Okay Monty suggested it so here it is. I thought this was a good subject.
See a Glock is one of those things that a lot of people hate but ultimately everyone respects. Even the most hardcore traditionalist who hates the fantastic plastic pistol with a passion can't deny its advantages.
Indeed the main criticism non Glockers seem to have is ergonomics. Here's the problems I know of:
#1. Some people just don't like any pistol without an external safety.
#2. Some people consider it too bulky. It does have a bit of a "Brick" feeling.
#3. Some find the grip angle unnatural.
#4. Related to #3, a lot of people find it points "funny". This is my main criticism.
No person I know who has been into any form of shooting for longer than a few months has any "deep" criticism of the piece. It's a fantastic product. Problems #1 and #2 really aren't "problems" at all. The preference for a safety feature or what constitutes a gun that is too thick, etc. varies from person to person. What we're left with is essentially a superficial set of criticisms, such as the unattractive appearance.
However that too is subjective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Therefore the most valid criticism of the Glock pistol is its ergonomics.
This too may appear to be a shallow criticism, especially to an avid Glock enthusiast, because it too is subjective. After all, isn't the manual of arms, quality of construction, low price point, and legendary toughness of a Glock pistol worth a little bit of discomfort?
This is where I say no. I sincerely believe that if not for the ever expanding market, we'd all be making do with Glock pistols, but there is an ever expanding market. I feel one is simply better off compromising somewhat and getting a platform that's similar but just fits better. There's more than one polymer pistol on the market, and more importantly there's more than one good polymer pistol on said market. I feel for the most part you're probably better off simply buying another product.
On the other hand, I have to admit I wished Glock products "worked" for me. The Glock pistol is actually wonderful in its diversity of frame sizes and calibers. I can see how it would be beneficial to have a collection of handguns that would cover any situation from shooting a steel plate through concealed carry applications that all had the same manual of arms. Indeed, someone who likes Glocks as they are would be behooved to have nothing but Glocks just as a mechanic who likes Snap On tools would do well to have nothing but Snap On tools.
Other benefits are that it is common, so holsters and other accessories are easy to come by. A third benefit I see is the interchangability of the different size magazines between certain models. I can't point to two of my pistols and say that I can use the same magazines in both, and the thought of a compact pistol with a full size grip via a full size magazine with a grip extender appeals to me.
Thus we see the discriminating customer can be put in that awkward position where some kind of compromise is needed. The first route, and the one most taken in all likelihood, is simply buy something else that just has more ergonomic appeal and live with the fact it's not as common or as easy to accessorize, and you may very well have to live with the price point too in some cases.
The second route, the one that baffles me, would be to "correct" the Glock pistol. Now how to do this is without extensive custom gunsmithing is beyond me. In all honesty, I feel if it's not a reasonably priced fix, it's not a fix at all and you were better off with option 1 in the first place.
The crux of the matter deals with the grip and the way it points. I think the grip can be corrected rather easily. I have heard of tube sleeve grips for the Glock pistols that provide a layer of "padding" that don't make the grip angle seem so odd. I've even read of people making sleeve grips for Glocks out of bicycle inner tubes. The extra layer of rubber gives a soft, tacky feel that cushions the hand somewhat apparently.
Now for what it's worth, the full size Glock pistols are the ones I find unbearable. I do have good sized mitts. Something about the longer slide just seems to accentuate the problem. I find the shorter Glocks tend not to be so bad, but still exhibit the problem.
The part that's beyond me to fix is the way it points. You can't fix that without refabricating the whole gun practically.
The thought occurs to me however that it may be possible to perhaps make the correction one must make more intuitive. One must tilt their hand forward a little bit to make the pistol point correctly. I submit that it may be possible for aftermarket sights to solve this dilemma. Heinie Straight Eights come to mind because of the way these sights require one to align the two halves of the "8", and they are easier to see than the factory sights as well.
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This may just be my personal opinion, but these sights seem to make it more obvious when you have the gun pointed correctly. My tendency with the usual 3 dot type sight is to worry about the horizontal axis, but these sights look like they stress the vertical axis more. In fact Heinie even claims their sights work on the principle you can correct vertically faster than you can horizontally.
Even at that, this "fix", if it even works, costs slightly over $200. Is this in fact a price worth paying?
Another thing I wonder is if anyone has tried some simple or not so simple point shooting with a Glock. Does the grip angle tend to set you off too much? There's no point in trying to correct the natural inclination to point the wrong direction with a set of sights if you still miss at "social distances". A lot of situations happen where using the sights is considered impractical.
I figure my idea looks good on paper but isn't really a solution.
It's just a situation with no good answer, short of Glock launcing a second line of products with different ergonomics and the odds of that happening are slim.
I conclude that it's best just to go with a competitor's product and not worry about it, but still it's fun to speculate.
However, for the prepared American, it would be beneficial to know how to use a sidearm that's in such common circulation even if you don't "like" it. You may have to borrow one day in a hurry.
See a Glock is one of those things that a lot of people hate but ultimately everyone respects. Even the most hardcore traditionalist who hates the fantastic plastic pistol with a passion can't deny its advantages.
Indeed the main criticism non Glockers seem to have is ergonomics. Here's the problems I know of:
#1. Some people just don't like any pistol without an external safety.
#2. Some people consider it too bulky. It does have a bit of a "Brick" feeling.
#3. Some find the grip angle unnatural.
#4. Related to #3, a lot of people find it points "funny". This is my main criticism.
No person I know who has been into any form of shooting for longer than a few months has any "deep" criticism of the piece. It's a fantastic product. Problems #1 and #2 really aren't "problems" at all. The preference for a safety feature or what constitutes a gun that is too thick, etc. varies from person to person. What we're left with is essentially a superficial set of criticisms, such as the unattractive appearance.
However that too is subjective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Therefore the most valid criticism of the Glock pistol is its ergonomics.
This too may appear to be a shallow criticism, especially to an avid Glock enthusiast, because it too is subjective. After all, isn't the manual of arms, quality of construction, low price point, and legendary toughness of a Glock pistol worth a little bit of discomfort?
This is where I say no. I sincerely believe that if not for the ever expanding market, we'd all be making do with Glock pistols, but there is an ever expanding market. I feel one is simply better off compromising somewhat and getting a platform that's similar but just fits better. There's more than one polymer pistol on the market, and more importantly there's more than one good polymer pistol on said market. I feel for the most part you're probably better off simply buying another product.
On the other hand, I have to admit I wished Glock products "worked" for me. The Glock pistol is actually wonderful in its diversity of frame sizes and calibers. I can see how it would be beneficial to have a collection of handguns that would cover any situation from shooting a steel plate through concealed carry applications that all had the same manual of arms. Indeed, someone who likes Glocks as they are would be behooved to have nothing but Glocks just as a mechanic who likes Snap On tools would do well to have nothing but Snap On tools.
Other benefits are that it is common, so holsters and other accessories are easy to come by. A third benefit I see is the interchangability of the different size magazines between certain models. I can't point to two of my pistols and say that I can use the same magazines in both, and the thought of a compact pistol with a full size grip via a full size magazine with a grip extender appeals to me.
Thus we see the discriminating customer can be put in that awkward position where some kind of compromise is needed. The first route, and the one most taken in all likelihood, is simply buy something else that just has more ergonomic appeal and live with the fact it's not as common or as easy to accessorize, and you may very well have to live with the price point too in some cases.
The second route, the one that baffles me, would be to "correct" the Glock pistol. Now how to do this is without extensive custom gunsmithing is beyond me. In all honesty, I feel if it's not a reasonably priced fix, it's not a fix at all and you were better off with option 1 in the first place.
The crux of the matter deals with the grip and the way it points. I think the grip can be corrected rather easily. I have heard of tube sleeve grips for the Glock pistols that provide a layer of "padding" that don't make the grip angle seem so odd. I've even read of people making sleeve grips for Glocks out of bicycle inner tubes. The extra layer of rubber gives a soft, tacky feel that cushions the hand somewhat apparently.
Now for what it's worth, the full size Glock pistols are the ones I find unbearable. I do have good sized mitts. Something about the longer slide just seems to accentuate the problem. I find the shorter Glocks tend not to be so bad, but still exhibit the problem.
The part that's beyond me to fix is the way it points. You can't fix that without refabricating the whole gun practically.
The thought occurs to me however that it may be possible to perhaps make the correction one must make more intuitive. One must tilt their hand forward a little bit to make the pistol point correctly. I submit that it may be possible for aftermarket sights to solve this dilemma. Heinie Straight Eights come to mind because of the way these sights require one to align the two halves of the "8", and they are easier to see than the factory sights as well.
This may just be my personal opinion, but these sights seem to make it more obvious when you have the gun pointed correctly. My tendency with the usual 3 dot type sight is to worry about the horizontal axis, but these sights look like they stress the vertical axis more. In fact Heinie even claims their sights work on the principle you can correct vertically faster than you can horizontally.
Even at that, this "fix", if it even works, costs slightly over $200. Is this in fact a price worth paying?
Another thing I wonder is if anyone has tried some simple or not so simple point shooting with a Glock. Does the grip angle tend to set you off too much? There's no point in trying to correct the natural inclination to point the wrong direction with a set of sights if you still miss at "social distances". A lot of situations happen where using the sights is considered impractical.
I figure my idea looks good on paper but isn't really a solution.
It's just a situation with no good answer, short of Glock launcing a second line of products with different ergonomics and the odds of that happening are slim.
I conclude that it's best just to go with a competitor's product and not worry about it, but still it's fun to speculate.
However, for the prepared American, it would be beneficial to know how to use a sidearm that's in such common circulation even if you don't "like" it. You may have to borrow one day in a hurry.
