Glock 17 gen4 Endurance Test: Week 29

Update on the magazine problem: During my first range session after discovering the initial problem with three new magazines, one of my previously dependable magazines (the one I’d been carrying on my belt as a spare since the beginning of the test, in fact) began dropping during recoil. Just a few days before, that magazine had been fine. Needless to say, it was a disturbing discovery. No longer able to trust the gun but still fairly certain the problem was directly related to my grip against the mag catch, I reversed the mag button so as to actuate it with my trigger finger. I’ve been using my trigger finger on the mag release since the late 90’s with my Berettas, SIGs, M&Ps, and HKs. It took just a short while to reacquaint myself to make it work with the Glock again.

This weekend, I’m hoping to have at least one student in class using a G17 or G34 who’ll volunteer to run my “suspicious” magazines to get some more data on their condition. As I mentioned last week, until I get a clearer idea of whether the magazines are bad in general or just bad in my gun with my grip, I’m not prepared to decide whether they should be counted as “broken” in terms of the endurance test.

Update on the recoil spring: The new 0-2-4 recoil spring assembly was installed in the gun without fanfare. The gun was working with the previous spring; it’s working with the new spring. The important news, of course, is that there is now one universal spring for all gen4 G17 pistols regardless of whether they have a counterbored nose ring. That means my G17s (both of which lack the counterbore) will have a long supply of RSAs into the future.

Shooting: Obviously, most of my week was spent practicing reloads to rebuild “muscle memory” using my trigger finger instead of my thumb to drop the magazine. Interestingly, I found that my reloads are about a tenth of a second faster using my trigger finger. However, the angle I place the gun during the reload is a bit different, so I am fumbling the mag insertion once in a while. The fumbles tend to cost me a quarter to half a second. So the cumulative gain has only been 0.03 seconds (which is essentially meaningless). Still, with practice I expect that I’ll be able to be more correct and consistent with gun placement and the fumbles should go away.

The  other change is that my splits have dropped by a pretty consistent 0.02 seconds. Again, nothing to write home about but it underscores the problem I was having with the mag drops. I’m now getting a firmer grip with my support hand, putting more contact patch against the gun’s left panel. It’s translating into noticeably less movement. The mag button was getting in the way of my hand before.

I shot the 99 Drill again this week, scoring a much improved 91 (-2, -2, -1, -3). Clearly, I fell apart on the 15yd stage. That’s no surprise considering how poorly I did shooting the Drill of the Week:

A 91-1X. Heck, I think last week’s fifty yard group was tighter than that. The difference is that for the 50yd group last week I could take a 6 o’clock hold; I was only measuring group size, not targeting. Hitting the bull at 25yd meant I had to shoot not just a tight group but a centered group. The Trijicon HD sights cover so much of the bullseye that it was hard to get consistent elevation. Still, I should have been more patient. I should be able to keep everything in the black, HD sights or not.

But at least I drifted my sights, did you notice?

I also shot the 4567 Drill, scoring a 13.12 (2.70/4.18/3.67/2.57) clean. It’s a neat little test. The accuracy standard is tight enough that most folks won’t be able to blaze away blindly, and it throws in the SHO and WHO segments which don’t exactly play to most folks’ strong suit.

This coming week I’m in Salt Lake City teaching Aim Fast Hit Fast. I’ve received two of the latest generation 9mm Glock ejectors for the gen4 pistols and will probably install them before class begins. The class will provide a good opportunity to test the ejector before I rely on it off the range. Check back next week for the results.

Train hard & stay safe! ToddG

Previous Glock 17 gen4 Endurance Test posts at pistol-training.com:

• Week 28
• Week 27
• Week 26
• Week 25
• Week 24
• Week 23
• Week 22
• Week 21
• Week 20
• Week 19
• Week 18
• 25,000 Rounds with the G17 gen4
• Week 17
• Week 15
• Week 13
• Week 12
• Week 11
• Week 10
• Week 9
• Week 8
• Week 6
• Week 5
• Week 4
• Week 3
• Week 2
• Week 1
• 99.8%
• It Lives
• Week Zero
• When Will It Stop?
• Announcement