G26 vs g27 vs g33

Which Sub-Compact Glock for CCW? (purely form a power vs recoil perspective)

  • Glock 26 (9mm)

    Votes: 51 52.0%
  • Glock 27 (40sw)

    Votes: 35 35.7%
  • Glock 33 (357sig)

    Votes: 12 12.2%

  • Total voters
    98
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I own both a G26 and a G27.

I hadn't originally intended to own both, though.

After having handled and fired a number of G26's & G27's, when I finally decided I was going to add a subcompact Glock to my off-duty/working gun collection I chose the g26.

I only later ended up with a G27 because I was offered a LNIB G27 w/night sights for an absurdly low price.

I've fired more than 10,000 rounds through each of my subcompact Glocks.

If I were again going to choose from between them, my decision would again be to buy the G26.

That said as a firearms instructor I've often been asked the same question by our folks when it comes to those who want to buy a subcompact Glock for an off-duty weapon. Instead of recommending one or the other I've typically recommended anyone interested in choosing one try examples of them at the range, usually offering to let them shoot mine.

After shooting both models with typical training/duty ammunition, more folks have chosen to pick the G26 over the G27. Why? The most common reason offered is reduced felt recoil and enhanced controllability of the G26, even when shooting +P & +P+ loads.

The .357SIG isn't all that popular among a lot of the LE I've known since it's introduction. I believe I only know a couple of guys who own guns chambered in it, and only one of those is a Glock. Last time I knew, neither of them were presently carrying them, but instead carried a selection of personally-owned pistols and revolvers chambered in other common calibers.

I know of a fellow who used to work for an agency which issued the .357SIG (and issued Sig's), but the Sig he bought for his own off-duty usage was chambered in .40 S&W. I wasn't interested enough to ask why, though. (I'm more interested in someone's mind & skill sets than their reasons for choosing one or another particular caliber, unless it's causing a problem when it comes to them safely, accurately and effectively using it.)

Felt recoil is a subjective issue. What's very noticeably for one person may not be noticeable for another. Muzzle rise/whip, 'snap' or torque effect, the pressure and 'dwell time' of the recoil impulse delivered into the palm of the hand and muzzle blast may be perceived quite a bit differently among different folks.

Try them at a local range if possible, preferably using a representative selection of whatever ammunition you might consider using in your own gun and see what you think of each of them.

Me?

I enjoy shooting the G26 more than the G27. I tend to shoot the G27 well, but I generally have to work a bit more at it than with the G26, even when I'm using +P+ loads in the G26.

Shooting the G27 seems to make me shoot the G26 better, since it makes shooting the G26 seem relatively 'easier'. This difference isn't as easily noticeable to me when just standing comfortably still and slowly shooting the G27 at a leisurely, slow-fire pace using an unsupported 2-handed hold.

However, once the shooting drills become fast-paced and more strenuous, and involve shooting-while-moving, shooting from strong & off-side barricade situations and shooting 1-handed (both strong & off-side), the controllability advantages of the G26 become pretty apparent to me.

But that's me ...

Try all 3 of them for yourself and decide for yourself.
 
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I'll weigh in, although I own neither. I'm a Glock 19 fan. I like the capacity, and the size isn't THAT much bigger than the 26 or 27. If you like 40 S&W, the 23 is the same size as the 19.

The 26 and 27 are just as "fat" as the 19/23 and not a WHOLE lot shorter. My point is, the thickness would make pocket carry difficult, so why not just get a good hi-ride or IWB holster and carry a 19 or 23?

As for caliber, I'm a 9MM guy and I reload. I also am not rich and I like to SHOOT my guns a lot. Being a reloader, I can get the 9MM to do all I need a handgun to do. The less expensive ammunition/components lets me afford being able to shoot more.

With all that rambling over with, if I WERE to consider a sub-compact Glock, I'd get the 26, hands down. I've shot the 23 in 40 S&W and the recoil is noticeably more "robust" than the 19, even in the slightly larger gun. I imagine a 27 would be worse. Like has been said before, the difference in recoil may not be much when casually punching holes in paper but on the move or in a panicked situation, I think the difference would be more profound.
 
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G27 with a Wolf 9mm for me. I will add a .22 kit next

Hmmm, may consider the G22 22 LR kit for my daughter ... she'll practice with the same grip/trigger/sight picture to graduate to the 9mm conversion barrel (sweet!) :D

So you can now shoot 4 calibers out of G22? (40/357Sig/9/22).
 
In a stressful situation you'd really want control over a bit more power, at least I would. The 40 is a wonderful round, and I can't say anything bad about it. I love my Glock 32 - it's a super hard hitter and the recoil is really pretty low and controllable. If I were in real trouble, I'd want the G26 due to my ability to get my second round targeted and fired if necessary. Each person should know his or her limitations and purchase a pistol accordingly. Even though i'm comfortable with much bigger ammo at a range, I'd prefer and do carry a 9mm for emergency use. I practice a lot of one-handed stuff too, and I believe it's a really useful drill to do. You never know how well set you'll get in a really bad situation and recoil will be a factor after your first shot.
 
For G27 Lone Wolf 40-9 conversion, you only need to exchange the barrel (for me, the G27 mag works for 9mm too). I can't speak for other conversion barrels, but the LW barrel works fine with the stock G27 extractor. Diameter of 9mm case bottom is smaller than 40, but the G27 extractor has enough grip to reliably extract the 9mm cases
.

not so, my friend. glock inadvertently sent me a 40cal extractor to replace the bad one in my g19, it caused failure to return to battery issues. that's what made me realize they sent the wrong extractor.
 
Diameter of 9mm case bottom is smaller than 40, but the G27 extractor has enough grip to reliably extract the 9mm cases

Full Metal Jacket: not so, my friend. glock inadvertently sent me a 40cal extractor to replace the bad one in my g19, it caused failure to return to battery issues. that's what made me realize they sent the wrong extractor.

I think your issue is different than using G27 with Lone Wolf 40-9 conversion barrel. Have you tried using a Glock dealer/shop to inspect your Glock and have it shipped to Glock for proper repair?

I experience no problem with the factory G27 extractor using LW 40-9 conversion barrel. If you look at the extracted spent 9mm casings, you can clearly see how much the G27 extractor gripped the bottom of 9mm casing.

I inspect the case bottoms of 9mm cases that I reload for LW 40-9 conversion barrels for extractor wear along with my other quality checks. If I have any concern over excessive wear or damage to the case, the case gets tossed to the scrap bin.
 
I went with the G27 'cause I found one for $300, like new in tupperware. It doesn't seem especially snappy to me, since I usually send a box of .44mag downrange before practicing with the Glock.

I always figure that the first shot is the important one. Make it worthwhile.
 
I don't like the idea of a caliber conversion in my carry pistol - not sure how the courts would view it and I don't care to be the one to find out. So for me the 26 is much cheaper to shoot, period. If you shoot regularly (like you should) the money you save by shooting cheaper 9mm ammunition could probably be enough to buy another gun in a year or so. Go to any online ammunition vendor and price out 1000 rounds of FMJ and 500 rounds of HP ammo for these 3 calibers and it becomes readily apparent. 9mm is always going to be cheaper and it puts 30 caliber or better holes in things quite well.
 
I am not interested in the conversion options becuase I will not carry a converted pistol and practicing with a round that I wont carry, even though any practice is good, inst something I'm interested in for this.

Fastbolt and Otherwaldo - thanks very good and convincing points. I was starting to lean 9 due to the controlability points made until otherwaldo made a lot of sense with getting the most out of the first and an increase in power w/o increase in size. Arrgghh!!!

It's interesting though - I remember similiar discussions in the past for exactly the same sized guns but different calibers like the Keltec P32 (32acp) vs P3AT (380acp) and the majority at least to me seemed to favor the more powerful round as opposed to the lesser powerful easier to control caliber. Another example is the Seecamp .32 vs .380. The 380 seemed to be favored over the 32.

But here, it's the opposite, the lesser caliber 9mm seems to be the favorite and I wonder why. I would rather have a P3AT than a P32 so why wouldnt I want the 40sw over the 9mm if they are the same size. The recoil of the P3AT is a lot more than the P32, right.
 
But here, it's the opposite, the lesser caliber 9mm seems to be the favorite and I wonder why. I would rather have a P3AT than a P32 so why wouldnt I want the 40sw over the 9mm if they are the same size. The recoil of the P3AT is a lot more than the P32, right.

Well, for one thing, the 9MM is not that much less of a round than the 40. At all.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when you're comparing the 9 with the 40, you're not as close to the edge of being "marginal" for a defense round. When looking at the 380 vs the 32, that's not the case.
 
I'm sure there were/are people who argued the same logic that the difference between the 32/380 was minimal.
 
Of the sub-compact Glock's, I decided on the G26 for my own needs. I also tested the G27 and the G29 which were both great guns as well. I picked the G26 mainly because I was already well invested in 9mm with my other guns, I felt that the 9mm was a good compromise for a small handgun, and if the need ever arose, I could toss a 15/17/33 round mag in there and turn it into a half way decent zombie gun.
The G27 and G29 were fun to shoot as well, but they certainly had more bark than the G26. After getting the 9mm, I have never felt the need for a bigger caliber for daily carry in urban environments.

I would rather have a P3AT than a P32 so why wouldnt I want the 40sw over the 9mm if they are the same size.

I'm not sure I agree with your logic. I mean sure, you could pack a .50 AE into a Derringer with the proper engineering, but the ballance of the weapon is way off. In a less extreme example, the KelTec was initially designed for the .32 acp... and the Baby Glock was born as a 9mm. I believe that there was a reason the engineers chose these calibers to build the gun around. Not to say that the guns are incapable of firing a more potent cartridge, just that doing so alters the balance of the firearm. I always try to consider the cartridge a particular platform was designed around when choosing a gun.


...
 
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I own a Glock 26 and a Glock 17 as well. I like Glocks in 9mm because that is when they are the most reliable.

I also like 9mm because it is a good round and it works just fine. The .40 S&W as well as .357 Sig are not that much more impressive than the 9mm in my opinion. The 9mm is also cheaper and is becoming easier to find as the whole ammo scare seems to wear off.
 
you are so drastically overthinking this, just buy the first one you find, and get it to the range. .357 is not as scarce or expensive as its critics make it out to be, the .40 isn't as dramatically harder recoiling or prone to exploding or whatever as its critics make it out to be, and the 9mm isn't nearly as weak as its critics make it out to be.
 
BDS - Yes, I chose the 27 specifically due to being able to go multi caliber. To go to 9m/m, a Lone Wolf barrel and a Glock 26 magazine is all that's needed. To go to .357 Sig, only a stock Glock barrel is needed. The .22 l/r of course replaces both the magazine and entire slide group.

I *carry* the stock .40, but in time of ammo shortages, I have options to use or practice with multiple rounds. I've been shooting (as an instructor and in several disciplines of competition) for over 30 years and the differences between calibers is negligible to me (excepting the .22 of course). I have the advantage of training with the exact grip, trigger, sights, etc across calibers and should never lack for at least one of them being available.

I know what works for me, at my experience and skill level. Those who choose to limit themselves by selecting a 26 are certainly free to do so.
 
if ur wanting one that u can shoot rapidly and still be accurate the best bet is the 26 i own a 26 and 27 and the 26 places shots in a tighter pattern and really a 9mm and .40 or 10mm is not going to make a differance when u can put like 3-12 shots accuratly in someone
 
I have tried the .40S&W and the .357Sig, in sub-compact Glocks, HK'S and Sig's. I am not a fan of either caliber. I carry a G26 day in and day out. It has been reliable, accurate, and very easy to carry. I could not be happier.
 
I have a G26 and love it. Shot placement is key so my philisophy is more hits on target (even with a smaller round) are better than missing or poor hits on target. My G26 is as accurate and easy to shoot as my G19.. and I have big hands and don't use a grip extension. Good luck!
 
I am going to vote for the G26 because they hit "dead on" to the sights. If the G39 is anywhere near as good as the G26, that would get my vote too. I see .45 GAP ammo everywhere I go, most of the 9mm/.40 is sold out at this point in time. I would love to purchase a G39.
 
Glock 27 because I found one used and in great shape for $150 less then a new one.
It came with the mag extensions on both mags = more money saved.
With the difference I will get a 9mm conversion barrel ($100) so If i find it hard or to costly to fire 40, I can use my Sigs 9mm ammo which i have lots of.

So for less then the price of a new G26 I can have a gun that works as a G26 or G27
without having to own both.

$100 is a bargain compared to the cost of a SIg barrel conversion.
 
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