G19 vs. Revolver, first gun

@Guymontag,

I am not directing anything at anyone other than Ginger.


+ 1 on the shotgun, but as I mentioned earlier, get VERY familiar with the function of the slide release. In a pinch its easy to forget its there and possibly make the mistake of thinking your gun is broken or jammed.

+ 1 on ammo cost of shotgun shells. Also shotgun cartridges seem to be about the only ammo readily available right now.
 
Just ran into the guy selling the G19. We are going to go shoot it next weekend. The 2 magazines are standard and hold 10 rounds. The gun is 9 years old so the info on the life of the tritium sights is really useful.

I've gotten to thinking about the alarm system, again, the house is huge. If I get an alarm system based on contacts, that won't work if someone breaks a window, right? The upper story isn't an issue so much as the 5 ground floor doors and countless windows. Many of them were not built to open but the glass is 100 years old and it wouldn't be hard to just remove the panes quietly. Should I be looking at an air pressure based system? And wouldn't that be ineffective if the house is poorly insulated anyway?

I'm hoping the G19 feels as good a fit to shoot as it does to hold, and have pretty much decided that mine shouldn't be an either or question, and that getting bogged down figuring out what to get and not getting anything is more dangerous than just getting a decent Glock for starters.
 
Properly placed motion sensors will go a long way to securing your home without having to monitor each window.......Good luck with your educated adventure!
 
Nine years old?

Drop that price a hundred dollars at least.

Or just tell him ,no thanks,I can get a new one for just another hundred dollars.

Glocks are some of THE BEST semiauto's on the market but as others said,their trigger system requires 100% discipline to not accidentally pull the gun out of your pocket or a holster by the trigger.

These guns are made to be ready to save your life right now without delay and that's why no manual safety.

Just draw and fire.

Just like a double action revolver
 
Motion sensors with midnight snacking insomniac teenagers and a roaming dog seem problematic, no? :confused:

So you are saying $350 for the 9yo G19 with aging tritium?
 
now laser sensors might be doable, if they were along the perimeters. A whole new area of research for me to delve into! Perhaps an underground perimeter alarm to alert me to the presence of a tresspasser prior to an intrusion....although geese would better fit my budget ;)

I have a bad habit of thinking in terms of Threat Security Counter Measures, ie I can generally think of a way around any security measure I can think of, which will be great when I can afford to build a system to outwit my own cunning, but in the interim just leaves me kind of nervous.
 
the alarm people can put a tape on the glass so if its removed it will go off, and yes a roaming dog could be a problem.
 
Honestly, I don't think bad guys have a chance- maybe just another/bigger dog will be all you need to add security...( in addition to whatever firearm you settle on, of course).... And, you have certainly gotten lots of good opinions....
I would enjoy hearing how tis all plays out.....
Best of luck to you!!
 
Best description I can give is to have a solid grip all around. Limp wrist, not the best term BTW, can best be described as having bend in your wrist when trying to fire the gun. It can jam the weapon, but I have never seen one.

Set the gun as high in the web or your thumb and pointer finger as you can. Wrap your fingers around, then extend your arm fully toward the target, keep the slide and your forearm as straight as you can. Then, bring in your off hand, and put a little more pressure in the off hand than the primary hand.

Try that grip, its the basic, solid grip.
 
I'm saying it's nine years old and your probably better off getting a new one anyway.

Who knows how much it's been shot.

Unless it's in like new condition,for a much less price,I'd just get new and be happy I get to wear it in.

And Glock has many,many models and calibers to choose from now.

Plus,if a Glock is your fancy,then check out a Smith M&P as well.

Their grips are fantastic and their guns are just as good.
 
So where is the best place to look for an actual market value of a G19 9years old with tritium sights? My understanding is that orig. owner has fired no more than 500 rounds. How can I determine if this is true?
 
You need a gun smith you can trust to check the gun out.

Glocks are running between $300 to $400 used noiw.

You can check out GunsAmerica's website and see.

Nine year old tritium sites are only regular sites now.

They are worn out and add no value to the gun.

All this 'legwork' to save what amounts to a hundred dollars will likely cost you that in your time spent but good luck with whatever you choose.

And buying from a private person,if that Glock has a problem,it's your problem,you are stuck with it.

Yes,Glock will repair it but if it shows any gunsmithing work you will pay for the cost of the repairs.

And if by some bizarre incident the gun has been greatly damaged inside which I find not too likely but it has happened before,you could just be stuck with a lemon.

Buy new,with a warranty and shoot new rounds ( WalMart cheapies for practice)and you'll have no such issues.
 
Thank you!

I'm a little confused. According to Glock the G19 has a standard capacity of 15, so why would the guy selling his tell me the magazines hold 10?? And are the tritium sights a must have? Any opinions on adding a tactical light?
 
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Tritium sights are a good thing. I plan on installing them on my HK. They should be every bit as useful as regular sights when they are worn out, but no more. You probably still have a couple of years left to decide if you want to replace the tritium lamps; more if they were installed well after the gun was purchased (I'm looking at the web site now, and they claim "at least 12 years").

If the gun is 9 years old, then it would have been purchased during the period when magazines over 10 rounds could not be manufactured or imported. Manufacturers were shipping pistols with 10 round magazines, and it looks like the seller may not have purchased full capacity mags for it. That can be fixed, as they are readily available outside the few areas that continue to ban them (CA, NY, etc.).
 
Here is another question about buying someone else's 9 yo G19. When I talked to the guy yesterday and brought up the whole jamming/limp wristing thing, he described a jam he had that he was initially unable to clear manually, and how he cleared it by forcing the slide against the edge of a table.

He explained that this happenned because he reloads his own ammo and there was some defect in the casing of the round that jammed. Should I be concerned that this may have caused some damage or is indicitive of some other underlying problem?

After reading everyone's advice here, I am starting to lean toward buying something new in the box....my understanding is that the tritium sights add about 75 dollars to the cost, which brings the price new closer to 600 than the $350 I would hope to talk him down to.

Another question, can someone explain why leo's are issued semi-autos instead of revolvers? I understand the arguments for getting a revolver instead of a semi-auto, or think I do, but the fact that every cop I can think of is carrying a semi-auto gives me pause. Esp. since I do plan to become intimately familiar with the thing, wouldn't that tend to negate many of the arguments about ease of use and reliability of it's action after being left in a nightstand drawer for years?

The seller also started talking about keeping magazines loaded vs. unloaded, and that magazines should be unloaded when not being carried so as to not wear out the spring but that he has kept his loaded all the time. Is there any merit to this? Am I really supposed to keep mags empty when not in use? I would hope to be practicing at least every other weekend, and to unload them by shooting rather than manually bedside. Starting to think a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing....
 
I'd say to buy new. I have never seen this gun and just don't get a warm fuzzy feeling about it. If you were saving $1000 and you were strapped for cash, maybe you'd take the chance. You're not saving much and not getting anything special.
 
The conventional wisdom is that "the one to use it decides".

It appears from my perspective that you had selected something you were comfortable with only to receive post-decision advice that resulted in analysis paralysis, as it were.

Everything would have been just fine had the late breaking advice never surfaced as it merely added FUD and, as such, was counter productive. I suppose the same might be said for this thread in general and my post in particular.

What started out as a simple purchase of a used Glock has somehow mutated into a field populated by shotguns, revolvers, alternative autoloaders, AR-15 derivitives and will no doubt range even farther afield should you permit it to do so.

It is, by now, obvious that everyone has a different notion of "best" and it can even extend into the minutiae of used vs. new, malfunctions attributable solely to a hobby you don't have (reloading) and self-induced unclearable jams - a condition so unlikely as I can't even begin to guess what that was about.

You had already made a perfectly viable decision - if your intent was introduce doubt, you've come to right place. Certainly getting advice on a gun board will serve to expand rather than reduce the choices - we tend to dissipate rather than focus the process.

So, if it isn't about the firearm and actually is simple analysis paralysis, what does one do?

It's probably different for each of us. For me, a sharp blow to the head sometimes works wonders. Failing that the judicious application of Patrone Silver (chilled) combined with dice or I-Ching sticks or a magic 8-ball can provide resolution.

My personal recommendation is the Patrone with dice.

(The Patrone is only for dilemma resolution, don't shoot after shots.)

You were doing just fine until the unsolicited advice hit. It must be in our genes to overcomplicate simple issues and unresolve the already resolved.
 
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