Posted: 1/1/2008 4:25:16 PM EDT
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OK, this one is getting on my nerves. I bought a brand new Glock 17 last year, and from the day I bought it I had problems with erratic ejection. Never had a jam, but it will just barely eject the brass to the right, most of the time straight up or straight back, and occasionally to the left. Some times the brass bounces off the wrist of my shooting hand, falling after ejecting straight up weekly. I am not limp wristing the gun before someone fires that automatic response. After several hundred rounds, and catching hot brass in the face, down the shirt, and in the eye behind my glasses, I decided to send it back to the manufacturer. A couple of weeks ago, I got it back from them with a report that they had changed basically everything on it except the frame, barrel, and slide. Test fired, and they say AOK back to factory specs. I take the newly refurbished new gun, and the first mag I fire the brass falls right at my feet, bounce off my arms and hit me in the head. I took it out again today with a different brand of ammo, and it is doing the same thing. This time however, I have spent considerably more time in troubleshooting the gun. I examined the spent brass, and noticed that every round fired from the Glock had a dent or a mark on the lip of the brass, on the same side that the extractor gripped it. I have posted a pic of one for reference  Every single case that came out of the gun had a mark or dent in this exact same spot. Also, there were brass marks on the slide on the inside of the ejection port where the arrow points to in this picture  So, it is obvious that what is happening is the brass is ejecting at a straight 90 degree angle to the slide and smacking into the side of the ejection port, and then bouncing out either straight up, slightly to the right or occasionally to the left. The Extractor (both the old one and the replacement one they put in) both look OK, and I do not see anything obviously wrong with the ejector either. The only thing I can think of is that the ejector must be hitting the brass too high, causing it to eject straight to the side instead of upward slightly to clear the slide when leaving the ejection port. So, is there any way to fix this? How do you adjust the ejector without screwing it up? Maybe it has something to do with how it mounts in the frame on this particular gun? From what I have gathered, this is not an uncommon problem on Glocks, does anyone have any ideas? Although it has not caused any malfunctions yet, it is anoying and I am worried about it maybe eventually causing stovepipes or other problems. Thanks! |
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It could be a few things... Have you tried other mags? I don't think they are the problem, but it would be nice to be sure. Is the ejector loose, or can you flex it at all? (rearward or up/down) You should call Glock and inform them of the problem, that it was already sent back etc. and request a complete replacement (frame and all). That'll take care of it.  Although I wouldn't suggest it for a PDW, you could try bending the ejector slightly downward, and if still needed bend it to the left or right, dependent on ejection angle desired. Less is more here, so take it very easy with the bending. Things may improve, but they still may not be perfect. All of my Glocks have been consistent with their ejection. (About 6-8' to the right) A couple of them did have case damage though... Some case mouths would be torn right open. (Even the steel cased Wolf!) The design of the Glock ejection port was well thought out. It is designed to minimize ejection failures. |
| I have shot Glocks for 17 years and noticed the spent casings were deformed on my 9mm 17 most of the time. I got used to it and stopped paying much attention to it so I dont know if my 40cal glocks do the same but I will check while at the range tomorrow. I have noticed that many shooters using Glocks do seem to be hit by their own brass. I myself have had brass from my pistol land on top of my hat or directly behind me but I have never had a failure to eject so I dont worry to much about it. I would love to know if other glock users have noticed deformed spent brass also. |
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I've also noticed that Glocks tend to throw brass back at me from time to time. I'm a lefty, so I might notice it more than a righty would. I'm not sure that there's anything wrong with your pistol - I think it just is what it is. I've found the 9mm pistols are much more forgiving in this area. They will only occasionally lob a round on top of my hat. I had a G30 that ejected straight into my face on a regular basis no matter how hard I held onto the grip. I had to get rid of it. Gun worked fine, but it didn't work for me the way I wanted. |
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Thanks for the replies. The ejector is nice and tight, it does not flex at all. Like I said, it has not caused a jam yet, so I will probably just leave it alone. However, it is annoying. I will examine my options, and will let you guys know if I come across anything that works. |
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If they say, "It's not the money; IT'S THE MONEY!" It's either weak ammo or, whether you give the automatic "I'm not limpwristing" response or not, limpwristing. Get hotter ammo; lock your wrists and don't let your elbows act like shock absorbers. If that doesn't work, get a lighter recoil spring. There's nothing that Glock can do, and getting a new G17 won't solve the problem. |
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I can definately say that I am not limpwristing. I have locked my wrists firm and gipped the crap out of the pistol in a high hold and fired so that the muzzle doesn't flip at all, and it still does the same thing. I own a 1911 and a Beretta, and have shot many other guns over the years and have never seen one eject like this Glock does. I did try to adjust the ejector a little, by bending it inward a little so that it rides right up against the center part of the slide. I will shoot it again soon to see if that helps. I am thinking if the ejector hits the casing more to the center, then it should eject it at more of an upward angle so it will clear the slide. I will do a little more experimenting and let you know how it turns out. |
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Problem Solved!! I took a pair of pliers with me today and several boxes of bullets, and did some experimenting with tweaking on the ejector. I found out that it did in fact work best when the ejector was bent in and far as it would go and still clear the slide. It hit the shell at the bottom near the center, which seemed to arc the casings up and out to the right. Most casings were ejected anywhere from 6 to 8 feet away. I still did have a couple bounce off my right arm, but it is not nearly as bad as it was. I have heard of others having this problem, so I would recommend experimenting with bending the ejector either outward or inward and seeing how it reacts. You can always order another trigger mechanism housing to experiment with if you don't want to start bending on your factory one. It worked for me, and now I am much happier with the Glock. |
. So what is the "real" problem and real "fix"?
As far as ammo, I have shot everything from blazer, to Winchester white box, to Remington UMC, to 124 Grain Gold Dots. They all do (did) the same thing. And again, I am not limpwristing. I am 6'2" tall, 205 pounds, and work out regularly. I can lock my wrists and hold the gun so tight that the only thing that moves is the slide, and it still does (did) the same thing. Anyway, it is working fine now, and the only thing that changed it was the ejector adjustment. |