Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Forgive me father for I have sinned. I’m having lustful thoughts

... about the new (used) mod. 21 Glock I brought home tonight. I’ve always been a disciple of St. Browning, but I now find myself looking lustfully at the ergonomics of the Glock, fondling the Glock, and lusting for a rangetrip with the Glock. Please father. What am I to do?

On my list of "nevers" had been the Glock. I once rented a Glock 19 (in 9mm) and hated it. But when I tried a model 21 (in 45 ACP) I changed my mind. Something about the ergonomics of the thing really clicked with me.

The local gun-pusher had a used model 21 on the shelf, so naturally I looked at it and it followed me home.

Some comparison pics. First, side-by-side with an XD-45 tactical,



and a side-by-side with a 1911A1.



Why the ergonomics of the model 21 work me, can be seen in the following picture. Though the stock thickness of the 1911, the XD-45 and the G-21 is about the same, the length of the G-21 is a bit longer than either the 1911 or the XD-45, and I have gorilla paws.



The front-strap finger grooves don't hurt either.



And a few more for the simple pleasure of viewing gun porn.



With a Scherer butt-plug already installed, and Wolff guide rod and beefier recoil springs on order, I'm off to burn offerings at the altar of St. Browning, and beg for forgiveness for my heresy.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dominus noster John Browning te absolvat; et ego auctoritate ipsius te absolvo ab omni vinculo excommunicationis et interdicti in quantum possum et tu indiges.

Oddly, the XD looks longer in the photo. So, it's mostly the ergonomics, eh?

Can you expand on the procedure with the springs & guide rod? How do you choose the best spring weight? What does the new guide rod do?

Felix Estrella said...

Stay tuned for a post on "stiff" 185gr/defensive loads (Can you say, 1250fps?) but suffice it to say, that a too-light recoil spring will result in slide battering, at least, or dangerous situations with heavy loads. One wants to pick a recoil spring heavy enough to keep the slide/barrel locked until the bullet has left the muzzle and chamber pressure has dropped to safe levels. One of the ways to gauge this is to observe where cases are landing. They should land no more than 10-15ft from the gun.

As for the guide rod; Glock factory recoil springs are "captive" and can't be separated from the cheesy plastic guide rod. In order to allow the changing of recoil springs, one has to obtain a non-captive guide rod.

Weetabix said...

I think you've said before that you have a PA-63. Have you any experience with the Polish P-64? I have one on layaway until our state's "mother-may-I" permits go away.

I've read that they beat your hand up and that they have an atrocious DA pull. Since they're practically a knock-off of a Walther PPK, I'm thinking of getting the Wolff PPK calibration set and swapping things out until they feel best. Does that seem reasonable?

See some of the discussion at this site: http://p64resource.com/fixes.htm

Felix Estrella said...

Yup. I have a PA-63, but never shot a P-64 (or a PPK). Yup, the DA pull is atrocious, but have never tried to figure out how to reduce the weight of the DA trigger.

Weetabix said...

Given your experience, would you buy another PA-63?

Also, of all the .45's of your experience, which do you like best?

I feel like I need one. I kind of like the idea of the 1911 and the history behind it. I kind of like military guns, too.

I took my daughter to the range with a Mak, CZ-82, Kahr PM9, Glock 17, & Springfield XD45. She liked the XD 45 best & the CZ second. She liked the CZ better when I told her the relative prices. I'd borrowed all but the Mak & the CZ. She suggested I offer the XD's owner a trade: one of my old Mosins for the XD. I didn't bother. :-)

Felix Estrella said...

>> Given your experience, would you buy another PA-63?

No. The really heavy DA pull is a deal breaker. That's not to say it's not a fine gun.

>> Also, of all the .45's of your experience, which do you like best?

Assuming you mean semi-auto pistols, let's see: CZ-97B, Tanfoglio/Witness 45, XD-45, Glock 21, various 1911s. I like them all, albeit for different reasons.

CZ-97B -- It's a CZ ... nuff said. It's big, it's heavy, "Heavy is good, heavy is reliable. If it doesn't work you can always hit them with it". Comes with 10 round mag.

Tanfoglio/Witness 45 -- same dimensions as a CZ-75B (9mm) so is good for people with small hands, and takes the same mags as a CZ-97B. Reliable to a T.

XD-45 -- Takes high-cap mags, light, reliable, grip dimensions similar to 1911s.

Glock-21 -- Takes high-cap mags, light, reliable, love the ergonomics, but I have big hands.

1911s -- Can be tuned up and down the spectrum and smithing offers opportunies beyond compare due to availability of parts.

Which would I carry? Probably an XD or G-21, due to high capacity and weight. If I had small hands? A Witness.

Which would I buy if I wanted to pimp the thing up and/or compete? 1911.