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Handguns

Glock Gen4 Recoil Spring Recall

Gen 4 Glock Recall
The Gen4 Glock 17 is part of the voluntary recoil spring assembly exchange.

Glock issued an announcement about a voluntary recall or exchange program for the recoil spring assembly on all of Gen4 pistols sold before July 22, 2011. In the announcement sent out to Glock armorers, the company stated their product development team modified “various elements” of the recoil spring assemblies to “…ensure each pistol’s performance meets the company’s demanding standards.”

The Gen4 Glock 26 and 27 pistols are not part of this recoil spring recall.

[Be sure to read my full Glock 17 review here.]

The recoil spring assemblies can be replaced by the owner of the firearm, and the firearm does not need to be shipped back to Glock.

The replacement part is free, and the complete instructions on obtaining the new recoil spring assembly is located at the Glock site.

There are a variety of different Glock Gen 4 recoil spring assemblies in circulation. Glock provided the following graphic to help identify which part you need:

Glock Recall
Glock Recoil Spring Assembly ID Chart

Ever since the Gen 4 pistols started shipping, there have been complaints about reliability from some people, especially with the 9mm model 17 and model 19 pistols. Several discussion threads on the topic have been posted on various shooting and law enforcement web sites. It would appear that this voluntary exchange is to address these reliability problems. If so, let’s hope this snuffs out all of the complaints because the guns will be rock-solid reliable now.

The third generation Glock pistols chambered in .40 S&W and fitted with a weapon light were found to be unreliable by a number of police agencies. A number of people believe Glock introduced the new recoil spring assembly found on the Gen4 pistols to correct the third generation problems. Glock, like most privately owned companies, often keeps such information to themselves. The exact reasons for much of what the company might do is a area of speculation in most cases.

By Richard Johnson

Richard Johnson is a gun writer, amateur historian and - most importantly - a dad. He's done a lot of silly things in his life, but quitting police work to follow his passion of writing about guns was one of the smartest things he ever did. He founded this site and continues to manage its operation.

6 replies on “Glock Gen4 Recoil Spring Recall”

[…] Glock, for example, issued a recall on the recoil spring assemblies of some Gen 4 pistols.  Recently, Smith & Wesson issued a recall on certain Thompson/Center rifles.  Previously S&W issued a recall on 22A pistols.  Additionally, Ruger issued recalls on early SR9 pistols and LCP handguns.  Remington recalled the Model 597 rifles.  Late last year, Caracal issued a recall on the F and C series pistols. […]

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