Picking a first handgun can be a pretty intimidating task for a newcomer to handguns. Even if you’ve been shooting rifles and pistols since a young age, your first official handgun purchase as an adult in the United States is sort of a right of passage and one that you shouldn’t take too lightly if you’re in it for self-protection. I’ve been a fan of Glock pistols for a long time for several reasons, and today I’ll give you 5 reasons why I think a Glock handgun should be your first.
1. Confident Affordability
There are a lot of cheap handguns out there right now - not all of them are created equally. For the most part, you’ll find that most modern handgun offerings are good enough, but few handgun manufacturers in the globe have a stellar reputation for having an almost perfect combination of value and performance. Glock pistols are well known for being extremely reliable in virtually any scenario, and can also be had brand new for around $500-$800, and used for as low as $200-$300. Even a used Glock pistol with a higher-than-average round count should be just as reliable as when it came out of the box. Simply put, Glocks are affordability you can trust.
2. World-Renowned Reliability
Glock pistols in many different forms and models have seen the entire gamut of scenarios, combat theatres, and shooting situations. Loved by law enforcement, military, special forces, and concealed carriers, Glock pistols carry a reputation for reliability across the globe which isn’t something that can be said for other polymer striker-fired handguns. Glock pistols have been adopted in most countries as duty guns for law enforcement officers, and are arguably the most common first concealed carry gun brand in the United States. Glock pistols typically don’t malfunction when used with quality factory ammunition, and either OEM or properly configured aftermarket parts.
3. Customizable To the Max
There is simply no other handgun on the market that can match the sheer number of aftermarket parts available to the Glock line of pistols. Glock pistols typically keep similar dimensions across models, meaning that it’s easy for aftermarket parts companies to instantly have parts ready for a new Glock model - simply because that new model will typically share a similar slide width, iron sight size, and fire control group parts. Picking a Glock as your first handgun will give you time to get familiar with your vanilla gun, and then begin customizing it to your preferences down the road with parts from companies like Tyrant CNC. You can upgrade your Glock's trigger for a smoother pull, add extended controls for easier manipulation, and install plus capacity magazine extensions to increase your firepower. The customization possibilities are virtually endless, allowing you to tailor your Glock to fit your exact needs and preferences.
4. It’s The Best Trigger To Learn On
Glock pistols have a fairly nasty and negative reputation for having a “gritty and spongy” trigger. While it is true that new Glock pistols can be quite spongy, I think Glock’s have perfectly serviceable and safe triggers. Glock pistols typically have a trigger pull weight from the factory of around 5 pounds, this tends to lighten up just a little bit (maybe a pound or two) over time as you shoot the pistol. Glock’s are first and foremost meant to be safe and they do a great job of this. Secondarily, the unique characteristics of Glock triggers, if learned and practiced, will typically make you a better shooter on other platforms that might have slightly lighter or more easily actuated triggers. If you can learn to be accurate with a Glock trigger, you can learn to be accurate with almost any handgun’s trigger.
5. If You Can’t Afford a Real One, You Can Build One
Glock pistols can be considered affordable by many, but for some of us, $600 for a brand-new Glock pistol might be a bit too much upfront. Thankfully Generation 3 Glocks are still loved and carried by many people, myself included. Since most of Glock's Gen 3 or earlier patents have long expired, this means that companies like Polymer 80, and Palmetto State Armory have stepped in to make their own, customizable and highly affordable variants of popular Glock pistol models. Early on, a lot of these 3rd party “Glock-Offs” were either unreliable or hard to assemble, but modern tooling and jigs have made Polymer 80 Glocks easy to make, and PSA has worked out all the kinks with their Dagger line. These options are well regarded by many on a budget and have been proven to be reliable in most cases.
The Toyota Carolla of Pistols
The Glock has often been called many things but my favorite has to be “the Toyota Carolla of Pistols.” Just like the car, Glocks tend to be a nifty combination of long-lasting reliability, affordability, and easy maintenance and customization, adding to that a decent resale value and usefulness years after its initial release date if you’re the type that likes buying used pistols. Glock pistols may not be the most aesthetically pleasing out of the box, the most affordable carry pieces on the gun store shelf, or the easiest pistols to shoot, but they sure as hell have been doing a of of things right for a long time at a price that almost can’t be beaten.
