Why Glock?

I saw a post on ENDO today that caught my attention.  James Yeager was on youtube giving his opinion that all guns should be Glock 19's, and 1911's are crap.  Check it out and discussion on ENDO here.  I'm not defending Yeager, he has done some questionable things in the past, but must admit the man does have some experience despite presenting it in a terrible fashion.  I have to pick a side and agree that for my own reasons Glock is my choice platform.

Being military, I have spent a considerable amount of time training with pistols and have done some private combat handgun courses.  I have more time logged with the SIG Sauer M11 (P228) and favor it over the Beretta M9 which I don't like in the slightest bit.  I freely admit I have more rounds fired through the M11 than the M9, and through my own Glock 22 even.  Remember, the government pays me to shoot and provides me ammo to do so.  When I shoot my Glock, I pay for every round.

Beretta M9

The M9 has a slide mounted safety/decock which is awkward for me to engage/disengage without changing my hold.  I have to kind of tilt to safe the weapon.  This also presents an issue in that I train overhand racking the slide to the rear during reload which has a strong potential to drop the safety lever.  If that isn't caught and I attempt to fire, I get no bang.  I don't like manual safeties.  I've seen too many shooters on my lines not run the safety forward, and I will see them pull the trigger not once, but two or three times even, and usually the next thing they do is rack the slide ejecting a round.  Ergonomically, I think the M9 is terrible.  Of course I train around it, because I have to.  Being more used to the M11 and Glock firearms, I despise using the M9.  I also see a much higher failure rate on the Beretta, broken locking blocks, failure to gauge in tolerance for trigger pull (usually due worn springs or trigger bar). Detail dis-assembly also has a few points where if you don't know what you are doing, you can seriously damage the frame (The mag release for one...).

SIG Sauer P228 (M11)

Then there's the M11 P228 from SIG Sauer.  I used it for several years and enjoyed it the whole time.  The ergonomics are great, there isn't a slide safety to worry about, the trigger feels great, it felt right.  My only complaint is going from double-action to single-action.

<history>The M9 and M11 both passed the Army certifications testing back when 1911's were being replaced.  Both systems were adopted but the reason we got stuck with the M9 as primary over the M11 was that Beretta with magazines and parts were cheaper than the SIG with mags and parts although the SIG alone was cheaper.</history>

Now onto my OWN experience and choices.  As I said, I've been through some serious handgun training.  I've personally put several thousand rounds of 9mm downrange, and yes, I log my rounds (it's a warcom directive).  I wanted a handgun that I could cheaply and easily maintain, which was inherently safe and reliable, with well placed controls and not excessively priced.  I also wanted there to be aftermarket accessories that were readily available.

Glock 22 .40cal

So what drove me to Glock?  First and foremost was that it was light, high-capacity, known reliable, inexpensive, ergonomic, parts are mostly interchangeable, and there is a HUGE aftermarket for accessories.  From the first time I shot one on the range, I loved the trigger pull.  I never understood the idea of having a trigger with two different weights, I believe it should be the same everytime.  I also found it odd that many machine-guns have a lighter trigger than most pistols in DA mode.

I chose a Glock 22 in .40 Cal as my primary handgun.  Mine is a G22 RTF 3rd Gen.  I took a middle ground, 9mm is fast but .45 hits hard.  .40 is both fast and hard hitting.  It has penetration as well as a great potential energy delivery to the target.  I get a decent magazine capacity as well with 15 rounds.  2 less than 9mm, and 2 more than a full size .45.  I feel it suitable against wild animals or angry dogs if need be.  We have black bear south of here, but I would strongly want something much larger if I pissed off a mama bear.

Conversion.  I learned that if I want to, I can drop in a standard .357 Sig barrel for about $125-175 depending on manufacturer and without even changing mags I now have a new caliber to shoot.  If I want to shoot cheaper, I can also get a Lone Wolf Conversion Barrel to change down to 9mm.  In the 9mm case, you must purchase 9mm magazines.  KCI/Khan is a Korean company who make cheaper mags for about $12 for full-size G17 17rd magazines, or you can pay a bit more for Glock OEM mags at about $22.  I hear the KCI mags may need to be trimmed of plastic that is left from the mold process because they have bad quality control.  I just ordered some so will report when they arrive.

My other big gripe with other handguns is price.  The best gun is the one you have, even if it's a .22lr, it's better than nothing.  Let's be clear, purchasing a weapon is not cheap and ammo to shoot isn't either.  Then factor buying a holster, maybe a lockbox, range fee's...It's not cheap.  I liked my M11, but for the same cost as that weapon alone, I could afford my Glock, ammo, holster, spare mags, and range time.  And I trust the Glock will do the same job.  For the cost of some pistols out there I could buy a AR-15.  Think about that...

I noticed early on almost all of my civilian handgun instructors used Glocks, and were damned good.  My first instructor, Aaron Roberts, was working with Blackwater and was a renowned Glock Competition Shooter.  He went on to film Tactical Impact with Larry Vickers.  In class, his Glock was stock, and yet he never failed to impress.  He also attested to the utter reliability he witnessed running Glock versus other handguns.  Larry Vickers, without a doubt a HUGE proponent on 1911 platforms himself proclaims to go Glock these days.  Then there is the fact that the vast majority of law enforcement agencies have adopted the platform as well.  That to me means that there are a lot of in the know folks who trust the system. 

NSW Armorers Course, 2007, HK Mk23 .45ACP

And by the way, if I had to chose a .45, for price I would go Glock but if money was no matter, I absolutely LOVED the HK Mk23 and it was a dream to shoot.  For those who don't know, the Mk23 was requested by US SOCOM, and is a 15rd .45ACP combat handgun.  It is a HUGE handgun, but extremely accurate and rather quiet suppressed.  I have not had the pleasure of running the new HK Mk24 which is essentially a compact of the massive Mk23 holding 13 rounds.

In conclusion, YOU need to figure out what works for you.  It's all personal choice.  Who cares what the guy next to you decides, stand with your own thoughts.