I’ve been in the gun industry in one form or another now for my entire adult life. I’ve managed stores and ran a pretty neat custom shop. I did some tests and helped tell the general public about the myths around rifle barrel length. I’ve won medals at Camp Perry and have had access to nearly every weapon available on the market today. Thing is, there’s only one handgun that I carry with confidence – GLOCK’s Model 19 Gen 4. And here’s why . . .
I’ve fired so many rounds that I’ve literally lost count. I don’t consider a gun to be worth a damn until round 5000 has been fired. No joke. That little 13.5” .308 in my other articles has seen north of 7,000 rounds and is still capable of 1⁄4 MOA accuracy. I just like to get to know my gear. My G19 has seen over 10,000 rounds. That’s a lot for a carry gun, but I like to shoot. In all that time, I’ve had exactly zero malfunctions. Beretta? Springfield? Kimber? Nah. Those all have one problem apart from the constant reliability issues: they aren’t GLOCKs.
I’ve owned pistols from nearly every manufacturer, but the GLOCK 19 is the only pistol that I never considered to be ‘just another gun.’ It’s not just its flawless reliability that has me hooked. This gun is literally perfect. Don’t like the grip angle? Don’t be a crybaby. I’ve gotten into a couple scrapes while minding my own business and never thought twice about my weapon and its capabilities. It’s truly confidence in a small package. Say what you will, but I’ve seen and fired virtually all modern and historic pistols from Lugers to Llamas and I will say that there is really nothing that can truly outperform the GLOCK 19. It just keeps going.
So, how do I carry it? I don’t like other people’s holsters, so I tend to make my own out of leather. Occasionally I’ll scavenge some parts from other rigs, but I like to fit my own to me. I have a custom shoulder rig that’s on me when the weather is cool. It fits nicely and distributes the weight well. In the summer I either carry Mexican or in an IWB holster I made.
As far as the pistol goes, GLOCKs are perfect as-is. I didn’t make any improvements, I just personalized it for my own entertainment. I rounded off the triggerguard because it looks cool. That’s the only reason. I put a set of Heinie Straight Eight night sights on it because they also look cooler than the stock sights. There’s so little functionally different about pistol sights across manufacturers that the insinuation of one being superior is ha-ha funny. Why not other sights? Easy. They just didn’t fit the aesthetic of the gun and GLOCKs are beautiful. It has to look good, you know?
The GLOCK 19 Gen 4 isn’t a hero’s gun. It’s a gun that is meant to work, and work it does. Do yourself a favor and get one. I did and I’d be happy if it was the last pistol I ever bought. They don’t get much better than this.
(See the rest of the posts in this series here. Send your What I Carry and Why submissions with a photo to thetruthaboutguns@gmail.com with WICAW in the subject line.)