Need some help deciding on which Glock to buy

[subsonic]

W.R. Buchanan, if a person can shoot a fullsize .357 revolver, they will think a 10mm is easy in a G20. Have you shot one?

I agree that the grip is big for some, but I find it a fine fit and I wear medium gloves.

Ammo is more expensive, but most people on a cast boolit forum reload, and the difference in cost from .40 to 10mm is moot - components are practically the same. Brass can be a little more spendy and you use a little more powder, although my gun will run on .40 "power" loads just fine for economy, but I rarely shoot them. If it's a major concern, drop in a .40 conversion barrel.

If you have to shoot it and mean it, the 10mm has a lot more "meaning" behind it with top loads when compared to .40

[subsonic]

And as far as weight - compare a 4" s&w 19 or a steel 1911 to the G20 - with all 3 loaded.

[Frank]

Move the target out to 100 yds then maybe it will compete with my little .38.

[big dale]

My first Glock is my Glock 20 and I still have it. I have big hands. I always prefered the Ruger Super Blackhawk in a revolver. My last Glock is a Model 24 with extra conversion barrels for 9mm and 3.57 Sig. There is also a Model 27, but I need a longer grip cause there is no place to put my little finger. I also have a Model 21 cause I just love shooting 45's. I find it much easier to work up a load with cast boolits for the 10mm and even easier for the 45acp. Mine runs fine with the H&G 68 boolits. I will warn you that it took me a couple of thousand rounds to get used to the Glock triggers but like most crummy triggers...you get used to them. I would say try the Glock 20 first to see if you like it and then go from there. I have been shooting centerfire handguns over 5 decades at this point so I have owned a lot of them with triggers no better than these and you do get used to them.

Have fun with this stuff.

Big Dale

[coaldust]

Thanks again for all the great input, my son is coming over on thanksgiving day and is bring a
model 17 and 23 for me to shoot, must fo and buy ammo and will then decide.
This forum rocks!!!

[W.R.Buchanan]

Subsonic: You won't get any arguement from me that the 10MM is more gun than a .40.

I have shot one and compared to my G21 in .45ACP the recoil is a little snappier, and for me it is still very controllable, but the whole point of the 10mm is higher velocity.

Loading the 10mm down to .40S&W levels kind of defeats the purpose and the only thing different is you now have a G22 with a larger frame. With reloads there is probably little or no difference in Ammo costs. It would be more about the gun fitting you. The smaller guns seem to fit more people, my wife can shoot my G35 but her hands are too small to grip the G21 well.

This guy is looking for his first Glock and a 22 or 17 or 19 or 23 is going to be easier to learn to shoot. Then he could step up to the G20 if he decides he needs the extra power. There are EX LE G17's and 22's available frequently for $375 -450 and there is a good resale market for any Glock, so it's not like you are going to get stuck with the gun. If you can't sell a Glock there is something seriously wrong with your technique!.

I shot 10K rounds thru my G35 before I got my G21, and as a result I already had the Glock style of gun pretty much mastered, so the G21 was easy for me to shoot well right out of the gate. (I still put on the extended mag release and slide release and the same sights as my G35 so there is no difference there) but the point is, I already knew the gun.

I'm just saying that a smaller caliber is easier to "learn" on. They all work the same and no matter which one you shoot at someone, if you hit them, it is going to ruin their day to some extent.

Opereative word being "hit!". Misses with anything don't count, and may end up ruining your day.

Randy

[9.3X62AL]

Glocks work. Period. They might not be Camp Perry-capable, but if a paper plate has a deep death wish, just staple it up at 25 yards for me. I'll shred the thing--easily.

A LOT of shooters can't shoot the 10mm well. FBI developed the 10mm Lite for their agents that couldn't manage the 10mm Silvertips they initially issued (175 STHP @ 1275 FPS in 5" barrel), and soon thereafter the 40 S&W was birthed to match the 10mm Lite in the smaller 9mm-sized platform. Few pistol calibers got so popular so quickly, esp. in LEO circles. I REALLY LIKE the 10mm, though its recoil impulses take some seasoning to accomodate.

Glock aesthetics........well, they have none. As ugly as a mud fence. But my Glock 23 is as practical and as usable as any gun I own, and a lot more so than many I've sent down the road. The G-23 will be staying, for d--n sure.

[sqlbullet]

This guy is looking for his first Glock and a 22 or 17 or 19 or 23 is going to be easier to learn to shoot. Then he could step up to the G20 if he decides he needs the extra power. There are EX LE G17's and 22's available frequently for $375 -450 and there is a good resale market for any Glock, so it's not like you are going to get stuck with the gun.

As you point out, you can load 10mm down to 40 S&W. This would even better to learn on than a Glock 22. Bigger, heavier gun with the same momentum load means even less felt recoil.

You can't load 40 S&W up to 10mm specs. You only option is to BUY another gun.

So, for my limited budget, I will always buy 10mm guns and load them down to 40 S&W when I am teaching someone to shoot or need a lighter load.

This would leave the only deciding factor on how the grip size fits your hand. If the Glock 20 is not too big, then it is the more versatile gun. It will do everything for you a Glock 22 will, and leave you potential to do thing a Glock 22 won't.

If the Glock 20 is too big, then buy all means get what you can shoot comfortably and well.

I will say this. While I second the comments that if you handload the component costs between 10mm and 40 S&W are nil, you do have to consider that once fired 40 S&W brass is basically free and you will almost never 'lose' 40 S&W brass. I have bags of it that I acquire over time, and eventually give to friends who have 40's. The only time I find 10mm brass at the range that isn't mine is when my friend who owns a 10mm comes with me. I lose about 5% everytime I go shooting.

[exile]

I have wanted a Glock 20 for some time now. The other day my wife wanted to go shoe shopping, so I got a chance to handle a Glock 21 Generation 4. It felt great in my hand, my wife even thought that the grip was acceptable for her small hands. So, now I am waiting for a Glock 20 Generation 4. Who knows if they will ever come out with one. From what I have heard though, the new Gen 4 stippling is like sandpaper if you are going to carry it in an inside the waistband holster, so that is something to consider.

For what it is worth though, if I could only have one Glock it would be a Glock 23 in .40 S & W. Like everyone else has said, you can get extra barrels to fire .357 Sig and 9mm. My particular gun is a Glock 32 (.357 Sig), but you probably don't want to go that route.

exile

[Reload3006]

Dont own one as they are so blasted ugly but ya gotta give credit where its due Glock is a sweet shooting reliable piece...

[thegreatdane]

Go 10mm!

[bigjason6]

Get a G18 in 9mm!

[Paulinski]

I shouldn't do this but I just want to see how big an argument I can start.


I don't own a Glock. I have never owned a Glock. I have never fired a Glock. I will never own a Glock. I have no desire to fire a Glock.

Everything I know ( as opposed to what I've read ) about Glocks, I have learned from a grand total of four Glock owners I know, and about a thousand others I have observed at the range.

One of the Glock owners owns two of the 10mm Glocks. He was very unhappy with the accuracy. He could not reliably hit a full size paper plate at 25 yards. His approach was to replace both the barrels with match grade barrels. He was shocked and disappointed when they didn't help a bit. This guy is an average handgunner. He should be able to hit a 5" bull half the time at 25 yards.

Two of the Glock owners were people I have met at the range and known a couple of years. Only see them occasionally. They will not even shoot on the 25 yard range. They can hit a paper plate most of the time at ten yards. Mostly they shoot on the three or the ten yard range. I have no idea how they could shoot with an accurate handgun.

The fourth Glock owner is a friend I know well. We hunt wheel weights together. Load together, shoot together. He is also a competitive shooter. He owns a couple of 1911 .45ACPS. He shoots clover leafs with either one of them at 15 yards off hand. He has a .40 XDM he can shoot 2" groups at 15 yards off hand. He believes the XDM is more accurate than that but thinks the DA trigger is interfering with his hold. He recently traded the XDM for a Glock .45 ACP because "Everybody knows Glocks are the best thing going."

Well, he can barely keep that Glock on a paper plate at 15 yards and can't reliably hit the paper plate at 25 yards.

He has been trying different loads for a couple of months. He is a young guy and is just now learning that you can't make an inaccurate gun accurate by changing the load.

Of the herds of other Glock shooters, there are two groups. The first is "regular people" They shoot on the three, ten, and rarely the 15 yard range. They shoot patterns, not groups. The second group are what appears to be cops or security officers that have to "practice". They mostly are using Glocks. They walk up to the line with four to six boxes of ammo and load it and fire it as fast as possible with no effort to hit anything. I always try to get beside these guys because in about twenty minutes they are going to walk off and leave two to four hundred commercial brass cases with matched head stamps in the brass catcher.

SO: Here is my advice. Hold on to your 1911. When you want to actually hit something, you are going to want it.



.

Yep Glocks are not accurate at all.

Glock 27 at 230 yards

[ItZaLLgooD]

Well, he can barely keep that Glock on a paper plate at 15 yards and can't reliably hit the paper plate at 25 yards.

This is how my Dad is. He hates Glocks. He thinks there ugly and inaccurate yet he has a love of the AK-47??

To the OP, I personally don't like the larger Glock frames. The G22 is my favorite. Once fired brass is plentiful and cheap for the 40, plus you can always go to wally world and buy a box if your feeling lazy. That can't be said for the 10mm.

[coaldust]

Thanks again for all the input, I decided on the model 23 and may get a .357 sig barrel for it.

[HammerMTB]

To the complaint that they have cr@ppy triggers:
I have fixed all mine (I have several) with the 15 minute trigger job (on U-Tube) and a 3.5lb connector.
That won't make it a custom 1911 trigger, but it is a far cry from the stock trigger.
Give it a try. It makes a world of difference.

[Southern Son]

Get a G18 in 9mm!

Best idea yet, while your in the gunshop, buy all their 9mm ammo, and all the 9mm ammo you can find in all the other gunshops, you WILL need it for your first trip to the range.

[161]

coaldust
Maybe I missed it but what are you going to use it for? I have a 27,22 and a complete upper for a 24 I can but on the 22. I shot USPSA for 10 years with the 24. I admit I'm a Glock guy. They work, plain and simple. The trigger takes a little to get use to but they are a combat/self defense pistol. I shot a 10mm a few times and found it to be pleasant and controllable. I don't think I would do it but I once watched a guy load his 10mm Glock with 40S&W and it functioned every time. He asked me why it would be any different than shooting 38 in a 357. I said a little thing like head spacing off the extractor instead on the case neck. But maybe I'm wrong. I've shot 10 of 1000s of cast in the factory barrels like many others. Don't let that bother you. I called Glock and they told me if I could find factory loaded cast it was fine to shoot. That's their way of saying yes without saying yes to reloads.If you maintain the mag. springs the gun will work. The Gen 4 has a different recoil assembly. I'm a Glock armorer and Glock is saying that the older recoil springs are only good for 3000 rnds. in the 40. But much more in the 9mm and 45. The 40 is a much sharper recoil than the 9 and 45. But very pleasant to shoot. Hope it helps.
161

[HammerMTB]

coaldust
I once watched a guy load his 10mm Glock with 40S&W and it functioned every time. He asked me why it would be any different than shooting 38 in a 357. I said a little thing like head spacing off the extractor instead on the case neck.
161

I have been using 40S&W brass in my Glock 20 for several years.It does headspace off the extractor not the mouth. That hasn't been a problem. Never once a misfire due to the headspace. In fact, if you check factory ammo against loosely chambered barrels, Glock or other, you find a lot of ammo headspaces on the extractor not the casemouth. Case is cut .005"-.010" short, and chamber is long.
What I DON'T do is load 40S&W cases to loads over their typical SAAMI spec. Then I can't get in trouble letting one slip down the pipe of a .40. If I want a 10MM level load, I use a 10MM case.

[subsonic]

My G20 will pierce primers with .40 brass.

4 of 5 did it and then I said " now I know!" and stopped.