Drank deeply from the koolaid jug...

[Teachu2]

I have been shooting 1911s for over three decades (30k+ rounds), and currently own two Colts - a Series 70 and an 80. Both are reliable, accurate, trouble-free handguns.

I worked for a gunsmith in the '80s who specialized in 1911s. He despised the Glock, and therefor so did I.

Fast forward to early 2012, and I was looking at the wide variety of polymer-framed handguns available. The local indoor range was sponsoring a GSSF match for June-July-August, so I decided to try Glocks at the rental counter. I wanted a 9mm for range use, so I tried a 19 and a 17. Pitiful results - "groups" was a generous description. I was also looking for a lighter .45, so I rented the G30. That was an eye-opener! Very comfortable in my hand, a joy to shoot, and far more accurate than expected. I immediately bought one, but that didn't still left me without a 9mm range gun - so I bought a G34.

My G30 shot just as good as the rental, much to my delight. The 34 was a little better than the 17 and 19, but still not very good. I finally came to the conclusion that I needed to try something different (duh!) so I tried different grips until I found what worked for me - and it all came together.

That encouraged me to add a G21, which I got in July and am still getting used to.

As for the GSSF match, I left all three completely stock and entered them all. In June, I shot the 30 and 34, in July all three, and in August the 34 and 21. My scores improved each month, and I ended up with the top A Class score - and also third and fourth!

I guess an old dog can learn new tricks. After shooting 1911s so much, the Glocks felt like they were from another planet. It is, however, simply a matter of adapting to the gun - once I realized that the G34 was never going to be a 1911, I was able to experiment and find a workable technique.

Next up is a Sig 2022 in 9mm.....

 

[Skribs]

The good thing about drinking from the kool-aid jug is, once you down the jug, you fill it with water and shoot it to watch the geiser!

I'm not specifically a Glock fan, but a Glock-ish fan, so welcome to the fold!

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Congrats. I have some pistols that I really like but I've found most are acceptable.

 

[one45auto]

I can sympathize. For years I held a deep disdain for Glocks and used to join my buddies in badmouthing the combat Tupperware. Then one day I was at the range and decided on a whim to rent a Glock 19 and see what the fuss was all about. Wow....that rental Glock was dirtier than the floor of a New York taxi cab and looked like it hadn't seen a cleaning kit in eight months, but the danged pistol wouldn't jam no matter how hard I tried. I even shot purple box (i.e. cheap reloads) through it and it went bang every time. I couldn't believe it. My beloved Colt M1991A1 was beautiful but a jam-o-matic when dirty and didn't like anything but Winchester ball ammo. Long story short, I promptly went on the prowl for a Second Generation Glock 19 and having found one put my old Colt up for sale. I haven't looked back since.

 

[X-Rap]

My story is similar, I wonder how many times it goes the other way?

 

[g_one]

It went the other way for me. My first gun was an FNH FNP-9 and I swore by it, once I started CCW I got a Glock 26 that I keep with me more or less at all times - the comfort, weight, styling of polymer-framed pistols has always done it for me.

Until I bought my first 1911.

I stay in both camps - I've since sold the FNP-9 but I keep my G-26 as a concealed carry gun due to the reliability and round count (and because I have a pocket holster and an IWB rig from Raven Concealment for it that make it fit GREAT) but I can say that having the 1911 in a shoulder rig in those winter months when I'm always wearing a jacket, and slinging a few boxes down the range out of it, is a REALLY great feeling that I'm sorry I missed out on for so long.

 

[tarosean]

I wonder how many times it goes the other way?

I would imagine it does happen, yet not at the rate of the reverse.

Age probably plays the biggest factor. If you got into guns pre-Glock or after Glock.

Followed by price.

I use Glock as a benchmark since they did change the landscape of handguns for ever.
With that said lots of people are resistant to change. If your first handgun was a revolver you may have stuck with that type of gun. If it was an Auto you stuck with that type. Same with Poly. Despite internet chatter leading you to believe that everything else is so unreliable pre-Glock they all worked.

Lots of people are swayed by price. They dont see the value in something that costs up to 2 or 3 times the cost of their current gun and basically does the same thing. Or are swayed by the internet long before they ever touch one.

If I was my sons age (26) I probably would have started out on a Poly gun since they are easily accessible and affordable. As it sits it took me 30yrs to drink from the "Kool-Aid" (of a different flavor) See resistance to change above... LOL They just never interested me, not because of "tupperware" or other monikers just they never appealed to me aesthetically. Id shot them in all different shapes sizes and makers just never brought one home. One did eventually find its way into my safe and will likely remain. While Im still not 100% enamored by them, I have looked at adding another one.

 

[hentown]

My father died in '81. Wish he'd lived long enough to try a Glock; I know he would have loved 'em. When he died, he left four pristine 70 Series Gold Cups, as well as other nice firearms to me and my brother. Although I started out on 1911s at an early age, I had no problem transitioning to Glocks and now spend a lot more time shooting my Glocks than my 1911s.

I like the 1911s, but just find myself shooting the Glocks much more. I can see how the OPs gunsmith-employer would have been threatened by Glocks in the 80s. If 1911s had never been invented, we probably wouldn't have gunsmiths these days.

 

[Hacker15E]

The fallacy here is that you have to be in one camp or the other.

 

[scaatylobo]

Good job !

Glad your not old enough to be set in your ways and lose out.

I was one that swore to never own a pos 'plastic' pistol.

That was when they first came out,now I own 6 and have had a few others that I am sorry I sold.

I EDC a G-23 and own a 17 & 19 as well as 34 & 27 & 30 too.

I also own and shoot/carry 2 Kimbers,but the Glocks are the 90% carry tool.

NEVER had a bobble of FTFeed etc with any of them,but the 30 seems to dislike a few H.P.'s so I carry only what works.

Glad you found out the simple truth,its a tool and it works.

 

[19-3Ben]

I don't like the feel of them, but you can't argue with the function! They certainly work...and work...and work...and work...

As for me, I'll never get rid of my M&P when I want a gun in that category.

 

[Rexster]

I started handgunning in 1982 or 1983 with an off-brand 1911. (Detonics) I was certainly open-minded and progressive regarding pistols, however, and acquired a pair of HK P7 pistols within a coupe of years. A divorce and lean times shortly thereafter had me down to one duty revolver, one back-up snubby, and one pump shotgun, with no auto-pistols. When things got better in the late 1980s, I returned to being a confirmed 1911/revolver guy. When Glocks appeared, the plastic frame and horrendously mechanical-feeling trigger were big turn-offs, but I maintained an open mind. By 2002, I had enough faith in Glock to buy a pair of them (G22) to use as duty pistols, letting my "grandfathered" 1911 duty pistols lapse from my "qual" list.

I did largely get away from Glocks in 2004-2005, favoring the SIG DAK trigger pull, and preferring the better accuracy I could get from a P229. (My Glock performance had hit a frustrating plateau, as quantified on my employer's qual course. I could never shoot a Glock as well as I had a 1911 or medium/large
revolver.) I thought I would retire with the P229 DAK as my duty pistol, but the recoil dynamics of a high-bore-axis P229, plus the snappy recoil of the .40, produced a perfect storm that made the P229 a torture device during extended firing.

My agency has a number of the Glock "sim" guns, dimensionally identical to the G17/G22 live-fire pistols. During "active shooter" and stress shooting training, I had found that I certainly shot well enough to feel confident with a Glock when shooting at dynamically-moving role players, especially when shooting left handed. This is more applicable to the real world than my qual, which is fired at a paper target, standing in one place for a stage of fire.

With a proposal to the chief from our firearms training section, that recommended allowing officers to carry 9mm as as alternative primary duty pistol cartridge, in the 9mm counterparts to the currently-approved .40 duty pistols, I went ahead and put a G17 on layaway. I figured the lower bore axis, the cushioning effect of the polymer frame, and the milder-recoiling 9mm would be a combo that would make it easier on my aging wrist, with no loss in practical accuracy, even if shooting "Expert" was problematic. (The pain of shooting .40 in a P229 had already effectively ended my days of wearing an Expert's badge, anyway.)

Well, the chief did not sign off of the 9mm proposal, anyway. I hope he re-visits the issue soon. I do have this nice, shiny, new-to-me G17 to play with, anyway. (Well, "kinda" shiny, anyway; it is two-tone, with a polished barrel, from a
special run a couple of years ago.) I also still have one 1911, a Les Baer Thunder Ranch Special, which has started seeing carry time again, as I stopped carring my SIG concealed on my own time. Interestingly, an all-steel 5" 1911 does not hurt my wrist when I shoot it, at least for now.

 

[Don357]

Jim Jones is at it again!

 

[hentown]

JJ is as dead as JMB!

 

[Walkalong]

If 1911s had never been invented, we probably wouldn't have gunsmiths these days.

Giggle snort. Slaps leg.

If it is mechanical, it can break.

 

[Nico Testosteros]

The first pistol I ever shot was a friends series 70. The only Glock I've shot is a Model 30. I like em both.
If I do get a Glock it'll be a 10 mm for outdoors use.