My first handgun was a Beretta 92F. It was because of the movie Lethal Weapon. The way Martin Riggs wielded the Beretta was amazing! Little did I know that the Dunning-Kruger Effect had taken hold of me. I’d become infatuated with something I thought I could do because I saw it on the screen. However, over time, I have had a chance to reflect and feel that new shooters should get a Glock first.
Reasons You Should Get a Glock for Your First Pistol
On my 21st birthday, I bought a Beretta 92F and headed straight for the range. I remember having this “now what?” moment because I knew nothing about handguns. I stood there, totally lost. But did it give me pause? Nope! I started blazing, and missing, and blazing some more.
I went through half a box of 50 rounds in moments. That’s when the range owner came in and slowed me down. Then and there, I had my first handgun lesson.
In recent years, millions of Americans have bought their first handgun. Some also got their CCW Permit. Some fully understood that the CCW class was nothing but a compliance exercise for the state. However, others firmly believe that they’ve now received all the instruction they’ll ever need. Nope!
I would like to give you six things to consider about buying a handgun for defensive purposes.
1. Make Sure You Own At Least One Glock
The first thing I will cover is probably one of the most controversial. If you bought anything other than a Glock, I am so very sorry. The reason I say that isn’t to be funny or mean-spirited. I just want to be factual.
Three of my mentors are accomplished 1911 builders: Ken Hackathorn, Larry Vickers, and Dave Spaulding. I asked all three what their go-to gun was, and without hesitation, they always answered, “The Glock 19.” Why?
The Glock 19, specifically the Gen3, is one of the most ubiquitous handguns on the planet. It shares parts commonality with the Glock 17, which is the most ubiquitous handgun on the planet. To quote my mentors, “No matter where you go on earth, you can find a Glock 17 and/or parts to repair one.”
Remember that Beretta of mine? I owned it for about six months. I then sold it to a friend and never looked back.
Many years later, my next handgun was a Glock 21. Why? Because by then, I had read the book “Glock the New Wave in Combat Handguns” by Peter Alan Kasler. That book opened my eyes to the back story of Glocks.
In reading that book, I saw the brilliance in the simplicity of the Glock design. There’s a reason they’re known as the AK-47 of handguns. They are not the most accurate, their triggers are terrible, and they are ugly. But they almost always go bang when you need them to.
That’s why every one of my six handguns is a Glock 17 Gen3.
2. Pocket Rocket Guns Are a Bad Idea
Once you have set your focus on rectifying your error in not buying a Glock, please consider not going any smaller than the compact G19. Again, I reach for my experience as a forever student and instructor.
I have lost count of the times I have heard a student grouse that their “pocket rocket” ran out of ammunition quickly and was very difficult to load. I have captured this on video and witnessed it many times.
In fact, most recently, I was attending my 87th firearms training class. There was a student who was shooting an extremely small pistol in 9mm. He was pouring his heart and soul into this very rigorous class, but his handgun was fighting him.
The rear sight drifted so far out of the track that it cut his hand when he was doing malfunction drills. Of course, with that drift came missed shots, lots of them. Then, the gun stopped running altogether and made a crunchy noise when we tried to take it apart and find the problem.
Ultimately, the instructor handed him a Glock so he could finish out the class. That turned out to be one more time that I’ve witnessed guns, other than Glocks, leaving people hanging.
3. Why Choose the Glock 17 Gen3 Over Anything Else?
The simple answer is that all the best upgrades are made for Gen3. You can find Gen5-compatible things, but Gen3 still eclipses Gen5 in support. I’ve been in the professional training world since 2008, and the one gun that dominates in that rough-and-tumble world is the G17 Gen3.
I have attended tactical training, vehicle training, injured shooter training, night and day training, low light, no light, and medical training with squirting FX blood that actually coagulates inside the guns. There has also been training where it rained for three days straight, and we had to hose mud out of our Glocks. I have bled on and in them, and I have gotten windshield glass into and shot it out of them.
I’ve seen the evolution of frame and slide work from the early days to ultra-high-end work that turned Glocks into $2,000 handguns. I believe we live in the golden age of Glock mods, leading me to reasons four and five.
4. Frame Work Matters
My and my wife’s frames are tricked out with the Custom Deluxe Package from AimSurplus. Having your spouse join you on the range is not only fun but necessary. If I pour knowledge into my wife, I am doubling myself. It only makes sense to set her up with an identical copy of my handgun.
The framework by Aimsurplus is also expertly done on our G17s. Aimsurplus totally contours the frame for performance carry. They undercut the trigger guard and laser stipple a uniform 360° pattern around the frame.
They also add an accelerator cut, which is crucial if you’re not running a weapon light, which we are not. Why? Seriously, that is an entire article of its own. Low light, no light, cold night, hot night, low-density humidity, versus high density. Yeah, night training is an entirely different animal than daylight training.
5. Getting the Slide Right
About four years ago I made the leap to an optic on my G17. I’d had LASIK surgery, and my close-up vision became useless. The optic let me be target-focused, and it helped.
My G17 and that of my wife are equipped with the Trijicon RMR04, and slide work by DP Custom Works. My slide is finished in Magpul OD Green, and hers is Melonite coated with an OEM finish that’s really sharp.
Slide work is one of those things that, if done incorrectly, you end up complicating your life. When it is done right, it is perfection. The slide work by DP is a perfect balance between the two.
I requested scalloping across the top to aid in cycling the gun. The front check straps are also there for a reason but not for “press checking.” I also use them to rack the handgun.
This is a key point that needs to be understood. If you have an optic on your handgun, you may want to consider not racking it by pinching the sides of the slide and optic.
A few years ago, I was attending a class, and we were doing lots of reloads under duress. It wasn’t until the last day of class that we were doing the shooting standards. They are shot on a 3” x 5” card. I didn’t realize that during the class, I’d inadvertently moved the windage detent to such a degree that from 7 yards, I was completely missing the 3” x 5” target.
It cost me the standard and some pride. But the lesson was not wasted. It took some time but I have totally retrained my hands to pinch the front of the slide to rack the gun. To drop the slide I work the extended slide catch from Vickers Tactical.
6. Take Care of Your Optic
Also, do not be the guy who racks his gun by using the optic against a hard object. Eventually, that window will fail and could crack or fall out.
Think it can’t happen? I was attending a class recently. At one point I looked down and found the window from someone’s optic lying on the gravel. No one owned up to it, so I left it alone. The point is that abusing your optic means that it will eventually fail.
Final Thoughts
I hope this article has given you some things to consider regarding the ins and outs of concealed carry guns. Range toys are different than carry weapons. I am not a man who owns range toys. I don’t have the time or money for that lifestyle.
When I go to the range, I approach every trip as if it were a real fight. I make it a point to picture a real threat standing next to a loved one so that when I pull the trigger, it is with a level of focus that rules out game theory.
I would surmise that many of you are also in a place in your life where you don’t have time to suffer foolishness. If you want to own other guns, rock out! But first, please get a G17 or G19 Gen3 and make it your own with solid customization that suits your needs.
Until next time, God bless you all. Get those guns out and practice.
For more information, please visit US.Glock.com, AimSurplus.com, Trijicon.com, and DPCustomWorksLLC.com.
