A Gun a Week: Glock 27, .40 Smith & Wesson

The Glock 27, 40 Smith & Wesson (top) on the bathroom counter posing. The Beretta 92FS Centurion is below...
but that's another story.

This is really a confessional, a hat in hand, head held low kind of post that I never thought I have to write. When I started AGAW I chose to write about the firearms I own, and until several weeks ago today, I still owned this pistol. Obviously I didn't have time to take several posed pictures of it since it was taken, so all I have are photos pulled from Instagram and facebook posts.

But first: the pistol was a slam dunk. I saw it at The Gun Rack in Kernersville and joked with the owner that if it were still there on my next payday I'd buy it...and it was. The Glock 27 is the "mini" version of the polymer pistol that literally changed the gun-toting world when it came on the scene in the eighties. It is the plastic gun the media told us would be able to pass through metal detectors undetected (it won't and never could). And in the early days, people loved to gripe about them.

They didn't have an external safety. Well, I always said, so what? Neither do revolvers. And they actually do have a little lever in the trigger that won't let you pull the trigger unless it's pushed in.

Simple, in fact, Glock calls it, "Perfection," and they are close.

They had a plastic frame. Well so what. If you ever carried a full-sized Beretta 92 or 96 around on your hip all day, you'd understand how a dozen ounces less can feel so much better at the end of a day.

They had a boxy grip that just wasn't comfortable, but if you've ever shot one enough, you know that's not even an issue. I never missed a plate or target because the grip was boxy. My gun was bought altered, by the way, and you can tell by the picture, compared to factory Glocks, that the "backstrap" was reduced somehow while the texture was "customized" as well. I'm not sure it helped the pistol at all, but it certainly didn't hurt it. 

See the after-market texture that was added later? The trim backstrap?
Also note, as far as the BATFE is concerned, that's the pistol--the part with a serial number.

But after those early days, everybody wanted one. Law enforcement were the first devotees I'd say, and then the carrying public. And that's when I got mine, in the very late '90's. The 40 Smith & Wesson cartridge was developed in 1990 or so and quickly also became a darling of police forces and private citizens who wanted, as always, more punch in a smaller frame.

The .40 S&W is a powerhouse, high-pressure cartridge that is the shorter and handier fraternal twin of the 10mm Automatic. The 10mm Auto cartridge is long enough to require bigger frame pistols that not everyone can hang onto very well, but, the 40 S&W was shortened enough to fit in Glock's standard-sized frame that started with the Model 17 in 9mm Parabellum. In other words, any frame Glock could fit a 9mm Parabellum cartridge into, they could fit the 40 S&W as well. And offered in three sizes, mine fit at the bottom as a "Mini" or sub-compact model.

One sleepy night I accidentally put the little Glock down on my gum park.

And that small size and light weight means that not only is it a gun you can carry comfortably, but it's also a gun you will carry probably more often than not. I know I sure did. In fact, the stubby pistol was the first pistol I owned that I was actually able to conceal without a noticeable bulge in my waistband. And that meant that if I had my pants on, I was carrying a pistol.

Even playing around with a coal stove, the Glock was always easy to carry.
Does my Glock make me look fat?

I never had to unholster the gun on a person or to "defend" myself, and likely never will. That's just a fact. But I came very close to defending my toddler-sized daughter at The Last Minute Market in Stokesdale several years ago. The owner's two "pitbulls" both at once came shockingly quickly from around the counter right up to my daughter's face--they were all eye-level. It happened so fast that no one had time to think, I just reached down and grabbed her up with one arm and pushed the dogs away with a gentle knee. My right hand was on the Glock's grip, but no other action was required...just some raised eyebrows!

The little pistol has even taken two deer. Both deer, taken several seasons apart, were shot high on the shoulder and weren't dying painlessly, and rather than let them die slowly while suffering, the little Glock was used to dispatch them quickly. The last time I used it on a deer was last year in Vance County on a little buck on federal gamelands during muzzleloader season. 

I have even taken a squirrel with it on a whim headed back to a buddy's house after a morning of duck hunting. Short-barreled handguns can be accurate enough to take a tree rat at 15 or 20 yards in the right hands. Once, I even shot an empty .45 Auto case off a metal cable on a police practice range at 7 yards on a bet with some fellow shooters who happened to be cops too. But for the tree rat, it was a classic broadside.

The acorn wasn't placed there, the squirrel had clamped down on it.

So yeah, the poster boy for "lock your guns up" let his guard down and left a gun in a car over night. And at some point, early in the morning, someone lifted it after going through all our vehicles. I have all the excuses--we were gong to head out later again after seeing the boy and his date off to the prom, but got stuck on the couch--but it just boils down to being lazy. And for that the universe punished me. What's worse is the notion that the pistol could be used for something awful in the future by someone who obviously doesn't care about respecting other people. 

That's what's been so hard to take for me personally. That's why TGAW project was met with a grinding halt the Sunday the pistol was stolen...I haven't had the stomach for writing about my guns when I literally gave one away to a criminal. It's taken this long to "show my face" again. Sure, there's a slim chance I'll get it back--it could happen, but I won't hold my breath.

Naturally, I took to carrying the Beretta again (see photo at the top of blog) and kept my eye open for another Glock and found used one at a good price at Powers Firearms, Inc. in Greensboro I jumped on it. My first Glock back in 1995 was a Glock 21 in 45 Auto, and now, my latest Glock is a 36 in 45 Auto as well. It's a "mini" as well, and I haven't shot it very much, but I've shot it enough to know it will work, even with my handloads.

The little Glock 36, 45 Auto. New to me.

I hope to carry it at least as many years as I did that little 27. I know I'll be more careful and less lazy with it. It will always be near. I'm pretty sure I'll never need it, but I have fire extinguishers too.