A First for Me Today: Fired a Glock

[Clarke Hammer]

First off, I'm a double action S&W revolver and a 1911 type of guy -- began target shooting handguns in early 1990s and collecting/accumulating in mid-1990s. I was at the range today shooting my Dan Wesson C-Bob. The guy in the next lane asked me if I minded if he picked up my spent brass, which I had no problem with. I started to hand him the stuff that was landing at my feet. He asked me if I had ever shot a 10mm. I replied, "nope." He offered and I accepted. It was a Glock. Not only had I never fired a Glock, I had never fired any striker-fired gun. I actually shot it pretty halfway-decent at about 7 yards (I know, at 7 yards anyone should shoot just about anything decently). I very much liked the feel of the gun and the trigger. More than I thought I would. So, actually three firsts for me today: Glock, striker-fired, 10mm.

 

[Beauetienne]

It's not hard to get used to the Glock trigger, IMHO, but it's not very expensive or complicated to refine it, either.

I was one of those guys that was in no hurry to try one, but I like mine. Hard to pass up with the prices on police trade-ins being where they are.

Sounds like a fun first experience.

 

[dr. mordo]

I typed up and deleted an overly long reply that can be summed up thusly:

While the 10mm Glocks are cool, I'm not a Glock fan.

But I'm glad you got to shoot one. It's interesting to see what passes as "perfection" these days. I do think that if I started carrying an auto again, I'd probly get a Glock 29 and work up my own 10mm loads. That's not terribly likely though.

 

[Absalom]

As I just wrote today in another forum:

The Glock works, that’s the whole story. It turned out as perfectly functional and as ugly as it did precisely because the guy had never designed guns before, but specialized in polymer/metal designs; his greatest achievement before the Glock 17 was a field knife with a beer bottle opener.

In the modern military, handguns don’t matter much as long as they go bang when you pull the trigger and hit what you aim at. As handgun aficionados, we tend to lose sight of that. For most soldiers, marines, and LEO’s, unless they’re gun guys privately, a handgun is an emergency tool, nothing more. It needs to be lightweight, simple, and reliable like the Glock, not legendary like the 1911, or exquisitely engineered like a fine revolver.

I always loved the ergonomics of the Glock's grip and grip angle and the low recoil axis, but hated the clackety-clack trigger pull sequence. I didn't carry it much, but Glocks are an omnipresent fact of life, and I figured as a "gun guy" one should be familiar and comfortable with them; I kept a Glock 23 and shot it regularly until I sold most of my modern stuff some years ago to benefit my collectibles budget.

 

[RobertJ.]

I've shot a few of them. I haven't met one yet that didn't put the bullets right where I aimed it. I still haven't seen one malfunction. Every time I shoot one, I think, "Why don't I own one of these?"

Answer: I just can't bring myself to spend the money on one when there are so many classic handguns I'd rather have.

Now, if I was young and had been raised on them, you'd never talk me into carrying something like a 39-2, or worse yet, a .38 Special revolver. What dinosaurs!

Congrats on your three firsts, BTW!

 

[Clarke Hammer]

Answer: I just can't bring myself to spend the money on one when there are so many classic handguns I'd rather have.

This statement sums it up pretty well for me regarding my personal needs and interests in a handgun. I don't carry - my guns are used for target shooting, home defense, and as items to collect and keep that bring me pleasure. I definitely get it that Glocks work, and in fact work very well. I've often thought about trying out and picking one up in .45 auto since I already stock the caliber, but there are just too many wheel guns and 1911s higher up on my want list. If I carried, then it would be a different story. Someday, perhaps. I do think it is valuable to have at least a basic knowledge of common platforms to be able to pick up and safely and effectively operate.

 

[dr. mordo]

For the record, I've owned five Glocks and four of them have malfunctioned. The one that never malfunctioned I only had for one range session before selling it to a pal. They are not magical guns that never misfire. I had a Glock 26 that was quite literally the least reliable gun I have ever owned in 30 years of shooting. It was utter garbage.

Conversely, I have other pistols, including two Taurus PT111 G2s and a Para 1911, that have never malfunctioned.

Like I said, Glocks are... overrated.

The problem with Glock threads is they turn into arguments. I'm sorry for contributing to this, but I just can't support the idea that they are the flawless pistols that every other manufacturer should emulate.

I have to agree that they are absolutely they best pistol ever designed by a curtain rod manufacturer.

 

[rwsmith]

^^^Wow. Some people have all the luck.

FIVE bad pistols from one manufacturer that specializes in plastic pistols? That's the worst review of Glocks I've ever heard. Comments for those usually run from Good to Very Good with very few bads, except for the shape (Blocks).

We also have a Taurus semi and there's not much to dislike about it.

 

[Breakaway500]

Glocks are tools. Shooting tools. If you need something that goes BANG every time Glocks got you covered. They are the go to firearm for many professionals around the world that carry a firearm every day as part of their job. I keep a few around, (30 is my favorite:11 rounds of 45ACP in a small package) and have never had a reason to not trust them. Bang.Hit.Repeat. Thousands of times. Pretty much perfection in my book. Ugly, like an A10 Warthog...

 

[daddy bear]

"If you need something that goes bang ever time, Glocks got you covered."

OK, so do S & W revolvers and 1911s. It could happen, but I have been toting S & W J,K, and S (N) frame revolvers for almost 60 years. They also work, plus you can have pride of ownership with them. Likewise my 1911s have never let me down, although a pair of Hi Powers did. They did not like the ammo being fed them. Fortunately, it was a training exercise. My Sigs, 220, 228, and 229 have also been flawless. One of my closest friends (retired Secret Service) is trying to get me to go Glock. I'm not there yet.

 

[vortex360]

The Springfield XD Mod 2 is a much superior weapon. They don't stick you with plastic guide rods, crappy sights and ergonomics that simply suck.

 

[petepeterson]

While I don't own one, I have a good bit of trigger time on Glocks- mostly a 19. If I hold the sights correctly, a hole appears there. I've never been too hung up on the trigger. Yes, a 1911 trigger is better, but a stock Glock trigger is not unmanageable. I find the grip angle to be more of a hindrance than the trigger.

I agrre with the post above...I don't own one mostly because I like other things. I would like to pick a 19 up to have around, though.

 

[cmansguns]

OP: Congrats on your 3 "firsts".

I don't belong to the Glock forum and am not even a giant fan, but I do shoot "semi-competitively" with my 29 year old daughter who is a State LEO in another State.

When she is firing her duty piece (Glock 21 Gen 4, .45ACP) she can and does routinely whip my *** when I'm running my Model 25-2. This is at any yardage, wind, indoors/outdoors.

So yea...she has all the latest Agency training, quals and re-quals, plenty of range time, stress/no stress, etc. But heck..so did I and I'm not that bad (in my sole opinion of course).

So a couple years ago when she was home, I tried the exact same Glock 21, Gen 4. I was not allowed to handle her duty piece (Agency violation) so I rented one which probably had a couple thousand rounds or more through it...and sheesh...I could again hold my own against a well trained State LEO... I have to say I was impressed.....BUT.......they simply are still too ugly for me to have one in the same room (safe) as all those blue steel and walnut Smiths.

Anyway....like others have said....to each his own...and the Glock thing does appear to work well, even if it was cranked out by a "curtain rod" manufacturer.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Over 90% of Glock malfunctions are user error, explicitly confirmed above . . .

 

[2152hq]

I shot a Glock one time also. That was over 25 yrs ago. I couldn't tell you the Model, only that it was a 45acp.
One magazine full. It worked just fine. Accurate as I remember it firing off hand at at 'stuff' on the 25yrd berm,,the perfect test of the pistols accuracy potential!

I had the same reaction as many seem to have. It worked, worked well. Shot just fine and I could see why it's role in L/E and Military use was popular.
But they didn't interest me before that as something I would want own nor did it afterwards. I just have other interests as far as firearms and handguns in particular are concerned.
Simple as that,,

 

[joeintexas]

I have never owned one but my youngest son shoots and carries nothing but a Glock. He loves it, has put several thousand rounds through it without a hiccup, maybe he has just been lucky who knows. To me they just don't feel right in my hand, my 1911s and revolvers do. Each to their own. I will say, every 1911 I have owned had to have some tuning and tweaking done to them, then they run. His Glock ran right out of the box and has never stopped.

 

[Old cop]

I’d been carrying a service revolver for almost 20 years when my agency transitioned to the Glock so I had my doubts, especially since the .38 had seen me through three deadly force confrontations. It was esay to get comfortable w/the Glock trigger system quickly, and it leveled the playing field for LEOs and bad guys.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Think so uh.

Yup. I'm not sure why you're arguing the point. You admit that all of your malfunctions were user error, and that mirrors what I have observed and experienced over the years

 

[will1861]

I know that my Glock17 never failed once in 8 years that I owned it. The little 26 had just a few hiccups over the years. They do what they are supposed to do. But I will say I actually preffered my SD to the Glock. This maybe an unfair comparison, because the Glock 19 is probably closer to the SD in size and function. I believe the Glocks are very dependable. It's just a matter of preference. IMHO The Glock is gone now. But I think I'm just as well off with what I have.

Sent from my NX16A8116KP using Tapatalk

 

[Farmer17]

I guess I'm one really lucky guy I have had a whole bunch of defensive handguns over the years and virtually never had a problem with any of them in their out of the box form. I've had Colt, Kimber, American Classic, and Rock Island 1911s and shot thousands of rounds and never had a jamb with any of them. I do use the factory magazines, Wilsons, or McCormicks. I had one failure to fully chamber in my M&P .40 that just took a tiny bump on the slide and that was with bargain basement ammo and just happened once in nearly 800 rounds. I call that pretty reliable. Kel Tec, Kahr, Taurus, S&W, Ruger, Browning, Erma, CZ, and Bersa have all been extremely reliable for me so I don't know why so many people say that Glock is the only gun that will "go bang every time".