I have been thinking about how we’ll know if/when Gen 4 Glock problems have been resolved. I define this as Gen 4 Glock 9mms being as reliable as mid-Gen 3 (lets say 2004ish-2009ish) 9mm Glocks.
For me, it’s when all or almost all of the following are happening:
Individual users stop posting that they are having problems with brand new 9mm Gen 4s that they just bought.
Individual posters stop talking much about gen 4 9mm reliability either way because we’ve started to take it for granted that the guns work fine.
High-profile instructors who see a lot of Glocks report that the Gen 4 9mms that their students are running have gotten as boringly reliable as mid-Gen 3 guns.
People who sell aftermarket products to fix Gen 4 issues report that they aren’t selling a lot of those products anymore.
Glock stops offering new designs of ejectors, new recoil spring assemblies, etc. for the Gen 4.
When a conventional wisdom develops that the “bad years” for gen 4s were in the past, e.g. someone tells you in 2013 that you’re safe if you buy a mid-2012 gen 4 but not to trust late-2011 or earlier gen 4s.
When a conventional wisdom develops about specifically what was causing the Gen 4 issues, e.g. that it wasn’t the extractor or the recoil spring assembly, it was the Jackson Rod that was causing the problems, and that this was finally fixed by using the new 7-4-9 version of the Jackson Rod.
That people whose livelihood depends on a public perception of reliability in the Gen 4 talk freely about what the problem(s) was/were and how the problem(s) was/were fixed.
I would like to hear other peoples’ thoughts on what indicators will convince them if/when the Gen 4 is fixed.
It seems some may fear that the issues are arising slowly but steadily because the owner of the company apparently passed the business on to his kids. Anyone else heard this? If so, bad news for Glock (if that’s the problem).
I’ve not heard anything about this. I’d highly doubt it, too. Rumors like this crop up every once and awhile, and they are always jokes or instigated by individuals looking to stir stuff up. One of the more oft repeated ones is that glock was purchased by a consortium of gun companies led by Taurus and Beretta. That was an april fools joke.
Gaston Glock runs his company like an iron fisted tyrant. He won’t relinquish or pass on shit until he’s dead. End of story. As far as I can see the problem lies not with the fact that Gaston passed on the company, but that he seriously limits input and decision making to a very select group of people and generally surrounds himself with yes men, hence the original denials and slow response for Gen 4 problems. That’s just my personal opinion based on what I have learned so far, but I could be wrong.
As for the OP, you are seriously overthinking this. A good acid test for when Gen 4’s will be “okay” is when the Gen 4 and Gen 3 fanbois on GlockTalk stop eating eachother alive.
The OP is a good list of key indicators but with over 18K trouble free rounds through four of these . . . that’s my indicator THESE four are as good as any. I hope the new ejector design is the big thing that straightens everything else out.
I have a lot of Gen 3 9mm versions and have all been great. Decided to try a Gen 4 G22 I purchased 2 weeks ago, put 700 rounds through it so far and it has been 100% as expected being a 40. Mine was built in Aug 2011.
My friend picked up a new G17 Gen 4 last week which we took out and shot this past weekend. Round number 2 was a malfunction! FTE. Out of the next 200 rounds we shot through the gun it had about 12 more FTE. It has horrible ejection patterns! He had lots of brass hitting him in the face, coming straight up and landing on the slide, brass falling directly in front of the muzzle, brass right back, right forward and even brass ejecting to the left! I have never seen a Glock perform like this. I took one of my Gen 3 uppers and put it on my Gen 4 and it was of course 100%.
His pistol was also built at the end of Aug 2011. Bottom line is I wouldn’t buy a Gen 4 Glock in 9mm. I was really questioning if I liked the Gen 4 grip and after shooting it the last couple of weeks I have to say I really like the Gen 4 grip. If and when they get the 9mm Gen 4 working I will buy one but at this point it’s just not worth it. I will just run a Gen 3 upper on my Gen 4 lower. Yes there is a gap in the dust cover but works just fine for training or competition, I have had no issues running it like this.
Oh something I meant to mention. He was shooting Winchester White Box ammo 115g FMJ. I was shooting some Gold Bear and Wolf both in 115g FMJ and my ammo did not create any malfunctions. I also had a more consistant ejection pattern although not great. I suspect the lighter Winchester ammo did not help things. I told him to lock the slide back for a couple of weeks as per LV instructions. Prior to us shooting he had locked the slide back for a few days.
I have one Glock Gen4 22 and one Gen4 26. A close friend has a Gen4 17. I have just about 3000 rounds out of my G22 with zero malfunctions whatsoever without any cleaning, wiping down or lubing. I don’t use crappy ammo, no Wolf, Herters, WWB, etc. I have no issues at all.
I sent Gen 4 17 and 22 pistols back to Glock today, for all the Gen 4 mods, which I understand to be the new ejector, dot connector, new RSA, and inspect extractor.