If you’ve read anything here, ever, you know I’m a Smith & Wesson fan. They have their own set of problems, absolutely! Many Glock fans will tell you that, “Glock Perfection,” is a real thing, and that Gaston Glock only lets diamonds slip out from Smyrna. It’s all hyperbole though; every firearm is man-made and thus fallible. They all have idiosyncrasies and if you haven’t discovered those, then you either don’t shoot much, or you haven’t been trying very hard.

Here’s a few of the idiosyncrasies of Glocks, and what I do to counter them. Like I’ve said before, this is every brand of carry gun…live with them long enough through real use, and you’ll find these. And this isn’t a gripe session of, “this does this,” its more of a prep for the casual user to realize that these machines do strange things sometimes, but they do them regularly, and many are endemic to their specific species.

SLIDE BITE

I am a large man. Commensurate with that height, comes large hands. With any kind of extended shooting (>one 15 round magazine) I get gnawed up by the reciprocation of the slide. I have scars from shooting tens of thousands of rounds through Glock 19’s. I know what the Instagram diehard fans are going to say, and while adding the Generation 4 or 5 backstraps with the beavertails is an option, I don’t want to make a girthy pistol any larger in diameter, so those don’t work for me. Adding a Crimson Trace laser grip is a solution, albeit an expensive one, but it works. It provides a beaver tail that contains the electronics of the sight system, and you get the added bonus of having a laser indicator pointing at the target. A less expensive, and user adaptable solution is the Grip Force Adapter. This consists of a plastic part that attaches to the back strap of the pistol, and allows the user to get a high hold, ideal for recoil management and solidity of the firing grip on the draw, but keeps the reciprocating slide from contacting the shooter’s hand.

BRASS TO THE FACE…AKA BTF

Some Glocks eject their empty brass cases right into your face. I guess it depends on how big your face is, but mine tend to launch them right into my forehead. I know others who’ve gotten them in the eyes before, which could obviously be hazardous, especially if it’s in a self defense situation where you aren’t proactively wearing eye glasses of some sort. I’ve heard of many cures for this issue, ranging from changing the extractor, ejector or even changing how the gun is held. I don’t know which of these work and which don’t, and I’d wager to say it probably varies gun to gun. I just anticipate that every Glock I use is going to launch about 3/15 cases into my forehead. It’s annoying, yeah, but with issued guns, you can’t often do much other than grin and bear it. I recommend that anyone willingly going into harm’s way wear some kind of eye protection. On the range eye protection is a, “duh,” to be sure, but on the street, it’s often overlooked. When I worked on the armored trucks I wore sunglasses in the sun (imagine that!) and clear or amber lenses when it was overcast or nighttime. Yes, it does give the wearer a Walter Sobchak look, but it beats getting an eye full of hot brass, a squirt of errant pepper spray, or a glob of bloody saliva from the neighborhood turd. No thanks, I’ll pass.

Accuracy is important. Next to safety, and professional gun handling (which is, by definition, safe) accuracy is paramount. Not enough people put in the time to achieve even a moderate level of accuracy, and that’s where you, gentle reader, enter the picture. Encourage your friends to strive for 100% accuracy in all their endeavors, and do the same by leading by example.

Thanks for reading! Please subscribe, share on your social media outlets, and encourage others to share and subscribe!

Regards,

Dr. House