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It had already been in use by several special forces units but its now official and the Glock 19 will slowly replace the venerable SIG226.
Personally I think it’s the best choice they could possibly make. In fact, the Glock 19 is the handgun I specifically recommend in my book “The Modern Survival Manual”, both for novel shooters and experts. In my opinion it combines reliability, compactness, accuracy, light weight, ease of use, ammo capacity and ease of maintenance like no other firearm in the planet. Of all the people I taught how to shoot, without exception all of them, men and women, large hands or smaller ones, they all shot considerably better with the Glock 9mm than with any other gun. At the same time 95% of expert shooters that I consider worthy of taking note of what firearm they carry, they all choose Glocks.
As a one and only firearm I have a tad of a preference for the slightly larger full size Glock 17 (the smaller Gen 4 is just perfect IMO), but I understand that for special forces operators that already carry a rifle and considerable weight, the lighter weight and more compact model 19 is better suited as a small yet fully capable, full capacity secondary firearm. The shorter barrel of the Glock 19 also means that the addition of a sound suppressor does not excessively extend the overall length of the firearm, which is yet another desirable feature. The Glock 19 is perfect for covert operations where better concealment is important, while still retaining the same firearm used as a sidearm along with their long arm during training.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.
5 comments:
Fernando--
Just to stir the pot a bit, I have been watching cases where kids and criminals and pistol owners manage to shoot somebody accidentally with pistols that do not have a devoted manual safety. A lot of family members are being shot by toddlers and adults including well-trained law enforcement officers because these pistols "go off" when the gun could not have been fired if only a mechanical safety had been on it and had been engaged.
For whatever value it might have, here is a comment I recently sent to one of the gun magazines:
"Comment to the Editor, American Handgunner.
"Reply to Dave Anderson, “Better Shooting,” American Handgunner, January/February 2016, page 24.
"Mr. Anderson addresses the question of handgun 'safety or no safety,' and, perhaps trying to avoid offending readers (or gun makers), appears to straddle the issue.
How so?
"Well, he either does not know about or chooses to ignore just how often gun owners themselves and others are being shot with semiautomatic pistols that either do not have safeties on them or that do not have the safeties applied! [I can send him examples that I have picked up online.]
"For owners of these guns, the mantra is to keep the finger off the trigger until they actually want to shoot. That works under normal circumstances, but triggers get depressed by other means, and when the owner does not mean to do so, and by people who should not have gotten control of the gun—and the “pre-trigger” feature on certain guns simply means there is more trigger to depress just before the gun discharges.
"Semiautomatic pistol owners whose guns are picked up by toddlers or grabbed by bad guys cannot avoid the possibility that great harm will be done to them or others in the absence of a mechanical safety that could slow or prevent the discharge of the gun.
"Interestingly, there is an example of this in the January 2016 issue of your sister publication GUNS Magazine, page 20, where that writer reported the '…assailant…snatched the owner’s Colt Gold Cup…and tried to shoot him with it. Fortunately…the attacker didn’t know where the safety was on a 1911 pistol.'
"Many owners of semiautomatics will argue 'Why should I have to use a safety when revolvers don’t have them?' Mr. Anderson alludes to the answer—revolvers are not as easily discharged as are the semiautomatics due to the heavier and usually longer trigger pull. At least in the case of these revolvers, toddlers are not as likely to be able to fire them, and adults are not as likely to accidentally pull the trigger—all of which reduces the possibility of unintentional discharges with these guns. [Indeed, the option to have a manual safety is one reason many—should we say safety conscious—shooters choose semiautomatics over revolvers!]
"Semiautomatic pistol shooters CAN learn to use manual safeties. Excuses for not doing so go out the window whenever they discharge one of these guns negligently or when their gun is fired by somebody who should not have gotten their hands on it."
Larry
I own a Glock 19 myself and I echo Fernando's recommendation.
As for its lack of a safety: the most important, effective, and essential gun safety is the one located between the ears. Without that, no number of mechanical safeties will make a difference.
I can't believe the Seals are dumping the excellent Sig P226 for a Glock. The p226 is the perfect combat pistol. Double/Single action is the safest and most reliable system. The striker fired Glock is carried in a half cocked condition with no safety. I will bet that accidental discharge rates go up substantially as it has with many police departments. Many law enforcement are going back to the Sigs. I shoot a lot of competition and have witnessed the accidental discharge with striker fired guns during both holstering and drawing. The only decent striker gun is the Springfield XD with the 1911 style grip safety plus much better ergonomics. I've had all of these guns apart and done custom work on them and I'm not impressed by Glocks. There trading in a Mercedes for a Chevy.
Jack
Larry,
The lack of an external safety is a design feature, not a flaw. Children who grab firearms have been failed by the adults who are supposed to be caring for them. I suspect that few concealed Glocks are snatched by criminals. LEO wearing them OWB are trained in weapons retention. Non LEO wearing in open carry are fools.
BTW, .Ferfal, a G30 with mag extension fits my hand perfectly and is my carry gun. I don't like the way the G17 points.
Just saying--it happens to the "best" of them. Including people shooting themselves when holstering, pocketing, or carrying such guns in any way that might allow the trigger to get depressed. And including LEOs who are normally well-trained but still have negligent discharges.
I know there are those who are in love with the non-safety pistols. These pistols have a lot to recommend them, but....
Larry
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