Tag Archives: Glock

Weapons

10mm Handguns for Defense.

46 Comments

Some guys are tired of the 9 vs 45 debate… and they don’t want Middle of the Road.  They are looking at the 10mm.  I’ve been getting a lot of emails about the 10mm.  Which 10 you can get.  My answer is simple, but to get there is a winding road.

So you say you are shopping for that 10mm pistol.  You start looking at the 1911’s of course, because the 1911 is like the Harley Davidson of the Gun World.  Wilson Combat and Nighthawk Custom, as well as other high end 1911 Builders are all doing a few of them.  They are all very nice indeed… and expensive. You really want to invest in one like that and throw it in a combat holster and roll in some gravel with it?  We’re looking for a defensive gun here.  And if you are not willing to roll around in the gravel with your super expensive custom built piece of artwork on your side… then you are not looking for a 1911.  Your really not.  If you choose one of these, and you are willing, then great.  10mm 1911’s do tend to be a bit more reliable, and accuracy is great, and you can get that first shot off nice and precisely.  But let’s say you don’t want to drop 2 Grand on this pistol.  We have to look elsewhere.  You want that feel of a solid steel gun.  Feels good doesn’t it?  Oh yeah.

So you look at the EAA Witness pistols.  Classic CZ design.  Double stacked so you have a good capacity. Their “Wonderfinish” looks good.  The gun feels good.  But dang, it’s heavy.   Accuracy is pretty good, but that long Double Action pull is not as great as it should be.  The Witness has some sharp edges here and there… and yeah… that weight issues is just too much for daily all day carry.  Let’s keep looking.

S&W is making a cool revolver in 10mm.  One of the Nightguard series.  Old School Cool, now in 10mm.  And you can shoot .40 cal as well.  How cool is that?  But you have to use Moon Clips.  Moon Clips are a PITA.  I don’t really care for them and you shouldn’t either. Besides, this Nightguard would be cooler in .44, wouldn’t it?

That leaves the Glocks.  You have two options.  20 and 29.  The 20 is the full sized and the 29 is called a Sub Compact.  Either one is great and either one you can theoretically get with the “SF” frame.  The Slim Frame.  But they are hard to find.  In the .45, you can find SF’s but the 10mm’s are tough.  My choice is the 20.  Full sized, accurate, controllable, great capacity… There you go.  Now we are talking about something.
But I don’t like the Glock Trigger, you say.  Okay.  So change it.  You can put in a trigger that feels just like how you want it.  Easy to do. Have it your way, just like Burger King.  But the gun feels blocky, you say.  You can alter the grip frame as well.  It’s plastic.  It’s pretty easy if you take your time.  But it’s ugly.  Do you really care what your Parachute looks like?  It’s a weapon.  One that if you use in a defensive situation, you might not ever see again anyway.  The Glock is the perfect fit for the job.  Don’t cry about the Grip Angle.  You get used to it pretty quickly if you decide you want to.

The main problem with the 10mm Cartridge is not the Cartridge its self.  Its not that the ammo is more expensive than others… Because its not… It’s what, 2 bucks more than .45 Auto?  The problem is that it’s been a Commercial Meh.  Why is that?  Too powerful?  I find it just like .45 Auto… it’s not too much. The FBI dropped it, not because it’s too gun for their Accountants, Lawyers and sundry beancounters… It was because there was too much of the gun for them to get their hands around.  The 1006 was a gun made for Non-Human hands.  It didn’t fit all those little girly hands, so they were not able to shoot it very well.
What the 10mm needs is for the gun makers to put out the guns that people are already buying, and give them the 10mm Option for it.  M&P, XDM, and the Storm are three of the most popular guns out there as far as our local sales go… and none are offered in the 10.  This is the 10’s main issue in a nutshell… There are no 10mm options in the guns people are wanting to buy.

Guns that SHOULD be available in 10mm.

1.  S&W M&P.  In Full, Tactical, and Compact sizes.
2.  SIG P220.  In both Full and Compact.
3.  Springfield XDM.  In the Full, Tactical and Compact.
4.   CZ 97B.  The new style with the Decocker.
5.  HK45.  They have two sizes and neither are 10mm.
6.  FNH FNP Tactical.  This would turn a 10mm pistol into an offensive platform.

Weapons

The Chop Glock

5 Comments

When an old battered Glock got traded in, I had to get it.  It was in horrible condition and the trigger wouldn’t reset.  I replaced all the trigger parts and cleaned it out and Slipstreamed it.  It functions flawlessly now.

Glock 22 Chopped to 23 Length.

I cut the Grip Frame down from normal Glock 22 length to Glock 23 length so I can use both mags.  You can see the 22 Mags stick out a bit, but it’s functionally flawless.

With a G23 Mag locked in.

The G23 magazine locks in solid.  Reason for doing this is to make the Glock 22 more concealable. The result is like a Colt CCO or SIG C3.  Longer barrel and slide on a more compact frame.  Greater Concealment without sacrificing shootability, accuracy, or ballistics.  You can see in the second picture the grip is now devoid of texture.  Stippling will commence shortly.  I find it’s best to sand the grips to make a nice blank canvas to work on.  One gets better results that way.  It also narrows the grip a bit, making it feel nice and danty.

You can see the Prior Owner tried to make the slide look Stainless.  This didn’t work so well.  The slide will have to be media blasted and Cerakote finished.  I’m thinking a Dark Gray color.

Crusader, Weapons

Glock Rescue

7 Comments

A customer traded in an old and battered Glock 22 Gen 2. All the finish is worn off the slide, the frame is hammered, the trigger wouldn’t reset. This pistol had certainly seen better days.
As a pistol to take in for trade… we probably shouldn’t have, because we can’t resell it. So I’m taking it so I can rebuild it.
I had stock trigger group components from my Glock 23 that dropped right in and fixed this old Gen2’s main problems. It’s a working gun again. Not the best of guns, but at least it’s functioning. Dirtpile ugly, but it’s going to be reliable. The slide is going to have to be refinished completely and the frame, I’m going to have to retexture to hide the wear and dings. I’m thinking about cutting the frame down to a G23 length, so I can use 23 and 22 magazines, making a Hybrid gun that a lot of custom Glocksmiths have done… allowing one to conceal well, yet still shoot well. Like what SIG did with the 1911 C3.
This is already a fun project.

Crusader, Weapons

Ordered a .40 Magnum today.

37 Comments

I wanted a gun with more power and longer reach.  So I ordered a Glock 20SF today.  That’s a 10mm, Sports Fans.
Should be here Friday or Monday.  Some have said all pistols suck.  10mm… sucks a lot less.

The Glock 20SF was my pick because I just don’t dig the Gen 4’s and the SF is a lot like the Gen 4 with no backstrap attached.  The only one I could find with any of the distributors were only coming with the 10 round mags, so I ordered some 15 rounders.

I’ll need a holster for it.  I need to pick out some good sights.  And I need to get it to Joe at Crusader HQ for the Full Tilt Crusader Conversion.

This is all because of Nightcrawler.

Weapons

Feeling Swampy

10 Comments

Packing the S&W M&P 9mm today.  I’ve been thinking about getting one in a .40, so to get a feel for it, I am packing my boy Kilo’s Swampy.
Everything good about the Glock is there in the M&P, but with a 1911 grip angle.  It feels good in the hand and handles more intuitively than either a Glock or 1911 for me.
I would absolutely have to change the trigger.  The stock Swampy trigger flat out sucks.  It feels sloppy and rotten. But with a little work, it does just fine. 
Still wish they did a mid sized gun, but I can live a full sized pistol.

Automotive, Weapons

Glock vs the 911

30 Comments

Most guys are comparing the Glock to the 1911.  I’m going to compare it to the 911…


For the last 40 years Porsche has been remaking the same design and calling it brand new, and the fans have been lapping it up and eagerly await the next version. Those on the outside look at it and see that it is the same thing.  The engine was misplaced, tacked on the rear like an afterthought outboard motor.  Every one is waiting for Porsche to scoot it in a bit to improve the car’s balance.
Glock only comes out with a new gun when someone makes a new caliber… In the twenty years of Glockdom, we have seen new generations which we are told are better than the previous ones, and the Glock Enthusiasts will happily explain it to you like evangelical missionaries.  But those on the outside look at it and see the same fault… That grip angle.  It’s wrong.  It’s not the same geometry that Saint J. Moses Browning chiselled in stone, so it can’t be right.
Now here is the thing about both the car and the gun… Like them or not, they work.  The racing beetle continues to be one of the worlds very best sportscars, as the Glock continues to be one of the best handguns.  Wrong or not, there is something very right about them.

Crusader

Slipstream Styx just blew me away.

9 Comments

I’ve said it before… Slipstream never fails to impress me.  I’ve been running my Glock 23 on a diet of Slipstream since I first got it.  About the time of the Gun Dude’s hosting of the MAG-40 class, I stopped oiling it.  Didn’t need it anymore.  Hasn’t needed it since.

Well, Gundoc sent me a bottle of each.  The regular Slipstream Oil, and a bottle of the new Slipstream Styx.  Just for fun, on a whim, I decided to slap a little Styx in my good old Glock 23.  Holy crap!  Smooth doesn’t describe this… It’s… it’s… creamy.   I don’t know how to describe this… I’ve never felt a Glock like this before. Beretta’s, yes.  Custom 1911’s, yes.  This is next level Glock slickness right there.

Weapons

The M&P 9 is perfect?

16 Comments

Guns.com has an interesting article about the S&W M&P.  The thesis however is something I am scratching my head about.  I have an M&P just like the one shown.  It’s a good pistol.  I like it.  But I like Glock Gen 3’s better.  The M&P certainly looks cooler.  And it’s accurate and reliable.  But out of the box, Glock is accurate too but the Glock also has a much better stock trigger.  You can shoot the Glock very well as it comes out of the box.

Here’s the thing though.  The Gen 4 Glocks… I’d rather have the M&P.  I don’t know why… specifically… but I’m just not a fan of the Gen 4 series and if I have to replace my Gen 3 RTF2 23, I’d opt for an M&P. Maybe my opinion of the Gen 4 will change, but I had a Gen 4 22 and I just didn’t dig the way it shot.  Maybe that was just me.    But right now, I’d rather have an M&P instead of a Gen 4.

Weapons

Is the Glock “America’s Gun”?

14 Comments

NPR has an interesting story. “How the Glock became America’s Weapon of Choice.”  Granted, it’s my Choice, but is it America’s Gun?  As far has handguns go, it is very popular with Law Enforcement on the Municipal level.  But on the Fed level, it’s the SIG.  In civilian sales, we have the XD and the Beretta 92FS, which has had a large resurgence in sales.  Huh, and there isn’t even a new Lethal Weapon movie out.  But if I had to pick one gun as “America’s Handgun” it would have to be the 1911.  Because that’s what most guys that come to the gun counter look at the most.  Even if they come in to buy something else, their eyes and their hearts linger on the 1911.   As does my own.  I love the 1911, but I don’t I am packing it as a carry gun less and less all the time.  I’ve only carried one three times that I remember this year… Of course this year is only 24 days in, but the entire rest of the time it’s been my Glock. There is something about the 1911.  It’s organic, beautiful, powerful,timeless and elegant… things the Glock is not.  But the spirit of the genius that went into the 1911… is found in the Glock.  The simplicity is actually stunningly brilliant.  Using a Striker system with the safety built into a transparent system for the user, it’s the easiest handgun to learn.  Or was, when it came out.  The Glock has been copied by so many other maker’s now, it’s silly.  Just like the 1911.
However the question NPR asked, was is the Glock America’s Weapon of Choice.
The answer is no.  Not even close.
The weapon of choice is AR-15.  The rifle that outsells ever other type.  The rifle that people who had never owned a gun before, snapped up after Obama became president.  The rifle used by our Military, Law Enforcement, and Sport shooters more and more every day.  Because while Handguns are popular, America is a Nation of Riflemen.
This is demonstrated in Ammunition Sales.  Just restocking ammo, we are constantly restocking .223/5.56mm.  More than any other caliber.  More than 9mm, .45, or the others.
The AR-15 is accurate, low recoil, cheap to shoot, and potent enough to be useful on anything up to deer sized creatures. (Even if that’s ethically  questionable)

You know, I really do like my Glock.  I like it the more I carry it and shoot it.  I’ve seen the M&P making serious inroads on the Glock… and the new Gen 4 Glock series has left me feeling luke warm on it… I certainly prefer the Gen 3.  But that’s just me.