Glocks and AK’s.

Have to say, the guns I go to the most are Glocks, AK’s, and 870’s.
The 23 in .40, remains my most favored handgun for CCW.  The  model 20, in 10mm is coming in second.  The more I use the Glocks… the more I like them.  Not just an appreciation for the function… but liking them for the way they feel and point, the triggers…  The elegant simplicity of them… I just really like Glocks now.  I don’t know… maybe it’s the crash… but I really dig them and the more I’m around them, the 19 and 23’s stand out as the perfect handguns to me – even more so than the 1911 now.  Yup.  They crossed that line for me.  I like them more than 1911’s.  No they are not the prettiest, but they are still beautiful.  Kinda like the Girl Next Door that you grew up best friends with and there is that moment when you realize “You want that.”   That’s Glock.
My Crusader Kalashnikov is more and more my go to rifle.  I just really feel an attachment to it.  It suits me to a T.  It can hit.  It’s reliable.  Mag changes are getting much faster and everything is “Clicking”.  And I get more satisfaction out of running the Kalash well than running an AR well.
For the 870’s, my adopted Police Tactical is my favorite.  I have my other 870’s and they are cool and all… but something about that old wood furniture.  Nothing says I am going to “Jack You Up” like an old wood stocked gun… You just know you are going to get an old school beating.  The warmth it has when you handle it.  Wood is an under appreciated material to a whole generation of shooters and I find that a sad state.  Poly is fine – but Wood is finer.  Especially nice grained wood with character.  Again, Wood stocked guns have “Soul” that Poly guns just don’t have and never will.  They can’t.  I’ve said that before… And when I pick up that old Police Tactical… You can feel it has a History of Kicking Ass and all that experience is backing you up giving you some extra confidence.  A new 870 Tactical with a plastic stock – it’s like a new Police Rookie with his first pair of Mirrored Cop Shades.  The authority is there… maybe even the skill is there… But not the Character and Experience – that Soul just isn’t there.

These are my Guns of Choice.  What are yours?

29 thoughts on “Glocks and AK’s.”

  1. It’s always been my view that reliability is built into a design whereas accuracy can be adjusted later. All three of those choices fit that idea to a “T” (well, Glocks are pretty accurate from the start but you know what I mean).

    1. When you are co-owner of said Crusader Arms, I bet you can get a lot of good stuff worked on….that being said, a small run of Crusader AK’s would certainly be interesting to see what Joe could do….possibly offering a LaRue tactical red dot as an option?

  2. Ogre dude, didn’t you used to hate Glocks?

    I don’t hate them, I just can’t figure out all the model numbers. Gimme my Springers, any day.

    But WTF do I know, I’m just a guy who likes to admire fine firearms, pull triggers, and blow stuff up. If it sends pieces of copper and lead downrange at high velocities, and makes loud noises, I’m good.

  3. SIG 556 ER (with the non-folding, AR style stock), 870, and a toss up between the M&P9 and the SIG 229 in .40. I CCW the 229 the most.

    I used to be a huge Glock hater. They were ugly, unsupported chambers made reloading harder, had a funky grip angle and just didn’t have anything special about them. Then I picked up a 19 Gen 2 with a gripforce adapter (to “fix” the grip). Darn if I shoot the thing almost as well as my other guns, each of which has a few thousand rounds of practice and competition. I don’t know if I’m a convert, but I sure don’t hate them anymore.

  4. My feelings about Glocks mirror your feelings about 870’s with synthetic stocks…no soul. But no soul can be intimidating, even if difficult to love.

    My go-to guns: My Walther P99, it’s the first handgun I bought and I can shoot it better than any of the others I own. It’s a little off beat, but I love it.

    Rifle – Marlin Guide Gun. Something about sending big hunks of smack down down-range really trips my trigger.

    Shotgun – My used and abused 870. Got it when I was 13 and I can’t begin to count the number of deer and pheasants that shotgun has taken. It lives by my bed sporting an 18″ smoothbore deer barrel with an assortment of buckshot and slugs loaded up.

    Actually all three of the afforementioned guns are within easy reach and always loaded.
    I own and have owned several others, but those are my favorites that I don’t think I’ll ever part with.

  5. I still love GLOCK’s, i prefer to carry my Sig C3 only because it’s more comfortable and I shoot it well. But my go to war gun is my trusty model 21. I’ve got an AR that’s been worked over quite a bit that i really like and i’m an old school stock 870 fan all the way. Though i’d be interested in seeing what a slipstream treatment does to the good ol’ girl.

  6. My go to guns are:
    Pistol: S&W M&P 45 compact. It is a Glock made with ergonomics in mind.
    Rifle: My carbine length AR15 I built myself. I just know it so well. Plus, I have never had a malfunction with it.
    Shotgun: It was my Maverick 88. But, I will probably switch to my Stoeger 2000. It has gone through a couple of hundred rounds so far without malfunction. Once, I get it up to a 1000, it will be my go to shotgun. I just wish it had wood furniture.

  7. My EDC pistol is an XD40sc (soon to be joined by an XD40 Tactical) My service pistol is an EZ40 (aka CZ99) which is soon to be replaced by the XD. I have an AK-47 for CQB and a new CETME as my battle rifle and my Ithaca M37 8-shot riot model for close contact work.

    Yes I do hate Glocks, they don’t fit me and I would normally just dislike them but the kool-aid drinkers have deepened my dislike into hatred. Get over it, it is just a pistol.

    1. Notice how that’s usually how it is. Fans worse than the subject could ever be.

      I don’t hate the Yankees. I hate the obnoxious a-hole Yankee fans. Not all are but there are enough of them. Then again there are alos some a-hole Red Sox fans but I digress.

      Glocks are okay but those that push them as the Holy Grail of handguns are just as I stated, obnoxious a-holes. And to them I’d like to offer a nice, tall refreshing glass of bees.

  8. Ogre-San: I am a traditionalist, for the most part. You know I do not like GLocks. I like my Ruger LCR for concealment – I have it in .357. If you can hold on, it shoots the loads that are still king of the street. Also shoots heavy expanding hunting bullets at subsonic velocity for self defense. Kind of like the flip side of the “traditional” 125 grain, 1500 fps load that has become a standard. I also like my 44 mag. revolver, a Ruger Bisley re-worked by Jim Stroh at Alpha Precision – 5 inch barrel, action like a swiss watch, trigger to match, hard chromed, custom sight base and sights – she’s a masterpiece. My rifle is a Savage 100 in 30-06. It has an aftermarket trigger and a Leupold scope, and is a lefty that has been fire-lapped (carefully!). God help you if it is fired in your direction. Shotguns are a particular favorite – my slug gun is an 870 with a rifled Hastings barrel and a Leupold Turkey Ranger scope. It shoots .690 round balls into a pie plate at 100 yards (I know – I can’t believe it either) with my handloads. My HD shotgun is a Winchester 1200 that I picked up very cheep. It has the character you like. I was going to cut the barrel but did not because it shoots so well with the factory length choke tube barrel. The stock has been re-finished with linseed oil and Butcher’s Wax, barrel re-blued, and aluminum receiver refinished by your truly, and she holds 6 12 gauge shells. These are my guns of choice.

    1. I am really wanting a 4″ .44 Model 29… Really really bad. But I can’t it yet. Yes, there is a certain one I am eyeing… But we’ll see how it goes.

  9. EDC is either a Springfield XD40sc or G23. or hell maybe a G19 or any one of a bunch of other poly-framed DAO pistols. In the context of what I think you mean, guns are tools and most people have their favorites but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t make something else work if you needed to. I supposed I prefer the 40cal but it’s not a supreme preference over 45ACP or 9mm.

    Rifle- AR15. With a bunch of other guns that’re perfectly fine too, it’s just a matter of being most comfortable with one design.
    Shotgun- Remington 870.

  10. One “go to” is tough for me considering I carry everything I have. And I have a lot of handguns and adding two more next month.

    SIG 229 SCT 9mm? I guess that would be it. I don’t know. Maybe my XD 45 or the FN Tactical .45 I’ve got $400 left on.

    Mossberg 590 (STILL waiting for my Vang Comp +1 extension)

    Because my .44 AMP AR-10 still needs converted mags I’d probably go with my .444 Marlin.

    1. Forgot to add that once I get my Saiga .223 back from Coleburn Armory that might very well be my go-to rifle. I just need to set it up to my liking and put it through its paces.

  11. This got me thinking though. With the abundance of semi’s I have I honestly think that if I could only have one handgun it would probably be a four or five inch .44 mag revolver.

    Because it could hunt if I needed to and I’d never need to worry about mags.

  12. Ogre’s opinion on the issue of Glocks has not changed….its “evolved”
    Apparently you can say that and get away with anything in the media today……

    Another Glock user here….G34 and G19 are my goto guns…and you’ll notice I am a 9mm user also..so I guess I got a lot of issues as far as some people are concernced..

    Rifle is a M&P15 just because I have used an AR most of my adult life…I would be equally as happy with an AK though if I had to use one…

    As for a shotty…got an old Police trade 870 I threw some Slipstream on, extended the mag and added a surefire to the end of it…

    1. I should also add that while I use Glocks, I am well aware of the issues most people bring up not to use them…I simple see the benefits of the platform outweighing the negatives for my particular application.

  13. Shot a G19, got “Glock knuckle” and found the grip angle required conscious effort to correct the sight alignment. My 1911s don’t wear the skin off my right middle finger knuckle and point naturally. (Need to check out the S&W M&P sometime)
    After researching local competition opportunities, I found a group that shoots steel for speed at close, differing angles and distances which seemed like good self-defense practice. The never fired Remington ’06 and Mossberg pump got sold and replaced with a .357 Marlin 1894 and a Baikal side by side which I actually shoot. Zero “tacticool” factor, but I practice with them in the most realistic scenarios available to me. Shoot and move up close in a hurry seems like the best use of my range time and ammunition. With a scope, the lever action is accurate beyond the distance I’m likely to have any business taking a shot.

  14. USP compact and full size in .40 for carry guns.
    870 wood furniture +2 capacity, 18″ brl.
    LMT AR with battlecomp supp, adams arms piston, and an eotech holo.

    As far as Glocks go, I just can’t roll with striker fired pistol. I appreciate Glock’s reliability and accuracy plenty, but I thumb the hammer on the reholster. And I don’t think I could ever own an AK. I think “enemy” when I see one. But really, if I felt that I was at a disadvantage with my HK pistols or my AR, I wouldn’t let my hang-ups stand between me and better systems.

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