Optimizing Pocket Glocks

 

- Jon Payne Suarez International Tier 1 Staff Instructor

It’s no secret I like Glock pistols. I don’t buy into the whole “perfection” thing, but I have yet to find a more versatile, durable pistol made for killing bad guys and keeping good guys safe. Southeast Texas is dang near a tropical climate so I have no problem admitting I carry a Glock 26/27 when I don’t feel like carrying a gun, or as a backup to my carry pistol. Recently there have been a few threads on the Glock 26/27 on Warrior Talk and Texas Gun Talk. Here are my solutions into making the baby Glocks all they can be.

The Baby Glocks are easier to shoot, hold more ammo, are easier to carry spare ammo for, and are faster to reload than most other subcompact pistols/revolvers. The little Glocks are shoot-able as they come from the factory, but I don’t care for some of the factory options and they are easy to improve. Starting at the top, lose the factory plastic sights and opt for Warren Tactical Sights. On these little guns I like the tritium on the front with a plain black rear. I haven’t made up my mind on which I like more, the “carry” or the “competition” rear because they are both excellent. These sights provide for a nice sharp sight picture and with the tritium up front you have a great reference point for low light shooting. 

Be honest, you won’t use the three dot system to make a precise sight alignment/picture in low light anyway. Night sights just give extra input on where you’re pointed in low light. If you really want to go first class you can have TSD Combat Systems install a Trijicon RMR on your factory slide! The cool thing is the sight radius issue no longer matters and 100 yard shots is like eating lettuce, nothing to it. The con is the added size of the RMR limits where you can hide the pistol. Even with good sights and the ability to get a great sight picture, if you don’t have a manageable trigger you won’t get hits. 

The factory triggers aren’t bad, but I like a cleaner and smoother “break”. Improving the trigger pull on a Glock is so simple you can get yourself into a lot of trouble. There are many reading this that has heard me say, “Stay away from the 25 cent trigger job.”, and I mean it. All you need is a properly tuned Glock Factory 4.5 lb. connector, a Lightning Strike safety plunger, and the 1,000 round trigger job. Even without the 1,000 rounds the last two items will make a marked difference in the feel of your trigger. Next stop, the slide stop, uh…releases whatever. 

There is no need for an extended factory slide stop. It really doesn’t hurt, but I really haven’t found any benefits for me with them. I have had the sharp rear edge get caught in my shirt once, so it can happen, but I’m not too worried about it. Basically this is entirely up to you whether you use the standard or extended factory slide stop. What I won’t use here is after market slide stops. While the magazines can’t be improved, they can be safely altered without affecting reliability. 

First off, only use factory magazines. Second, always carry a spare magazine. It boggles my mind the number of people who will argue about carrying a spare mag. If you’re going through the trouble of packing a darn pistol, carry a spare magazine! Don’t be lazy, if things have gotten to the point where you have to use the pistol I don’t think you’ll wish you had less capacity or be glad you chose to go without a spare magazine. There are other problems that might require you to strip your mag out to get the gun back in the fight. Do you want to put the same mag in that may have been part of the cause of your problem, or replace it with a fresh one? Because I’m carrying a spare mag it’s not a bad thing it holds a little more ammo than the one in your gun, but be aware if you go “too big” it might cause problems.

I have seen Glock 26’s in classes using Glock 19 and Glock 17 mags hiccup when the shooter applied enough pressure through their grip. Did it happen every time? No, it didn’t, just enough times for me to see a pattern. I have added the Glock +2 extension to my spare Glock 26/27 mags. In the 26 you do get the two added rounds, in the 27 you only get one. For pocket carry or deep concealment I use the standard capacity mag with the +2 mag as my spare. I also have some of the Pearce Grip Extensions that add three rounds to the 26 and two rounds to the 27. So far they have worked out very well, and if they continue to do so I have no problem endorsing them. Again, I don’t use magazine extensions from the pocket for obvious reasons, but when using the Zack holster it really doesn’t matter and I use two +2 mags.

 If you own any Glock, especially a 26/27 you need a Zack period. Besides it being a minimalist holster that you can use with all your Glocks, it gives you a little extra piece of mind when transporting your Glocks in a range bag and it’s an extra little step to clear your mind when startled in the middle of the night. The cool thing is you can use any holster designed for your Glock 17/22 or Glock 19/23 when training with the 26/27. 

Running my Baby Glocks in the fashion I have described in this article all but guarantees me hits at 50 yards and makes me real dangerous at 100 yards! The Glock 26/27 when properly rigged up shoots just as accurately and just as reliably as their compact and full sized counterparts. I must add that Glock is not the only maker of a subcompact pistol that handles like its big brother. 

The XD series from Springfield is comparable in just about every way. There are more options for Glocks, but the XD is nothing to sneeze at. The same can be said for the S&W M&P series. An interesting note is TSD Combat Systems is getting geared up to mill XDs and M&Ps for the awesome Trijicon RMR. Unlike some make-believe fairy tale, TSD Combat Systems has opened a new market and the RMR on a combat pistol is a game changer. If you’ve ever thought you wanted more than a .38spl or a .380 ACP, look at the pocket Glock, it fills more roles than just a pocket pistol.

 

Comments

[Pat Morris]

Glocks and Springfield XD's, nothing else needed. A Zack mag holder would be a nice addition to my Zack holsters.