Glock 29, failure to fire, analysis of the problem

[CCWFacts]

I was shooting S&B 10mm in my Glock 29 today. I experienced quite a few failures, several failures of the slide to lock back, and worst of all, one primer strike that went "click" instead of "bang".

The Glock 29 is just a few years old, in perfect condition, not dry, no modifications other than Trijicon sights. This is with the standard Glock magazine.

I was most concerned about the primer strike. As is the standard procedure, I kept it pointed down range for 30 seconds and then cautiously ejected the round.

I carefully looked at it, and there was a full deep strike in the primer, but it didn't go off.

I don't remember ever having any similar problems with any other kind of ammo in this gun.

I did some searches and see quite a lot of complaints about S&B's quality and hard primers.

Any opinions on this? I'm going to try this same ammo in my other 10mm (Delta Elite) and see if it's any different. I have a feeling that conventional hammer guns may have a stronger strike than striker guns and so this ammo may be better for the Delta Elite.

EDIT for future views of this thread: I initially thought this was the fault of S&B ammo but I'm quite sure that's not the case, so I edited the title of this thread to reflect that.

[LEAD LAUNCHER]

Hmm... havent tried 10mm caliber but I like s&B ammo and have used it quite a bit in other calibers and never an issue.

[logix1229]

damn, i just bought a glock 20 and it's my first 10mm gun. I also just bought a bunch of S&B ammo for it as well...hopefully you just got a bad batch...i haven't shot it yet so i'm really curious now to see what happens when i get a chance to get out and shoot.

just as a side note - i've shot plenty of the 9mm s&b and never had issues with the g19 so...fingers crossed. haha

[naz]

[CCWFacts]

That's what I'm thinking. I have a whole lot of this ammo, so hopefully it will work well in the Delta Elite.

damn, i just bought a glock 20 and it's my first 10mm gun. I also just bought a bunch of S&B ammo for it as well...hopefully you just got a bad batch...i haven't shot it yet so i'm really curious now to see what happens when i get a chance to get out and shoot.

I'll post updates as I try it out. I also have a lot of it, as I ordered it before the new ammo restrictions came in.

I don't think a well-maintained unmodified Glock with a low round count should have any problems, so this must be the ammo.

[omega]

I hear more complaints about WWB ammo than S&B

Ive never had a bad experience with either brand

try another box, maybe it was just that one box of ammo

[Joust]

I was shooting S&B 10mm in my Glock 29 today. I experienced quite a few failures, several failures of the slide to lock back, and worst of all, one primer strike that went "click" instead of "bang".



The Glock 29 is just a few years old, in perfect condition, not dry, no modifications other than Trijicon sights. This is with the standard Glock magazine.



I was most concerned about the primer strike. As is the standard procedure, I kept it pointed down range for 30 seconds and then cautiously ejected the round.



I carefully looked at it, and there was a full deep strike in the primer, but it didn't go off.



I don't remember ever having any similar problems with any other kind of ammo in this gun.



I did some searches and see quite a lot of complaints about S&B's quality and hard primers.



Any opinions on this? I'm going to try this same ammo in my other 10mm (Delta Elite) and see if it's any different. I have a feeling that conventional hammer guns may have a stronger strike than striker guns and so this ammo may be better for the Delta Elite.

[ThatFishGuy]

But...but... I thought Glocks were perfection??? Haha sorry I couldn't resist. On a serious note, S&B ammo has always been consistently good for me in various calibers. Yes their primers can be a touch harder than some other brands, but nothing that should be causing malfunctions. You may want to double check that there isn't an instruction/dirt in the striker channel just to be sure. It's entirely possible it was a bad primer too, it's not super common but it does happen. How much experience do you have behind the trigger of that gun? The slidelock failures can be user induced under recoil depending on your hand position, or it can be as simple as the gun doesn't like that ammo. Did the gun ever have the issues before?

[CCWFacts]

Has sufficient oil.

Just that. Got to the last round in the magazine and the slide didn't lock. That, plus failures to feed, indicate low power.

Did you try other ammo and not have this issue?

I can't remember anything like this happening with any other ammo.

I'll try other ammo. I think this must be a bad batch. The gun has about 1000 rounds through it, no mods (other than sights) and is clean and oiled.

Yup. Delta Elite, let's see what happens.

Slide feels perfect, the classic Glock smooth plasticky feeling. I have shot lots and lots of Glocks.

[Citadelgrad87]

I bought some Greek HXP 9mm many years ago, it is brass cased and was super cheap. I bought it from Ammoman before all the nonsense. Back when you had to call them to order.

He said it had hard primers and wouldnt work reliably in Glocks. Someone above said S and B also has hard primers.

Try it in the delta and let us know, but that is my guess.

[crufflers]

I think the last 10mm range ammo I bought was that newer S&B FMJ... IIRC, I have not shot any of it yet, just canned it.

I'll take some next time I got to the range.

I've shot a ton of the Herter's 9mm and S&B label 5.56 and 9mm... do not recall any issues. I prefer the 9mm because the boxes with the plastic trays are way smaller than many brands 9mm... can store a lot more boxes in a range bag.

[mausercat]

I have not shot this ammo in my model 20, but I have used it my RIA long slide 10mm that I built up using a 38 super pistol and a 10mm 6 inch slide. The SB worked well, I had no problems with it.

[baranski]

My G29 has had zero issues with the S&B

A strike with no bang could just be a bad primer, try it again, if no bang, pull it and see what you find inside.


Mark the mags with some tape or something and see if one is bad, sometimes I see the follower in the G29 mags tilting nose down and thus not activating the slide lock.

[JTROKS]

I’ve experienced more light strikes with S&B ammo than any other brand. I’m thinking their primers are the hardest out of all Pistol ammo manufacturers. Seen it happened with several Glocks that had old striker spring or reduced striker spring and the gun was dirty. Hey it’s a Glock it doesn’t require cleaning... it’s bad when you don’t clean your gun and then try lubing it at the range. You get all that carbon fouling and dirt seeping into the striker tunnel. Had an XD fail to fire S&B 9mm ammo, gun was dirty. Had a 1911 fail to fire it also, the gun had a decrease power main spring and titanium firing pin with a very heavy firing pin spring. Several revolvers failed also and the culprit is.... hammer spring strain screw was set light on the spring. Just because your gun worked with Federal ammo doesn’t mean it’s 100% reliable on all types of ammo.

[AFTII]

OP, how long have you had the ammo and how is it stored? What you are describing sounds like a contamination or heat degradation issue. Weak primers will give poor ignition, and hence low power loads. Dead primers = duds.

The storage problem could have even predated your purchase. But, that is why it is always recommended that you store powder, primers and loaded ammo in a cool dry environment.