Confessions of an ex-Glock hater

W

Will Beararms

New member
In 1994, I entered Glockhood for the first time via a Glock 22 with 4 high cap mags. It's a good thing I wasn't web-literate then since I shot everything through that little ugly black monster------reloads, lead etc. with no problems. I had come to the Glock side after carrying a 1911 clone by Norinco while living in Louisiana.

Some time later, I got on this kick that revolvers were the only safe and reliable carry option and sold the Glock getting a Colt Detective special (a very accurate snub albeit brutal to shoot) and a Taurus Model 85 Snub.

When I regained my senses I embarked upon an a brand-adulterous rampage trying Sigs, Kahrs, Rugers, Walthers, Tanfoglio's and Beretta's. The Kahr was plagued with problems and was given the boot. The Sigs were very accurate but weak in the finish department. The Beretta was a tack driver but the locking block drove me crazy not mention the finish would wear if you looked at it too hard. And then there was the nasty habit of the coating wearing off of those foam-like mag bumpers to reveal a silvery-white surface. The Walther PPK was a jammamatic and the Tanfoglio Witness Compact Comp .40 Caliber needed a throating job for reliability and carried like an anchor.

"Momma" in her benevolence got me a Glock 23 for Christmas this year and I put a pair of PT Night Sights on it and I haven't looked back. It is plenty accurate for me out to 15 yards, very reliable and in my opinion, an easy shooter. I love the simple manual of arms, (no knobs or switches to fibble or fobble with), the durable finish, the light weight yet soft report, the way it shoots cleanly and the fact that parts and qualified personnel are in abundance.

I do enjoy other pistols but for a utilitarian defense tool in urban areas where concealability must be melded with power and capacity, the G23 is without peer. What can I say? No clips on the recoil spring guide. No de-cocker levers. No locking blocks or barrel bushings. No screws in the grip to rust. No need to remove a part for disassembly. No worries about finding mags or holsters. No worries about rust. No worries period.

I still like Maks when a smaller package is called for and my Ruger P97 for a winter carry, knockabout pistol at the hunting camp but the Glock is the default weapon. BTW, there is a Taurus .357 Magnum Model 605 3" stoked with WW 110 grain HP's hidden in a convenient place at work as well.

[Edited by Will Beararms on 02-09-2001 at 10:45 PM]
 
Good post Will Beararms. I like it when people explain WHY they have preferences for brand X. Then I can understand why it works for them. You clearly defined the reasons why you choose Glock and I respect that. :)
 
I used to be...

...a virulent Glock basher. I remember when they came out, we lumped them in the same category as Ravens and such.

My first carry gun was a Chief's Special which I owned briefly, then traded in on a 3" heavy barrel model 13, which was the de rigeur "pro's" carry gun of the time (mid/late 1980's). Very few of the crusty old gurus that I considered my handgunning mentors trusted autos of any stripe as a serious "lifesaving" handgun; 1911's were considered by these old gentlemen to be a sign of someone too interested in "playing shooting games". But Miami Vice and Lethal Weapon had made their presence felt, and autopistols (especially large-mag-capacity 9mm's) slowly grew in popularity. After a couple of years, I joined the wondernine brigade and got a 659 to go with my first actual, legal toter's permit. The aftershocks of the Miami Shootout (and, more importantly, the chunky *&* auto's boat anchor weight) caused me to look for a .40 auto in late '93, and I started toting a Ruger P-90DAO (P-89DAO? Whichever was the .40, at any rate...). Unfortunately the Ruger, while indeed lighter than the 659, made me look like I had a colostomy bag that needed changing when carried anywhere around my waist: IWB, OWB, custom SOB, crossdraw, none worked right. I took it back to the store I bought it from, and the owner talked me into one of those cheap, evil, safetyless, plastic, striker-fired-like-a-junk-gun, hijacker's pistols: my first Glock, a G23, March of '94. A succession of G23's served as my main carry guns up through January of 2000, building a hands-on reputation of toughness and reliability with me, when the G23 was finally permanently replaced by the similarly-sized but seriously higher-powered 10mm Glock 29. With a G30 that fits the same leather and a G33 for backup duty and use when the G29 is too hard to hide, I feel pretty well covered by my ugly Austrian wheelchocks.

Actually, I've gotten to the point where I don't find them ugly anymore. I wouldn't call them beautiful, but there's a certain minimalist grace to their purposeful, spartan looks. ;)
 
You list pretty much the same resons why I have a Glock as my main carry weapon. I was a die-hard SIG loyalist before I went Glock. I still hold SIG Sauer pistols in high regard, but Glocks have proven to be hard to beat as CCW guns, at least for me. Simple, robust, reliable, accurate, as large or small as you want one in whichever caliber you like best....many guns fit some of those categories better than Glocks, but none cover all those bases equally well.
 
I came over to the Dark Side via a birthday present. A G26. As many of you will remember, I was one of Lord Gaston's greatest detractors. (Glocks may come, and Glocks may go, but Walthers are forever...) That poor beast languished for about a month before I decided what the hell, lets try it. Having tried it, I said to myself: "self says I, this ain't bad. This does fit my hand better than the Walther". Needless to say, the Walther went bye-bye, traded for a G19, and the G26 became my carry gun. Now, the G26 has been passed to my dear loving wife, who has had her eye on it since I got it. I carry the new G30 that I mysteriously got for Christmas. ;) The issue for me with any handgun is one of ergonomics. I have small hands. Many full size handguns will not fit. The compact, and sub-compact Glocks seem to be the best.:)
 
I grew up shooting my dad's 1911 variant, and I always will love that design.

When I graduated high school, my parents bought me a Glock 17 as a present (pretty cool, eh?). That was way back when they were $385 and there was no other Glock.
I LOVED that gun. It was my only gun. I shot it and shot it and shot it. All factory stock, even the sights. I was damn good with that gun, knew it inside and out, could align the sights at any range and make 100 yard shots easily. I knew that one gun. It was my only gun for years, and I shot that gun like 3-5 times a week for years.

My friends made a lot of fun to me, as I was the first guy on the block to own a plastic gun. They made fun of it until they saw me shoot it and shoot it and shoot it and it always hit and never failed. It did not take long until they all shot it and ended up buying their own. The gun spoke for itself with its performance.

Then, one day, after looking through all of these magazines and hearing all of this gun shop commando talk, I "discovered" that it had all been a hoax! My Glock was a piece of junk! Just ask anyone with an opinion and a Sig, the Glock is a POS. I succombed to the peer pressure and the marketing hype and decided that my life was worth buying a really expensive gun. After all, the Glock was a cheap POS that only appealed to the uninformed beginner (just ask any gun shop commando who is justifying his $1500 gun that he carries).
I sold the Glock to my brother and started whoring myself out to the gun companies. I bought everything in existence. I don't think there is any popular make of any brand that I have not owned. I ended up carrying a HK P7 M13 for a couple years. I figured that it was the best CCW gun in the world. After all, it is the most expensive so it must be better, right? Well, long story short, it turned out ot be a fine gun, but far from easy to carry and find accessories for. It got lots of "oohs" and "aaahs" from people I met though.

As other people can attest, on these forums years ago I was a Glock basher too. It is amazing how many adamant Glock haters end up turning to the "dark side" after they give a Glock a good wringing out at the range. I got in heated arguments with Glock lovers on these forums (anyone remember gunforums.com?), telling them that their life was worth the best, and that they were carrying a piece of junk. I really tried to justify why I sold my Glock and got a "real" pistol (It has to cost at least $700 to be a "real" pistol, and preferably twice that much).


One day after all of this, I was tired of wiping rust off the HK and dealing with carrying a $1500 gun, so I bought a Glock 19 "just to kick around".
My friend saw me with it and I explained to him that the new Glock was my "beater" gun, just for kicking around. He said to me: "you will end up carrying that Glock and keeping the HK in the safe". I frowned and resisted. Then I cussed him because I realized the truth that he saw. He knows me very well. He knows that I started with a Glock and I would end up carrying it.

After not even picking up a Glock for years, I took that Glock 19 to the range and it all came back to me with the first shot. I remembered my roots. I remembered what I loved about that gun. Hit after hit, the gun just sang in my hands. I shot faster and more accurately with that Glock than with any other gun I had put all that money into. Right from the holster, the first trigger pull is the same as the last. The recoil is mild, and the muzzle flip is minimal. The trigger works great, and the gun hits right where I point it. The handle fits my hand great and points right where I want it to. Best of all it goes BANG every time I pull the trigger, right out of the box and never misses a beat for tens of thousands of rounds. The best part comes when CARRYING the gun. It is rust-proof, lightweight, durable, small and comfortable.

With that, I still have a variety of fun guns, but the Glocks get carried for serious use. They just work for me. They do everything I want and more. They are THE best carry gun in the world, for me, and I have spent a lot of money finding out.

I still love 1911's, and occasionally I carry one, but I keep coming back to Glocks. As someone else said, they just work! They do everything I want in a personal defense conceal-carry gun, and generally they do everything I want better than any other gun I have tried.
 
My history with the Glock is perhaps interesting. The first pistols I used, when I was a teenager, were my dad's Colt Gold Cup in .45 Auto, and his Browning Hi Power in 9mm. Between than and my 21st birthday, I bought/traded a variety of pistols, such a Walther PPK, an H&K P7 (PSP version), Desert Eagle, and an original Glock 17 (bought in 1986, when they first came out in the US -- I was 21 years old that year). I was a poor university student, always low on cash. A new pistol usually meant selling or trading something else.

I think that I sold the G17 because I didn't shoot it well. I now attribute it to not being adjusted to its trigger. For example, I wasn't aware of its short trigger reset capability, which I use naturally now to great advantage.

After getting married, my interest in firearms subsided, due to a wife who was anti-gun. She became even more anti-gun after we had a son. Anyway, we divorced over two years ago (for a variety of other reasons), and somehow rekindled my interest in firearms.

When my interest subsided in my early 20s, there were only three Glocks of which I was aware: G17, G17L, and G19. Well, four, if you count the G18. :)

When my interest rekindled, I was so amazed to discover that there are now a couple dozen models available, in a wide range of calibers. After researching other brands out there, I concluded that a compact Glock would be the perfect first-pistol during this rebirth of firearms enthusiasm. But which one? Also having become aware of the nausiating 10-round magazine limit, I decided that I wanted something that wasn't crippled by said limit. I also wanted something that made big holes. A G30! There was a sport shop close to where I work in downtown San Jose (Mel Cotton's Sporting Goods), and my first trip there didn't turn up any G30s. This was in May of 1999 or so. When I revisited in July of the same year, they had a G30! I bought it instantly. Well, not instantly, because the government of this dud state (California) says that I must wait 10 days to cool off, from something. It was about $550, before tax and DROS (a wonderful $15 fee that we must pay to our dud state so that they can make sure that we won't go nuts after buying a firearm).

Later that same year I bought a Walther P99 in 9mm. I bought one before fondling one. Big mistake! I hated the trigger. It was way too long for my tastes. I sold it in early 2000. Perhaps I would have liked the new P99QA, which supposedly has a Glock-like trigger.

I guess I couldn't get enough Glocks because I have bought seven more since then:

G19C (for my sons, ages 11 and 13 now, to use -- I bought a non-C factory barrel, which is always in it)
G20 (I tend to shoot this Glock the most accurately)
G21 (to keep my G30 company)
G26 (of all of my Glocks, it's my least favorite, but still a "keeper")
G29 (one of my two most favorite Glocks)
G32 (one of my two most favorite Glocks)
G33 (Glock Incorporated told me the birthdates for all of my Glocks, and for this one it's 03/23/2000, which is the same as my daughter!)

All of my Glocks are equipped with Trijicon night sights, for a consistent sight picture for all of them. I wish that Trijicon didn't put white outlines around the tritium inserts, because I don't like to line up dots during the day. I have since learned to ignore the white outlines, and use the steel outlines to form a sight picture.

I also bought two Steyr M-Series pistols late last year: the M40 and M357. I like them, too. I am waiting for Trijicon to come out with three-dot night sights for them, so that I can 1) get night sights installed, and 2) change the trapezoidal sights to a conventional bar and notch.
 
Yesterday, I was out at the local range (as usual), firing my 70 Series Gold Cup and my G21, equipped with a threaded, compensated Accu-Match barrel.

A fellow shooter came up, just to see what was happening at the range. He's a guy who's a member of a shooting club and does all the combat-type games that people play.

He's also previously mentioned that he owned one Glock, a G17, that he only used for GSSF events, but his main source of fun is with his 1911's.

I invited him to give my G21 a try, and the results were pretty incredible. (To him and me) There was a paper plate stuck on the target board at 41 yds. This guy fired off three shots, freehand, pretty quickly. One shot hit dead center, with the another about an inch off dead center. The third hold opened the group up to about 2.5". Not bad for one of those clumsly, inaccurate plastic pistols!!

I still enjoy occasionally shooting the Gold Cup, but by far, prefer the Glocks.
 
I forgot to mention in my previous post why I have been turned off on the 1911 design. When I was in my early 20s (like 20 or 21), I bought a stainless Colt 1911 in .45 Auto. (When I was younger than 21, and wanted a pistol, my dad would fill out and sign the 4473 for me.) I had used my dad's Gold Cup before, but wanted my own 1911 design. Anyway, one day while at my dad's range, I had an accidental discharge. The pistol was pointed downrange, and when I released the slide to chamber the first round, the damn thing went off. I sold it soon after that incident. Since then, I have been very uneasy about this pistol design. I have heard a lot of good things about Kimbers. I have tried a few since then, but vowed never to own a 1911 design again.

I really enjoy shooting my Glocks. My kids do, too. My wife told me the other night that she wants to buy her own Glock. She doesn't simply want to borrow one of mine. She wants one to call her own, to shoot and maintain. She'll probably buy a G19.
 
I invited him to give my G21 a try, and the results were pretty incredible. (To him and me) There was a paper plate stuck on the target board at 41 yds. This guy fired off three shots, freehand, pretty quickly. One shot hit dead center, with the another about an inch off dead center. The third hold opened the group up to about 2.5". Not bad for one of those clumsly, inaccurate plastic pistols!!
Click to expand...

I concur about the G21. It is nearly match accurate. That is why I kept mine. If only Glock could make ALL their models as accurate as the G21.
 
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