If you’re tired of your Glock jamming, aftermarket Glock upgrades might be the answer that gets your custom pistol cycling smoothly. Glock pistols are popular firearms for military, law enforcement, and civilian use due to their efficient design and quality standards. Over time, however, parts can begin to wear on even the best of pistols, and many Glock owners bought their guns pre-owned, with no way to tell how much stress and wear had already been accumulated. In addition, Glock’s straightforward blow-back design is one of the most copied in the world, leading to a variety of Glock-type clones. Understanding the reason for the most common gun jams will help you prevent them at the range and in the field.
Many Types of Glock Gun Jams
At its core, a Glock jamming is an indicator of a mechanical failure in your firearm. There are many different types and reasons for a gun jam, but they can usually be separated into one of four broad categories:
Failure to Fire – You pull the trigger, and…nothing. Sometimes called a hang-fire, this can be one of the most dangerous types of jams. Always keep your weapon pointed down range in case of late powder ignition.
Failure to Load/Feed – This happens when the weapon either fails to strip a round from the magazine or that round fails to enter the chamber.
Failure to Extract/Eject – After a round is fired, the extractor pulls the spent casing from the chamber as the slide travels backward before ejecting it off to the side. When the firearm fails to remove the spent casing, a jam can occur.
Failure to Cycle – After a round is fired, the slide is pushed backward, resetting and recocking the weapon for the next shot. If its progress is halted or it fails to travel far enough, the gun can jam.
Common Causes of Glock Jamming
With a little care and TLC, you can prevent the most common Glock jamming causes. Sometimes, all that’s needed is a little elbow grease, but when the fix requires Glock upgrades or replacement parts, make sure you’re buying from a reputable aftermarket parts supplier that has the quality components you need.
Dirty Firearms – A buildup of lubricant, dust, residue, and particulate can cause your gun’s mechanism to slip or bind. This leads to one of the most frequent Glock jamming culprits: a gun in need of a thorough cleaning. Well-maintained Glock pistols are generally trouble-free, but an overabundance of gun oil or gun oil that’s attracted too much detritus can lead to a failure to cycle, fire, feed, or eject.
Solution: Keep your gun clean while avoiding over-lubrication, which can create gummy sludge.
Ammunition – Glock pistols are generally good with most commercial ammunition, but any gun can get particular, seeming to shoot better with loads of a certain powder charge and bullet weight. Trying to run lower-powered subsonic rounds, however, may not have the power to cycle a weapon with a stiff recoil spring fully. Reloads or hand-loaded ammunition may also jam due to improper powder charges or weak cartridges that swell and stick in the chamber.
Solution: Choose high-quality commercial ammunition of the appropriate caliber and weight for your gun from a reputable manufacturer. Note which ammunition gives you the best results, including the ammunition’s maker, bullet weight, bullet type, and casing type.
Recoil Spring Issues – The recoil spring doesn’t just absorb the force of the slide being propelled backward after a round is fired, it also has to allow the striker or hammer assembly to cock before returning the side forward to chamber another round. A spring that’s too stiff may rob the slide of momentum too early for the cocking action to prepare to fire, while a spring that’s too weak may result in increased felt recoil and a slide that doesn’t return with enough force to leave the weapon in battery, with the slide forward, locked in position, and ready to fire.
Solution: A new recoil spring and guide rod may restore your weapon’s performance. You should also make sure you’re not using ammunition that’s too powerful (such as hand-loaded “hot shots”) or too weak for your recoil spring.
Improperly Seated, Damaged, or Worn Magazine – Glock jamming can be the result of magazine issues, particularly if the magazine is loose, damaged, worn, or has been modified. Tight magazines may not cleanly release a cartridge as the weapon cycles, while a mag with damaged lips could release the cartridge too early, flipping it up and partially out of the ejection port as a stove-piped round. If the magazine spring is too heavy or the magazine is overloaded, the top cartridge may put too much pressure on the underside of the slide, causing the weapon to jam mid-cycle.
Solution: Try a different magazine to verify whether it’s a gun or magazine issue. Many shooters will mark a magazine lightly on the bottom of the baseplate when a jam occurs, using a three-strikes-and-you’re-out philosophy for magazine replacement. Spare magazines are an easy, cost-effective Glock upgrade, so it’s a good idea to keep one or more on hand for troubleshooting or tactical flexibility.
Improper Parts Installation – Even the best aftermarket parts can cause Glock jamming if they’re not properly installed. When buying Glock upgrades for your gun, take things slow, focus on the job at hand, and test your gun regularly. We recommend no more than one or two upgrades between testing to ensure your gun still runs smoothly and efficiently with your chosen ammo.
Solution: Always make sure you understand the parts you’ve bought and how to install them. Test your gun out after each upgrade to verify proper installation and function. It’s a lot easier to go back and troubleshoot one part than it is an entire laundry list of freshly installed components.
Optic Screw – If you’ve added an aftermarket optic as a Glock upgrade on your slimline pistol, the optic mount screw could be the cause of your Glock jamming. On slimline Glock pistols, like the G43, the right-hand mounting screw can enter the extractor channel, leading to failure to extract and cycle.
Solution: If installing an optic on a slimline Glock or pistol with a similar design drawback, simply file a few millimeters off the end of the screw until you can tighten it flush to the tip of the mount without it impinging the extractor assembly.
One Final Glock Jamming Solution: The “Tap and Rack”
A single gun jam isn’t the end of the world, and especially with new guns or guns with new Glock upgrades installed, there may be some “break-in time” needed before you get the reliable shooting experience you expected. If your Glock jams, assuming it’s not a hang-fire, the first action you should take is called the “Tap and Rack.” Give the base of the magazine a sharp, moderate tap to ensure it’s seated in the magazine well properly, and then rack the slide, extracting the jammed round and chambering a fresh one from the magazine.
Order Your Glock Upgrades With Confidence
When you’re ready to customize your pistol, we have the parts you need to get a better shooting experience. We work with manufacturers that meet or exceed OEM specifications to help lower the risk of Glcok jamming due to poor fitment or quality. Get the parts your pistol needs from JSD Supply today.
