will never admit there was a chamber-support problem in the first place, made subtle changes to mitigate this problem. You take a look and decide for yourself. The LWD barrel is an aftermarket barrel.



When reloading the .40 S&W, you have to assume that any brass you pick up may have been through one of the sloppy chambers. I use range pick-ups exclusively and I keep the velocity of my reloads down around 800 fps to account for it. They feed, function and shoot just fine; and I never worry about blowing a casehead.

The older G23 barrel came in my wife's police trade-in. I didn't like the looks of it and I replaced her barrel with the Lone Wolf barrel, at right.

I doubt I tried to tell you whats best for you where you live/work/play, or even what is politically prudent or wtf ever. I mention what I see and use and trust. What ever you use in your small world that doesn't include what I choose to carry, good for you. Stay there, it's probably where you belong anyway.

If I ever aquire one by accident, I'll do just that..

First, rgrx, if you're serving in our military - thanks for that.

It's funny that you say my world is small...really funny. My comment, unlike yours, wasn't meant as a personal attack on you or your preferred handgun. I just stated my opinion of what you seemed to be applying as a measurement of acceptability or supremacy for all. Note that I did not say your standard was in any way inferior or dangerous - just that it doesn't apply to everyone.

You may have noticed that I like to tweak the Glockophiles around here from time to time. Doesn't mean anything to anybody, except those who take themselves and Glock's marketing strategy too seriously. If Glock (the company) wasn't spewing so much hype all the time, it wouldn't even be fun.

The fact is - as I think you more-or-less acknowledged - that the Glock is a pistol "for the masses". It is easy to train a large number of people in a limited time to use it well. It has certain features that have been determined to look good in court. It is relatively inexpensive to operate and maintain, and can be obtained at a relatively good price.

All that is why I said it makes sense for large organizations and/or third-world use. That doesn't mean I think it's a "bad" pistol or that I think anyone who uses one is making a mistake. All it means is that I don't believe basing your opinion of an object's "perfection" solely on the criteria of who uses it and where and how often is necessarily a good idea - unless you are in the same or similar situation as those you use as an example.

As FreeMe has stated, he does get a bit of a kick out of tweakin' us Glock guys..........

He and I ran head long into each other when I first joined this forum and it was in regards to this very same subject, albeit, I don't think that I was quite as Glock loyal as you in my remarks. That's not to say that I don't feel strongly positive about Glocks as well.....

But as our "conversation" matured (), we came to an understanding of sorts. From that point forward to this day, I've learned a great deal from FreeMe's posts and have come to better understand his "approach" to things.

Maybe nobodies opinions really matter as has been said, but if I can learn even a little bit from each post or thread......I'm in.

As FreeMe genuinely stated......thanks for your service.

Good luck............

First, I am no longer serving in the military, I left after a deployment to Iraq in 05-06. With almost 5 years in Iraq, I'm now employed in Afghanistan.

In one type of military service or another I've carried the M-1911, Beretta M-9, Glock-19 and the SW Sigma 9MM. I believe I am qualified as any to state an opinion with some real world experience to back up my words. All of these guns work and work well with the one exception being the SW Sigma. All it's good for is teaching malfunction drills.

Glocks are not my preferred weapon system, and neither is a 1911, but when I read how poor a pistol the Glock supposedly is , it's tough for me to be quiet. I've seen the Glock take a lot of abuse by some poorly trained troops, and still work. I've shot thousands of rounds thru a glock without cleaning, and it still worked.I like the 1911 and I have a pair including one built by Jack Maples at the AMU, and a worked over series 70 colt.They are both fine pistols, but I don't think they are the "greatest" design of all time, and I doubt that they would stand the abuse that a Glock can.

I try to limit my comments on what I have observed, or the experience that I have. If it doesn't jibe with what most of the 1911 "experts" tell me, well what can I say.

My guess is when you made a response to my earlier post you took it upon yourself to take a jab at my experience, so I responded in kind.

Glock lover or no, you can't be all bad if you're also a Doberman Pinscher lover.

Good one. I love the breed, is there any better dog ? Smart, good natured, and loved my kids as much as I do.
Thanks.

Glocks work.

I love 1911s and when you find one that runs they are about as "shootable" as a handgun can be, IMO. That being said, there is an entire industry of gunsmiths & partsmakers who specialize in making 1911s reliable. Glocks are reliable as-issued, no "break in", no feed ramp & throat work, no spring kits, no aftermarket mags. I've fired tens of thousands of rounds though both designs and have witnessed far more.

Since we're exchanging anecdotal evidence, I've yet to see a glock "blow" but I've been in classes where numerous handguns repeatedly had reliablity issues while all of the glocks (19s), Sigs, and HKs continued to "run".

I love 1911s & own several but I trust my life to Glocks. I guess I'll take my chances with the "ka boom" that I've never seen versus the lack of reliabilty that I have seen. Feel free to carry whatever you choose.