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My son turns 21 this month. He is wanting to purchase his first handgun. I own XD's and Smith&Wesson. He is leaning toward a Glock. I know that there is the love/hate relationship with Glock. I have never owned or shot one so I can't offer him any feed back. I know there are many different weapons available and I would like him to be happy with his first purchase especially due to the high investment. I told him to go the gun show and handle as many different pistols as he could find and to pick the one that feels most comfortable. How about some pros and cons of the available weapons. Any other input from the fine people on this forum would be greatly appreciated by both of us.

Thanks in advance.

It might be a good idea to go to a range that has rentals, and spend a few dollars to put hands on something he thinks he might be interested in.

When I took my chl, I used a Glock 19, and fell in love with it. I ended up buying a Glock 23 as my carry weapon. I'm planning to go rent a 1911 and a couple of others before my next purchase.

I own three Glocks, 17, 22 and 27. If you live in the Houston area I wouldn't mind meeting at range for ya'll to familiarize yourself with them. Personally, i love them and don't think I would ever purchase any other kind, especially for carry purposes. I do recommend he gets his hands on as many different kinds as possible to get an idea of what he likes. One has to be comfortable with whatever they choose to purchase.

I've never owned a Glock.

Everything I have heard or read about them says that they are dead reliable, high quality, and a great value for the money. So it is no surprise that Glocks dominate the LE market.

That said, I learned to shoot on all steel guns. Most likely as a result of this, almost any gun with a polymer frame feels top heavy to me. (The only exception is my Kel-tec P32 that is so small that I don't notice its balance.)

I've tried out a couple of Glocks. They shot OK, but I just couldn't get past the top heavy thing.

I get a similar top heavy feeling with alloy frame guns but not quite as bad.

So I'm partial to high quality steel 1911's and I especially like the Para Ordnance LDA's for their excellent DA trigger action. (Though the Para's seem to need some tweaking out of the box to get them right. This is a somewhat of a disappointment for such pricey guns. I would figure that the factory would have and should have done a better job - at least with mine.)

But another very important factor that you didn't mention is what he intends to do with the gun. Shoot IDPA? Carry it? Casual plinking? Bullseye? Home defense?

The intended use makes a big difference when weighing the different choices and tradeoffs.

Now for the good news. No matter what he gets, if it doesn't suit his purpose, he can always get another one.

God Bless Texas!

I have several different brands of guns all in a 45acp. My Glock (21) is my daily work carry. The rest are carried during my off hours. All of them are reliable. Some people are Glockies (jbird) and some dislike them (LT). Either way, you can't go wrong with a Glock

frankie_the_yankee wrote:I've never owned a Glock.

Everything I have heard or read about them says that they are dead reliable, high quality, and a great value for the money. So it is no surprise that Glocks dominate the LE market.

Not to mention they sell them cheap to the LE market!

my first carry gun was a g23. it's amazing how reliable it is. i'd say glock is a good first handgun; accurate and easy to care for not to mention they are as safe as a gun gets.
the only reason i don't still carry it is a compact 1911.

I am one of the CON side. The joke on this board is that I cannot even say the G word w/o stuttering bad.

I still say to all that it is a quality reliable carry & competition gun. My dislike is strictly feel. I dont like the block square of the grip.

If it feels good, comes up on target, & he likes it then go for it.

completely that he should handle everything at a gun show that he can & shoot a borrowed or rent gun if he can.

if you're close to the NW side willowbrook area, Shiloh shooting range has glocks, sigs, and a sti 1911 for rental..

as far as glocks, 2 internal safeties with 1 external, will feed anything, most people gripe about the cosmetics and or grip angle. accessories are readily avail and if your son gets a glock 32/33, he can get a .40sw and 9mm conversion bbls from Lone wolf dist. and have a sort of 3 guns in one.

+1 on renting, shooting (alot) before buying.

my buddy carried a glock for a long time. on a range outing he tried out another friend's 1911. on the next target, his groups instantly shrunk by half. high reliability, design simplicity, nightly exposure on all the cop tv shows... none of that matters if you can't put the rounds where you want them.

I've liked every glock I've shot. ...I just like the XD a little more.

oh yeah.. my buddy's carry piece is a Kimber now.

I'm not going to get into an argument with anyone over which one is better but take a look at my signature. I sold my XD because it was at the gunsmith several time over the year so that I had it. The striker refused to drop all of a sudden, it was due to dirt migration getting in the mechanism. A few months later the same thing happened to the mag release button. And the mag release assembly is a much more complicated as are most things as I found out. My Glock has never failed, ever. And both guns were subject to the same conditions.

I really liked my XD45 and it's a great weapon but it is definitely higher maintenance than a Glock.

Oh yeah, and my Glock is plenty accurate.

I have G26, G19, and G17 pistols.

Notice all mine are in 9mm P . . . problems with Glocks are rare, but 9 out of 10 times the anecdotes of trouble involve Glocks chambered for OTHER than standard 9mm P. (And if someone reading this has fired 25,000 trouble-free rounds from their .40/.357SIG/.45 Glock . . . fine. I believe you. No need to take me to task. )

So I like Glocks for what they are . . . lightweight, reliable tools . . . but they don't warm my heart the way a BHP, a Les Baer Premier II, or a P&R N-frame S&W does.

Thanks for all the replies. We went to Pro Defense in Webster and he fondled the Glocks. We hope to make it to the next gun show for more "hands on". I think he may have already made up his mind, but that is a big monetary decision.
I will let you know about the final purchase.

Good luck on the purchase but I don't see any huge issue here. Either pistol is an excellent choice and if for some reason he is not happy after owning it for a while, there is a wonderful outlet on this forum that will allow him to sell/trade it for something he likes better.

I say this because I'm in the same boat. My son is getting ready to make the decision on his first pistol. Although he has Kimber taste, he realizes he is better off getting into a less expensive option that he can trade out of if need be without getting burned too bad. At this time he is leaning toward the XD but plans to rent a couple of final options on our next trip to Bullet Trap.

you might want to check this sight before you buy a glock. he has good prices on factory reconditioned and used glocks.

http://www.summitgunbroker.com/