It's finally happened…

He said, gleefully.

DeanSpeir said:

Glock kB! FAQ (now at v1.28), that a Model 34 Glock suffered a catastrophic failure

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Perfect...:roll:
Is this the first 9mm kB? Time for version 2.0, eh?

TeeBee said:

Is this the first 9mm kB? Time for version 2.0, eh?

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When I get more information, perhaps… and a photo would be nice, of course.

I do have an addenda, however:

The pistol was not badly damaged except for the barrel. None of the other telltale kB! evidence was present. The mag button appeared to be fine, there were no cracks in the frame or slide, even the magazine looked like it was ok. It was just the barrel. Folks you and I both know who have a lot of insight into the way Glocks are built have told me that they have metallurgical problems with the barrels from time to time. My guess -- and it is pure speculation -- is that a gun with substandard barrel fired out of battery and went pop.

As you say, it would be nearly impossible to overcharge a 9x19mm round such that it would split a barrel under normal cycle of operation. Of course, the best way to check would be to buy some PMC ammo, pull the bullets on a few rounds, and see if you can make a double charge; if so, load the round into a Glock 9mm and see what happens.

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But no, Charlie, no "glee" in TGZ… I genuinely felt, and operated on the principle, that this curious phenomenon was not, and would never be, applicable to the Models 17, 17L, 19, 26, and 34… due, and you have yourself noted, primarily to the relatively reduced case capacity of Parabellum brass.

I once bulged a barrel on a G21 with a squib round. The rest of the gun was fine. Any chance of a squib being the culprit?

Based on Dean's description that sounds unlikely. Squib loads followed by a full charge round tend to bulge barrels as you said and sometimes I've seen them split a little at the obstruction but not many split from stem to stern.

I've heard of a few 9mm case failures out of Glock 9's from Glock onwers -- always reload related. However, the above catastrophe will be very unpleasant for 9mm folks who now have to join the kB! Club!

As Mike pointed out to me, the Glock 37 .45 GAP appears to be in first place with no incidents yet. I suppose this means Glock has to improve metalurgy quality control, or they have to come out with the 9 GAP, .40 GAP, etc. :roll:

I think I came closed to witnessing a kB involving a Glock 17.

The shooter was using lead reloads and had a misfire. He had to use a great deal of force to eject the round. He showed me the round, which had a firing pin mark on the edge of the primer.

He tried to load another round and the slide would not go fully into battery, and again had to use more than usual force to open the slide.
It appeared to me the bullets were not seated deeply enough and the slide had gone forward enough to allow the striker to be released. Whether the bullets were engaging the rifling or the chamber was extremely dirty, I couldn't say. The shooter retired the Glock and the ammo for the day.

Is that pentagon on Glock bbls a proof mark? What proof house? What are the 9x19 bbls proofed to? Are they proofed at all?