Glock 19 + HS507C not going into battery (locking NOT on empty)

[mej16489]

The follower combined with your specific cartridge is likely tolerance-stacking enough to occasionally engage the slide stop.

Inspect the followers in all your mags and see if you can narrow it down to a specific revision of follower. Glock went through a ton of different follower profiles for 9mm in the last decade.

[rodralig]

UPDATE: Many apologies for the late response. I was out the entire weekend for some tactical/defensive handgun class... And again, winning myself a 2-day FREE class credit worth $525 for winning the man-on-man...

Anyways...

Slide stop is hitting your thumb in recoil.
You don't get it with 115's because the gun recoils less with 115's.

Have someone take a high speed video with their phone and you should be able to see it happen.

Not factory ammo.
People that reload heavier bullets do so to get to minimum power factor for competition but factory ammo is loaded to full power so it recoils more.

A simple test to prove that your thumb is hitting the slide stop is to REMOVE the slide stop and shoot a couple magazines.
The problem should disappear as the slide stop disappears.

That's the proof that the slide stop is being actuated since there is nothing inside the gun that can actuate the slide stop until the magazine is empty.
Therefore, the only thing that can actuate the slide stop is going to be something outside the gun and the only thing near the slide stop is usually your thumb.

After work, I headed out to the range with a table tripod and iPhone in hand and did some slow-mo videos...


(* NOTE *) Although I slowed down the footage from 240fps - it looks like that it somehow sped up once uploaded to YouTube. One will need to slow down YouTube to 0.25x...



First shot and immediately reproduced the issue! Albeit, succeeding shots were fine! (I was consciously flagging my thumbs so they do not contact the slide, etc.)




Then, as @Randall had suggested, I went for support hand only shooting. No issues at all...




Lastly - I went for a more "natural" grip not focusing on accuracy (say, what is needed for confirming zero). No issues at all!




I mentioned this problem to the owner of the range. He suggests checking out the locking block pin - he says that he encountered similar issues with their Glock rentals with finding the culprit to be a bent pin. Hhhhmmm...



This makes absolute sense...


... That said, this got me thinking more... Maybe it is because of my grip compounded by the extended slide stop lever (the one from the G34)...? My other Glock pistols have the standard (flat) one, even on my G34. The only reason I have this on the G19 is that my wife also shoots this and she prefers the extended one as it faciliates her from locking the slide, etc.

Anyways - next up is for me to first replace the slide stop lever with a standard one, and again head back to the range to check.

The follower combined with your specific cartridge is likely tolerance-stacking enough to occasionally engage the slide stop.

Inspect the followers in all your mags and see if you can narrow it down to a specific revision of follower. Glock went through a ton of different follower profiles for 9mm in the last decade.

I noticed that the followers between the CA-cap and Free State-cap magazines are different. Anyways, I started checking online for the orange followers.


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[Dr. Peter Venkman]

The base of your palm/thumb appears to be right where the slide stop is. If you're not able to replicate the issue using different grip techniques or shooting support side that should be able to quickly narrow down the problem. If the problem persists, then you can move on to the next variable.

[rodralig]

The base of your palm/thumb appears to be right where the slide stop is. If you're not able to replicate the issue using different grip techniques or shooting support side that should be able to quickly narrow down the problem. If the problem persists, then you can move on to the next variable.

Agreed.

I will be replacing the slide stop lever with the 'standard' one and see if it helps regardless of my grip. Planning to do so after work today.


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[bohoki]

shooting left handed will remove accidental thumb activation of slide stop its just a shame to waste defense ammo on testing maybe you could find some fmj 147

[rodralig]

shooting left handed will remove accidental thumb activation of slide stop its just a shame to waste defense ammo on testing maybe you could find some fmj 147

I have only used about 10 Speers on this troubleshooting for the two days (I have about 500-rds of Speers in my inventory). The rest was with range 147 which is mostly when it happens.


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[ar15barrels]

First shot and immediately reproduced the issue! Albeit, succeeding shots were fine! (I was consciously flagging my thumbs so they do not contact the slide, etc.)

Then, as @Randall had suggested, I went for support hand only shooting. No issues at all...

Every once in a while, those guys with 20yrs of competitive shooting experience actually know what they are talking about.

The high speed video shows how your thumbs are whipping around way more than you probably thought possible during recoil so it's plain to see how they might snag on the extended slide stop.
The standard slide stop will probably fix your problem if you don't have the problem with your other glocks that have a standard slide stop.

[hermosabeach]

I found that heavier bullets work better with the extra RMR weight
124 or 147

115 caused the slide to not lock up unless the Glock was well oiled.

This was a great thread to read

[003]

Assuming you shoot right handed, where is your right thumb during recoil.

Change your grip a bit to insure your thumb is not hitting the slide release during recoil.

[rodralig]

Every once in a while, those guys with 20yrs of competitive shooting experience actually know what they are talking about.

I would have to say more than once in a while. Thanks again @Randall.

The high speed video shows how your thumbs are whipping around way more than you probably thought possible during recoil so it's plain to see how they might snag on the extended slide stop.
The standard slide stop will probably fix your problem if you don't have the problem with your other glocks that have a standard slide stop.

I would agree with that - I think I have a "training scar" from my grip that interferes with the extended slide stop. I replaced it - and it was ISSUE FREE across all bullet weights (115, 124, 147) and types (FMJ, JHP).




... Have been carrying here in AZ for about a week now.

I found that heavier bullets work better with the extra RMR weight
124 or 147

115 caused the slide to not lock up unless the Glock was well oiled.

Interesting! I am usually issue free with 115GR with my G19.

Assuming you shoot right handed, where is your right thumb during recoil.

Change your grip a bit to insure your thumb is not hitting the slide release during recoil.

No need to re-train. As mentioned above - I simply switched to a standard slide stop like all my other Glocks. It is now issue free.

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