A first timer's experience with his new Glock 19

[Schrodinger's Cat]

Well I finally went and bought myself my first handgun. (Glock 19) Picked it up last week and fired it for the first time yesterday. It was a pretty humbling experience. Out of 100 shots it malfunctioned at least 15 times, presumably due to me limp wristing it (the slide would close half way on the new round not fully chambered). It also fully failed to strip a new round a couple times and the slide didn't lock back on an empty mag twice. I was using Remington UMC.

I was able to prevent the malfunctioning, but the tight grip caused me to flinch and hit several inches low at 7 yards. Loosening up the grip a bit and my aim was dead on but usually resulted in a malfunction. I was a bit surprised to be honest, because I didn't think I was holding the gun all that loosely. I also might have been a bit nervous....there were guys to the left and to the right of me with the same gun shooting very well :/

Just thought I'd share this, and if you have any tips I'd love to hear! My big problem seems to be keeping a tight enough grip while at the same time maintaining enough grace in the trigger pull to not pull the end of the gun down.

[gant]

dont get too down on yourself, this is your first handgun so dont expect to be shooting really good out the bat

i rarely hear of glocks malfunctioning (not that it might not happen) but especially not on a new g19, ive shot the g19, g21, g22 , and g34 and none gave me any problems

are you shooting indoor or outdoor? im a realitive new shooter and all i do is shoot indoor and this past time around at the range i doubled up on ear protection i used ear plugs PLUS ear muffs and i notice i had zero flinch and shooting the gun was more enjoyable!, it really really helped me with my flinch

[sammy]

You need someone to work with you. Where are you located?

[MA2]

How is your grip? thumbs forward grip?

[RollingCode3]

Well I finally went and bought myself my first handgun. (Glock 19) Picked it up last week and fired it for the first time yesterday. It was a pretty humbling experience. Out of 100 shots it malfunctioned at least 15 times, presumably due to me limp wristing it (the slide would close half way on the new round not fully chambered). It also fully failed to strip a new round a couple times and the slide didn't lock back on an empty mag twice. I was using Remington UMC.

I was able to prevent the malfunctioning, but the tight grip caused me to flinch and hit several inches low at 7 yards. Loosening up the grip a bit and my aim was dead on but usually resulted in a malfunction. I was a bit surprised to be honest, because I didn't think I was holding the gun all that loosely. I also might have been a bit nervous....there were guys to the left and to the right of me with the same gun shooting very well :/

Just thought I'd share this, and if you have any tips I'd love to hear! My big problem seems to be keeping a tight enough grip while at the same time maintaining enough grace in the trigger pull to not pull the end of the gun down.

I highly recommend you sign up for a basic handgun course at your local range.

[Oceanbob]

Remington is very weak, under powered ammo. Crap really. Switch to Winchester White Box and your problems will go away.

What happens with weak ammo is the slide can't do its job. It needs a powerful round to run backwards to the end and forward with authority.

Weak ammo causes misfeeds and other issues.

Install a 4.5 (sometimes called the 3.5) connector, to lighten the trigger a bit and grip the weapon a bit harder.

Also, if you're going to use this weapon for self defense, buy a couple of boxes of (for example) COR-BON 9MM. Since this is the good stuff (not weak range ammo) run an entire box to see how it feeds. I am sure the GLOCK 19 will run 100% with self-defense ammo. Then keep a magazine of this hot stuff at the ready for serious work.

Just today I ran several hundred rounds thru my FrankenGlock 19. A weapon I built from spare parts...I had some trouble with some out of country ammo (hard primers causing light strike misfires)....switched to WWB and ran 300 rounds at 100%.

Also, a new gun needs to run and loosen up a bit. Don't focus on a 2 inch group just yet. Just focus on holding the weapon with authority (all weapons with slides need a counter-force to function properly).

Clean that weapon, lube very little on the frame rail guides only. Hold it like a man who is angry and she will spit out those 9MM pills all day.

Be well, Bob

[Oceanbob]

I highly recommend you sign up for a basic handgun course at your local range.

Damn good advice..^^^

[tbhracing]

Switch to Winchester White Box and your problems will go away.

I own both the G17 and G19. The only problems they EVER had was with WWB. That stuff is crap, pass.

[Lovin]

Do not alter the pistol. Get instruction.

[Ron-Solo]

Do not alter the pistol. Get instruction.

Best Advice ^

Did you clean it first? My son's G19 was full of gummy grease that clogged up the chamber and didn't seat rounds properly. A good cleaning job made all the difference.

Use good ammo too. I've never had an issue with Winchester ammo from Walmart. I have had some bad UMC ammo.

[Schrodinger's Cat]

I'm back and forth between Yolo and Contra Costa counties. I'll try some Wal Mart ammo next time and see what happens. I feel like I got hosed on the Remington UMC, it was the cheapest thing Big 5 in Davis had and it was $15.99 for a box. And the Glock was right out of the box, I didn't do a thing to it except practice field stripping and reassembling it several times over the week that I had it before I shot it.

Looking inside the slide, I see some brass shavings. More like dust really. Is that normal? I'll clean it and try a little bit of grease before I go out next time.

[PandaLuv]

I'm back and forth between Yolo and Contra Costa counties. I'll try some Wal Mart ammo next time and see what happens. I feel like I got hosed on the Remington UMC, it was the cheapest thing Big 5 in Davis had and it was $15.99 for a box. And the Glock was right out of the box, I didn't do a thing to it except practice field stripping and reassembling it several times over the week that I had it before I shot it.

Looking inside the slide, I see some brass shavings. More like dust really. Is that normal? I'll clean it and try a little bit of grease before I go out next time.

Send Sammy a PM, he will show the basics. He's a great teacher.

Since you have a glock 19, it's a simple platform and the caliber is just sweet.

Welcome to the club

[jpm804]

Sorry to hear you are having some trouble with your glock and sounds like the ammo.

I just got my glock 19 (first handgun also) around 2 weeks ago also and put 300 rounds through it with no major issues. I was using the Walmart federal ammo which I heard sometimes has some issues but haven't had any...

Love the gun so far (minus the sights) and still getting use to it for sure.. Hope you figure out your issue and hope its not the gun.

[Safety1st]

Looking inside the slide, I see some brass shavings. More like dust really. Is that normal? I'll clean it and try a little bit of grease before I go out next time.

Thats copper based anti-seize compound. All new Glocks come with it. Clean it off, leave it on, doesn't matter. It'll wears off pretty quickly. Oh, and congratulations on your new 19.

[Schrodinger's Cat]

Thats copper based anti-seize compound. All new Glocks come with it. Clean it off, leave it on, doesn't matter. It'll wears off pretty quickly. Oh, and congratulations on your new 19.

I know about the anti seize. The dust/shavings I was referring to definitely showed up after shooting the gun. I know it wasn't there when I was taking it apart before I shot it.