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Help with a Glock 21 Please


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Hey guys! I have a question about a Glock 21 I recently bought used. I have two problems. First, The gun would FTF on several occasions. Just firing like normal and the thing would not go off. Primer was not getting struck on occasion with trigger pull, so I replaced the recoil spring and spring guide with one from another G21 and now it seems to work. However, now it does consistently lock the bolt to the rear when the last round is fired. Now what gives? A little help please...

 

Rick

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When it is not firing is the gun for certain in battery? Are you riding the slide lock with your thumb? I assume you meant it does NOT consistently lock the slide to the rear when the mag is empty, riding the slide lock could be the cause for that, and having your thumb rubbing on the slide could slow the slide down enough to prohibit it from going completely into battery.

 

Is the trigger able to be pulled when it FTFs or does it not depress?

 

The problem with FTFs may be related to the firing channel being dirty. I would assume the reason the slide dosn't lock on the last round would be that you keep your thumb over the slide lock.

 

Take the slide off the frame and pull up on the slide lock and make sure it snaps back with some force otherwise you may need to replace that spring.

 

Can you tell us anymore info?

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Do you mean the slide is *NOT* automatically being locked open when the last round is fired? :unsure:

 

If so, have you tried another magazine? :unsure:

 

Only thing I can think of (if not the magazine) is the slide stop needs replacement. It's a cheap, drop-in part. :up:

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Do you mean the slide is *NOT* automatically being locked open when the last round is fired? :unsure:

 

If so, have you tried another magazine? :unsure:

 

Only thing I can think of (if not the magazine) is the slide stop needs replacement. It's a cheap, drop-in part. :up:

Hey bro, thanks for the reply... Correct, the slide does automatically lock to the rear when the last round is fired. I hope it's not the mag, as it's a brand new Glock factory mag. Perhaps it's this slide stop you are talking about. Sounds pretty cheap, so I'll look into that...

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When it is not firing is the gun for certain in battery? Are you riding the slide lock with your thumb? I assume you meant it does NOT consistently lock the slide to the rear when the mag is empty, riding the slide lock could be the cause for that, and having your thumb rubbing on the slide could slow the slide down enough to prohibit it from going completely into battery.

 

Is the trigger able to be pulled when it FTFs or does it not depress?

 

The problem with FTFs may be related to the firing channel being dirty. I would assume the reason the slide dosn't lock on the last round would be that you keep your thumb over the slide lock.

 

Take the slide off the frame and pull up on the slide lock and make sure it snaps back with some force otherwise you may need to replace that spring.

 

Can you tell us anymore info?

Tare, thanks for the reply... Well, come to think of it, the trigger was not able to be pulled with the first issue. I checked it for dirt and crap, and it seems fine, which is disappointing if that was the issue because these things should be able to be fired when totally dirty. I did a swap with the recoil spring and that problem appeared to go away. This slide not locking is a new issue altogether and very frustrating. Pretty sure my thumb wasn't in the way. Not too sure that's ever been an issue with any of my Glocks. I really do appreciate the input. Seems like this Glock was just a lemon!

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...Alright, gents I had another look at the slide lock. It has plenty of tension on it, and is installed correctly, so I get the idea that it was working well. I do recall shooting some reloads with it. Perhaps it was just a week load? A friend of mine who is a good reloader made them. Perhaps he just missed on the powder levels and this Glock just likes a hotter load? You guys think I'm chasing rabbit trails here?

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Ok gents, I just thought of something. I already shot regular factory loads in the G21 but I forgot about it. I did replace that recoil spring with one from another G21, which seems to help, but it still does not have enough power to lock the slide back on the last round consistently. The slide lock seems fine, correctly installed, and plenty of springiness. Where does that leave us now?

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if you take out the mag and pull the slide back, does it lock up? check the followers on your magazines and look for anything unusual on the rear of the follower like a piece missing

 

In regards to the gun firing dirty, yes they should be very reliable even when very dirty, but the firing pin channel if some past owner was careless of ignorant they may have put oil in it and mix that oil with fouling and let it sit and you've just made a concoction between glue and cement. You as a non armorer shouldn't remove your firing pin sleeve, but have an armorer so it and clean the channel (if you still are having misfires

 

 

on the topic of reloads, you do know that glock barrels are prone to leading if you shoot unjacketed/unplated bullets through it. If you've been shooting lead cast bullets make sure you clean the lead of of your barrel before you have issues.

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if you take out the mag and pull the slide back, does it lock up? check the followers on your magazines and look for anything unusual on the rear of the follower like a piece missing

 

In regards to the gun firing dirty, yes they should be very reliable even when very dirty, but the firing pin channel if some past owner was careless of ignorant they may have put oil in it and mix that oil with fouling and let it sit and you've just made a concoction between glue and cement. You as a non armorer shouldn't remove your firing pin sleeve, but have an armorer so it and clean the channel (if you still are having misfires

 

 

on the topic of reloads, you do know that glock barrels are prone to leading if you shoot unjacketed/unplated bullets through it. If you've been shooting lead cast bullets make sure you clean the lead of of your barrel before you have issues.

Tare...I did go back through the gun and it looks like the slide lock is working just fine and the mag looks like crap around the follower. The gun was way cleaner inside than I thought it would be. Actually, it was pretty dry. I lubed it up, except for the firing pin. When I was inspecting the firing pin, the plastic collar at the top by the pin that holds the spring on the firing pin came out in two pieces. I looked at it and it seems like it was made in two pieces that work together to hold the spring on the firing pin. I pushed them back down and everything locked back up in place. I reassembled the piece and will test fire it again tomorrow.

As far as the barrel, yup I only fire jacketed bullets. Someday I would like to get a Lone Wolf barrel and try it out. I'm understanding lead bullets can be fired out of those. Thanks again for your input...

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silly question,

When the magazine is unloaded, and inserted ( that sounds dirty) if you rack the slide back will it stay locked back?

What sort of ammo are you using besides reloads?

 

 

 

if you take out the mag and pull the slide back, does it lock up? check the followers on your magazines and look for anything unusual on the rear of the follower like a piece missing

 

In regards to the gun firing dirty, yes they should be very reliable even when very dirty, but the firing pin channel if some past owner was careless of ignorant they may have put oil in it and mix that oil with fouling and let it sit and you've just made a concoction between glue and cement. You as a non armorer shouldn't remove your firing pin sleeve, but have an armorer so it and clean the channel (if you still are having misfires

 

 

on the topic of reloads, you do know that glock barrels are prone to leading if you shoot unjacketed/unplated bullets through it. If you've been shooting lead cast bullets make sure you clean the lead of of your barrel before you have issues.

Tare...I did go back through the gun and it looks like the slide lock is working just fine and the mag looks like crap around the follower. The gun was way cleaner inside than I thought it would be. Actually, it was pretty dry. I lubed it up, except for the firing pin. When I was inspecting the firing pin, the plastic collar at the top by the pin that holds the spring on the firing pin came out in two pieces. I looked at it and it seems like it was made in two pieces that work together to hold the spring on the firing pin. I pushed them back down and everything locked back up in place. I reassembled the piece and will test fire it again tomorrow.

As far as the barrel, yup I only fire jacketed bullets. Someday I would like to get a Lone Wolf barrel and try it out. I'm understanding lead bullets can be fired out of those. Thanks again for your input...

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silly question,

When the magazine is unloaded, and inserted ( that sounds dirty) if you rack the slide back will it stay locked back?

What sort of ammo are you using besides reloads?

 

Actually yes it does still hold the slide back, despite being rather chewed up. Perhaps it is having trouble when it has to do it really fast when firing? The ammo was Federal

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Its not your magazine.

my guess is that you are "limp wristing" the gun.

That means that you are not holding it firmly enough to allow the slide to travel back fully, resulting in a short cycle.

Or your slide lock/release lever isn't engaging fully. it could be worn or installed incorrectly.

As for the ammo question: Tula brand ammo is consistantly under powered.

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doesn't sound like limpwristing to me, the gun would go fully into battery if that were the case and the Failures to fire would not be taking place. I would watch your thumbs in relation to the slide and slide lock, if you are pushing against either the problems you are encountering could result.

 

Although you have other glocks the 21 is wider than most of them and may result in you placing your hands differently. Have someone who owns a 21 shoot it and see if they have the same problems.

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doesn't sound like limpwristing to me, the gun would go fully into battery if that were the case and the Failures to fire would not be taking place. I would watch your thumbs in relation to the slide and slide lock, if you are pushing against either the problems you are encountering could result.

 

Although you have other glocks the 21 is wider than most of them and may result in you placing your hands differently. Have someone who owns a 21 shoot it and see if they have the same problems.

Sounds good. I need to get out and test it again. I should be able to on Friday. I will do so and post the detailed results

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When I was inspecting the firing pin, the plastic collar at the top by the pin that holds the spring on the firing pin came out in two pieces. I looked at it and it seems like it was made in two pieces that work together to hold the spring on the firing pin. I pushed them back down and everything locked back up in place. I reassembled the piece and will test fire it again tomorrow.

 

You do know that there is a certain way that that plastic firing pin collar needs to be installed, right? :unsure:

 

You can't have the ends of the firing pin spring touch where the collar is split at when assembling them together.

 

You should get yourself the Ptooma Glock guide book. Lots of good info found in it. :up:

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When I was inspecting the firing pin, the plastic collar at the top by the pin that holds the spring on the firing pin came out in two pieces. I looked at it and it seems like it was made in two pieces that work together to hold the spring on the firing pin. I pushed them back down and everything locked back up in place. I reassembled the piece and will test fire it again tomorrow.

 

You do know that there is a certain way that that plastic firing pin collar needs to be installed, right? :unsure:

 

You can't have the ends of the firing pin spring touch where the collar is split at when assembling them together.

 

You should get yourself the Ptooma Glock guide book. Lots of good info found in it. :up:

 

Thanks, Gaddis! I'm gonna have a look at it and make sure it's right. I appreciate the heads up!

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If you know you have it assembled correctly and are using factory mags and it still malfunctions, I would just send it back to glock to have them look at it. Glocks are supposed to work 100% right out of the box

they are known for toughness and firing everytime you pull the trigger. Its maybe why it was in the used rack, first guy probably had a lemon and sold it like an asshole for some other guy to worry about.

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Fellow Gun Nuts,

 

I took another look at a 13 round mag I'm pretty sure I got with the gun. The lips looked worse than Mick Jagger. To isolate my issue I took 4 new-ish 10 round mags (I know, they suck) and went out to the range, using the reloads a buddy of mine made. I loaded 2 of the mags with 9 rounds and 2 with only one round. The 2 with 9 rounds fired flawlessly, as one would expect from a Glock. The slide grabbed the rounds out of the mag and moved them into battery, even when I deliberately limp-wristed it. I shot slow and just a little fast and had no problems. The slide lock did work as advertised after the last rounds were fired. I then shot the mags with only one round to re-verify the slide lock was working. I again have confidence in this particular G21. I'm going to pitch that 13 round mag, since it was apparently the culprit that gave me so much trouble. I was trying to take a picture to show all of you, but the camera would not focus very well on the magazine's lips. I do want to thank all of you for your input and support.

 

-Ohthejoy

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If you know you have it assembled correctly and are using factory mags and it still malfunctions, I would just send it back to glock to have them look at it. Glocks are supposed to work 100% right out of the box

they are known for toughness and firing everytime you pull the trigger. Its maybe why it was in the used rack, first guy probably had a lemon and sold it like an asshole for some other guy to worry about.

 

Man, I always hate it when people resell some crap. The trick of it that when you do something like that it always comes back to you in a different way.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Another update... That mag was in fact damaged, and the G21 did in fact run well for a time after I used newer mags, BUT it started giving issues all over again. Talk about crappy luck. So I did finally notice that the frame of the G21 was the problem. The molding the receiver was made in left too much plastic on in the front of the gun where the front of the slide made contact. It only does this when a full magazine is installed. So, I lightly filed down the front of the receiver with a dull file, which worked well in this application. Now the G21 runs like a new sewing machine. Confidence is fully restore and no problems since. Whew! I think the only reason it worked so well after the first fix with newer magazines is because I lubed it up really well on the slide. When the oil ran out the gun started having issues again. I figured it had to be something else since I've seen them run really well without oil. I hope this helps you guys out if you have or know anyone who has the same issue. Thanks for sticking it out with me and offering all that good advice!!

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