Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Glock thoughts

UPDATED

Let me begin by saying that I don't much care for Glocks.

I don't like the way they feel.
I don't like the way they look.
I don't like the way everyone has one.
(I've got a weird thing about liking popular things)
I don't like their triggers.
I don't like their grip angle.
I don't like their non-safety "safety".
I don't like the way it's only half-cocked when it's cocked.
And I definitely don't like Glock fanboys.

For all those counts against Gaston's ugly little pistol, it still has one thing going for it. But that one thing just might be enough to overlook all the negatives.

  • Reliability


I'm not even sure there is any argument about this point. Glock attackers will frequently start their arguments "Well it is reliable, but..." as if there was any trait or characteristic that would matter more than reliability.

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A bit ago I was watching Ronin, and at one point Robert DeNiro is asked what gun he'd like. He replies that he'd like a 1911. Which, to a gunny, is just a few notches above asking for "One that goes boom." I wondered what gun he would ask for if he were more specific. A Springfield Loaded? A Kimber Custom something-or-other? A classic Colt? This was going to be a pistol that was expected to work in tough situations, not a chrome-plated target shooter that could afford to jam if you didn't feed it properly. What ammo could he expect to get? Then I realized that if the gun was new, it might have to be broken in. I don't think they were in a location that they could fire off a couple thousand rounds to get a new automatic working smoothly and reliably.

I thought what I would want if I were in that position. The gun would have to be something I would have experience shooting, something that could expect to act consistently like the other guns of the same model I'd used, something with few safeties and few points of failure, and above all ultimate reliability. I'd (unfortunately) have to choose a Glock. No matter where I get the Glock from or what state of usage I get it in, I'd be confident that it would act consistently as any other Glock that I'd handled.

But hey, it's just a movie.

Why not choose an XD? It's basically a Glock right? Well, even if time earns the XD the decades of reliability that the Glock has, the features that the XD sports seems to lend it to being a carry gun for casual (if any) use. The Glock is as simple as getting hit in the head with a brick, and made to take thousands of rounds down the pipe without flinching.

For now I'm content with my XD, which (after a break-in period) has yet to fail to function. Even when I poured sand into the opened action, and put two mags through it, there was no issue. It continues to function flawlessly no matter what I feed it (though I don't feed it anything other than mid-grade and white box). Should it somehow manage to fail in some way though regular use, I will likely have no choice but to buy a Glock.

The simple fact is that if someone walked up to me when I required a gun, and asked me what gun I'd like;

I wouldn't ask for a Matte Black Kimber Pro X4 Uber-elite Ultra6 with Wolf aftermarket springs, StickyFingers grips, Thompkins McAwesomeshooter barrel and bushing, with a Shooty McShooterson super-duper-feather-lite trigger job, Ninja Nite-sytes, with a tan lucky rabbit's foot attached to the lanyard loop, and a rail-mounted Surefire weapon light and laz0r, pre-broken-in with baby powder hand-ground by Tibetan monks, with 6 Wilson Combat 10 round mags, and 1000 rounds of Winchester Ranger .45.

I'd simply ask for a Glock 23, and be confident that my choice was the correct one.

5 comments:

r_mate_e said...

As heard in the movie Shaft... Your DAMN right!!!

Anonymous said...

You want reliability and effectiveness? A 12 gauge 870 pump.

Fletch said...

I think we both know it's the same idea; different package.

defiant_infidel said...

I know you're correct, but I am such an old school fart that I am permanently in love with 870 pumps and my ancient Super Blackhawk.

OK, I SAW you cringe at that last one, and no, I don't carry it Mexican! In fact, I don't carry it, I sleep with it! I have cycled so many rounds through that beast and it just feels like an old friend in my hand. I'm not good enough to truly utilize the cycling rate potential of the Glock (the single action cocking on the fall away of recoil is rhythmic to me!) and I have an insurmountable fear of semi-auto jams. I don't live near anything but woods thus over penetration is not possible! HA!

But I still know you are right. Nice job, ET.

Anonymous said...

Good Job! :)