Glock has really shocked me!

chief38

chief38

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First off, I do not own any Glocks. Secondly I think they are extremely reliable, accurate, consistent and very well designed. So WHY don't I own one?

For me a Glock would only be considered for a EDC pistol - they are certainly no beauty contest winner and I am not into plastic generally . To date, I do not like any of their current offerings for EDC. They either lack the small / light Sig P365-like size, thinness and weight, the caliber I want to EDC (9mm), and the round capacity in that package. I also greatly dislike the trigger "Dingus"!

Quite honestly I am astonished that Glock has never really answered Sig's P365, SA Hellcat, and FN's Reflex. They have a few models that were a feeble attempt, but they have never come out with a true competitive model. I am also shocked that Glock has never offered an optional manual safety from the factory. I am not a Glock fanboy and never owned one, however these facts have always puzzled me.
 
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I totally agree with the manual safety aspect. I have a Glock, but would never edc one because of that.
To not have a safety on something with a trigger pull that light is asking for trouble and I would bet striker fired weapons of this sort are responsible for a vast majority of accidental discharges.
 
I've carried S&W since police academy 1973. It's what I know. I've also been a department and academy armourer for Sigs since 1985. Carried those a bit too. My not being a Glock fan came down to grip size and alignment with my hand/wrist/arm. A firm set grip had that double stack gun lined up 15° to the right on instinctive shooting. Simply not acceptable.

I did give the Glock 42 a tryout years ago. It lines up just like shooting a J frame, which is a good thing. It's been my second choice carry every since. Yeah that striker fire concerns me. It go's in a OWB safty strap holster and stays there too. I put it on in the holster and take it off that way. The only time I draw and fire is on LEOSA qualifications. I have a separate holster just for that,

It has been extremely dependable and I group well with it. I have a 365, it's the same size as the 42 but a bit wider and heavier. I'm trying to reduce carry weight as much as possible so the Sig is a range toy. Which is kind of sad because the Sig is a higher quality product. I have had problems with two particular loads in the G42 otherwise it just plain runs.
 
The only reason I don't own them is because I don't shoot them as well as other guns.

So my EDC is a M&P 2.0 .45acp

I have zero issues with the funky triggers or lack of a thumb safety.

I do wonder why like the OP asked why they don't make a competitive model to the Hellcat. Maybe they are happy with their market share as is?
 
I don't own a Glock, but it seems many Glock users did not become handgun shooters (or shooters at all) until the popularity of civilian concealed carry. Same for law enforcement. Not really "gun people" in the traditional sense and that's not a criticism. The Internet followed not long after and lots of folks have been strongly influenced by this relatively new communications form regardless of it's validity or lack thereof.

Settling for striker-fired semi-autos have kept many from exposure to other types of handgun actions that may or may not be superior. Before the critics launch their tirade, my comments, as mentioned already, are not all inclusive.
 
13 years of EDC of a G26 in a hybrid IWB holster and no extra holes in my leg...yet. No gunmaker caters to the "tuck it directly into your pants loaded" crowd because that would be stupid, like making a windshield just for people who don't wear their seatbelt. Glocks have been proven to be perfectly safe if you're careful with them --- a loaded gun with no safety and a fairly light trigger. Sure, I know about "Glock leg," see my first sentence. My first EDC was a P220 and it didn't have a safety either.

If you don't shoot it well, that's fine, but there are lots who do. There's no doubt that switching from a Glock to other handguns can mess with positioning and point of aim. I've seen longtime Glock shooters try the 320/M17 and shoot low because of that grip angle change. But that doesn't mean one is "bad" and the other "good."

Glock seems to live in a bubble when it comes to trends, and along with the mass copying/improving of their concept might be their eventual downfall (Colt wrote the book on this). But, for now, the market adapts to their shortcomings like with the 15 round aftermarket G43X mags.
 
Glock was a bit late to the mirco EDC game. Back in 2014 when everyone was anticipating their "new" micro carry, they introduced the G42 which to everyone's chagrin (including mine) was in .380- the following year they introduced the G43 in 9mm and by then most folks had Shields, LC9s, Springfields etc.

That isn't to say that the G43 isn't popular, it def is, I love mine but they were kinda late to the game.

I'm a Glock guy and have been since the late-90s. They're ugly, boringly reliable, very affordable and very shootable IMO. I've held the P365 and while it feels ok, the only Sigs I'll own are German ones (preferably West German ones). YMMV.
 
Thursday, March 1, 2018 I saw my first Sig P365 ($469.99). I looked it over carefully and compared it to a Glock 43 ($299.99). Within 1.5 hours a LEO friend bought that same gun. He and his partner fired just under 200 rounds through it when the trigger stopped working. On Monday, March 5, it was on its way back to Sig, the first of three trips for the same issue.

Sig has a history of releasing $500.00 +/- products to the public to do the final R&D on the model, and Sig then works to correct the issues. The P250, P365, P320 and Mosquito models were released to the consumer before they should have been. That is a poor business practice when a life depends on on a product.
 

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rockquarry said:
I don't own a Glock, but it seems many Glock users did not become handgun shooters (or shooters at all) until the popularity of civilian concealed carry. Same for law enforcement. Not really "gun people" in the traditional sense and that's not a criticism. The Internet followed not long after and lots of folks have been strongly influenced by this relatively new communications form regardless of it's validity or lack thereof.

Settling for striker-fired semi-autos have kept many from exposure to other types of handgun actions that may or may not be superior. Before the critics launch their tirade, my comments, as mentioned already, are not all inclusive.
Click to expand...
This sounds pretty accurate to me.
 
Mike SC Hunter said:
Chief........Why worry as you or I will never own one.......Better choices out there.........Three turn-offs for me......The trigger dingus.........Wrong grip angle,,,,,,,,,,And just plain butt ugly.
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Oh - you are correct and I don't stay up nights worrying, but I am just plain shocked! One member replied that they might just be interested in law enforcement only. I highly doubt that now days, but I believe he was correct that originally that was their main focus.
 
chief38 said:
I am also shocked that Glock has never offered an optional manual safety from the factory. I am not a Glock fanboy and never owned one, however these facts have always puzzled me.
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Glock reportedly put a real safety on one model, for a foreign (Thai Police) contract. There is some dispute about this.
Photos can be found online, but have yet to see one in the hands of FW's Ian Mccollum, etc..
"But Glocks have 3 safeties", their reps like to say.
Jeff Cooper -"Putting the safety on the front of the trigger is akin to engraving a safe's combination on the door."
 
STCM(SW) said:
Being an old guy, plastic is for toys, I still have 1911 type pistols made of steel ....
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I own plenty of 1911's and shoot them often - love 1911's! That said, after carrying one for all of two weeks (47 years ago) I raised the white flag! For me they are just too heavy, bulky and cumbersome. I like an EDC that I can wear all day and don't have to pull my pants up every 10 steps. The ONLY "plastic" gun I own is my EDC which is a Sig P365 - that's it! For its intended purpose it is the best for me. While admittedly not quite as potent as a 45acp, the gun has a nice punch with Federal HST's and is always with me rather than in my night stand because I don't carry a 1911.
 
I too like fine craftsmanship. But several years ago I did a shoot off with several carry size pistols and much to my surprise, the Glock 48 came out on top. It's thin, carries more rounds than a J frame, conceals almost as well as the J, and most importantly I shoot it well naturally. I love my Smith's and Walther's, and carry them for hunting, but other than my old J, it's the G48 that's with me most of the time.
 
"Ugly" is a non-issue. A personal defense firearm is not erotica. It is a tool for serious use. If you care about "looks", your priorities are Adam Frank Union.

The "dingus" on the trigger is not a safety in the usual sense. It is there to ensure that only a conscious trigger press activates the firearm. The grip angle issue is not trivial - one should not be carrying a firearm that does not work for them. Glocks work for 90% or more of the population. If they don't work for you, don't have one. They are generally reliable. They may not be tolerant of careless/stupid handling. No one should ever be tolerant of such. NDs are the responsibility of the shooter, not the firearm. I have been carrying a compact (M26, then M33) in a Kramer pocket holster for 30 years or more. I carried them as BUGs in LE. They work. That's what matters.

I'll admit I like my Shield with RDS, and if I were not already well equipped in Glocks and their accessories, might consider the M&P pistols as "better". I have some number of Glocks and magazines, including a Wilson AR9 set up for Glock mags (in most ways a poor fiscal choice, but it does work).

There may be other platforms out there that serve the purpose just fine. Go ahead and carry one. Changing platforms for the newest is not generally wise. It is your right, but from a fiscal and psychomotor skill adjustment, less than prudent. I have a Sig 239 that I like reasonably well, but I am highly unlikely to buy another Sig product; maybe another of the old metal models. I sure as hell would not have a 320.
 
The PD I retired from adopted G17 as the issued duty weapon in 1990. They have been a Glock agency since, now over 35 years. They rode the .40 S&W train for a number of years, but recently went back to 9mm in Gen 5 G17's. In that 35 years and with hundreds of officers carrying the Glock pistol there have been no AD or ND, and I attribute that to the excellent training that my former agency provides. These days a Gen4 G26 is my retirement carry and that thing has been dead nuts reliable and as accurate as the larger frame Glocks. I'll admit, it is not as aesthetically pleasing as the S&W 2 1/2" model 19 I carried for years - but it carries easier and has 5 more rounds on tap.
 
My Glock 19 and 26 are two pistols that I know will work every time and I won't care if either of them has to sit in evidence for a year or more. I'm not going to risk that with one of high dollar Smiths.
 
I have fired Glocks, but I never warmed up to them. Maybe the Ruger RXM would be a better fit in my hands, but I have not bothered to go to my local, friendly, gun shop/enabler to look at one. Until I find something that is definitevly superior, I will continue to rely upon my old S&W Model 6946.
 
ColbyBruce said:
Thursday, March 1, 2018 I saw my first Sig P365 ($469.99). I looked it over carefully and compared it to a Glock 43 ($299.99). Within 1.5 hours a LEO friend bought that same gun. He and his partner fired just under 200 rounds through it when the trigger stopped working. On Monday, March 5, it was on its way back to Sig, the first of three trips for the same issue.

Sig has a history of releasing $500.00 +/- products to the public to do the final R&D on the model, and Sig then works to correct the issues. The P250, P365, P320 and Mosquito models were released to the consumer before they should have been. That is a poor business practice when a life depends on on a product.
Click to expand...
Yes - Sig did have a few minor issues with the first edition of the P365 which were rapidly and properly corrected. After the initial flaws the P365 has more than proven itself to be a reliable, accurate, incredibly designed and durable pistol. Colt had some similar issues with the reintroduction of their Python - again, a rapid and through fix! SA, FN, and many other company's in their frustration to get their new products to market fast, sometimes get a bit rambunctious and overlook a few things. There is often a very fine line between getting a new product to market before your competition and 100% perfection.

On the other hand, look at S&W! One of the most popular and oldest gun manufacturers in the world (that was famous for their high quality) that had the market, the reputation, the manufacturing capacity BUT let their QC go below sea level! So who is worse?? At least the other company's quickly and properly admitted, addressed and fixed the issues at hand. Has S&W??? I only WISH they did!!

When judging a company you need to look at the vast majority of their products - and not just the exception. if you have read the many posts on this very Forum you will find it is hard to deny. And BTW, we are the S&W aficionados!
 
A recent thread 'In Praise of a Glock' has 100+ posts and counting with posts as seen here. Gaston started a revolution and it continues 40+yrs and likely will not end. As Glocks are used by countless LE departments and military units as Delta and Seal, doubt they would use if design and function were not worthy. Like this thread but we're rehashing and for me it's a ho-hum here we go again. They are butt ugly but they work each and every time.
 
I feel it deserves to also be pointed out - amongst the plastic-fantastic pistols, IMHO Glock looks a hell of a lot more like an actual gun than some of the stuff from other reputable makers. Ugly being in the eye of the beholder, I'll personally take a Glock-block every time over some of the melted-plastic looking things Beretta, Taurus, Sig, and others have tried in the name of a 'perfect striker-fired compact'.

I don't even get why in 2025 we're debating these guns, but oh well - in 100% honesty I've had fewer failures from Glocks than S&Ws in the last 25 years - and reliability counts for a lot.
 
chief38, I personally would not label a dead trigger as a "minor issue". Such a flaw could have catastrophic consequences for the man or woman who purchased it, believing it was a stellar firearm from one of the best manufacturers. Sig got on the issue, but it was not rapidly corrected. The P250 problems were resolved in a timely manner; the Mosquito was dropped; the P320 series had a "voluntary upgrade" rather than a recall. There are still reports of problems with the P320 variants.

I have Sig P250sc/P239/SP2340 in .40 S&W, P239 in .357 Sig, P225/P229/SP2022 in 9mm and have owned a dozen other models. I gave my son a P230 and SP 2022's in 9mm and .40 S&W. I truly like most Sigs, but the recent products and business practices leave a lot to be desired.

I haven't had any issues with the various S&W Shield/SW/SD/M&Pc I owned; however, the RSA in my son's .45 Shield broke in less than twenty-five rounds. S&W sent him a redesigned replacement by FedEx the next day.
 
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