Musing On Glocks

Hi Richard,

I bought my first Glock in 1996 the week before I took my CWP course here in SC with a Strong Pancake Holster and Uncle Michaels Handall grip.

Before then, I had shot a Glock 21 as a range rental pistol and enjoyed the way it felt in my hand and shot compared to some of my 1911's. The softer felt recoil made me a fan. When I took my CWP qualification, I scored a 98 with the G-23 and it gave me a great deal of confidence in the Glock Design.

Two years later, I bought a G-26 and tried it out, but I could just never get a decent hold on the grip and wound up selling it and later regretting it. If I had just shot and practiced with it more, I would have continued to have it to this day. In the meantime, I bought a G-35 for competition and wound up trading it.

The G-23 is still with me and likely to be with me for years to come. It is a 2nd generation and I can't get my fingers to properly index on the grip with the 3rd generation models (larger than average size hands).

Thanks for the musing.

Chris

I'm a fan of Glocks too. It took me awhile to get to this point, though.

After initially trying Glocks, I ruled them out because the grip angle seemed awkward. I reconsidered after one day noticing in the mirror that the way I held my hand when pointing an imaginary handgun was different from the way I held it when simply pointing an empty-handed finger at some "one" or some "thing."

Out of curiosity, I revisited the Glock and found that it's "awkward" grip angle in fact corresponded to my natural pointing angle. In other words, I had become accustomed to pointing a handgun in an unnatural way. So I bought a G19 to play with.

It took me a while to get used to it. For some reason I shot the thing to the left. I don't have that tendency with other handguns. Even so, I thought the errant shots must reflect a grip or trigger finger problem. After much unsuccessful fooling around with each, I finally gave up and adjusted the rear sight. Now I shoot it acceptably and find it very fast to return to target on second shots.

When it comes to semi-autos, I'm more accurate with 1911s, Sigs and CZs. But for a number of reasons -- size, weight, reliability, durability, firepower, ergonomics, trigger action -- the G19 is the only pistol that remains among my covey of revolvers.

Max

I have shot a Glock 17 in Production Division (of IPSC) for a year and cannot shoot it accurately. I constantly shoot to the left. It is frustrating. As a result, I am giving up on the Glock. Its trigger gives the fits. Granted, the pistol is reliable and stands up to a lot of hard use, but my confidence in my ability to use it is low. I prefer single-action pistols, not the least of which is the Hi Power. The Glock, which is now twenty years old, changed the way we look at handguns. It was revolutionary moment in the history of weaponry. I cannot even count now the number of imitators it has spawned. For the user who has never known the precision and pleasure of a well-tuned single-action trigger, the Glock is great, but one must remain blissfully ignorant of what a trigger can be to continue using it. Having worked as a range officer at some pistol matches, I have seen several shooters struggle with the Glock trigger. I wish them well with it, but I doubt anything can be done with it except to learn to use it the best they can. I do not think Glock "trigger jobs" are a good idea because this procedure may compromise the reliability of the pistol. It is a something best used as it comes from the factory. If you can live with it, good for you. I cannot. I will stick with my single-action pistol.

Well I liked the glock system enough to buy a G19 and love the feel in my hands and over all it's a great gun, But I have to say everytime I reholster it I am on point not to catch the trigger.

I know it's psycological mostly, But damn I'm glad I have a HP again with the manual safety.

That said, I like glock too

I was once associated with the Sheriff's Dept as an Explorer.

When we went out for live fire as opposed to sticking pencils down the barrels of the G22s, I outshot the rest of the Explorers and not a few of the deputies to boot.

Why?

I think it's this: I had been playing Duck Hunt and Clay Shoot on the 8 - bit Nintendo for years. I got to the point where nobody wanted to play with me - I'd shoot bringing the "pistol" up from low ready until I literally couldn't do it anymore. For years that was my practice, and I still wish for an 8 - bit Nintendo again.

Anyway, the G22 grip felt exactly like the Nintendo "pistol," and even the trigger was similar (about 3/8" on both, stack to letoff).

That has its downside too: I can all too easily view the Glock as a toy because that's just what it feels like to me. I like them, but I don't feel I'd be the safest person with one. So I stick to metal like a magnet.

I think I'm going to start another thread on the Nintendo "pistol" so the thread doesn't drift. I actually think it's good training.

Josh <><

Hi there all,

I dusted off my G-23 in .40 S&W and took it down to the range this morning.

With about 100 rounds of Winchester White Box 165 grain FMJ, I spent a leisurely hour sending rounds down range. It was quite an enjoyable experience as I have spent most of my time shooting other autos or my S&W 642.

Now I remember why I chose the G-23. With a softer felt recoil and the pistol recoiling straight back in my hand, I felt more comfortable that I could hit the target consistantly.



It was fun to shoot and get reaquainted with my old friend-my G-23!

Chris