Are g42's known to be ammo picky?

Handguns » Glock

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Are g42's known to be ammo picky?

Posted: 10/3/2017 4:51:32 AM EDT

I've got a g42 I picked up 2 or 3 years ago.
I've only shot 150-200 rounds through it.

The first time out it was great. It shot about a foot low, but reliable.
Since then I get at least 1 failure to chamber (like a stovepipe but with the bullet hitting the inside top of the chamber) each time at the range...

Until I shot my first mag of .380 reloads and had 4 failures to chamber and 2 that didn't even eject. (They ran fine in my lcp though)

I stepped up .2 gr for the next mag and it ran good

I stepped up .2gr more to the max charge and again, it ran great with no pressure signs.

I shot 50 more rounds at the max charge and it is still running strong.

Now I trust it with my reloads but not the ppu and independence I was previously shooting

Now at least I know weak loads were the issue.

I'm just wondering if this is common?

Is there a low power recoil spring that could fix this?

I need to find a good hot hp that I can trust now. I have yet to try and jhp ammo in it

Posted: 10/3/2017 6:03:54 AM EDT

[#1]

A lot of the smaller 380 pocket pistols can be finicky. I had issues with my 42 when I had it. Could not get it to reliably feed.

Posted: 10/3/2017 6:08:26 AM EDT

[#2]

I find it weird how the 42 is more finicky than my lcp with the lcp being one of, if not the smallest .380 out there.

It's lightyears better then the p3at I had once upon a time. Despite being the same gun.

Posted: 10/3/2017 6:43:11 AM EDT

[#3]

I have two G42's in the house and both are very reliable, we only shoot factory ammo.

Make sure your mags have the updated follower, I think the info is Glock section.

It is easy to inadvertently ride or hit the slide stop on the G42 since it is a little gun. My wife did this a lot when she first got hers. I corrected her grip and now she's GTG

Posted: 10/3/2017 7:13:23 AM EDT

[#4]

Quote History

Quoted:
I have two G42's in the house and both are very reliable, we only shoot factory ammo.

Make sure your mags have the updated follower, I think the info is Glock section.

It is easy to inadvertently ride or hit the slide stop on the G42 since it is a little gun. My wife did this a lot when she first got hers. I corrected her grip and now she's GTG

View Quote

Truisms! My 42 had the updated follower. When we took mine to the range my son kept nudging the slide stop and had jams. When I pointed it out to him he corrected it and no more jams.

Good little gun. I like mine a lot for pocket carry.

Posted: 10/3/2017 12:26:08 PM EDT

[#5]

The low slide mass and stiff recoil spring make for a very sensitive cycle

Posted: 10/3/2017 8:27:48 PM EDT

[#6]

My experience says yes. Had a G42 that wouldn’t feed anything but HydraShok. Wouldn’t even run FMJ 100%. I had two LCP’s and a Kahr CW380 that ran 100% with whatever I fed them.

Posted: 10/4/2017 12:39:06 PM EDT

[#7]

The G42 is very tightly sprung. This is the same issue that Glock had with the early Gen4 9mm guns. The recoil spring is so tight that it takes hotter ammo than, say, Win White Box, to reliably cycle the gun. Wimpy, weak, bargain basement ammo won't work in these guns. They need good ammo that has enough energy to reliably cycle the slide. IIRC, Glock initially said something to the effect that the guns needed 90+ grain. full power ammo to reliably cycle the G42.

I have had good luck with Fed American Eagle FMJ in my G42. I don't reload .380 (yet, anyway), so I am stuck with factory ammo. I also have not had any problems with any JHP ammo, but all I have tried is Fed Hydra Shok and Speer Gold Dot. (had a couple boxes of Hydra Shok and the Speer is what the PD I work for mandates we carry) Just run good, full power ammo through it and you should be good.

Bub

Posted: 10/4/2017 7:18:05 PM EDT

[#8]

Been running factory Remington & factory Winchester without issues , 95grainers I think with both. Mine a grey frame model so unsure if that would matter. Loves HST & GoldDots also which is what load it with when I carry it. Haven't tried the lower grains but so far 100% reliable.

Posted: 10/6/2017 3:33:34 AM EDT

[#9]

PPU and Rem UMC is what most of my .380 range ammo is made up of and have had no issues with either. I did have a couple box's of freedom munitions and had constant FTE's.

Posted: 10/6/2017 3:26:06 PM EDT

[#10]

Had some issues with factory loads at first, seemed to be the softer .380 ammo... don't recall the brand now. As others have said the gun is pretty heavily sprung, which also make it very soft shooting.

Loaded some hand loads and I've put maybe 8K thru it now (factory and reloads)... and it has been rock solid after my first range visit. Curious if any of the LCP owner bragging about reliability have an serious amount of rounds down their LCP's, I've found the old LCP's to literally be disposable pocket pistols and would generally exhibit major issue after only have 1K-2K of rounds fired thru them.

Posted: 10/6/2017 8:18:55 PM EDT

[#11]

Researched the shit out of this topic when i picked mine up a couple years ago. This was the overwhelming pick for reliable operation:

Posted: 10/7/2017 10:41:29 AM EDT

[#12]

You want the hottest .380 you can find.

Strangely I found some steel case stuff that runs a bit hot and cycles fine even A bit linp wristsd

One way to see how much margin you have is hold it with increased weaker grip until you get limp wrist jams.

Run a couple hundred rounds. Cycle the slide a cookie hundred times and leave the gun locked back a couple weeks when not shooting it. To break in the recoil spring.

Posted: 10/13/2017 8:42:19 PM EDT

[#13]

Mine was when I first got it. I stoned the bottom of the ejector, basically just took the sharp edge off. Polished the feed ramp and the chamber. After about 200 rounds it was running great.

Posted: 10/14/2017 1:21:29 AM EDT

[#14]

Bought a new one last month.

I have just over 500 rounds of Win white box, S&B, and speer gold dot. Not a single malfunction.

I don't think 500 rounds is a lot but I do think its a good indication that this will be a reliable handgun.

Posted: 10/15/2017 1:15:08 PM EDT

[#15]

FIRST make sure you have the latest magazines. The part number on the back has a "-3" under the number.

Second, make sure the gun is clean and well broken in. Most of the time you don't want to lube a Glock too much, but the 42 gave a lot of people trouble at first because it's tolerances are kind of tight. Add a little extra lube and get plenty of full-power ammo practice, and the piece will be quite reliable.

Remington-UMC's basic FMJ .380 runs fine in mine, and it's "full power" enough to help break in your gun.

Posted: 10/16/2017 8:44:48 PM EDT

[#16]

I've had 2 different G42s (one early production, one later with all the updates). Both of mine were fairly ammo sensitive and limp wristing was definitely a problem for weaker shooters.

Posted: 10/16/2017 10:12:44 PM EDT

[#17]

My early one has been 100% with WWB, PPU and Hornady XTP’s. Leave the slide locked open for a few weeks and give it another go.

Posted: 10/18/2017 12:26:15 AM EDT

[#18]

I've put a few hundred more reloads through it now and it's been 100%

it jammed far more with my ETS 7 rounder and my mag with the +2 strike industries base plate with factory ammo as well.

it's 100% with all mags now.

the slide lock is hit or miss, but as long as it runs reliably I'm not going to be picky.

Posted: 10/18/2017 3:43:21 PM EDT

[#19]

My 42 is suffering as well.....ETS 12 rounder is a no go, even with the Glock mags I only get 3 or 4 shots before stove piping occurs, also I've never had a Glock that ejected this weakly, brass hits my right foot, it almost falls out of the port. Ammo so far is Magtech and PPi in all fairness the gun has only had 200 or so rounds thru it, then my patience ran out. I'm hoping it just needs breaking in, I agree it's heavily sprung, but I have never had one with such weak ejection. I'll keep at it and upgrade the ammo as has been suggested

Posted: 10/18/2017 3:53:07 PM EDT

[#20]

Mine shoots very reliably. I have probably shot 7 or 8 different brands of ammo through it. Most of what I have shot through it are hollow points.

Posted: 10/19/2017 12:28:05 AM EDT

[#21]

Quote History

Quoted:
My 42 is suffering as well.....ETS 12 rounder is a no go, even with the Glock mags I only get 3 or 4 shots before stove piping occurs, also I've never had a Glock that ejected this weakly, brass hits my right foot, it almost falls out of the port. Ammo so far is Magtech and PPi in all fairness the gun has only had 200 or so rounds thru it, then my patience ran out. I'm hoping it just needs breaking in, I agree it's heavily sprung, but I have never had one with such weak ejection. I'll keep at it and upgrade the ammo as has been suggested

View Quote

I actually like having the brass land at my feet.
it's easier to find.
my LCP launches them off to never be seen again

for whatever reason .380 brass turns invisible when it hits the ground.

I only have about 400 brass and I loose at least 1 per mag I fire

I need to find some cheap somewhere.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Are g42's known to be ammo picky?

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