Hairline Cracks Found In Kentucky PD's Glocks
Glock handguns used by the police department of the Kentucky city of Bardstown have developed serious cracks after more than 15 years of duty. WDRB 41 Louisville News covered the issues in a segment available online, saying the issues affected a dozen handguns – about half of those issued to the Department. The guns were purchased in 2000, and have seen heavy use since then, leading to the cracks that in some cases caused the guns to disassemble. The firearms are chambered in the .40 S&W caliber, and that – combined with a decade and a half of training that could include the duty handgun being fired in an officer’s off-time practice, caused hairline cracks in the guns’ slides, causing failures of the slide to lock back, and in at least one case spontaneous disassembly.
The handguns that have developed the cracks have been retired, and the city’s officers are now carrying either personal firearms or spares. The Department has received $12,000 to purchase 30 new handguns of a soon-to-be-decided type. The Department has said new training will be required for the new handguns, suggesting they have decided against purchasing additional Glocks.
Nathaniel is a history enthusiast and firearms hobbyist whose primary interest lies in military small arms technological developments beginning with the smokeless powder era. He can be reached via email at nathaniel.f@staff.thefirearmblog.com.
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Jeezuz, please, not another juvenile caliber debate. I overheard a well known Military trainer state- "Amateurs discuss calibers, professionals discuss logistics" . 9x19 NATO and 40 S&W have nearly the same SAMMI working pressures, and not much definitive performance difference in the real world. A DECADE and a half of continuous service life for a cast slide, polymer frame pistol with minimal locking surface area seems pretty good to me. Call GLOCK and work out a good PR deal and I bet you can replace them all for $200 piece.
The way this article is written completely absolves glock of all blame.