The newest item in my arsenal is a Glock 19 9mm pistol.
For a long time, I did not like the Glocks and had issues with how they were designed. While I knew that they were reliable and fairly safe, I still didnt like the lack of safety features, such as an external safety switch, or a way to easily de-cock the gun.
But, there are many other appealing aspects of the Glocks, such as being very light weight, and having a very streamlined, sleek design. I like the fact that there are no protrusions sticking out of the gun.
This made the Glock alot more appealing to me after I decided I wanted something alot lighter and more streamlined than my S&W 59 series.
I also plan to get my CCW permit soon, and I knew that I would not be able to carry the heavy S&W, and I also wanted something a bit easier to shoot, and more accurate than my Kel-Tec P-11. Actually, for a carry weapon, I should have went with a Glock 26, but I wanted to try to stick to a fuller sized gun. I will not be able to carry the Glock 19 in all circumstances, so the Kel-Tec will still have its place. Its really hard to beat the Kel-Tec for concealed carry, especially with its built in belt clip.
I have only shot the Glock 19 once so far, putting about 130 rounds through it. So far I am very impressed, I had no failures, and the gun felt good in my hand. Trigger pull was a bit different than my S&W, but it was easy to get used to, and also felt very smooth and predictable. The Glock seemed to kick a bit more snappy, and quicker, probably due to it not having as much weight to keep it down. This was not a problem though, as the Glock seemed to settle back down into firing position quickly.
Here is a vid of me,,, breaking in, the Glock glock_fast_fire.wmv
A few other feature of the Glock that I like, are the two ways it tells you that it is cocked, and chambered. The trigger will be in the forward position if the gun has been cocked. There is also an indicator that shows you that a round is actually chambered. This may be part of the extractor assembly, but I am not sure.
As with any new purchase, there are always the accessories to go along with it. This $520 Glock has already cost me over $300 in accessories. Not that any of them were really needed. The Glock came with 2 15 round mags, but I bought a couple more, and also bough 2 33 round mags. They look a bit strange, but I figured I would go ahead and get a couple while I still could, before they passed another law banning high capacity mags.
I also went ahead and bought a set of TruGlo TFO sights for it. These sights use a combination of Fiber Optic rods, and Tritium. I went with the version that has yellow rear sights and a green front sight. This helps distinguish the two, and line up the sights faster.
This allows them to glow brightly in daylight, as the Fiber Optic rods collect light and direct it out the end of the rods, making the dots light up. While the Tritium makes them glow in pitch black conditions. Tritium is not just glow in the dark material, like the kind that you have to “charge” in light first, and then it glows for a short period of time. Tritium is actually a radioactive gas, that reacts with a coating in the inside of the rods, making it glow. These Tritium sights have a typical half life of 10+ years. That means that 10 years from now, they will still be glowing about half as bright.
I have not had the Glock out shooting since installing these new sights. So I am still not sure how I like them. For the most part, they seem better than the stock sights, but there does seem to be some low light situations that are too dark to light up the Fiber Optic, yet, not dark enough for your eyes to be night adapted enough to see the Tritium glow.
One of the drawbacks to these sites, is their large size. I dont mind the larger rear sight all that much, as it is spaced further apart than the stock rear sight. I find that makes it easier to quickly line it up with the front sight, since its not blocking it as much. The front site is also much longer, this sets it back on the gun further. The rear site also sits back a bit further, so that helps offset the front being back so much more. So ultimately, the sights are a bit closer together than the stock ones, this makes the sites just a bit harder to lineup. Think of it compared to how easy a rifle is to sight up, due to it being so long, verses a shorter pistol. I found that the wider rear sight helped make up for this, so all in all it is not a bad trade-off.
Update: 11-16-06 I purchased a Streamlight TLR-1 Weapon Light for my Glock. I was looking at the Surefire x200B also, but I didnt see much advantage with it, especially considering its more than Double the price. The TLR-1 was about $100 shipped, and so far has been worth every penny.
The first thing I noticed, was how light weight it was. It looks alot heavier than it really is. I found the gun still very well balanced and comfortable with the light attached. I dont see it causing a problem or diminishing accuracy what so ever.
The battery compartment lid latches on Very tight, with a rubber gasket. This part also has the two way rocker switch. Press it one way for momentary, press the other way and it clicks into the constant on position.
I wasnt sure how I was going to like how the TLR-1 attached to the light. With the Surefire, you simply squeeze the two spring loaded tabs on each side, slide it onto the gun and release. The Streamlight TLR-1 was similar, but you have to loosen a thumb screw on one side. This is easy to do though, and can be done by hand. Pressing on the screw opens up the lights clamping rail, allowing you to slide it onto the gun. Releasing the spring loaded screw lets the light clamp onto the gun, then you simply hand tighten the screw, and the light is now securly attached to the light.
After seeing how the TLR-1 worked, and how well it secured to the gun, I was very pleased, and I think this is actually a better system than the Surefire x200 lights use. I can attach or detach the light in under 10 seconds. I like this alot because I tend to have the Glock on me alot during the day, and at night, when the gun is not on me, I attach the light and leave it nearby. This way I have a light already attached and ready to go if something should happen during the night.
There are actually holsters that allow room for the gun to be holstered with the light attached. But I didnt want to add any extra bulk when I carried the gun.
The LED tint was nice and white, and the beam pattern is very good for this application. There is a nice tight spot with a smooth fairly wide flood. The TLR-1 is rated at 80 Lumens, though, with many companies, I think that might be exaggerated a bit. But it is still very bright, certainly more than enough to blind the bad guys.
