My EDC is a GLOCK 26 Gen3. I bought a few years ago from a local cop who was ready to upgrade to a Gen4. As you’ll see from the photo, he had made three minor modifications to it: (1) heavily stippled, (2) extended mag release, and (3) aftermarket external safety. The first two mods aren’t uncommon, but an external safety, you exclaim? On a GLOCK? Well, there’s a method to my madness for keeping it . . .
You see, I pocket carry almost exclusively (using the pictured Desantis Superfly). At my day job, I’m almost always wearing slacks and a tucked-in dress shirt. Even when I wear a suit, most of the time I lose the jacket at the door. (When a jacket is typically required e.g., going to the courthouse), the question is usually moot as I have to disarm anyway.) As a result, for me IWB or OWB is right out most of the time, and even after Texas legalizes open carry in January, I’ll probably stick to my usual routine.
While I always use a holster and religiously follow the rule that “nothing goes in the pocket with the gun except the gun hand,” I still want to be extra careful with a gun in a pocket; hence the aftermarket safety. I’ve trained extensively with it so that the “sweep” of the safety upon presentment is second nature.
Why a G26? Four reasons:
(1) Reliability – I’ve put at least 15,000 rounds through it (most of them in training classes with Steve Smith of Asgard NTG), and it always, always goes boom. Rain, mud, dirt, powder fouling, pocket lint … meh. It just keeps going.
(2) Accuracy – Maybe it’s just this particular gun, but it’s very accurate. A good shooter can shoot 2″ groups with it at 20 yards all day. And the extra heft makes it easier to shoot than a single stack 9mm.
(3) Capacity – Daily load-out in the pocket holster is 10+1, with a spare G17 mag with a grip adaptor in the weak side pocket. That’s 28 rounds of +p JHP goodness.
(4) Concealability – In cargo pants (or suits tailored for my EDC), in a Superfly it just disappears.
Can I draw from a pocket as fast I can as from my OWB Serpa? If I’m starting from the “hands in the interview position,” no way. But if I’m in my usual public posture — where my hands are casually in my front pockets — yup, and if necessary I can get a good grip on the weapon without brandishing or revealing that I’m armed.
If Walther comes out with a subcompact double stack 9mm with a superb trigger like their PPQ, I might reconsider. But for now, it’s a G26 for me.
(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.)