Well, I guess I have to add my 2 cents worth. I first became exposed to Glocks in the mid-80's, while I worked at Lebannon Sports Centre up in Connecticut. I, along with many others, scoffed and said "make mine all steel, please, thank you very much" and that was that.
I remember my boss at the store showing a potential customer one, casually drew his old pocketknife from his pocket and proceded to "sharpen" or hone the blade on the slide
When he was finished with a half dozen passes, I was sure that; 1. He was nuts & 2. He had just ruined the slide of the Glock 22, one of 40 or 50 we had recieved from Millstone Power Plant on an upgrade trade-in. Naw, he took a rag and wiped the slide off, that was metal from his BLADE, not scratches in the slide, I kid you not!!! At that point I started to develop a grudging respect, at least for the Tenifer finish they used, if not the gun (yet).
Fast forward to 2002 (I shot a few in the years between, but not too much contact with them, too many other perfectly good all metal guns around to bother, MANY of them, Smith & Wessons, by the way). So, anyhow, it's 2002, I'm back from 3years stationed in Italy (and no new guns, or hardly any shooting at all while I was over there) and I hear of these special Law Enforcement & Military discount programs available from Glock, so I broke down and bought a brand spankin' new G19 at the Marine Corp Exchange in Norfolk. By gosh, it was stone cold reliable and actually, pretty darned accurate, too! Well, if the 19 is accurate, a 17 must be MORE accurate, right? So, I sold my 19 off, and went right back down there and got a G17 (same place, same deal, maybe like $399 w/3 hi-cap mags, does that sound right?) Shoot, I couldn't hold a paper plate at 25 yards with that darn 17, and really never could figure out why. It got sold.
These days, I have a G17L (the really long one), a 19 and 21SF (which is the .45acp with an ambi mag release and a slight shortening of the frame). My opinion of them now? Well, all three of them have proven themselves
to me to be unflinchingly reliable, easy to shoot and simple to maintain.
The G21SF of mine is "tuned 1911" accurate, the 19 is perfectly, "acceptably accurate" and the 17L? Well, I guess it's been a bit of a disappointment in that I had great expectations for it (being an "L" and all), and honestly, it's OK, it's just not the "scalpel" that I had envisioned it would be. Kind of like that whole 19 to 17 thing a few years back, I guess I seem to do better with shorter barreled Glocks?
Anyhow, my opinion has come around almost full circle, I have told people recently that if I had to pick up a brand new, off the shelf, untested gun from any manufacturer, load it, holster it and count on it to save my ass, I would grab a Glock first.
To add to the confusion, however, I will also say that I have that Glock 21 with a Streamlight TLR2 and a spare magazine in my nightstand, my wife however, has a pre-lock 2.5" Model 66 and a speedloader full of Federal 125 Gr JHPs in HER side!!!
Glocks have their place, and they are good reliable service pistols, but I'll always have a special place for my Smiths (one of them being the wife's nightstand drawer, I guess!
)
OMC
