Just came across a brand new Glock 36. It followed me home.

Not a Glock guy, but I do like a compact .45 auto.

Any experiences with this one? I read the early ones were hit or miss with jamming. Anyone like this odd-ball Glock?

Thanks.

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Owned a Gen3 36 years ago, prior to the addition of the rail on the frame. It was reliable, but I didn’t care for it. I have large hands and it was so slim that it never fit them well.

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Some Might Say.

Had one years ago. It was okay. Not great. Didn’t fit my hand well. But it worked well and was accurate.

The frequent jams with the 36 is from limp wristing.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

I had one about a year ago. It didn’t feel quite right in my hand compared to my other Glocks. It worked just fine, but you are correct about the 36 having issues. I have seen people at Glock, Inc. carry their 36’s in for service complaining about the reliability. Invariably the service techs would bring the gun out along with a baggie full of aftermarket parts and tell them all innards were replaced. I traded mine.

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Congrats on your new 36.

I have limited experience with the G36. I trained two folks who wanted to carry them. One was an early production version and it ran just fine. IIRC, it was particular about which JHP it liked. Ran fine with Ranger and Federal Hydra-shok. But it choked, often with........Golden Saber? I think that was the round it didn't like. Ate everything else just fine.

The second example was owned by a slight female. She shot lights out with it. Zero problems or malfunctions. It was later production. Fairly recent IIRC.

I shot both. Both were accurate. Both reliable. The problem I had with them was the recoil pulse in the meat of my palm below the thumb. Not painful.......but.....unpleasant, to me. And the space between the bottom of the grip frame and the top of the mag basepad pinched my finger a few times while firing them.

Anyways, nice compact 45. Enjoy yours! Hope this helps. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

Shortly after the Glock 36 became available my then FFL got one for me. But before we could transfer it, he asked if he could give it to another customer, a good friend of both of us, and give me the next one he received. I said yes figuring that he would get another one soon. Unfortunately demand was up and it was maybe three years before I could finally get one.

I liked Glocks and figured that this would be a good carry gun. But for some reason(s) I really could not get comfortable with it. Much as I tried I did not like it as I thought I would and soon sold it.

I still think that it is/was a good idea and for some folks it would make a great carry gun. But my experience was not good enough for me to keep it. I hope that your experience will be different.

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Frosty
S&WCA # 2816

Maybe the "malfunctions" were the shooters?

I like the 18:20 mark onward. Kinda quick. lol...

I Have one and love it. My hands are as big as his also.
I never had any malfunctions and have shot thousands upon thousands through it.

BTW, the Glock 36 slid into all my holsters for my Glock 17/19 pistols.

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I had a Glock 36 until my Wife shot it. Now my Wife has a Glock 36.
The +1 mag. extension helps a lot. Full power 230’s are a handful but I reload so I can tame it down a little.

Thanks for all the feedback.

I became anxious after reading the online stories of G36 jam-o-Matics.

Seems like everyone’s experiences here have yielded reliable guns.

Every Colt defender 45 I’ve owned was reliable. I’m hoping this little 45 is the same.

The G36 had been Glock's problem child ever since it's introduction, with consistent reports in the industry of Glock being unable to get their legendary reliability out of the little gun.
However, I bought the G36 because I could get a good deal on it, as I worked at a Glock stocking dealer and with LE pricing it was a real steal at the time and I have a thing for small 45's. My daily carry is a Springfield Micro 3in 1911 45 and I regularly shoot another Springfield 3 1/2in Champion 1911, 4in Sig C3 and Shield 45. I never have any issues with limp wristing of the small light 45's but the G36 was a different stroy. The G36 was totally unreliable with ejected cases stove piping or flipping 180* in the ejection port on top of the next incoming round. I also had various failure to feed issues of all different kinds, using at least a dozen different types and weights of defensive ammo. I bought all new ejector parts, new recoil spring, polished the feed ramp. I shot , cleaned, re-lubed over and over trying to get the gun to run right but it never was right.
Also, who ever came up with the idea of shortening the grip frame and using the factory magazine floorplate to complete the grip WAS AN IDIOT. (Note, there was some concern expressed during one of the Armorers classes that the stupid short frame and extended magazine floorplate may have led to some of feeding issues. As the frame & magazine were gripped with the bottom fingers there was enough movement in the magwell for the feed angle to change ever so slightly at the top. There was also concern expressed that the Pearce mag floor plates might make the problem even worse.) The design, AS IS, does absolutely nothing to enhance concealability or alter magazine capacity. Make the grip frame the proper length and then just give the gun a normal magazine floorplate. (The gun would wind up with the same overall size and same capacity.)
Issue no. 3 or 4, with the current design of the frame and big butted magazine, Every time I reloaded the gun and didn't remember to get my hand out of the way, it got severely pinched by the STUPID over sized big butted factory magazine baseplate.

Despite what I've ranted about the G36, I am not a Glock hater, I own and shoot several. I bought, qualified 2x annually and carried a G27 as uniform duty backup gun for the last 10 years I was on duty and NEVER experienced ANY failures with it, EVER.

Mine was a former rental gun. Look at it closely, hardly any wear. Few people bothered to rent it.

Based on the ones I saw go in for service, I would not suggest filling it full of aftermarket parts, other than sights.

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I tried out the Glock 30, the 36 and the 21.
I didn't like the feel of the 36, the 21 was huge.
I found the 30 to be the perfect compromise in size and capacity, plus the thing is amazingly accurate.

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Tony

Thanks for this comprehensive write up.

I've had two, both totally reliable.

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How God has blessed us!

Ive had a Glock 36 and a 30 for over 15 years. Both are accurate and dependable. I carry and shoot the 30 ten times more than the 36.If all I had was the 36 that would be fine. If all I had was the 30 that would be better.

I’ve had one for over ten years with no problems. I was looking for the smallest .45 for concealment and the G36 was it.
I’ve only replaced the sights with steel trijicons.
It’s taken a back seat to a Shield .45 but I still have it.

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“Look life in its iron face”

I purchased anew G36 back about 2000. It was a solid gun and never had a malfunction. For some unknown reason, it went down the road a few years later.

As the years passed I always kind of missed it. Later bought a G30 to fill the void. As Hicock45 illustrated in his video, it was blocky and heavier. I didn't keep that one long. I was ready to buy another G36 and noticed the G30s. A thinner slide like the G36 and more ammo capacity like the G30. A good compromise between the two models.



Anyhow...you can't go wrong with a G36. A good find in these times.

Klyde

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I owned one, but sold it when I picked up a 30S. The 30S is .10" wider and only .35 of an ounce heavier, but holds 4 more rounds.

I carried one of these the last few years I was serving as an investigator in Crime Scene. For me, the gun was a welcome alternative to the model 21.

The G36 is a completely different design than all of the other centerfire Glocks in terms of the angle of the feed ramp. The "problem" of the steeper ramp in the 36 was compensated for through the use of a heavy recoil spring assembly, and some very detailed design work by the company on the top of the magazine. Reliability of my particular very early production example was improved by regular and systematic replacement of the recoil guide assy.

The other issue with the fit of the magazine inside the frame has already been mentioned. This was primarily a problem with some of the early production guns and magazines. The magazines tended to be loose inside the frame cavity, and sat too low in the frame when fully inserted.
This resulted in the magazine having a tendency to cam forward slightly at the top when the gun was held and fired. In my particular early production gun, this forward "cant" of the magazine actually made the feeding angle even steeper, and sometimes caused stoppages during feeding. The intermittent feeding problems with my particular gun went away when I purchased three new Glock magazines a couple of years later in the production cycle. The new magazines had some very minor design changes, even though Glock said they were the same.

Overall, The gun has always been accurate, and reliability issues disappeared after the purchase of the new magazines. The judicious addition of some friction tape here and there made the gun more comfortable to shoot and operate, especially as I got older.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

Erich,nice job on your trigger-guards.

I must've had two of the earlier 36's, as I had feeding problems.
This is going back 20yrs ago. I could readily see how the magazine
rocked forward and backward in the frame a bit. When you pinky squeezes back on the floorplate extension, the feed lips dip down about 1mm.
I think this was just enough to cause hiccups.

I've posted multiple times how I would love for Glock to expand this gun
to a full-size, 5" format, all while keeping the same svelte width and weight.
THAT would be one heckuva .45.

Same here adwjc, I looked at both a 36 and 30s at the same time and decided on the 30s. I really like it and the fact that it can use same holsters as 19/17 is a big plus.

The other big plus for the model 30 is the full-size magazines from the model 21 function perfectly in the model 30. Thus, it makes a great back up/off duty gun for the LEO, especially when the model 21 is his uniform/duty gun.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

I don't recall ever having heard that the G30 and G36 use different recoil spring assemblies (my first G36 was very early - as mentioned, utterly reliable but then I always keep fresh recoil springs in my guns), and I've always used them interchangeably.

While Glock, Inc. is not selling parts on their e-commerce site right now, a search for the factory part shows Glock presently uses the same assembly for the G30 and G36.

Glock G29/30/36 Recoil Spring Assembly | Free Shipping over $49!
GLOCK 36 Recoil Spring Assembly, GLOCK 29, 30 | Gun Parts Corp.
GLOCK # 08063: Models 29,30 & 36 Recoil Spring Assembly - Ghost Inc.

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How God has blessed us!

I had one of the early ones also,( bought it after 9/11) and I posted here on this thread already, but now I am remembering that there was a serial number range that had to be sent back, but I know mine didn't fall into the range, and I do NOT remember what the issue was....

Does anyone remember what this was?

I like my 36.

Google search will give you the serial number range or a phone call to Glock, Inc. will give you the same info.

I've had one since they first were released. Fantastic guns. My Father carried his as a duty pistol. It fit in the Safariland SSIII holster for a GLOCK 19 perfectly and it is the same size as one. Never had an issue with it. Used a Pearce brand +1 on the mags.

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GOA FL Dir. & Nat. Spokesman

This isn't google?

Version 2.0

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“Look life in its iron face”

Mine pinches my pinky between the bottom of the grip and the magazine extension.

Other than that, a great little pistol.

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Un-Reconstructed Southerner

Mine stopped doing that when the finger grooves went away.

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How God has blessed us!

I have had a few 36s, 30s, and the 21. I want to love all of them. Nice size and ammo capacity. But I just cannot get used to them. Too big for my small hands. I shot them OK but was never comfortable shooting them. Never had any issues with any of them.

My last 21 was stolen out of my nightstand. Recovered by FBI and Dayton SWAT at a drug house. After disposition of state and federal charges, it was destroyed instead of being returned to me.

I had a G36 and early this year my sgt got it and its now his off duty. I have a G30s and a old manteo nc police G30 both are wonderful shooters. I carried the G36 a lot in the past year just never warmed up to it. I mainly carry my s&w model 36 and my old Huntersville police G27.

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God save the SOUTH