After a 500 round training session with my trusty Gen 4 Glock 19, I went to clean the gun. When pulling the trigger for dis-assembly, the slide fell onto the concrete with a sound I that still haunts me. What the heck? Closer inspection showed that the slide lock was missing. It wasn’t on the floor with the slide. In fact, it was nowhere to be found at all. . .

I have no idea where it went, but suspect the little bugger disappeared while shooting. Maybe it broke and fell out. The slide lock spring is also slightly bent, but not too badly.

I contacted the Glock gnomes and they were happy to send out parts – but only to a “certified armorer.” I found one who could get the parts for me and thus far have been waiting a month. The armorer claims Glock hasn’t sent the parts yet, but let’s just say I’m a little skeptical. Perhaps it’s time to find another armorer. It’s a crying shame, too, because replacing the spring and slide lock is stupid simple. Even an insurance company caveman could do it.

I’ve shot quite a few rounds through the gun since, and, amazingly, it still works just fine. Must be that “perfection” Glock likes to talk about. The slide lock only holds the slide on after firing on an empty chamber. In any case, I’m not sure I’d recommend firing the gun in this condition, and I am currently not carrying it this way. If this happens to you and you decide to fire the gun, though, just remember the slide is going to fall off if you depress the trigger on an empty chamber. Ask me how I know…

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22 COMMENTS

  3. I don’t own a Glock but is their customer service really this poor? Seems like a critical part on a rather new gun failed while shooting it under ideal conditions– there are several manufacturers who would have already sent you a shipping label so that they could make the repair and look the pistol over for any inherent flaws.

    • Absolutely – making sure a gun is operating correctly is not only good customer service, but mitigates possible lawsuits should something go horribly wrong when firing a defective gun. It costs less money in the end.

  4. I believe you are talking about the SLIDE LOCK, not SLIDE STOP. In pics 1 and 2 I can clearly see your SLIDE STOP LEVER.

  5. “Ah, yes. I was driving along and my frequently-used ignition key tumbler fell out. Not sure when, but, hey, that’s cars for ya…”

  6. If you listen carefully you can almost hear the hue and cry of the glock fanboys blaming this breakdown on you while chanting “praise Gaston!”. 🙂

  8. Update: I contacted a different Armorer and parts are on the way from Glock. It appears the problem link was the armorer, not Glock.

    Having the 19 down gave me a good excuse to carry the G17 and G26.

    Thanks for the links and tips. The T.R. Graham unit is intriguing. I never knew the slide lock did much for precision.

  9. My slide lock “disappeared” on a range trip today, too. Glock 19 gen 4, just like yours. I pulled the pistol out of my holster, first attempt at shooting it for the day, and the mag popped out and the slide slid forward (caught it in my hand before it fell off the frame – thankfully). Searched on Google and this site came up. Ordered a new part, but seriously – wtf happened here, Glock 🙂

  10. I had the same exact problem with the Glock 19 Gen.4. I went shooting at the range and when I got home to clean it the slide kept sliding back, that was when I realize that the slide lock was not in place. What do you suggest I should do?

  11. It happened to me and Steven fix it in 5 minutes. Empire Guns & Pawn Shop, in Tampa guys, excellent Customer Service !

  12. A recently purchased Gen 3 made in 2011 but never fired had a similar issue on a training range during a dry practice drill as I was coming up from the ready and finger off the trigger. The slide simply slid forward and dropped off the end of the frame–as I stood there with my mouth hanging open is shock, no doubt. The range master said something like, ” How did you manage to do that?” “I have no idea,” said I. I had fired 150 test rounds through the pistol before taking it to the training session. After firing it, I ha cleaned and lubed it and later installed a Lone Wolf Distributing Extended Slide Lock . When the slide slid off the frame, I already fired several rounds through the gun during the training course. The slide lock was in place. I replaced the slide and continued training for the day. That evening, I field stripped the pistol, cleaned it well and inspected the internal parts with no issues discovered, including the slide lock and slide lock spring. I relubed the gun and finished the last day of the four day session, firing a couple of hundred rounds, mostly from the holster timed. No further problem encountered. WTF happened? I still am mystified. I was using a Kydex holster made for a G19 and owned and used by me since maybe 2002 without any problem. I index my trigger finger on the one side of the slide lock, but have been doing that for years, and both sides must be pulled down at the same time. I never had anything like this to happen before and I own and shoot eight Glocks. I still have not been able to figure what happened. I am not a Glock worshiper, but have found them to be generally reliable and more reliable than some. I am going to have to run a few hundred more rounds trouble free through this Glock before I trust it to carry.

  14. The same thing happened to my G23. Luckily it fell into a box. I put it back together and it seems to work ok, but I have another 2 springs and an extended slide lock on order. Weird.

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