The Glock I Used to Despise Is Now My Gun of Choice
Ever been one of those people who thought that items made out of plastic were low quality and cheap? Yep. That was me. I swore by the metal and wood of my dad's 1911 Colt .45 and the Sprinfield 1903 rifle I was issued at the military school I attended when I was 18.
The M16 I held during Army ROTC training seemed like a toy gun. On full auto it fired so fast that the 20 round magazine was empty in 2 seconds. It also jammed too much for my liking. My mentor, an Army Special Forces Sergeant Major and veteran of Korea and Vietnam, told us that during Vietnam he couldn't bring himself to carry the M-16 because he felt it was a product of toy store.
That was it. My 28 year refusal to like anything with a synthetic stock or a polymer molded frame and grip had started. Guns were supposed to be solid, heavy, and reliable . . . made out of oiled steel and wood like the ones John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Vic Morrow and Sean Connery as Jim Malone on the "Untouchables" used. I assumed that anything plastic had the quality of a 25 cent squirt gun sold at the local drug store. I used to watch people fire these "plastic" guns at the range with contempt.
When I took the NRA instructor's training course, I shared the class with police officers, CIA agents, ex-members of the special forces, ex-marines, secret service agents, etc. Many, if not most of them had Glocks as their primary firearm of choice. At the time my primary firearms of choice were the .45 caliber Colt M1911 and the Smith and Wesson .357 magnum revolver. I took pride in the wood grip panels of my Colt 1911 and the steel Smith and Wesson revolver with its rubber grip panels. I felt I had a true gunner's guns.
During the shooting exercises of the instructor's course, I proudly engaged my targets with my manly man's guns. Out of the corner of my eye, however, I was checking out the Glock owners and noticed that they were not changing magazines as often as I was. By the time the class drew to an end, my curiosity peaked and I started to wonder what their reasoning was for choosing these "plastic" looking guns.
A day after I completed the course, the curiosity was eating me alive. I went to my local shooting range and rented a Glock 21 .45 cal pistol. The first thing that started to change my mind about this gun was when I noticed that I could load 13 rounds per magazine compared to the seven round capacity of my 1911. Then I fired it at the target. It was much smoother than the 1911 and most important of all, there was a robust improvement in my grouping. I was falling in love. I must have fired 250 rounds through it. I left the range only when I could taste the bitter sensation of burnt powder on my tongue.
That was it. I bought my Glock 21 that day. It was very reasonably priced. Furthermore, taking it apart and putting it back together was so simple compared to the Colt 1911 that the Colt seldom left the gun cabinet after that. The simplicity of the Glock made cleaning it a breeze. Icing on the cake!
The moral of the story is always keep an open mind when selecting your primary firearm. When choosing a primary firearm, ask knowledgeable people about what is available. Try out various candidates of firearms by renting them at your local shooting range. Everyone is different. What is the perfect fit for your buddy, husband, wife, etc. probably won't be the right fit for you. Things to consider are weight, fit, magazine capacity, size, caliber, knock down power, stealth level and type of use (home defense, concealed carry, etc.).
HAPPY SHOOTING!!!