"Double-charged" round through a Glock

[anh.nguyen2]

I've been shooting my new G-22 Gen3 right out of the box (besides a quick inspection after receiving it and a bit of oil on slide rail). I have shot about 200 rounds using "Federal Aluminum 180gr" & "Perfecta" ammo. My friend then used it for the first time and when he fired the first round (as I'm watching him in the background), I heard a different blast sound from the round being fired. I then immediately noticed that the magazine dropped free and fell to the ground. I walked up to him and asked "What was that?" and he told me "I don't know--it blew up on me". I looked at the gun and noticed the magazine release button was missing. I picked the magazine up from the ground and emptied the magazine and noticed that all the remaining rounds (9) were pushed slightly deeper into the casing than normal (as compared to the rounds that were still in the box I still had). I disassembled the firearm and looked in the barrel and saw that the bullet was lodged inside the middle of the barrel. I took the firearm to the shop I got it from and the employee there, who's a Glock armorer, and for about an hour, used a hammer and a rod to pound/hit the lodged ammo out. He also used a drill. He got the mass of the bullet out and then gave me the barrel and told me to look in it. When I looked inside the barrel, I noticed a ring of melted medal (as the employee told me) from the high pressure that melted the bullet that pretty much welded itself in the barrel.

My question is: Is Glock designed to do that, blowing out the magazine release button and dropping the magazine) if a "double charged" round is fire, to allow all the excess pressure to be release straight down the magazine well, rather than to just completely "blowing" up the gun???

p.s. No injuries/bleeding to my friends' hands. He was just a little shaken up, understandably so.

Thanks for any info/input.

[ojisan]

Glocks have a history of going kaboom with the .40 round.
Newer Glocks like yours are supposed to have a better barrel that supports the case better.

The gun was not designed to come apart like that, it just does.
The plastic frame expands under all the pressure, making room for the mag to slip by the mag catch.

Pics would be awesome.

[steelheadmike]

How did you determine it was "double charged"? A higher than normal powder load wouldn't leave a bullet in the barrel

Glock 40 kaboom?

Correct ammo?

Could have been an OOB detonation?

Did you clean the bore first?? My guess is that there was excess factory grease/oil in the bore than finally got gummed up with about 200rds of residue. Also, the ammo may have been out of spec, and that may have contributed but if you had already shot it, seems unlikely.

[SkyHawk]

All of the rounds in the mag could have been set back from the blast. It is unlikely that the rounds you just happened to load in the mag were the only ones set back too far.

Most guns including AR will blow out the mag if there is an out of battery detonation or pressures far exceed the gun design. It is not unusual to Glock.

And since it was your friends first shot, could there have been a squib jammed in from your last shot? I have never heard of a bullet 'welding' itself to the barrel, and coming full stop after being shot from a double charge. It seems impossible actually. So I am very curious how the bullet came to be lodged in the barrel, and I'd be looking at a squib.

[onelonehorseman]

OP, you didn't clean the inside of the barrel on the new Glock before you fired it?

I wonder if fouling mixed with shipping grease to cause an over-pressure?

. . . just brain-storming here.

[onelonehorseman]

I'd be looking at a squib.

Or this.

[someoneeasy]

this why why friends don't let friends buy/shoot glocks....

Seriously though, glad no one was hurt

Where are the pictures OP?

[IVC]

It pretty much had to be a squib. There is so much pressure behind the bullet that it would be practically impossible to stop it without having some *significant* bore obstruction (e.g., a squib).

What would really help is to see the case. Even if it ruptured and most of the gasses escaped through the magazine well, it still doesn't seem likely the bullet would get stuck...

[anh.nguyen2]

I went home from the gun shop with the frame, recoil spring/rod, and slide. The barrel was kept by the gun shop. I assume he kept it so that he can send it back to "Davidson" (Where he ordered the gun from?). Davidson, in turn, will send him a new barrel for my Glock, as well as installing a new magazine release button. I wish I would have taken some pictures of the bore of the barrel though, but I didn't. Now, honestly, when I get the new barrel, I'd be a bit too afraid to shoot the gun again, even though the gun shop employee (again, a Glock armorer) told me that the frame and its internals all look to be "good", he said.

Again, thanks for all the inputs!

[CodyGT46]

Sounds a lot like a squib. I used to shoot Perfecta quite a bit with my old FNP and Glock 23C and I know for target/plinking rounds it seems like its loaded somewhat hot, but wouldn't think it would be able to do something like that unless it was being blocked off.

Glad nobody was hurt.

[alpha_romeo_XV]

If there were still 9 rounds in the mag then only 1round fired. The definition of a squib is a low pressure round that can't get the bullet out the end of the barrel e.g. primer only no powder.
In a wheel gun its easy to fire a second bullet behind the lodged one creating a kaboom.

This event sounds like a full pressure round but oversized bullet or gunk on walls of the barrel prevent exit causing back pressure, or an OOB happened.

[IVC]

If there were still 9 rounds in the mag then only 1round fired.

They were firing the gun prior to kaboom.

[SonOfaDI]

[SkyHawk]

If there were still 9 rounds in the mag then only 1round fired. The definition of a squib is a low pressure round that can't get the bullet out the end of the barrel e.g. primer only no powder.
In a wheel gun its easy to fire a second bullet behind the lodged one creating a kaboom.

This event sounds like a full pressure round but oversized bullet or gunk on walls of the barrel prevent exit causing back pressure, or an OOB happened.

They switched shooters, inserted a new mag and the first shot from that fresh mag was the problem. It could have been many things, including an undetected squib by the previous shooter on his last shot. If a squib happens on the last round in the mag, it can more easily go unnoticed. The shooter may think his slide did not lock back on the empty mag is all, when in fact there was not enough energy to cycle the slide fully rearward due to the squib load.

[heidad01]

It had nothing to do with the Glock being new or 22 or the ammo details.
OP shoots how ever many rounds and a squib on the last round. He does not notice the squib and hands the Glock to his buddy. The second shooter loads and fires on an obstructed barrel.

I am not sure about that story from the gun shop guy about the melt and all. Two lead or lead containing bullets squized the bajeezes out of each other inside of that barrel. I am sure there will be a bulge and some shiny lead somewhere inside that barrel, especially after that guy's drill job.

You gotta be aware of when your gun goes "pooof" instead of "bang". That is the time to stop and check for squibs among other things.

Glad no one was hurt.