Skeptical... but got my first Glock-G26

[Retro]

As you probably know, I was against Glocks from the beginning due to my fear that it will claim my life if the trigger ever gets caught by accident. So my gun collection had been free of glocks from the beginning.

And then, I happened to chat with a police officer about carry pistols, and he answered a lot of my questions and doubts about glocks, especially about the misconception of not able to dry-fire glocks. He told me that by sliding the slide back half an inch will cock the hammer, etc. That was one month ago...

So today, I was at the local gunstore looking for 7.62 Nato rounds for my FAL, and I saw a used Glock G26 with tritium sights and pearce grip sitting there waiting for me to take him home. The gun was in great condition, almost looked new. The trigger pull is around 5 lbs, not a NY-trigger definitely. The damn thing looked really sturdy and like a rock... kinda cute...

So I paid $450 total in cash for it, and did I pay too much?

Pictures are here:

http://www.pbase.com/ewweq5239rewfr/inbox

I will take it to the range next week, and see how this thing shoots... You glock lovers better be right about Glock being an awesome gun... because I invested $450 in it.

 

[glockgod]

You gotta be sh*ting me! Dry firing with a LOADED MAGAZINE in place!! Isn't that kind of dangerous?!

 

[Autolycus]

It is a nice looking gun. With all the accessories it seems that you got a decent deal. Around here it would have been the same with the night sights.

Glocks are a perfectly safe gun and I would feel safe carrying one.

 

[Retro]

Yeah, I thought so too... but the officer told me that he does that all the time...

 

[conan]

especially about the misconception of not able to dry-fire glocks with a loaded magazine but none chambered.

That has simply got to be a major gun safety violation! Why not just play it safe and remove the magazine? It is the only safe option!

 

[glockgod]

For Gods sake don't try to dry fire with a loaded mag in the same room even! I have 4 Glock 9mms(17,19,26,and34) and find I can consistently shoot the 26 best. 450 used is about right for these parts, Got mine for 325. For once I was in the right place at the right time!!

 

[whatbrick]

Why would you want to dry-fire any firearm with a loaded magazine in place? That's just begging to have an ND.

If you're going to continue to go to that particular officer for firearm advice I would heartily recommend seeking a second opinion, preferably from a qualified firearms instructor.

 

[CountGlockula]

Welcome to the dark side.

As you probably know, I was against Glocks from the beginning due to my fear that it will claim my life if the trigger ever gets caught by accident.

You have been misled. The reason why I got a Glock-only way to fire it is with your trigger finger alone.

You know what they say, once you go black you'll never go back.

I've been dry firing my new G35 ever since I got it. Without snap caps.

It won't disappoint you my friend.

 

[GunNut]

Very good deal, the last two G26's that i bought were $400(w/night sights) and $425(No night sights, but almost brand new).

The 26 is probably one of the nicest shooting guns and is a great CCW gun.

I liked it so much that both my wife and I now have one.


Steve

 

[SouthpawShootr]

Yeah, I thought so too... but the officer told me that he does that all the time...

He's a negligent discharge waiting to happen. I'm sure just about anybody here would agree this is a very dangerous practice. There's no advantage whatsoever to dryfiring with a loaded magazine in place.

Use an unloaded spare magazine when you dryfire. I rotate mags, so there's always several empties around the house.

The best way to dryfire a gun is the same way another veteran police officer suggested to me many years ago. Remove the mag, empty the chamber, check the chamber again to make sure you didn't do anything stupid that leaves the gun with a round in the chamber, then remove all ammunition to another room. Come back and dryfire away (in a relatively safe direction). My range has a dryfire area. Ammunition is completely forbidden at the counter (this one has teeth - put a round in the wall and you're gone). I have an area in the utility room of my house specifically for working on guns. I never even approach the bench with a loaded gun.

Incidentally, the G26 is an excellent choice. Sounds like a good deal. Mine is a regular companion during the summer months (I typically switch to a G19, G23 or Taurus PT145 in the winter). Glocks made me neverous when I first started out with them. I was accustomed to autoloaders with safeties (1911s and 3rd generation Smiths). So not having the safety kind of made me feel uneasy. I feel that experience with Glocks has actually made me more observant of the rules of safe firearms handling.

 

[10-Ring]

I fought having a permanent Glock presence in my collection for a while - I had a 23, 36, & 21. Each I shot, each one was okay, each one went bye bye. Then, one of the local shops had a 2 tone one on sale & I bought a G19 and I've kept it for a few years. IMO, the 9mm Glocks are the jewel in the line up!
Congrats w/ your new Glock...enjoy!

 

[HammerG26]

I carry one frequently. It is a great gun and one I would feel COMPLETELY confident if I needed it. Make sure you practice feeling the trigger reset - it will help you greatly with your followup shots.

Hammer

 

[JDGray]

Good deal! I read the first post a few times, and I cant see where anyone said to dryfire with a loaded mag. Did I miss something? But yes, you can reset the trigger by pulling the slide back slightly, and dryfire away ( without a mag in the gun, ofcourse ) Enjoy your new gun!

 

[cslinger]

Do we mean loaded magazine as in empty but inserted into the firearm or do we mean loaded like has 10 or however many rounds loaded into it, inserted into the firearm but not chambered.

If we mean simply having an "EMPTY" magazine insterted into the gun, yeah that will work just fine.

If we mean the latter then, yes it will work but I am sure you are smart enough to not actually do that because that would be plain dangerous, irresponsible and downright stupid and IMHO folks who would do that probably should not be given a BB gun much less a real one. DO NOT DO THIS AND I SUGGEST YOU TELL YOUR "WELL TRAINED" OFFICER TO DO THE SAME.

 

[Retro]

Question:

Why is dry-firing okay in a Glock and not in any other pistols?

And enough about the loaded magazine issue, I would never do something like that personally, and I don't recommend anyone doing it, and that is why I even edited my original post to get rid of that line. Message got, and no point to linger on any further. Btw, that officer is retired due to medical reasons. And "no, the medical reason is NOT that he shot himself... in case that becomes another point to linger on." Thanks.

 

[SouthpawShootr]

Why is dry-firing okay in a Glock and not in any other pistols?

What can I say? Glocks are just tougher!

Largely b/c Glocks were designed to have to be dry-fired for field stripping. Just about any modern design can be safely dry-fired, although in most cases the designers did not intend for this to be done extensively. During live fire the firing pin, striker, or whatever is stopped in it's travel by the primer. Without the something to limit the travel of the firing pin, it over-travels and metal parts slam against other metal parts that were not necessarily designed to work this way. Eventually, wear and/or breakage might occur. CZ-52s (hardly a anybody's idea of a modern design) are infamous for breaking firing pins due to dryfire. They just snap clean off. This is where snap caps come into play. I use snapcaps in all my guns (even Glocks and Glock derived designs - Sigmas) just as a precaution, but a certain amount of dryfire cannot be avoided in Glocks due to the design in the takedown procedure.

I recall a thread on Glocktalk where a G17 owner cracked the breechface of his very early second generation 17 after tens of thousands of rounds and many times that number of dryfires. Sent it back to Glock and, as I recall, they said the failure was due to excessive dryfiring. So they're not indestructable.

 

[SouthpawShootr]

Forgot to add: With snap caps, dryfire in Glocks can be rather tedious unless you pinch that slide back about a half inch to reset the striker. This will pull the snapcap out of the chamber a little but it will go right back in. Sure beats a full slide retraction and having to rechamber that snapcap.

 

[Retro]

Thanks Southpawshootr for the info about excessive dry-firing damaging some dude's glock, and I too keep a snap cap in the chamber just in case.

G26 vs. USP Tactical in handling:

With eyes closed and arm extended with pistol in hand, I found that G26 points to about 20 degrees higher relative to my extended arm axis, where as HK USP show no deviation relative to my arm axis, i.e. the gun is totally horizontal and parallels my arm with its sight zero-ed in naturally. From this, I deduce that under stressful situation, with a quick draw of G26 and without aiming, I am likely to shoot high and either miss the assilant or shoot him in the head. whereas with a USP, I will likely hit him in the heart as I have originally intended.

Any thoughts?

 

[cslinger]

Most any modern centerfire handgun can be dryfired until your hearts content. I believe some Ruger P345s had some issues but as a rule dry firing modern firearms is no problem at all. Even some modern rimfires are not a problem with this such as Ruger Mark IIs, 22/45s etc.

Most of the don't dry fire advice is from older firearms.

At any rate snap caps are cheap insurance if only for piece of mind.

Glocks, Walther P99s, Springfield XDs etc. all only require a very slight movement back of the slide to recock the striker so you will not eject a snapcap. None need snapcaps but if you decide to use them they do not require enough pull on the slide to eject the cap to recock the striker.

Chris

 

[longeyes]

G26 vs. USP Tactical in handling:

With eyes closed and arm extended with pistol in hand, I found that G26 points to about 20 degrees higher relative to my extended arm axis, where as HK USP show no deviation relative to my arm axis, i.e. the gun is totally horizontal and parallels my arm with its sight zero-ed in naturally. From this, I deduce that under stressful situation, with a quick draw of G26 and without aiming, I am likely to shoot high and either miss the assilant or shoot him in the head. whereas with a USP, I will likely hit him in the heart as I have originally intended.

Any thoughts?]

Aim lower.

 

[GunNut]

Retro,

Practice a bunch and things will become second nature for you. So say you can't change how a gun points to you, but I say BS to that theory. With enough repetition you can change anything.

STeve