James,
When I was a police officer I carried a [Model] 1911. In 1992 I was hired to instruct, among other things, firearms for associate degree police science students. In that year we bought 13 Glock M-17s. It is my estimation that those first Glocks in inventory have put 90-to-110 thousand rounds downrange in the associate degree and the police academy. We have broken five trigger springs and have had three front sights fly off. There have been one extractor break on the 17s, however, three broke on the M22 (.40 S&W). Having five Glocks in inventory here at the Teutoborg forest, I would buy three trigger springs and swap them out every 20 thousand rounds or so. When you get a Glock, pull the slide off and put a drop of your choice of adhesive on the bottom of the front sight. For some reason the engineering of the Glock calls for the front sight to be held in by a mere plastic peg/wedge. If you have Trijicon or Meprolight [tritium] sights it is good to use the same technique. Those sights are retained by a nut. We have also had those also fly off.
A trigger bar would be another worthwhile investment. Glock parts are stunningly inexpensive. A kit of most internals and extractor assemblies would cost merely 30 dollars or so.
You cannot say that about the other weapons available.
I own SIG, Beretta, Springfield Armory, Colt and Walther auto pistols. I seem to shoot Glock. – Mr. Oscar
James,
Wow. I disagree so thoroughly with what Teddy Jacobson says about spare Glock parts I hardly know where to start. He obviously really, really likes the Wolff hardened guide rods, and the silicon recoil springs are sounding excellent. But I’m pretty sure Glock has never nickel plated any of their extractors.
And what about the rest of the weapon? If you read Glock Talk for the last seven or eight years you’ll discover that every single part in a Glock can break. Can. But other than the usual extractor, ejector and firing pin (the heavily stressed parts in most weapons) the standard trigger return spring is known to fail. The gun will still function, but the trigger won’t reset on it’s own. Many Glock users will replace the part with the New York spring set.
Parts for the Glock are so cheap and so widely available that I recommend that people get the full set to guard against not only breakage but also loss [during maintenance.] If you ever had a part go sproing! during assembly/disassembly, then you know what I mean.
Mr. Jacobson may have worked on 15,000 pistols, and I’m sure he’s a far better pistolsmith than I am, but he didn’t fully answer your question. – Catshooter