A couple of weeks ago my friend (and hero) Aimless posted that AIM had some Glock 19 police trade-ins for sale for $359. By the time I looked at them, they were all gone. But my contact at AIM said that they had more coming in and to keep an eye out for them.
Sure enough, they got another batch in and I ordered one. It got here today. Here it is.
As you can see it is a Generation 2, without the finger grooves. I actually like this generation. It has some holster wear, but otherwise is in great shape.
Of course, it has the atrocious "New York Trigger" with a very heavy trigger pull, so I also ordered the 5 pound return spring from AIM for $1.95. My buddy Liem came over to help me change it out and measure the trigger pull of both.
First we made absolutely sure the magazine was out and the pistol was unloaded. We then re-checked to be sure it was not loaded. Then we measured the New York trigger.
It came in at 10 and 12 pounds. It was absolutely atrocious. We couldn't tell exactly how hard it was as the scale on the trigger pull device didn't go up that high.
Here is what it looks like in the frame.
And here it is after removal.
Then we changed out the trigger spring.
We then tested the trigger and it now has a 5 to 6 pound trigger pull.
I took the piece apart to clean it up and lube it before heading to the range.
To do this, you first remove the magazine and make sure the piece is empty.
Then you check it again.
Then you point it in a safe direction such as the garage floor and pull the trigger.
You then grip it like this and pull the slide to the rear about ¼ of an inch.
Pull down on the take-down levers and the slide will them come off the front of the frame.
Remove the recoil spring and then the barrel and it is field stripped for cleaning.
I scrubbed the barrel and polished the feed ramp.
A little grease on the rails and a little oil on strategic areas and it is ready to assemble.
My old buddy Tman and I have owned several models of Glocks over the years. This excellent site on AR15.com (Best Choices for Self Defense Ammo) has convinced me that there is no real advantage regarding the common major calibers for a personal defense pistol as far as "power" is concerned. And the 9mm has the advantages of high capacity and readily available ammo and reloads.
But Glock makes a lot of different 9mm pistols. The Model 26 is the sub-compact and is slightly smaller in length the height than the Model 19. But Tman and I became convinced that it is the "thickness" of a concealed piece that makes it more or less difficult to conceal. And the Model 26 is just as "thick" as the Model 19, with fewer rounds in the mag.
I have both the Model 17 and Model 34, both of which are great shooters, but they are just big enough to make them harder to conceal.
The Glock 19 is the "best of all worlds" in my humble opinion. It is fairly easy to conceal, but has reasonable magazine capacity and a full sized grip for large hands.
We hit the range and shot it to see if the sights were set properly. They seemed to be good to go.
We then tried some drills from concealed holster. The "safe action trigger" allows the piece to be carried loaded with one in the chamber, ready to go. Or, as one guy recently posted, "Cocked, locked, and ready to rock". I am not a fan of the Israeli carry (loaded magazine with the chamber empty).
If you are going to carry a concealed weapon, you need to practice shooting from the concealed holster. It is not the same as shooting from an open-carry holster.
Here I am drawing from concealed.
And then presenting and shooting.
Here's Liem drawing his Sig from concealed.
And him shooting.
We had good results with these drills. As I got ready for the first rounds to go down range, Liem said, "Let's see you put 10 tounds in the head as fast as you can shoot." I gave it a try. Here's my first 10 rounds as fast as I could shoot.
We were shooting from about 6 or 7 yards, as good distance for self defense shooting.
Here's Liem's 10 rounds of double taps with the new Glock 19.
The pistol ran 100% and was a pleasure to shoot with the new trigger spring.
If you are interested in carrying a full-sized pistol concealed, you ought to give serious consideration to the Glock 19. Is it the "only good choice"? No, but it is a very good choice.
And if you don't presently own one, give these a look on AIM's site.
AIM Glock 19 Trade-Ins
It is a great deal for this pistol and the folks at AIM are good people.
And it's fun to shoot stuff.
Sure enough, they got another batch in and I ordered one. It got here today. Here it is.
As you can see it is a Generation 2, without the finger grooves. I actually like this generation. It has some holster wear, but otherwise is in great shape.
Of course, it has the atrocious "New York Trigger" with a very heavy trigger pull, so I also ordered the 5 pound return spring from AIM for $1.95. My buddy Liem came over to help me change it out and measure the trigger pull of both.
First we made absolutely sure the magazine was out and the pistol was unloaded. We then re-checked to be sure it was not loaded. Then we measured the New York trigger.
It came in at 10 and 12 pounds. It was absolutely atrocious. We couldn't tell exactly how hard it was as the scale on the trigger pull device didn't go up that high.
Here is what it looks like in the frame.
And here it is after removal.
Then we changed out the trigger spring.
We then tested the trigger and it now has a 5 to 6 pound trigger pull.
I took the piece apart to clean it up and lube it before heading to the range.
To do this, you first remove the magazine and make sure the piece is empty.
Then you check it again.
Then you point it in a safe direction such as the garage floor and pull the trigger.
You then grip it like this and pull the slide to the rear about ¼ of an inch.
Pull down on the take-down levers and the slide will them come off the front of the frame.
Remove the recoil spring and then the barrel and it is field stripped for cleaning.
I scrubbed the barrel and polished the feed ramp.
A little grease on the rails and a little oil on strategic areas and it is ready to assemble.
My old buddy Tman and I have owned several models of Glocks over the years. This excellent site on AR15.com (Best Choices for Self Defense Ammo) has convinced me that there is no real advantage regarding the common major calibers for a personal defense pistol as far as "power" is concerned. And the 9mm has the advantages of high capacity and readily available ammo and reloads.
But Glock makes a lot of different 9mm pistols. The Model 26 is the sub-compact and is slightly smaller in length the height than the Model 19. But Tman and I became convinced that it is the "thickness" of a concealed piece that makes it more or less difficult to conceal. And the Model 26 is just as "thick" as the Model 19, with fewer rounds in the mag.
I have both the Model 17 and Model 34, both of which are great shooters, but they are just big enough to make them harder to conceal.
The Glock 19 is the "best of all worlds" in my humble opinion. It is fairly easy to conceal, but has reasonable magazine capacity and a full sized grip for large hands.
We hit the range and shot it to see if the sights were set properly. They seemed to be good to go.
We then tried some drills from concealed holster. The "safe action trigger" allows the piece to be carried loaded with one in the chamber, ready to go. Or, as one guy recently posted, "Cocked, locked, and ready to rock". I am not a fan of the Israeli carry (loaded magazine with the chamber empty).
If you are going to carry a concealed weapon, you need to practice shooting from the concealed holster. It is not the same as shooting from an open-carry holster.
Here I am drawing from concealed.
And then presenting and shooting.
Here's Liem drawing his Sig from concealed.
And him shooting.
We had good results with these drills. As I got ready for the first rounds to go down range, Liem said, "Let's see you put 10 tounds in the head as fast as you can shoot." I gave it a try. Here's my first 10 rounds as fast as I could shoot.
We were shooting from about 6 or 7 yards, as good distance for self defense shooting.
Here's Liem's 10 rounds of double taps with the new Glock 19.
The pistol ran 100% and was a pleasure to shoot with the new trigger spring.
If you are interested in carrying a full-sized pistol concealed, you ought to give serious consideration to the Glock 19. Is it the "only good choice"? No, but it is a very good choice.
And if you don't presently own one, give these a look on AIM's site.
AIM Glock 19 Trade-Ins
It is a great deal for this pistol and the folks at AIM are good people.
And it's fun to shoot stuff.
