Survival Arts

A testimonial in praise of Glock barrel metallurgy

Some months ago I was attending an Advanced Tactical Handgun course at Front Sight. My primary firearm, as usual, was the superb Glock Model 23, a compact .40S&W/Liberty which is also my primary carry weapon.

I'd decided to try out some inexpensive ammunition from Sellier & Bellot, a Czech ammunition company, specifically S&B part number SBA04001, their only .40 offering, a 180-grain truncated cone FMJ.

Earlier during the 2-day training cycle - within the first box of 50 rounds - I experienced a true jam, a "rubber mallet malfunction" (not to be confused with a Type 2 or Type 3 clearable malfunction).

I was on the firing line when the following happened:

1.) I fired a shot at the target.
2.) I tried to fire a 2nd shot, encountered what I diagnosed as a Type 2 malfunction (mushy trigger with no break, no shot)
3.) I cleared the malfunction - "Look / Tap / Rack-Flip" - then fired a follow-up shot.
4.) I noticed the slide was out of battery, and identified what I thought was another Type 2 malfunction.
5.) Attempting to remediate and get back in the fight, I tried to clear that malfunction too.
6.) I couldn't cycle the slide: it was stuck back out of battery!

We were shooting on steel targets in a "called fire" exercise, and the rangemaster was calling for a 3rd shot. To an outside observer, it would have seemed I was frozen in the middle of a routine malfunction clearance, so the rangemaster urgently called for me to fight through and clear the malfunction. I kept trying, then when he saw I had a genuine mechanical issue, he called the firing line to a cease-fire, after which he came over to inspect.

Some minutes and bemused looks later, it was determined that only a rubber mallet would clear the problem, so the rangemaster took my pistol offline to a workbench and managed to remove the barrel... which was bulged in the middle! We were all shocked to find 2 180-grain FMJ slugs stuck in the barrel. Apparently, the first round was a squib: the cartridge was missing all or most of its normal load of powder, but the gas expansion from the primer ignition alone was sufficient to propel the slug 2 inches against friction down the barrel.

That is, sufficient to pop the slug partway down the barrel, but insufficient to cycle the action, eject the casing, reset the trigger, and cycle another round into the chamber... which is why I had to do the first malfunction clearance.

The follow-up shot had a normal load of powder. When that round touched off, with enough oomph to crank the slide back, its slug met the first slug halfway down the barrel - during the slide's rearward excursion - and was stopped abruptly with enough force to translate its axial movement to a lateral expansion, bulging out the barrel near the halfway point and friction-locking into the front slide aperture.

Interestingly, by the way, both shots sounded like normal reports, because the excellent Peltor Tactical 6-S electronic hearing protectors I was wearing clamped the output signal to my ears to around the same decibel level. Worth noting for those of you who choose to wear your superears for defensive scenarios.

News of the incident travelled nearly instantly around the shooting facility, and was the subject of much talk throughout the weekend. I was advised never to use S&B ammo again, and was repeatedly told how fortunate I was not to have been physically hurt.

I was annoyed at myself that I hadn't brought a backup pistol - since I usually do - but a kind Front Sight employee lent me a spare barrel for the weekend, so I finished out the course with my own gun.

You see, other than the damaged barrel, there was no other problem with the pistol. The Tennifer finish on the inside of the slide's front aperture was not even scored! This is amazing. The stock factory barrel was bulged, not burst. I think this says something very good about the durability of Glock pistols: I was not hurt, and after a drop-in barrel change, I was up and running again.

After returning from the course, I called S&B USA and spoke to a very accomodating gentleman named Ed Grasso, who offered to make me whole again. He was just about to visit the Czech main office to discuss a number of issues (including quality control), and so requested that I expedite shipping him the remaining box of ammo as well as the blown barrel, so that he might submit both to inspection.

Within a couple of weeks, I received not only the monetary value of a replacement Glock factory barrel, around US $140, but also a case of S&B ammunition... from a different lot. I follow a longterm tit-for-tat strategy in my dealings with people, so I still heartily recommend S&B as a good value-for-money proposition.

And of course, I can't recommend Glock highly enough. I have my healthy fingers, my unscarred face, and my perfect vision all in standard order, thanks to Glock's commendably high metallurgical standards. Thank you, Gaston Glock.

Posted by Russell Whitaker at November 11, 2002 1:38 PM | TrackBack