I have a G32 (357 SIG) that I can’t hit the floor with if I dropped it. I’m not a world class shooter but I’m pretty good. I have no trouble making good hits with any of my other handguns, which are all hammer-fired.

I gave up on the G32 a long time ago and it’s been sitting in my safe. Recently, I was shooting with a friend and he brought his G19. This was my first opportunity to shoot another Glock. He passed me the gun and I made my excuses in advance. I was surprised and pleased to see that I shot it exceptionally well. Naturally, I started thinking about my G32. I’m not one to blame equipment but I just never liked the sights (aftermarket). The width of the front post leaves no daylight. So, I bought a set of AmeriGlo I-Dot Pros and had them installed.

Mini Review: These sights are great. They’re well made and I really like the sight picture. For reference, I dislike 3 dot sights and I much prefer the old Sig Bar-Dot style sights.

I was eager to get to the range because I thought I had the problem licked. Unfortunately, my shooting was horrible. How bad you ask? I had trouble hitting a paper plate at around 12yards! I’d get a few rounds to group and the rest were all over the place including many complete misses. I even tried resting on the platform and I still couldn’t hit the plate with any consistency.

Again, I don’t like to blame equipment but something is obviously wrong and I’m having trouble accepting that it’s me. Not at 12 yards! There was another man at the range but he was introducing a newbie and I didn’t want to interrupt him to shoot the gun.

So, help me figure this out. I’m not recoil sensitive so you can rule that out.

Perhaps this is an important piece of info: I’ve only fired one type of ammo in this gun. When I first acquired the gun, I bought 1000 rounds of Georgia Arms canned heat and that’s the only thing that has ever been in the gun. I really can’t believe that the ammo is the culprit but I’m at my wit’s end.

I know others will say it as well, but, different ammo, and let someone else shoot it. I know that's not much help, but you have to go through certain steps to figure it out.

I'm assuming the barrel crown looks good?

Might be a dumb questions, but does it have a .40 caliber barrel installed, by chance? Caliber should be marked on the barrel hood.

.40 and .357 Glocks use all the same parts, except the barrel. (There are also some slight differences in some followers, depending on the magazine's age.) Converting a G32 to .40 simply involves dropping in a G23 barrel, and vice versa.

A .357 round will feed and fire in a .40 barrel, although its accuracy and velocity will suffer and the case mouth will be blown out. It likely would cause some ejection/feeding failure too, but not necessarily.

That said, unless it's something obvious like the wrong caliber barrel, a chewed up crown, or a poorly machined/rifled aftermarket barrel, you're going to have to rule out the ammo and the shooter before you can make any real headway on potential mechanical flaws.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Does it have a .40 caliber barrel installed, by chance?

Hey now, that would explain A LOT!

I carry a G32 and I have a number of .357 Sig Glocks. None of them do what you're describing. While it's possible that there is an issue with your pistol, I think perhaps it's the shooter.

Have you tried holding it against a sandbag or rest and slowly pressing the trigger while maintaining sight alignment? Have you had others shoot the pistol and compared the results? Get a baseline, and then see how your the pistol behaves when shooting freehand.

Yes, it has the correct barrel . Also, I'm using the factory barrel, not an aftermarket. The crown appears to be fine.

Mechanically, the gun seems perfectly fine. It's never had a failure.

The next time I order ammo, I'll grab a box of 357 just to try factory new rounds from a different manufacturer. I don't have much confidence in that being the issue. Not when we're talking 12-15 yards.

I'll see if I can find a couple of experienced shooters at my club to give it a try.

Sure way to tell if it's you is load or purchase some dummy rounds and have a friend load your max with them mixed in and try shooting as usual. I'd wager a donut you're jerking/snatching at the trigger right before the shot. It's almost impossible to self-diagnose because you may not feel like you're doing it. try some dry fire and watch that front sight closely.

Yep. I've seen a number of shooters flinch their way off paper at 10-15 yards, especially with bigger/snappier calibers. Hence why you need to rule out that specific shooter as the cause.

I've never tried Canned Heat myself, but it has a good reputation. Still could be the ammo, so try something else. A caution, though, Canned Heat uses Speer bullets, so you may get the same accuracy issues with Gold Dots, or even their FMJ practice ammo.

I'm hearing that most Glocks are not sensitive to different brands of ammo, but it wouldn't hurt to try, as well as the other suggestion of asking an experienced shooter to try yours out. From what you're saying, I'd be willing to bet that there's an issue with the gun -- maybe a loose fit at the barrel bushing?

quote:

Originally posted by pessimist:
Yes, it has the correct barrel . Also, I'm using the factory barrel, not an aftermarket. The crown appears to be fine.

Mechanically, the gun seems perfectly fine. It's never had a failure.

The next time I order ammo, I'll grab a box of 357 just to try factory new rounds from a different manufacturer. I don't have much confidence in that being the issue. Not when we're talking 12-15 yards.

I'll see if I can find a couple of experienced shooters at my club to give it a try.

That's a great idea. I would also try the gun on paper at five yards firing at a one inch orange dot. Fire a few rounds and see if you can get a nice group. Then move the target to seven yards and focus on the same. Continue moving until you notice your groups open up. Then switch ammo and do the same thing.

I have had hit or miss luck with the GA ammo in the past. The magnum rounds I have fired have all been factory reloads downloaded to barely magnum velocities. Haven't tried any in years.

I’d be curious with your results after switching ammo. I carried a G3-G32 for years. One of the most accurate pistols I’ve carried.

If you go to a range that has rentals, try their G32. See if you get the same results with their rental. Or, forget the 357Sig and get a 9mm conversion barrel for your G357 (then you'll have a G19) and end it right there.

This guy posted about his Model 34.
I can't vouch for him or his results, but his post stuck in my head although I've not experienced this problem.

Although your problem isn't with shooting left, FWIW...https://www.glocktalk.com/threads/fixed-my-left-shooting-problem.1694985/

quote:

Originally posted by fquico:
Or, forget the 357Sig and get a 9mm conversion barrel for your G357 (then you'll have a G19) and end it right there.

That’s a very good idea, especially since I want to use this gun in some matches. However, I’m hesitant to put any more money into this gun until I understand what the issue is. I’m going to keep this suggestion in my back pocket though.

quote:

Originally posted by Gambit:
This guy posted about his Model 34.
I can't vouch for him or his results, but his post stuck in my head although I've not experienced this problem.

Although your problem isn't with shooting left, FWIW...https://www.glocktalk.com/threads/fixed-my-left-shooting-problem.1694985/

Thanks a lot for the link. Very interesting. I would never have considered the locking block. He’s using a Gen5 and my gun is a Gen3. I don’t think the Gen3’s had cast locking blocks but I’m not sure. That said, if I was getting groups like his with the defective block, I’d be thrilled. My rounds aren’t really grouping at all. I’m going to keep this in my back pocket as well until I eliminate shooter and ammo.

I’m not a reloader (yet) so I don’t know whether this is significant. I pulled a bullet for the hell of it and I’m measuring .3545. I think it should be .355 or .356. Also, there doesn’t seem to be any need to fear setback with these rounds. I don’t know if the crimp is responsible but there’s a slight lip on the bullet that rests on the case mouth. I don’t see how this bullet can be pushed further into the case. It was really crimped tight. I had to repeatedly strike the bullet puller to get the round separated.

Well, it seems I solved the mystery. It was the ammo.

I was shooting a match last night so I went early to see if I could find anyone that could help before the stages were built. There was only one older gent at the club and he was shooting an XD. Close enough. I asked him to shoot a couple of groups and he obliged (turns out he was the VP of the club and he was knowledgeable).

While we placed the stand at 7 yards, he told me that I was likely the problem; that I was probably flinching because of the 357SIG recoil and blast. He fired 2, five-round, volleys that were spread over the paper plate. He blamed himself for the poor results but said it seemed somewhat OK and he didn’t think there was a problem with gun or ammo.

Luckily, I had found an old box of Speer Gold Dots in my inventory and I brought it with me. I fired 5 rounds at a fresh plate and I had a nice tight group at POA with rounds touching. I then had him shoot another group which he tightened up considerably. Eureka!

While it’s no mystery that you can get varying group sizes with different ammo, I find it pretty remarkable the degree at which it occurred at such a short distance. I’m thinking that these bullets are not sized correctly and they’re not making full contact with the rifling. Additionally, the bullets are crimped to the point that they’ve made a slight mushroom shape. The recoil from these rounds is substantially more than 9mm and I’m wondering if the crimp is causing excessive pressure. The gentleman even commented on the recoil. I wasn’t paying attention to the recoil from the factory Gold Dots so I missed making a comparison.

It’s a shame. I bought this gun back in 2004. I put over 700 rounds through it trying to get decent results only to end up quitting and putting it in the back of my safe for 14 years. And it had completely turned me off to Glock.

I would just sell the gun and buy your buddies G19

In all seriousness I would try and shoot it and 7, 10, and 15 from a rest and see if flinching is the issue.

quote:

Originally posted by Dusty78:
I would just sell the gun and buy your buddies G19

In all seriousness I would try and shoot it and 7, 10, and 15 from a rest and see if flinching is the issue.

Hey, Dusty. See my post immediately preceding yours. The issue has been resolved and the gun is capable of shooting to my expectations. The problem was with the factory reloads I've been shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by pessimist:

quote:

Originally posted by Dusty78:
I would just sell the gun and buy your buddies G19

In all seriousness I would try and shoot it and 7, 10, and 15 from a rest and see if flinching is the issue.

Hey, Dusty. See my post immediately preceding yours. The issue has been resolved and the gun is capable of shooting to my expectations. The problem was with the factory reloads I've been shooting.

You had the same factory reloads hanging around for 7 years

Well glad it worked out. If you want to shoot cheaper a 40 cal barrel wouldn’t be a bad addition. Look at Combat Armory, they are having a factory Glock barrel sale. $89 I think.

There is a reason the G19 is considered the finest all around offering from Glock. It is the one Glock everyone should if they could only have one.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
There is a reason the G19 is considered the finest all around offering from Glock. It is the one Glock everyone should if they could only have one.

I certainly hear ya. We've all had those "what was I thinking moments"

Now that I'm dipping my toe into competition, the drawbacks of the 357Sig are obvious. The recoil between this cartridge and 9mm is night and day. Especially a lightweight Glock vs all the CZs and 9mm 1911s I'm seeing. There's really no way you can compete in a timed event against everyone shooting 9mm. I'd be spitting in the wind.