My First Glock Experience - Range Review and Reliability

TheNatural21

CGN Regular
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Location
Fort Nelson, BC
I got my first pistol a few months ago, a Glock 17 Gen 5. I picked the Glock because it's very lefty friendy, it has a good reputation for reliability, and parts/accessories aren't too hard to find if I need something. I took it out of the box, gave it a good cleaning like I do with any brand new firearm, and lubed it as per the manual. Then I went to the range.

I was curious about the legendary Glock reliability so I decided to test it for myself. Other than the out of the box cleaning and lube I have not done anything but shoot it for the season. I've put 800 rounds through it over numerous range trips and it is filthy - sooo much carbon all over the place. I didn't have a single hiccup until 750 rounds when I had a light primer strike. I tried that cartridge again and it went boom, then I put 50 more rounds through the gun before going home. I was impressed that it didn't take any break in time to function perfectly, but I'm not sure how to feel about 750 rounds to the first malfunction. Ammunition was almost exclusively 124gn Blazer Brass, some brass Winchester bulk mixed in at the very beginning (my wife bought a couple boxes).

It's my first pistol and I have several rifles including some with really good triggers. I found the Glock trigger to be... not my favorite. It creeps like crazy, but the pull isn't too heavy (I'd guess 5lbs?) and reset is quite good (you can really hear and feel the reset). Glock triggers were commonly criticized in reviews I read before the purchase so I wasn't too surprised.

Accuracy? Better than I am is all I can say. I'm new to this pistol shooting thing so I don't have much to compare it to and my groups aren't great (I'm at about 4" groups at 10 yards now, was much much worse at first).

Sights are not terrible. Quick to use and simple. But also not great. It's tough to be super precise with them. I'll probably swap them out to something with 3 dots and a bright contrasting front dot sometime soon, just to try something different. I was pretty determined to learn how to use the gun in stock form before changing things.

Ergonomics are also not terrible, but not great. I'm using one of the backstraps that came with the pistol and it helps a lot, but my long fingers don't quite seem to fall on the trigger correctly. The joint of my finger seems to be too close to the trigger when I just hold the pistol naturally and I have to train myself to use the middle of the pad of my finger, which was awkward feeling at first. I love the mag and slide release - they're in exactly the right spot and require just the right amount of pressure to activate.

I did enjoy being able to get a ton of spare mags without too much trouble/cost, and I like that I have a ton of options for sights as well.

Would the more experienced members care to offer some input? I'm wondering if the trigger creep with improve with more use (or cleaning), whether 750 rounds without cleaning before a light primer strike is good/bad compared to other pistols, and perhaps a sight recommendation would be useful (although there's lots of info on them already)
 
Virtually all pistols made on modern equipment are dead nuts reliable. The triigger creep you speak of is likely the trigger bar pushing the FPB out of the way. I could never understand why folks think not cleaning their pistols is a good idea. It proves nothing and while it doesn't do any good it likely doesn't hurt the gun either. Pistols have gun thousands of rounds without cleaning. Some longer than others. Your gun, do what you wish. Glocks like any number of other pistols are reliable and represent good value. If you like it and it does what you want it to do. Good purchase. Sounds like you are happy. You should be.

Take Care

Bob
 
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Nice pistol choice and provided you are in town the shooting range is mere minutes away on Airport Rd.
 
For the sights, you don’t use any dot combo for precision. You line up the top edge of the FSP, with the top edges of the RSP.

I’m not a Glock guy, so I’ll leave the rest. :)
 
You shouldn't worry about a single failure, especially since you don't know the reason for said failure. If you don't want to invest in new sights right away try a dab of bright testors paint (or similar) on the front sight.
 
Thanks for the feedback all. Regarding sights, I'm not really expecting the three dot type to be more precise, but it seems more intuitive to me. I like the idea of a brightly coloured front sight to quickly grab your attention too. I might even try some of the night sights that have bright painted rings around the tritium... not because I shoot in low light/dark, but simply because they seem "neat" (which is the reason behind a great many purchases).
Virtually all pistols made on modern equipment are dead nuts reliable. The triigger creep you speak of is likely the trigger bar pushing the FPB out of the way. I could never understand why folks think not cleaning their pistols is a good idea. It proves nothing and while it doesn't do any good it likely doesn't hurt the gun either. Pistols have gun thousands of rounds without cleaning. Some longer than others. Your gun, do what you wish. Glocks like any number of other pistols are reliable and represent good value. If you like it and it does what you want it to do. Good purchase. Sounds like you are happy. You should be.

Take Care

Bob
It's not that I think not cleaning it is a good idea, just that I was curious about how it would run dirty. Interesting that the trigger creep isn't just trigger creep... I'll have to Google some more about how these actions work. Is that a trait common to all pistols? I recall my wife's M&P 2.0 being a little less creepy, but I also think the trigger pull was a bit heavier.
Nice pistol choice and provided you are in town the shooting range is mere minutes away on Airport Rd.
Yup, literally 5 minutes from my driveway to the range. Very convenient location, but less than ideal weather for most of the year here. We have entered the part of the year where my wife and friends don't want to come play outside anymore, so I go alone.
 
Nice choice, I'm sure you won't regret it. I wouldn't worry to much about the FTF at 750, sounds like more of a primer issue than the gun itself. There are some excellent sight options out there for you, I use Warren Tactical Sevingy sights on my G34 and they are fantastic sights for competition, very easy to pick up the front fiber optic with the blacked out rear sight. I use Ameriglo fibre optic front with a stock Glock rear sight on my G19 and they work very well, but I've decided to switch them out for the Warren Tactical also, I really like the slim front sight post on the Warren. Any of the Trijicons are worth a look also, although I can't give a first hand review of them. All good options, and YouTube is your friend for research. Personally, I like the stock trigger, it's nothing special but it is predictable and has a positive and audible reset, but there are many many options if you need something better. Congrats on the Glock, get out and pound some rounds thru it and you will love it even more!
 
I use Trijicon HD's with a orange front ring and they are amazing. The Orange dot is very easy to pick up and remain focused on and the rear sight is black with serrations (has tritium inserts) which contrast very well with the front and are not distracting.
 
You shouldn't worry about a single failure, especially since you don't know the reason for said failure. If you don't want to invest in new sights right away try a dab of bright testors paint (or similar) on the front sight.

This!

Try Orange. Had I discovered the effect of Orange Fluorescent paint I could have saved the money I spent on red/green fibre optics. Applied over a white undercoat the brightness is amazing.

Take Care

Bob
 
The Glock is the VW Golf of the gun world.

Yes, there are other guns that do some things better but, for the price, it's reliable and does everything pretty well.
 
The orange paint dot is a nice idea. I'd jump on it if I wasn't wanting new sights anyways. My pistol arrived with sights that were quite mangled out of the box; I'm not even sure how they would have gotten so beat up during shipping. I made them usable with a little bit of work but they're still kind of ugly. I didn't complain and try to get replacements because I had planned on upgrading them so it didn't really matter to me. This is what they looked like when I opened the box, but not a mark on the rest of the gun:
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If it were me I would be contacting the seller. If it is a retailer I would expect them to replace the gun/sights or at least provide an explanation. To screw up sights like that you have to ask what else maybe damaged. What shape is the dovetail? You may not wish to say but who was the seller?

Take Care

Bob
 
If it were me I would be contacting the seller. If it is a retailer I would expect them to replace the gun/sights or at least provide an explanation. To screw up sights like that you have to ask what else maybe damaged. What shape is the dovetail? You may not wish to say but who was the seller?

Take Care

Bob

Yeah, those look like someone removed the sights to upgrade them, and then put the old ones back on for sale... with a sledgehammer.
 
I realize that your photos are a little blurry....but darn it looks like you have a 'tenifer-ish' finish on your slide....on a GEN 5...?
It is definitely a Gen 5... no idea on the finish though.

If it were me I would be contacting the seller. If it is a retailer I would expect them to replace the gun/sights or at least provide an explanation. To screw up sights like that you have to ask what else maybe damaged. What shape is the dovetail? You may not wish to say but who was the seller?

Take Care

Bob
I drifted the damaged rear sight out with a couple inches of wood dowel and a small hammer. The dovetail was absolutely fine. Not a mark in the finish or anything else. Then I sanded the rough spot on the edge of the sight a bit and drifted it back in with the same method and it actually looks quite good now. I think it was crooked when someone tried to insert it... then they forced it into place anyway? I'd rather not mention the seller because I did not provide them an opportunity to make it right, and it's been a whole season of use now so I wouldn't expect them to do anything at this point. I just wanted to go shoot it and not deal with shipping things back and forth and waiting.
Yeah, those look like someone removed the sights to upgrade them, and then put the old ones back on for sale... with a sledgehammer.
I can't argue with your assessment... other than it had definitely never been fired.
 
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