Events & Timeline

I purchased a Glock 36 in June 2008 in California. I experienced failure-to-extract (FTE) malfunctions, but was too busy moving my family out of the state to do anything about it.

In January 2009 I shot 100 rounds and experienced 3 malfunctions. I called Glock and asked for directions on how to send the firearm to them to be fixed. The malfunction, as explained in my first letter to Glock on January 19 that accompanied the firearm to the Glock facility in Smyrna Georgia:

The spent casing does not fully exit the chamber, yet the slide comes all the way back and catches the next round and pushes it slightly forward. This results in a ‘total’ malfunction that I cannot clear by racking the slide. Each time I must remove the magazine first.

I received the firearm back on February 21st. The work order said the following:

Inspected. Replaced extractor, firing pin safety, spring and cleaned. Meets factory specs. Tested OK.

I fired 120 rounds that day at the range. 100 rounds of Remington UMC ammo and 20 rounds of Corbon JHP +P. I experienced three of the same malfunctions with the Remington ammunition (top three pictures at left). I then wrote the second letter to Glock on February 22 requesting a replacement.

Fred from Technical Services contacted me and sent a pre-paid shipping label to me to return the weapon. Fred said that he would fire 200 rounds through the firearm, and if he experienced any jams, he would arrange for a replacement. He asked for a detailed letter, and I shipped the weapon back on March 6 with the third letter.

I received the same weapon back six months later on August 12 with the statement "meets factory specs".

My son and I fired the weapon on August 13 with 50 rounds of Winchester White Box and 50 rounds of Blazer Brass, both 230g ball factory ammo. I had one malfunction with the Winchester ammo, and my 16 year-old son had the same malfunction with the Blazer Brass (bottom two photos at left).

I then filed a small claims suit against Glock at the Cobb County Municipal Court. The case was scheduled for November 23rd.

I was informed in the summons that I would not be allowed to present testimonials of other Glock 36 owners who also have defective weapons. I decided to bring this video of the malfunction to court instead: