Smokey613 wrote:I am glad the world is full of Glock fanboys, it keeps the good feeling pistols more available and reasonbly price. :) Truthfully, they are good reliable pistols, too bad they don't fit my hands. I can't shoot a Glock very well and yet, I carry one everyday on duty but it is not by choice. As for Smith & Wesson pistols being unreliable, you can't prove it by me. The most reliable semi-autos I have ever shot / owned have been a Model 39, a model 3913 and now my Shield 45 which I would not trade for a box full of Glocks if I had to keep them and not trade/sell them for some S&W pistols.
Funny thing is, I'm not really your typical fanboy. My favorite pistols are still a couple of 1911s that I own. I also own, and have carried a M&P45. I also own, and like, and used to carry an XDM and XDS .45. I used to own and carry a HK USP Compact .40 ......and then there was a Kahr PM9 I carried for a while, not to mention 3 different S&W J-frame snubbies I've owned and carried.
All perfectly good pistols. The reason Glocks became my primary.....heck, virtually
only carry guns is that Glock just makes it too easy. Yes, they are ugly.....if you're the kind of person who needs a proper steel gun to find it attractive. Yes, their grips are fat (although in all fairness, the Gen4 guns have pretty much remedied that). No, the grip angle and related ergonomics aren't for everybody (although in all fairness, revolvers can be that way for some people too, and 1911s are that way for some other people as well). But the Glock has this going for it: it isn't a fashion statement; it's a tool.....one which performs its function with a great deal of reliability and
acceptable combat accuracy. As far as what I would call "tier 1" self defense pistols go, it's a fair amount cheaper than other competing brands in that market. That's not to say that the others are bad guns at all, but simply to say that Glock successfully competes against those brands, at a lower price point. If you disagree, for instance, that the Glock 19 is a "tier 1" quality of combat pistol, take it up with both Army Special Forces, MARSOC, and if I'm not mistaken, the SEAL teams.....because they've all recently adopted the G19 to replace their M9s, Sigs, and 1911s. Sure price had something to do with that decision, but it would not have prevailed if it couldn't perform up to that level of expectation. Please note that I was already owning and carrying 9mm Glocks before those service branches decided to adopt them for issue to special operations personnel, so my purchase decision wasn't driven by their purchase decision. However..... My decision was based on exactly the same kind of factors that drove the military's purchase decision - the desire for a commonly available 9mm polymer framed double stack gun that would perform reliably at an affordable price. Glock made the decision too easy to ignore. I
will say that I was gratified to see that the nation's premier service units did a much more extensive evaluation than my own, and came up with a decision that affirms my decision, and for generally speaking, the same reasons.
I think the one thing I had to get used to at first with Glocks was the much different grip angle. But it wasn't THAT big of a deal to get used to; and I am now able to transition pretty seamlessly between my Glocks and all of my other pistols sharing the 1911 grip angle, without any apparent trouble. It just isn't as big of a deal as some people say it is.
Also, partly because they are so utilitarian looking and not really very handsome guns, the thought of cosmetic damage to one of my Glocks just doesn't upset me that much. I'd call it patina, rub a little oil on it, and call it good.......whereas inflicting a big scratch on one of my 1911s would hurt me in my heart. And while I'm not into throwing money away, it would hurt my feelings a lot less to have one of my Glocks stolen......or confiscated by police in the event of my involvement in a shooting.....than it would if it were one of my more valuable special pistols.
As far as the OEM sights go......meh. It's a non-issue. I have changed the sights on almost any pistol I've ever owned, so swapping out the OEM Glock sights for an upgraded set just isn't that big of a deal to me.
So for me, it isn't that I'm as much a fanboy, its more that I finally realized that, on a purely practical level, buying Glocks is a sound decision at a good price. If I have any part of my self-image tied up in owning Glocks, it isn't in the pistols themselves as much as it is in having made a really smart and practical decision.
Between my wife and me, we now own 2 19s, 2 43s, and one 17. I'm going to buy a 26 next.
