Now (September 2020) is not the time to buy a handgun with all the panic buying going on and shortages of guns and ammo so of course I go out and (finally) buy a 10mm Glock 20, Gen 3, Short Frame.
I like it.
I’ve mentioned this time and time again that I’ve been fascinated by the 10mm cartridge since reading Colonel Jeff Cooper’s articles about it. When the Colt Delta Elite came out, I followed it closely and was very much dismayed to find out that the cartridge was abusing the gun. I’ve been a 1911 fan forever and was righteously indignant about its mistreatment by the 10mm cartridge. (Note: I realize this is not an entirely rational thought but to quote Popeye, “I yam what I yam.”) So, for years and years I put the 10mm on hold.
When Glock came into the firearms world with no MANUAL safety on a high capacity semi-auto (Note: I know about all the INTERNAL safeties on Glocks) I was fascinated by the Glock. All the hubbub of the plastic gun being undetectable (not true) and the high capacity magazines (true) and the inherent unsafeness of a gun without a MANUAL safety (STILL being debated to this very day) I took a quick look at Glocks and said “eh” and put them on hold too.
Much later my “internal indignant meter” just about got pegged when the book “Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun” by Paul Barrett came out. I thought maybe Colt, Smith and Wesson, Winchester or even the modern era upstart Ruger JUST MIGHT have a slightly more legitimate claim to the title “America’s Gun” than the Austrian import, Glock. I actually got the book from the library and read it and was kind of impressed at all the work the author put into it and how little information there was about Glocks and guns in general in a book that had the word “Gun” in its title. Later on Paul Barrett spoke to a crowd of about 80 people at my local library in St. Paul, MN and talked about the book and totally side stepped and tap danced around ANY discussion of gun control and almost any discussion of the technical side of firearms (that was the most impressive part of his talk, his ability to not engage in any hot button topics.) There is an interesting video of Paul Barrett talking about his book on CSPAN and the link is included below.
So anyway, what could POSSIBLY be better for me than a cartridge that abuses guns and a gun that I don’t care enough about to care if it gets abused?
Ta Da! My acquisition of a Gen 3 Glock 20 SF.
As I said before I like the gun. The grip is admittedly “Blocky” but nothing I can’t get my hands (and probably more importantly my mind) around. The big gun soaks up the 10mm recoil acceptably well. The trigger is okay. The sights are okay. The gun really does hold a *lot* of high-power cartridges and so far, the beast is just totally unsophisticated about indiscriminately gobbling up everything I feed it without complaint. So, I like it. Also, here is a Memorial Day photo of one of my favorite places to buy guns and ammunition, Fleet Farm. About the only thing on the shelves is S&W 500 ammunition and 10mm ammunition ($15 for 20 rounds of 200 grain ammo). Plus, I reload and Midway had a smoking deal on 10mm bullets so I braved the wrath of my UPS delivery man and ordered up a couple thousand 10mm bullets. I have NOT yet gotten into reloading them (for personal (read “remodeling”) reasons) but when my basement is back in order, I don’t see that reloading 10mm will be beyond my capabilities (knock on wood).
So, the Glock 20 is well on its way to becoming one of “my guns”. Which just like “my dog” or “my family” I can criticize all their faults all I want but nobody else better say a thing against them.
Now what happens when you buy something a little out of the ordinary? A little bit unique? Folks come out of the woodwork with the same thing. A friend at the range, watching me shoot the Glock 20 said he had a friend…next range session I’m meeting a guy who just bought a Remington long slide (6-inch barrel) R1 1911 in 10mm. We had fun BUT the trigger on his Remington was truly gritty, REALLY gritty. He acknowledged that but claimed the gun was new and he hadn’t cleaned it, etc., etc. The grip felt really good in the hand, it felt like it was beefy enough to handle the 10mm cartridge, it didn’t feel all that nose heavy and the adjustable sights were really nice. He mentioned a potential downside was all the financial shenanigans that are befalling Remington even as we speak and could possibly affect Remington customer service if he ever needs it.
After shooting each other’s guns and discussing all their pro’s and con’s we eventually both got around to the same point, maybe, just maybe, the Glock 40 would have been the way to go for both of us. Long slide, 6-inch barrel, modular back strap so you can get the effect of the short frame (or not), high capacity and it’s got the modular optical system option too so you could easily mount a red dot sight on the gun. So, we both looked at our respective firearms and said “Huh.” And thought about the grass always being greener…
I guess there’s always something going on in this hobby/diversion/obsession of ours and I think that’s a good thing.
Paul Barrett on CSPAN, at the 31 minute mark he starts answering questions from the audience and things get more interesting.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?303843-1/glock-rise-americas-gun
Fleet Farm handgun ammo shelves on Memorial Day 2020 and it’s still about the same Labor Day 2020.
I like it.
I’ve mentioned this time and time again that I’ve been fascinated by the 10mm cartridge since reading Colonel Jeff Cooper’s articles about it. When the Colt Delta Elite came out, I followed it closely and was very much dismayed to find out that the cartridge was abusing the gun. I’ve been a 1911 fan forever and was righteously indignant about its mistreatment by the 10mm cartridge. (Note: I realize this is not an entirely rational thought but to quote Popeye, “I yam what I yam.”) So, for years and years I put the 10mm on hold.
When Glock came into the firearms world with no MANUAL safety on a high capacity semi-auto (Note: I know about all the INTERNAL safeties on Glocks) I was fascinated by the Glock. All the hubbub of the plastic gun being undetectable (not true) and the high capacity magazines (true) and the inherent unsafeness of a gun without a MANUAL safety (STILL being debated to this very day) I took a quick look at Glocks and said “eh” and put them on hold too.
Much later my “internal indignant meter” just about got pegged when the book “Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun” by Paul Barrett came out. I thought maybe Colt, Smith and Wesson, Winchester or even the modern era upstart Ruger JUST MIGHT have a slightly more legitimate claim to the title “America’s Gun” than the Austrian import, Glock. I actually got the book from the library and read it and was kind of impressed at all the work the author put into it and how little information there was about Glocks and guns in general in a book that had the word “Gun” in its title. Later on Paul Barrett spoke to a crowd of about 80 people at my local library in St. Paul, MN and talked about the book and totally side stepped and tap danced around ANY discussion of gun control and almost any discussion of the technical side of firearms (that was the most impressive part of his talk, his ability to not engage in any hot button topics.) There is an interesting video of Paul Barrett talking about his book on CSPAN and the link is included below.
So anyway, what could POSSIBLY be better for me than a cartridge that abuses guns and a gun that I don’t care enough about to care if it gets abused?
Ta Da! My acquisition of a Gen 3 Glock 20 SF.
As I said before I like the gun. The grip is admittedly “Blocky” but nothing I can’t get my hands (and probably more importantly my mind) around. The big gun soaks up the 10mm recoil acceptably well. The trigger is okay. The sights are okay. The gun really does hold a *lot* of high-power cartridges and so far, the beast is just totally unsophisticated about indiscriminately gobbling up everything I feed it without complaint. So, I like it. Also, here is a Memorial Day photo of one of my favorite places to buy guns and ammunition, Fleet Farm. About the only thing on the shelves is S&W 500 ammunition and 10mm ammunition ($15 for 20 rounds of 200 grain ammo). Plus, I reload and Midway had a smoking deal on 10mm bullets so I braved the wrath of my UPS delivery man and ordered up a couple thousand 10mm bullets. I have NOT yet gotten into reloading them (for personal (read “remodeling”) reasons) but when my basement is back in order, I don’t see that reloading 10mm will be beyond my capabilities (knock on wood).
So, the Glock 20 is well on its way to becoming one of “my guns”. Which just like “my dog” or “my family” I can criticize all their faults all I want but nobody else better say a thing against them.
Now what happens when you buy something a little out of the ordinary? A little bit unique? Folks come out of the woodwork with the same thing. A friend at the range, watching me shoot the Glock 20 said he had a friend…next range session I’m meeting a guy who just bought a Remington long slide (6-inch barrel) R1 1911 in 10mm. We had fun BUT the trigger on his Remington was truly gritty, REALLY gritty. He acknowledged that but claimed the gun was new and he hadn’t cleaned it, etc., etc. The grip felt really good in the hand, it felt like it was beefy enough to handle the 10mm cartridge, it didn’t feel all that nose heavy and the adjustable sights were really nice. He mentioned a potential downside was all the financial shenanigans that are befalling Remington even as we speak and could possibly affect Remington customer service if he ever needs it.
After shooting each other’s guns and discussing all their pro’s and con’s we eventually both got around to the same point, maybe, just maybe, the Glock 40 would have been the way to go for both of us. Long slide, 6-inch barrel, modular back strap so you can get the effect of the short frame (or not), high capacity and it’s got the modular optical system option too so you could easily mount a red dot sight on the gun. So, we both looked at our respective firearms and said “Huh.” And thought about the grass always being greener…
I guess there’s always something going on in this hobby/diversion/obsession of ours and I think that’s a good thing.
Paul Barrett on CSPAN, at the 31 minute mark he starts answering questions from the audience and things get more interesting.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?303843-1/glock-rise-americas-gun
Fleet Farm handgun ammo shelves on Memorial Day 2020 and it’s still about the same Labor Day 2020.
