So, if most of us think that with a little effort the glock can be made quite accurate, why does no one use them for bullseye type events? Is it just the trigger holding them back from these sports?
Actually if anyone is winning bullseye events with a glock, I'd love to hear about it.
Here is the truth. Most people here don't even know what accuracy
means in the context of bullseye shooting at 25-50 yards. So asking this question on this forum, you are likely to get alot of garbage responses.
The accuracy standard for purpose-built bullseye pistols is 10 shots into 1.5" @ 50 yards. The only non-1911 autoloaders that are in that league are the SIG P210 and the Sigarms P226 X-Five, both >$2,000 new (when you can find one at all). Even with a match barrel, a Glock is LUCKY to be half as accurate.
Did I pull that out of my butt? Consider this: Bar-Sto, who has made more barrels that have won more matches of all kinds than anybody, says that 1.25" @ 25 yards is "attainable" with one of their barrels in a Glock. They won't guarantee it, but they say it can be done. Well, bullseye 'smiths routinely use the same company's barrels in 1911s for guaranteed 1.5" @ 50 yard guns. Bearing in mind that accuracy isn't linear between 25 and 50 yards, a 1.25" @ 25 yard gun is more like a 3"+ @ 50 yard gun.
Sounds like small differences, but becomes non-trivial if you are trying to keep all your shots in a 50 yard target's 10-ring that is only a little over 3" across. Every shooter has a margin of error, and a 1.5" gun is more forgiving (and thus more likely to facilitate winning matches) than a 3" gun.
Why is this? Well, all the aftermarket accurizing expertise (and support in aftermarket parts) is in 1911s. You can't get a slide-to-frame fit on a Glock like you can on a 1911, which is a small but non-trivial factor in accuracy. The SIG P210 and its variants have basically been handmade "factory" bullseye guns for the last 50 years or so, so it is easy to see why they are accurate.
Also, the Glock trigger system sucks, and relative to a 1911 pistol with comparable amounts of trigger work, will continue to suck... again in the context of competition guns, which is the subject of this topic.