Originally Posted by fullauto01
We used to see this quite a bit in IDPA matches and practices. Smaller/lighter stature shooters (more frequently women that didn't have upper body mass) would end up with a malfunction every shot when shooting around a barricade or from an unusual position where they couldn't lean their entire body into the pistol with locked elbows in an isosceles stance. These were very accomplished shooters that could shoot very well when they could get their entire body behind the pistol, so they were very unhappy. As it turns out, the Glock pistol frame actually flexes when cycling and requires resistance to allow the slide to cycle its full length. Most of these shooters switched to steel frame 1911's to solve the problem until the S&W M&P came out. Eventually many of them switched to the M&P and had no problems no matter what the position. The difference is that the Glock has those separate small metal rail inserts molded in the frame whereas the S&W M&P has a full length metal insert for all four rails which keeps the frame stiff during cycling and prevents the frame from flexing. Over the past several years other makers have started producing similar pistols with full length metal inserts (such as the SIG 320 and 365 and 365XL series) and the problem has pretty much disappeared amongst the more practiced shooters. The fact that you could put a hard hold on the pistol and didn't have a malfunction suggests this is probably the issue, not the ammo. I would suggest she try to borrow or rent a S&W M&P (or a SIG 320 or 365XL) and see if the problem disappears using the same ammo she was previously shooting. I have shot/carried Glocks for 30+ years now and I love them, but technology has moved on and I think some of the new offerings are a better mousetrap. I am especially impressed with the SIG 365XL and a Holosun 507K red dot installed on top. Hope this helps!


Thanks, that’s a lot of of information. That helps me understand, not sure what to do to help her. She doesn’t have a lot of money so buying another pistol might not be an option.

Are you Glock guys able to fire yours with one hand without problems?