Epiphany

I started out my shoot experience in the seventies with 1911's, Ruger revolvers of the DA and SA variety, and later moved to S&W revolvers and Browning Hi Powers as a focus. I've shot S&W semi-autos a bunch, and the odd Walther, FN, Beretta and Sig. I seldom keep a gun if I loose interest in it, or don't shoot it. I don't collect, I shoot.

I went looking for a new carry gun this past week. I spent a few days struggling with which gun to choose because I was concerned about how the finish would hold up to the humidity, sweat, and general wear. Last year's summer carry gun was a S&W 640, but I abandoned it because it was to small and awkward for me to shoot freqently.

I looked at several pretty guns, and finally the thought dawned on me, try a Glock. I'd never shot a Glock, and generally dislike polymer framed pistols. I've tried FN's, Walthers, S&W's, and Taurus"s, and didn't care for any of them. Well, I thought to myself, if the gun is ugly to begin with, and you don't care about the appearance, it won't matter how much sweat, crude, and abuse the thing receives. So I bought a Glock 23, and I love the thing. It's so damn utilitarian, it's hard to not love it, kind of like a can opener or a hammer. It's as accurate as any other stock autoloader I've owned, feeds anything I load it with, and I can wade thru deep trout pools with it in my pocket if I feel like it.

I have to say, this is the most liberating gun-related experience I've ever had. It's in the 80's, today, with extreme humidity, and I was out planting stuff in the garden with the 23 in an IWB holster. I would never do that with a 1911, or a S&W revolver. I think I've gone over to the dark side, and wish I'd done so a long time ago. Just thought I'd relate this experience. I still love the looks of a good S&W revolver, or beautifully blued Hi Power, but for a long time I've viewed firearms more as an art form and suddenly I find it's easier, more practical, and even more enjoyable for me to view them purely as a tool without all the focus on fancy grips, shiney finish and all that. I know this is not revelation to many out there, but it is to me.

I'm gonna get me a few more Glocks, now. Best thing since bullets, I say.

JROC, you pretty much summed it up. I didn't intend for the post to be a commercial for Glocks, just an expression of enthusiasm for a very clean, well designed tool that seemingly ignores the issue of appearance and gets straight to work on doing it's job and doing it well. Sort of like a Model T Ford. But even though little attention has been given to sculpting the slide, adding glitzy finishes, and exotic wood grips, the things are appealing to look at. Form following function.

I have tried the M&P, the FNP, the CZ Rami, and several other polymer guns, but from my perspective most of these go to far toward trying to dress up the slide and grips to look cooler. I did think the M&P and the XD shot fairly well, but in spite of the more sculpted slide I found both of them looked and felt boxier than Glocks do. It may just be optical illusion, but Glocks look and feel like the bore axis is set lower than the other guns I've mentioned. I really dislike Sigs and XDs because they feel like the bore is unusually high and the recoil is more of a torque around your hand than a push like a Glock.

I'm not bashing these other polymer or alloy framed guns, just saying that for me they all stray a little to far into form to compete with the Glock on function alone, and not enough into form to really compete with a 1911, Hi Power, or S&W Revolver. If you're going to go polymer, I think you may as well say "ta hell" with any embellishment and keep the gun as stripped down and purely functional as possible. Same theory works for knives. If it's to pretty, somewhere in the back of your mind there is a voice saying "You're going to ruin it if you're not careful !" Some people seem unhindered by this voice, but packing a pristine nickel plated S&W 58 with perfect unmarred factory magna grips on a trip up a rocky mountain side seems unnecessarily chavelier.