The other day Derek, The Packing Rat mentioned that he’d gotten his Glock specifically because some cops of his acquaintance had opined that no civilians should own Glocks — or any non-double-actions for that matter — because they’re too dangerous. These cops would get all hinky if they saw a civilian with a Glock. “Only Ones,” anyone?
Well, that night Derek permitted me to inspect his Glock. My Glock experience is limited to say the least — I’d previously shot a .45 Glock more than fifteen years ago, and it was okay, but nothing special. But at SHOT Show 2010 I really really liked the Gen 4 9mm Glock I shot at Media Day. Easy to shoot, fit my hand very well, ridiculously accurate offhand. So I wanted to see what the earlier-generation Glock felt like, and Derek’s Glock 19 felt very compact in my hand. I was quite surprised — I’ve been assuming for years that Glocks were about as thick in the grip as a Beretta 92, which is really too thick of a shooting handle for my wife.
See, I’ve been musing about standardizing on something other than the Beretta 92/Bersa Thunder 380 platforms for our home 
defense guns. (Those work well together because the controls are virtually identical.) Glocks came to mind. I like the way you can use the 17’s magazines in all three sizes in exigent circumstances. And the grip would fit her hand quite well, I think. But I mentioned this to the wife, and she said “ooh, too thuggish.” Which is of course a completely irrational, biased opinion, just like the cops above.
We don’t have any gun-rental places nearby, so (sigh) I suppose I’ll just have to buy one so she can try it out.
Any Glock owners want to answer this question for me: if you hold your Glock with your finger off the trigger, and you were severely startled, do you think your natural hand-clenching motion would be enough to fire a round unintentionally?
Nope. Finger off the trigger, it’s safe as can be, in my experience. Carried a G27 for years and never felt it was “dangerous”. Still have it, but it’s not my daily carry anymore.
The little Glock frames aren’t the best home defense size (again, my opinion only) but I do like the mid and full size for that. Buy one and see if you and the lady like it for the home defense platform. If not, they’re easy to sell, or pack it into the preps for a backup.
Uh, if you have trained that way, NO. Check out aimsurplus. They often have “used” cop GLocks for less than $400. And NO, they don’t wear out.
If you’re in the Bay Area for any reason we can go over to Reeds Indoor range in Santa Clara off 101 and give one a whirl. Try my Sig too.
Not only will the G17 mags fit all of the 9mm line, but the G18 (33rd bad boys, for those of you in Kalifornia) will as well! Also, Olympic Arms makes an AR in 9mm that takes Glock mags!
My carry piece has always been a Glock. Not only does my finger reside well outside of the trigger guard, it curves outward. I strain my finger to keep it well outside.
I also own a CTAC and an MTAC holster from Comp-Tac. When I remove my gun, I remove it holster and all. This minimizes the number of times I need to cycle through ammo as well as keeping the trigger covered at all time.
COnsidering how many of the Only-Ones shoot themselves(or someone nearby) accidentally every year with their Glocks, I would suggest that they shouldn’t be allowed to own Glocks.
I have a Kel-Tec carbine that takes Glock 9mm mags, everything EXCEPT the m19 one, which is too short. Kel-Tec carbines are acceptable for home defense, probably don’t beat a shotgun, though.
I wish you were up here, I have an M19 and we could go to the range and try it out. Find an excuse to come to Portland or Seattle and we can get together.
Regarding the “startle response”, second the idea that no trained person would do that. Training is the key to handling a strange weapon. If startled, the homeowner should shuffle-turn towards the threat and cover the threat, with finger OFF the trigger until the first sign of hostility, when the finger goes ON the trigger. VERY confident homeowners might even put the finger on the trigger during the shuffle-turn, but they better have practiced their turning and covering in the dojo first.
Nothing wrong with the Bersa Thunders, as far as they go, and they have a nice light trigger pull for the ladies, but the 5.5# Glock trigger pull is probably lighter.
Glocks are reasonably-priced, easy to maintain (she will LOVE how fast she learns to strip it down) and have plenty of capacity (with an EVIL hi-cap magazine).
I have a 19 and a 22, but none are past Gen 2. I DO NOT LIKE the finger-swell grip on Gens 3 & 4. The Gen 2 grip is plenty sticky in your hand, some even find it’s serration and checkering TOO aggressive.
I do not like the Glock trigger. I don’t like it on a Glock. I don’t like it on the Springfield XDMs. I don’t like it, Sam-I-Am.
Dirtcrashr and RD — thanks for the invites. The wife and I can also just go to the Gunblogger Rendezvous V and try Derek’s out. As of last week we weren’t intending to go, but I might be able to change that given how much progress the wife’s made on her thesis.
Thanks everybody else very much for the info! IIRC Phil dislikes Glocks (I think for the same reason as Mollbot), so I’ll probably get an earful once he comes up for air from his schoolwork.
The GLOCK triggers are less than desired; however, you may do some tuning here and there and achieve a break that is to your liking.
http://www.alpharubicon.com/mrpoyz/glock/
http://ghostinc.zoovy.com/c=6UJw4lmnI5YzD1R3P0z2n8YJt/category/istallationinstructions/
My G19 is stock and I don’t mind the trigger. I’m even a 1911 guy. The G29 SF was pretty sweet as is, too.
The finger swells on 3rd gen GLOCKS can be smoothed down.
I’ve owned a Glock 19 (second gen) for about 15 years. The darn thing is reliable and never failed me. I bought it when I went through the academy (used it to qualify with), and have put thousands of rounds through it since then. No malfunctions, no problems.
I carried a Glock 17 (and later a 22) plus a Glock 26 (and 27) as back-up on-duty at my police department for years. No problems with any of them either. Carried them into some pretty hairy situations, and no discharges due to ‘startle’ or other accidents/negligence. Keep your finger off the trigger and you’ll be fine.
As noted by Rivrdog, I don’t like the finger swells/ridges in the third and fourth gen guns. However, with the small size Gen 4 (no palm swell adapters added), they did not bother me very much.
YMMV.
I carry a Glock 19. I also have the startle reflex of a rabbit in a dog pound. I jump when the monster pops out of the door in horror movies. I mean I really jump, just about out of my skin.
With all that, I feel comfortable with my index finger aligned either over the trigger guard (most of 1st digit is past the trigger guard, and I have medium small hands for a male) or aligned on the plastic frame.
And yes, the 19 is an easy shooting, easy packing pistol.
You should have her try the Glock first. The grip angle is all wrong for me. We just had a bunch of new shooters at the range yesterday. Started them with a .22 Mark III and then gave them the chance to shoot any of a group of 9mms. Of the 6 who said, “Oooh, a GLOCK” and tried it, none did as well with it as they did with an XD. And by not as well, I mean, only one 8″ plate hit out of 97 rounds @ 10 yds. One guy stopped before he emptied the mag. Maybe it’s the white outline rear sight that distracts them, but all hit just fine with the XD and were deadly with a custom 6″ STI. Both of those have the 1911 grip angle. And I kept my mouth shut so as not to prejudice them. Their question afterwards was, “Why does everyone buy them?” Had one other person who actually owned a Glock that shot better with the XD than he did with the Glock. I know lots of folks shoot them and love them and can outshoot me using them, I just can’t shoot them well.
Kid next to me at the range yesterday was doing ok with one – I think it was a Glock because it looked like a big block of black cheese.
I’ve had no problems with my G19, nor do I think a finger on the frame would lead to an ND during startle response. A quick and easy trigger modification you may like is the olive drab NY1 spring in combination with the Glock factory “-” connector. (The official weight of the connector has changed from 3.5 to 4.5 pounds, so just call it “minus”) This has the effect of raising the overall trigger pull by about a pound, to around 6.5, but giving you a much smoother break. Some folks liken it to making the trigger more revolver-like. In a defensive arm, I would want all parts to be OEM, lest a prosecutor portray you as irresponsible and thinking you “knew better than the manufacturer”, so steer clear of Ghost, etc. Just my $0.02. The “-” connector is only endorsed by Glock for carry if in combination with the NY1 spring and lots of folks (including Massad Ayoob) favor it. Could be worth investigating for Glock trigger haters.
No.
No more so than with any other gun. The question you asked is not Glock specific. I don’t need an external safety, mine is just above my shoulders.
I’ve been a Glock fan for years, they are designed to do one thing, and they do it well. I’ve never had a failure to fire, no matter what rounds I shoot (even wolf!). I like my Glocks because they just work, every time.
I have a G17, G19, and G26. The magazine interchangeability is GREAT, it means that whatever I decide to carry, I can carry one type of spare mag for all three guns.
No, it would not.
Glocks have been my regular carry/defense pieces for fifteen years now, and I’ve satisfied myself that it would take more than a startle response to discharge a Glock unintentionally.
I second/third/whatever the suggestions that you try one either by using a friend’s or renting one, before you buy anything.
If your finger is properly outside of the trigger guard on the side of the frame, and you’ve trained your startle response to not put your finger in the trigger guard then the answer is “no”. Hypothetically, I know a guy who was running with a 1911 with the gun off-safe, and this hypothetical guy slipped and almost faceplanted on the loose gravel. Because his finger was properly indexed outside the frame, there was no ND. So training is definitely the answer to this one.
No more so then a 1911 with the hammer cocked and the safey off, but then its not a DAO but then neither is a Glock with its pre cock action…