Glock has introduced a new ejector for some of their handguns, including the Gen 4 9mm pistols. The modified ejector is supposed to fix some of the reliability problems that have plagued the Glock Gen 4 from its introduction – problems which Glock devotees have steadfastly refused to admit the existence of.
Interestingly enough, Mike Pannone (who, coincidentally, wrote a handbook about Glocks), worked on Gen 3 .40 caliber Glock issues way back in 2007. Either with the use of a 9mm trigger pack or tweaking the ejector about 1mm towards the center axis of the bore, ejection issues went away.
He says…
“The cases never hit or barely contact the ejector. The ejection problem is due to the case not making contact with the ejector especially if it is the last round or there is no magazine in the well. The round in the magazine keeps the case from dropping down and failing to make contact with the ejector. I have several Glocks that with the magazine removed the expended case will not eject and will fall out through the magazine well. With certain magazines, ejection is weak as noted in your video.
…
The problem with a 9mm trigger housing in a 40 is that on some guns it will eject straight back into your forehead. I messed around with bending the ejector just slightly and it actually worked the best on a stock 22. The forehead thing is not every time but once every so often…but it can sting and without glasses…well, you get it.”
Here’s the video he mentions.
I am convinced this is 50% of the issue with Steyr M & S series pistols in 9mm also. I believe they used the same ejector and extractor (the other 50%) for both the .40 and 9mm versions.
The .40’s work great. The Steyr (unlike the Glock) was designed to shoot .40.
The 9mm version has widespread reliability issues. Part of this is down to the poor extractor tension on the 9mm casing, which can be rectified somewhat by adding a stiffer spring and removing a bit of material from the extractor to give it more bite. Steyr USA was kind enough to send me several spare extractors, and I was able to work out a geometry that worked better.
The ejector, I haven’t found a solution for. There is an obvious difference in ejection with and without a magazine inserted, and also a difference in ejection with rounds in the inserted magazine and with an empty magazine inserted. It’s clear that loaded magazines are actually assisting in the ejection somewhat. I don’t have the skills to make a new ejector and given the way it’s pinned to the subframe, there isn’t any adjustability to be achieved that I can figure out.
I say this having worked on two different Steyr M9-A1’s and having brought them to near reliability with my shadetree armoring. They’re fun range toys, but only if you’re willing to file some metal.
I’m there with you. I’m on the Steyrclub and have owned 4 Steyrs. Plagued with FTEject issues that even with which a few newer gens have issues.
It’s hit or miss. However, a stronger spring has helped.
I still love Steyrs, but shoot and own a Glock 31 and use all forms of Glocks in competition.
Oops, I should say, “I run Glocks in competition”. Because that would make me sound more tactical.
Woah, woah, hang on a second. So which models/gens have the extraction issues? Gen 4 9mms? Gen 4 40s? And are Gen 3 9mm/40s better off? I’m actually going through a crisis right now and I’ve decided to migrate my glocks all to 9mm from 40 and I was actually planning to go to the Gen 3s and not the Gen4s.
Is bending an extractor 1mm in really enough to grab better? But at the cost of getting hit in the face/head with the case? I didn’t think you could bend those things…not that I’m going to try.
I think Andrew has adequately documented the issues with the gen 4 model 19 in a video he made a while back. The gen 3 model 22 is another story. I’ve heard/read/experienced issues with this model (I carry one at work) involving weak magazine springs and bad feed lips. Also the recoil assemblies tend to wear out sooner than the 9mm counterparts. With good mags and a good recoil assembly the model 22 is a fine reliable pistol and I trust my life to one daily. The gen 4 model 19 is not a firearm that I would ever trust. I owned one for a few months and it was possibly the most malfunction prone gun I’ve fired, with the possible exception of a high point 9mm.
As far as I know, and I think Andrew will agree, the gen 3 9mm guns tend to function reliably. More so than the gen 4 9mms do anyway.
This is why I have only purchased Gen 3 9mm Glocks. I do like the grip texture and mag release for the generation 4, but I just couldn’t trust them. hopefully they get this completely ironed out.
“problems which Glock devotees have steadfastly refused to admit the existence of.”
Ain’t that the truth!
I’m always tempted to give Glock a try though I really don’t like the grip angle. Just to have a handgun I truly do not care about. But then I recall all the Glocks I’ve seen malfunction in competition…
All guns malfunction, period. The 9x19mm Glock pistols, at least until the 4th Generation, were the most consistently reliable pistols one could buy. Why Glock went and screwed up a good thing, I’ll never know. It probably has something to due with not listening to their customers, at all. Even HK listens occasionally.
Thanks for this info! I can also confirm that my Gen 4 Glock 30 SF in .45 also appears to suffer from that forehead ejection issue with a very weak and erratic ejection most other times. I’ve only put about 300 rounds thru it so far but have luckily not yet experienced a jam. My girlfriend’s Glock 26 has similar issues with ejection, but not nearly as severe as with my .45. Either way, an improved ejector from Glock would be a most welcome fix!
I’ve owned a Gen 4 23 (.40) and 35 for nearly two years. I shoot the 35 in competition and the only malfunctions I’ve experienced were user error. The Gen 4 40s I’ve got work just fine after thousands of rounds.
Gen 4 40s are pretty decent.
I’ve been harping on the lack of extractor tension for years. If you remove their magazine and then fire a round, even 2nd and 3rd Generation Glocks will eject like an Ithaca M37.
Thanks for all the info! I have been shooting a G3 22 for a few years now and with it in “normal” configuration it has zero ejection issues. I say normal because after the first 1500 rounds or so I purchased a conversion barrel and a few 9mm mags so I could keep costs down while practice shooting.
Now with the conversion barrel and shooting lower power 9mm stuff there have been a couple of ejection issues but even those seem to limited to shooting WPA (wolf) 9mm. The Federal purple box 9mm from Walmart seems to cycle/eject in the converted G22 fine. (So maybe its a steel case issue. I have opted to not shoot steel case anymore).
Now, when the gun is in night stand mode next to my girlfriends XD9 it’s got the stock .40 barrel and .40 mags.
Again, thanks for the info.
i have a glock 26 gen 4,people tell me my problems with extration comes from not gripping strongly enough.i can hold my on with most men on a grip contest.and beat most of them.i have a hard time accepting a limp wrist scenario .i’m sending it to a dealer gunsmith,with mags.