For quite a while now, when someone asks me what they should get for their first, general purpose, do all pistol, I have been recommending the Glock 19. So, in the spirit of fairness, I decided to put my money where my mouth is, and I bought one.
Why??
Over the years, I have had countless people ask me "What should I get for my first pistol for self defense", and usually I just tell them to get a Glock 19.
For starters, a new one can be purchased between $500-$600. This is a price point that most people can afford, with used ones being found between $300-$400. For the money, there are not many pistols better than the Glock on the market.
Glock's have proven to be reliable, and durable. Being out for nearly 30 years, they have withstood the test of time, and have a great following, both in customer support, and aftermarket products. This makes parts, holsters, magazines, and accessories abundant, and easy to find. Hell, a half drunk, retarded monkey with downs syndrome is capable of replacing any of the parts you find on a Glock using a punch. This, on top of the ease of maintenance makes it a great choice for first time shooters, along with experienced shooters.
The simplicity of the Glock is also a point which makes me recommend it. No external safety, the outside of the pistol contains only the magazine release, slide stop, take down lever, and bang switch, so not much to get confused with there.
For starters, a new one can be purchased between $500-$600. This is a price point that most people can afford, with used ones being found between $300-$400. For the money, there are not many pistols better than the Glock on the market.
Glock's have proven to be reliable, and durable. Being out for nearly 30 years, they have withstood the test of time, and have a great following, both in customer support, and aftermarket products. This makes parts, holsters, magazines, and accessories abundant, and easy to find. Hell, a half drunk, retarded monkey with downs syndrome is capable of replacing any of the parts you find on a Glock using a punch. This, on top of the ease of maintenance makes it a great choice for first time shooters, along with experienced shooters.
The simplicity of the Glock is also a point which makes me recommend it. No external safety, the outside of the pistol contains only the magazine release, slide stop, take down lever, and bang switch, so not much to get confused with there.
What People DOn't like about Glock's
As with most things in the gun world, people either love or hate the Glock. I have experimented (in a totally heterosexual way) with Glock's in the past, but did not like the one I had enough to keep it. Here are some of the commonly referred to things that people "hate" about the Glock.
- The Grip Angle: The Glock has a slightly steeper grip angle than that of 1911's, and most pistols made for the US market. Myself, being a 1911 shooter, I usually find myself shooting high with a Glock, due to not being used to pointing the Glock down to compensate for the grip angle. But as with anything (and as I have shown with the Steyr AUG), these things can simply be overcome with training.
- The Trigger: A lot of people (myself included), have complained that the trigger on a Glock feels like a staple gun. That being said, it is actually a very good trigger once you get used to it. The reset on the Glock trigger is very firm and positive. They may not be 1911 crisp, but they are not a bad feeling trigger once you get accustomed to it. On top of this, there are a wide variety of aftermarket options to improve the trigger on a Glock.
first impressions and overview
If you have been around Glock's for a while, surely you know a bit about them. But, let's just say that you are a person in college for graphic designing, and you really would like to get your first gun for self defense, and recreational use. With that in mind, let's enlighten you a bit!
Glock is an Austrian company founded by Gaston Glock. In 1980 the Austrian military was looking for a pistol to replace their P38's, and Gaston decided to give it a go. He had no experience with designing weapons, but had knowledge of engineering polymers, which gave way to the Glock 17. The Glock 17 won the trials for the Austrian military, and was named the Glock 17, as it was his 17th set of drawings for a design.
Since then, Glock has produced over 20 models, in 4 different generations to great commercial success. Currently Glock produces what they refer to as "Generation 3" and "Generation 4" pistols. The main difference between the two is that the Generation 4 features changeable backstraps (the rear grip of the pistol), allowing the user to adjust the pistol to fit their hand. The other main change between the Generation 3 and 4 is a new recoil spring assembly in the Generation 4, to help minimize recoil and increase reliability with all ammunition types.
All Glock pistols (with the exception of the Glock 18), are semi automatic pistols, meaning that the pistol will fire one round for each pull of the trigger.
Glock is an Austrian company founded by Gaston Glock. In 1980 the Austrian military was looking for a pistol to replace their P38's, and Gaston decided to give it a go. He had no experience with designing weapons, but had knowledge of engineering polymers, which gave way to the Glock 17. The Glock 17 won the trials for the Austrian military, and was named the Glock 17, as it was his 17th set of drawings for a design.
Since then, Glock has produced over 20 models, in 4 different generations to great commercial success. Currently Glock produces what they refer to as "Generation 3" and "Generation 4" pistols. The main difference between the two is that the Generation 4 features changeable backstraps (the rear grip of the pistol), allowing the user to adjust the pistol to fit their hand. The other main change between the Generation 3 and 4 is a new recoil spring assembly in the Generation 4, to help minimize recoil and increase reliability with all ammunition types.
All Glock pistols (with the exception of the Glock 18), are semi automatic pistols, meaning that the pistol will fire one round for each pull of the trigger.
The Glock comes in a plastic case, along with 3 magazines (on some models), some merchandising flyers, fired shell casings, and the manufacturers opinion (also known as the owners manual).
What I like about the Glock 19, is its size. The overall length of the pistol is 7.28", with a height of 4.99". The barrel length is 4.01", and the overall width is 1.18". Being a mid sized pistol, It works great for concealment, or general range use. For me, it is still large enough that I can get a full and proper grip on it, with it being small enough to easily conceal. Holding 15 rounds of 9mm, is also a bit plus, and being able to accept 17 round Glock 17 magazines for your reloads is rather comforting.
My Glock 19 is a Generation 4. While some people are not a fan of the Gen 4, I certainly like it. The texture of the grip makes the pistol stick much better in your hand, and so far I have not found it to be very abrasive against your skin while carrying it inside the waistband. Personally, I had found the previous Glock pistols (except for the Gen 3 RTF pistols) to be a bit slippery in the grip for my taste.
One of the new features of the Gen 4 pistols is an oversized, reversible magazine release. It has about 4 times the surface area of prior Generations, allowing you to press the magazine release much easier, while still being low profile to prevent accidental release. Being reversible, that means even you wrong handed bastards can have it your way!
What I like about the Glock 19, is its size. The overall length of the pistol is 7.28", with a height of 4.99". The barrel length is 4.01", and the overall width is 1.18". Being a mid sized pistol, It works great for concealment, or general range use. For me, it is still large enough that I can get a full and proper grip on it, with it being small enough to easily conceal. Holding 15 rounds of 9mm, is also a bit plus, and being able to accept 17 round Glock 17 magazines for your reloads is rather comforting.
My Glock 19 is a Generation 4. While some people are not a fan of the Gen 4, I certainly like it. The texture of the grip makes the pistol stick much better in your hand, and so far I have not found it to be very abrasive against your skin while carrying it inside the waistband. Personally, I had found the previous Glock pistols (except for the Gen 3 RTF pistols) to be a bit slippery in the grip for my taste.
One of the new features of the Gen 4 pistols is an oversized, reversible magazine release. It has about 4 times the surface area of prior Generations, allowing you to press the magazine release much easier, while still being low profile to prevent accidental release. Being reversible, that means even you wrong handed bastards can have it your way!
The Glock 19 is a striker fired pistol, which means that with each trigger pull you are moving the striker (the object that hits the primer, allowing the round to go off) slightly to the rear before releasing. An advantage of this is there is no external hammer to snag on anything, and there is no long double action (where pulling the trigger brings the hammer to the rear and releases it) with your first shot. Personally, being a single action shooter, I do not mind the Glock trigger. Glock markets their pistols as "Safe Action Pistols", referring to the built in safety devices. On the Glock there is a small trigger on the trigger (trigger inception) that must be pressed to be able to press the trigger to the rear. Some people do not like this, and say that it bugs them while they are shooting, but I find this much more preferable to hinged triggers, such as on the Smith and Wesson M&P.
As far as safeties, the Glock has no external safeties. There is the little triggerception chingadero, and a firing pin drop safety. This means, if you pull the trigger, it will go bang. This is nice for simplicity sake, but for me who has been carrying a 1911 and pistols with a hammer for eons, it makes me a bit more cautious on my reholstering.
The trigger on the Glock, out of the box, is not bad. Mine being the standard model, it has what is advertised as a 5.5 pound trigger pull. I have put this on the trigger pull gauge, and it measures on average 6 pounds 11 ounces. While not bad, it could be a bit lighter. One thing I have always liked on the Glock, is how crisp and positive the trigger reset is. You can definitely feel, and hear the trigger reset each time after you shoot it. The reset itself is very short, and lends to fast shooting. Dry firing the pistol though, it definitely sounds like a damned staple gun. But hey, you can get over it....
As far as safeties, the Glock has no external safeties. There is the little triggerception chingadero, and a firing pin drop safety. This means, if you pull the trigger, it will go bang. This is nice for simplicity sake, but for me who has been carrying a 1911 and pistols with a hammer for eons, it makes me a bit more cautious on my reholstering.
The trigger on the Glock, out of the box, is not bad. Mine being the standard model, it has what is advertised as a 5.5 pound trigger pull. I have put this on the trigger pull gauge, and it measures on average 6 pounds 11 ounces. While not bad, it could be a bit lighter. One thing I have always liked on the Glock, is how crisp and positive the trigger reset is. You can definitely feel, and hear the trigger reset each time after you shoot it. The reset itself is very short, and lends to fast shooting. Dry firing the pistol though, it definitely sounds like a damned staple gun. But hey, you can get over it....
On the right side of the pistol, the extractor (the part which extracts spent casings from the chamber) is visible. It also contains a ledge on it, which acts as a loaded chamber indicator, to let you know that you have a round in the chamber.
Overall, the fit and finish on the Glock is very good, for an affordable, mass produced, production pistol. My Glock 19 is made in Austria, and features Glock's Tenifer finish. The Tenifer finish (also known as Nitrocarburizing), is very even, and extremely resilient to wear and corrosion. The internals of the slide are nicely machined, with minimal tooling marks.
Overall, the fit and finish on the Glock is very good, for an affordable, mass produced, production pistol. My Glock 19 is made in Austria, and features Glock's Tenifer finish. The Tenifer finish (also known as Nitrocarburizing), is very even, and extremely resilient to wear and corrosion. The internals of the slide are nicely machined, with minimal tooling marks.
The barrel features Polygonal Rifling. What this means, instead of the traditional lands and grooves cut into the barrel to spin the projectiles, it is essentially a shape that has been extruded through the barrel. Some of the advantages of this are (theoretically), longer barrel life, and higher velocities due to more surface contact on the outside of the projectile. A disadvantage though is you are recommended against shooting lead bullets through the barrel.
The recoil spring is a dual captive spring setup. Glock changed this for the Gen 4 to provide less recoil, and longer life using higher pressure rounds. We will see how well it works out at the range.
The recoil spring is a dual captive spring setup. Glock changed this for the Gen 4 to provide less recoil, and longer life using higher pressure rounds. We will see how well it works out at the range.
The frame itself is injection molded polymer (a nice way to say plastic) with metal inserts. The finish on the frame is a rough stippling, which makes the pistol very secure in the hand. One nice thing about Glock's is the lack of parts. The frame contains the majority of parts, and most of them can be removed with only a punch, and minimal cussing. Working on Glock's will definitely keep your swear jar empty.
On the front of the frame there is a rail, allowing for the end user to attach various lights or lasers, to suit their needs.
One thing on Glock's that I am not a fan of, is the slide stop, It is rather small, and is somewhat hard to access without a bit of training. The aftermaket has a wide variety of extended slide stops (along with a Glock factory one) to make this a non issue.
The stock sites on a Glock are a polymer affair, with a white dot on the front, and a white U shaped notch on the rear. They also offer three dot night sites from the factory, but being a fan of Heinie Straight 8's, I plan on replacing them anyway.
On the front of the frame there is a rail, allowing for the end user to attach various lights or lasers, to suit their needs.
One thing on Glock's that I am not a fan of, is the slide stop, It is rather small, and is somewhat hard to access without a bit of training. The aftermaket has a wide variety of extended slide stops (along with a Glock factory one) to make this a non issue.
The stock sites on a Glock are a polymer affair, with a white dot on the front, and a white U shaped notch on the rear. They also offer three dot night sites from the factory, but being a fan of Heinie Straight 8's, I plan on replacing them anyway.
overall
All in all, the Glock 19 is a pretty solid pistol, both in the hand and on paper. 15 rounds of 9mm in an easily manageable, and affordable pistol, is a solid offering by any maker. Add the simplicity, and reliability that comes with the Glock name, and it is sure to be a winner. But, what comes next??
Now some of my return viewers are probably wondering why I got the Glock 19, since my Steyr M9 is nearly the same pistol? That is exactly why I got it. I want to compare it, head to head with the Steyr, and see how they come out. My next write up will include both, broken down side by side, comparing and contrasting the two, and weighing the pro's and con's of each. In the next few months, I will run them both at the range, side by side, and see how they stack up. To throw a little bit into the mix, The Giant Ginger and I will be shooting the Glock 19, Steyr M9, and Smith and Wesson M&P9 side by side, to evaluate each pistol, and see which one comes out on top.
After this is all said and done, I will be taking the top performer, and that shall be my new family of go to pistols. Will I have multiple Glock's? Multiple Steyr's? M&P's? Only time will tell.
EZ
Now some of my return viewers are probably wondering why I got the Glock 19, since my Steyr M9 is nearly the same pistol? That is exactly why I got it. I want to compare it, head to head with the Steyr, and see how they come out. My next write up will include both, broken down side by side, comparing and contrasting the two, and weighing the pro's and con's of each. In the next few months, I will run them both at the range, side by side, and see how they stack up. To throw a little bit into the mix, The Giant Ginger and I will be shooting the Glock 19, Steyr M9, and Smith and Wesson M&P9 side by side, to evaluate each pistol, and see which one comes out on top.
After this is all said and done, I will be taking the top performer, and that shall be my new family of go to pistols. Will I have multiple Glock's? Multiple Steyr's? M&P's? Only time will tell.
EZ
