Glock 19 - 9mm Pistol
Jul 14 '05
The Bottom Line -
Never has a gun made such a fashion statement as the Glock did when it made its debut in the eighties. All the gun editors, law enforcement groups, military and the average Joe were just Glock crazy. Rumors flew around that Glocks were undetectable to metal detectors and that you could even fire a Glock underwater! Of course the fact that you could fire pretty much any gun under water wasn’t as impressive as the fact that you could do so with a GLOCK. The mighty Glock indeed. Glock Glock Glock Glock Glock..
Looking beyond the hype
Yeah, the Glock’s a pretty good gun but I personally find more fault with it than advantage. All Glocks look pretty much the same. My version is the Glock 19 which fires 9mm cartridges and has a 4 inch barrel and weighs a mere 24 ounces empty. The slide / barrel assembly is a non-reflective flat black steel and the frame is a matte black plastic (polymer per Glock). All of the handle has a no slip texture to it and 3 much-appreciated finger grips adorn the inside front of the handle. An elongated, plastic trigger guard follows under the slide and matches the overall lines of the pistol. Balance is decent and the action is smooth. So far so good.
Here’s my beef. There are two safety issues with all Glocks that make me avoid carrying one. The first is the flight path of ejected shells. They fly at your face which makes you flinch and they’re red hot, of course. I’ve had this happen with other Glocks as well, not just the one I own. My second, and actually my biggest, problem with this gun is the ‘Safe Action System’ that is offered. The Glock is a SAO (single action only) firearm meaning that once you pull back the slide and feed a round into the chamber the gun is ready to fire - but unlike traditional SAO’s, there is no external safety available. In other words you’re now carrying a gun cocked, ready to shoot and the trigger only needs 5 pounds of pull to fire it. Most other SAO guns have an external safety that you operate with your thumb to prevent accidental firing. The Glocks ‘Safe Action’ is a system which prevents the trigger from being pulled unless another lever is pulled in also. Where is that other lever? It’s actually in the center of the trigger! In other words if the trigger gets snagged or your finger grabs it as you’re drawing the pistol you could discharge it unintentionally. I can understand law enforcement not worrying about this due to the fact that they’re carrying in hard plastic holsters, but when you carry concealed that isn’t really an option. The only way I would carry a Glock is without a round in the chamber – and what’s the point of that? Many, many people swear by the ‘Safe Action’ trigger but to me its one of the least safe guns on the market because of that. But getting past that now…
Firing the Glock is enjoyable. The slide has very clear white dot sights built in and recoil is handled brilliantly by this gun. At the range I’ve got safety goggles on so the spent cartridges flying at my face don’t bother me too much. The ten round clip feeds smoothly and has never once hung up on me. At ten yards my groupings are reasonably tight.
Specs
The 19 is a midsize 9mm at only 6.85 inches long, 5 inches tall and 1.18 inches wide. The 4 inch barrel (1:10 right hand twist) is long enough to make it a confident shooter. As with most Glock models it’s also available with a ported barrel (Glock 19C {as in Compensated}) but the recoil is so tame I just can’t see ponying up for that option.
Taking it down for cleaning is very easy. With the magazine removed and chamber cleared you will need to first dry-fire it to enable field stripping. There are two take down ‘levers’ – one on each side of the slide – that must be pulled down together with the slide assembly held back about an eighth of an inch. The slide will then move forward all the way off the rails and further take down can then be achieved. As with all firearms, it should be cleaned every time you fire it.
Parting shot
I am definitely in the minority in my view of the Glock’s (lack of) safety. I enjoy this gun down at the range but I would never use it as a carry gun. In my humble opinion this one just simply is not safe with a round chambered. I bought it several years ago because everyone had a Glock – so I figured I needed to have one too. I paid around $400 at the time and I’m sure it’d go for quite a bit more nowadays. If I had to do it all over again I wouldn’t have bought it and have even talked several people out of purchasing one. If you want a 9mm for the range there are many, many other models which are better suited for that purpose. If you want a 9mm to use as a carry gun, this one just isn’t safe for concealed carry.
In the end, I just can’t recommend this product.
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carnut2k4
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Member: Jason
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Muscle Shoals has got The Swampers
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