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Portland Police Bureau recalls .45 caliber Glock weapons after incidents
Albany Democrat-Herald ^ | 16 March 2004 | AP

Posted on 03/16/2004 5:41:17 PM PST by 45Auto

Portland Police Chief Derrick Foxworth has ordered a recall of .45-caliber Glock Model 21 firearms, weapons carried by 230 Portland officers.

His order comes after two of the guns exploded in the hands of two separate officers during training this month. Neither of the officers was seriously injured.

"We don't want a reoccurrence of this happening again," Foxworth said. "It's the prudent thing to do."

The Portland Police Bureau at first thought the problem was caused by an ammunition malfunction. After the second explosion, the bureau's training division did further analysis and determined the explosions may have been caused by a defect in the weapon or a design problem.

Police will switch to 9 mm handguns. They are negotiating with officials at Georgia-based Glock to replace the .45-caliber weapons with 9 mm handguns at no cost.

Because the .45-caliber Glock is popular among law enforcement, the Portland police training officers sent a teletype to agencies nationwide. They heard back from several, including agencies in Florida and Texas, that had similar problems.

Other agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department, and Multnomah and Clackamas counties sheriff's departments, reported no problems.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; US: Oregon
KEYWORDS: bang; banglist; glock; guns; kaboom; portland
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1 posted on 03/16/2004 5:41:17 PM PST by 45Auto
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To: 45Auto
I've not had any trouble with my G 21. Thousands of hand-loaded rounds have gone through it without malfunction. I recently changed to a KKM Precision barrel, just for fun and now it shoots even better.
2 posted on 03/16/2004 5:43:30 PM PST by 45Auto (Big holes are (almost) always better.)
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To: glock rocks
glock goes boom?
3 posted on 03/16/2004 5:43:32 PM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: 45Auto
So if Glock 45's are exploding because of some inherent design flaw (which would be quite weird), why are they switching to 9mm which has (I believe) a much higher chamber pressure?
4 posted on 03/16/2004 5:46:48 PM PST by DonaldDuke
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To: 45Auto
"We don't want a reoccurrence of this happening again," Foxworth said.

Department of Redundancy Department.


gitmo
5 posted on 03/16/2004 5:46:48 PM PST by gitmo (Thanks, Mel. I needed that.)
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To: 45Auto; archy; glock rocks; Shooter 2.5; *bang_list
I wonder...could some assclown involved with ammo purchasing for these departments have confused the .45 ACP round with the new, proprietary .45 Glock round?

Or could some officers be trying out their OWN handloads on the sly?

I ask these questions because, absent some metallurgical manufacturing defect, I cannot account for this. Glocks just don't "blow up" without provocation.

6 posted on 03/16/2004 5:52:57 PM PST by Long Cut ("Man, don't hit me with those negative waves SOOoo early in the morning." - Oddball)
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To: DonaldDuke
It's probably a recoil problem and the gun fell apart rather than exploded.
7 posted on 03/16/2004 5:54:00 PM PST by spunkets
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To: 45Auto
Did they bother noticing the .44 mag stamped on the bottom of the case?

Glocks...blowing up....pffffft!

8 posted on 03/16/2004 5:55:58 PM PST by Fighting Irish
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To: 45Auto
Isn't it Portland PD cars prone to explosion due to gas tanks in the back?

Yet they like the performance and handling of the cars.

If I remember correctly they are ordering more and retro fitting them, more $$$$$$$$. The producer of the car I think Ford has even warned that retro fitting the tanks is of no help.

9 posted on 03/16/2004 6:01:12 PM PST by oceanperch (`It's A Boy Address:http://community-2.webtv.net/YaquinaBay/LangleyPortar)
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To: 45Auto
I'm not a Glock guy, but here's my 2 cents.

All modern firearms (except for the very cheapest) are over-engineered. They are capable of taking much more gaff than the usual operating pressures because gun companies don't want to get sued any more than they do already.

It would be interesting to see if the 2 Glocks had consecutive or near-consecutive serial numbers. Maybe a manufacturing flaw on a particular batch occurred. But I'd bet money that there is no design flaw.

10 posted on 03/16/2004 6:02:17 PM PST by LibKill (Ketchup-Boy is more French than the French!)
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To: 45Auto
They need ot order a box of these babies:


11 posted on 03/16/2004 6:02:58 PM PST by HighWheeler (RATS hero is an impeached, dis-barred, lying, perjuring, cheating, lazy, cowardly sexual predator)
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To: 45Auto
This is bizarre, everyone knows .40s blow up, not .45s.
12 posted on 03/16/2004 6:03:23 PM PST by MediaMole
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To: 45Auto
We don't want a reoccurrence of this happening again," Foxworth said.

Double redundancy alert.

Public schooling alert.

13 posted on 03/16/2004 6:06:05 PM PST by steve86
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To: 45Auto; Eaker
KaBoom...
14 posted on 03/16/2004 6:07:38 PM PST by in the Arena (1st Lt. James W. Herrick, Jr., - MIA - Laos - 27 October 69 "Fire Fly 33")
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To: HighWheeler
Well, Sheeeesh.

I guess a box of red X's could be used as targets.
15 posted on 03/16/2004 6:09:34 PM PST by HighWheeler (RATS hero is an impeached, dis-barred, lying, perjuring, cheating, lazy, cowardly sexual predator)
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To: in the Arena; glock rocks
Everyone knows that M1 Garands blow up, not Glocks .....................

16 posted on 03/16/2004 6:13:10 PM PST by Eaker ("Do I feel your pain?? Hell, I caused your pain!!!!" - Tom Eaker, 2004)
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To: Larry Lucido; Eaker; B4Ranch; Squantos; Long Cut; Pete-R-Bilt
The Portland Police Bureau at first thought the problem was caused by an ammunition malfunction.

...and as we all know, two malfunctions, on the same police range, within the same month, in Portland, can only be caused by gun defects.

I'll wait for the followup report.

BTW, does Portland have any lawsuits against Glock?

How old / well maintained were the Glocks? What is the armorer's experience level? What ammo was used? Lot number? Manufacturer? Awfully lacking in information to be publicized at this juncture ... kinda smells, doesn't it. maybe somebody's brother in law has a line on some P-90's. Who knows? I'll wait to make my judgement. In the meantime, my Glock isn't going into the fireplace yet.

17 posted on 03/16/2004 6:44:50 PM PST by glock rocks (molon labe)
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To: 45Auto
These police departments are as stupid as the purchasers for the US Military.

The best damned handgun ever made is the 1911A1.

The military had a gazillion of them.

What do the idiots do?

They replace it with a tinker-toy piece of crap made by Baretta, with the muzzle velocity of a rubber band gun and the knockdown capability of a spitball shooter.

What do the police departments do?

They fail to pick up the gazillions of 1911A1s available on the surplus market from the military, because they're afraid of the big ol' nasty .45, man, shoot, don't you know that sucker will jump out of your holster and shoot you in the foot?

Idiots, all.

Why does the military get rid of 'em?

Because some damn REMF pogey-bait "program manager" (that barely got to 0-5) or some goofy "safety officer" (qualified on a rubber gun), having occupied nothing but staff wieny positions their whole career, convinced some other idiot at the Pentagon that the Yankee Fist was obsolete, probably because he'd pinced his widdle thumby-poo on the grip safety or he barely shot a 20 on a MPQ course, or, worse yet, he had a private epiphany which revealed to him that the "cocked and locked" 1911A1 was just too dangerous for the stupid recruits to handle.

And the chiefs of police that wouldn't go with the 1911A1 did so because they were afraid of being accused of being "behind the times", non-progressive, or something equally stupid and was too damned dumb to start a training program for his officers on the use of the 1911A1.

So rather than save the taxpayers boo-coo monies, they convince the councilmen and commissioners to buy some damned "designer" silliness.

That's okay, boys, some of them surplus 1911A1s will make their way onto the market eventually and when they do, I'll pick up a few, work on 'em and make a dollar or two and some lucky citizen will get a damned good, extremely reliable, good shooting and just plain fine piece of killing iron. Assuming, of course, that we can still possess a firearm by then, what with the stupid birkenstockers and liberals roaming around, just looking for a reason to grab any gun they can, for any reason they can find.

And it'll outlast any of the "designer" fancy irons around.

When the Glock has at least one hundred years of reliability behind it, then maybe I'll argue the point as to which is best, but by then the old boat anchor will have been around for two hundred and going strong!

I'll be gone, but I guarandamntee you, it won't be because my 1911A1 failed me.

I never had one fail me. Even the one's that were so worn that you could hear it rattle from a hundred yards away. Even after being dropped in the mud of the paddy, my ol' friend never failed me.

I carried one for my entire career and the only time I did not qualify as an "Expert" was my last year on active duty.

I fired 49 out of 50 on that course. Must of been a bad round.

18 posted on 03/16/2004 6:44:59 PM PST by OldSmaj
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To: Eaker
Ha ! I'm glad I didn't 'feel your pain'...take care...
19 posted on 03/16/2004 6:54:28 PM PST by in the Arena (1st Lt. James W. Herrick, Jr., - MIA - Laos - 27 October 69 "Fire Fly 33")
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To: OldSmaj
Whoa! Tell us how you really feel!

I own a .45 ACP that is more reliable, with any ammo, than any 1911A1 you will ever own.


There is a lot of discussion, with loads of theories about what has happened in Portland over at Glock Talk. Just scan the General Glocking threads.

www.glocktalk.com
20 posted on 03/16/2004 7:00:11 PM PST by TC Rider (The United States Constitution © 1791. All Rights Reserved.)
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