Many people are still questioning whether the Glock Gen 4 is as reliable as the Gen 3. I’m still putting rounds through the Glock Gen 4 G22 we reviewed and have yet to have any kind of reliability problem. I haven’t been using expensive ammunition either. Most of what has gone through the gun has been handloads or the cheapest stuff you can buy at Wal-Mart. The gun has not ever been cleaned, oiled, or greased.
For Thanksgiving we traveled to Eastern Idaho to celebrate the Holiday. Eastern Idaho had experienced some cold weather and so I thought it would be a good opportunity to see if cold weather could cause a malfunction in the Gen 4.
The evening of November 24 found me placing the G22 Gen 4 fully loaded with one in the chamber in a snow bank. Prior to being placed in a snow bank the gun had traveled in the car. Before I removed it from the car, the temperature had dropped to about 4 degrees F. I brought the gun in the house and condensation immediately formed. While the gun was still moist I took it out and dropped it in a snow bank. It spent 12 hours in the snow.
Thanksgiving morning after checking the temperature at -5° F I proceeded to shoot the gun without racking the slide or breaking the slide loose in any way. I did clean the big lump of snow off the side so I could hold the gun correctly.
The gun functioned perfectly. I was using UMC 180g FMJ’s from Wal-Mart.
In my opinion, this is a better test than putting the gun in a freezer. Most freezers are between 5°F and 18°F so -5° F is much colder than what most freezers will do.
Check out the video of the Glock Gen 4 being shot in -5°F.
Good test True. I have read about Glock torture tests before, it nice to finally see one.
What else have you done to the gun? Did you clean the gun after this test? If not have you seen rust from the moisture?
The point of this was to see if the Gen 4 could handle the ice. Kind of an extreme conditions test. I didn’t clean the gun afterwards or even wipe the ice off. In fact, the gun still has never been cleaned or oiled. You can’t tell it has ever been taken out of the box.