Tag Archives: Glock

Mail Call Mondays Season 9 #13 – How much gun is too much?


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Mail Call Monday’s Master Index – http://8541tactical.com/mcmepisodeguide/ Continue reading Mail Call Mondays Season 9 #13 – How much gun is too much?

Mail Call Mondays Podcast #129 – How much gun is too much?

This week we talk about how much gun is too much?
Continue reading Mail Call Mondays Podcast #129 – How much gun is too much?

Glock 45 1000 Round Review

The Glock 45 with two additional Gen 5 magazines.

If you want the short review of the Glock 45, I can sum it up in one sentence; “It shoots like a Glock.”

I have carried Glocks professionally for fifteen years in both uniformed and off-duty capacity. I have no idea how many rounds that equates to. I have shot them in instructor level and operator level classes. I have shot them in competition. I have shot almost every flavor of .45 and 9mm and a handful of .40 S&W versions. When I say that the Glock 45 shoots like a Glock, that is to say that it is supremely reliable and consistent.

The Glock 45 compared to the Glock 19x.

The Glock 45 is essentially a slightly upgraded Glock 19x. I say that it is “upgraded” because the feature set on the G19x caused some problems that the 45 resolved. The first issue is that it was only available in the “Coyote” color. While this is a fairly attractive finish, I prefer black handguns for LE uniformed work and just about anything other than crawling around in the dirt. A handgun should blend in with an Officer’s uniform and not many departments are interested in having a tan pistol sticking out of black duty gear. Continue reading Glock 45 1000 Round Review

Danger Close Armament Signature GLOCK 19 Unboxing

While browsing the aisles at TriggrCon in Tacoma, WA several months ago, we had a chance to talk to the guys at Danger Close Armament. They had several examples of their custom work on display. I was immediately attracted to their stippling and frame modifications on the Glock family of handguns.

Not too long after I returned home, I sent off a brand new and un-fired Glock 19 for DCA to work their magic on. After a short conversation with the guys at Danger Close, we lined out what options they would apply to their “Signature” package. Continue reading Danger Close Armament Signature GLOCK 19 Unboxing

VISM Universal Pistol Rear Sight Tool Review

Pushing off the factory Glock plastic sight.
Pushing off the factory Glock plastic sight.

Replacing the sights on a handgun can be a frustrating task. The simplest method is to clamp the slide in a vice and drift the sight off with a brass punch. While this is an inexpensive method, it offers a great chance of damage to the slide and sight. In addition to the risk of damage, it makes it difficult to make fine adjustments to the zero of the handgun.

There are a number of sight installation tools on the market to make this job safer and easier. Unfortunately, many of them are make/model specific and expensive. This is why I was excited when I came across the VISM Universal Rear Sight Installation Tool. Continue reading VISM Universal Pistol Rear Sight Tool Review

TriggrCon 2017

TriggrCon 2017 is a relatively new trade show held in Tacoma, Washington. John Hwang of Defense Marketing Group has assembled some of the best firearms and accessory manufacturers that the Northwest United States has to offer, as well as others from across the country. The show kicked off on Thursday with a industry only range day at a secluded location away from any possible protests (this is western Washington). Friday the show opened at the Greater Tacoma Convention Center for industry members only. Saturday and Sunday are open to the public. While many in the general public take offense to the “industry only” days, it offers a great opportunity for networking and allows media better access to bring coverage to shooters who are not able to physically attend the show.

While walking the isles I heard many exhibitors and attendees comment on how the show has grown from last year. Judging by the turnout this year, I expect that this show will continue to grow and possibly help fill the gap between each SHOT Show (typically held in January). There was a great assortment of innovation with a handful of the odd thrown in. There were even some glimpses of products that won’t be released publicly until the SHOT Show in January. Below is just a handful of the products we encountered. Continue reading TriggrCon 2017

Inforce APLc Glock Pistol Light Review


Years ago, it was uncommon to see someone outside of the military or Law Enforcement carrying a handgun with a weapon light. As lights became more compact and less expensive, they became much more common. More and more citizens began to add weapon lights to their concealed carry handguns. Inforce has released a new product to make this even easier.

Traditionally, adding a weapon light to your favorite compact handgun also added unwanted bulk and made it less comfortable to conceal. Lights add some significant length if not also thickness to a pistol. Inforce solved this by taking one of the most popular concealed carry handguns, the Glock 19, and designing a weapon light to fill the empty space under the dust cover. Continue reading Inforce APLc Glock Pistol Light Review

Magpul Pmag 12 GL9 Available Now!

Magpul is now shipping the new Pmag 12 GL9 magazine for the Glock 26. We have had great results with the Pmag 17 and 21 GL9 magazines and wasted no time in ordering a Pmag 12 GL9. Once we get a chance to run a few boxes of ammo through it we will post a full review. If you want to get yours now, click on over to the Magpul Website and order one (the site would only allow us to order ONE). 

Magpul PMAG 21 GL9 Glock Magazine Review

We have been using the Pmag 17 GL9 in our Glock 17 for several months now. In competition and training we have put thousands of rounds through them without issue. When Magpul announced the release of the Pmag 21 GL9, we rushed to get our hands on one.

Magpul Pmag 21 GL9The Pmag 21 GL9 looks identical to the Pmag 17 GL9. The Pmag 21 extends from the bottom of the Glock 17 in order to make room for those four extra 9mm cartridges. The Pmag 21 also has 10, 15 and 21 round witness holes in the side.

Magpul Pmag 21 GL9The Pmag 21 GL9 uses the same floor plate as the Pmag 17. This includes the “dot matrix” marking area. This also means that the Pmag 21 will accept the Magpul L-Plate rubberized floor plate. If you are not forced to work within competition magazine length rules, the L-Plate is a worthy upgrade for these magazines.

We ran the Pmag 21 GL9 hard for 150 rounds to get a feel for the reliability. We did not have a single stoppage that I could attribute to the magazine. The mag-dumps were flawless. We ran 50 repetitions of “one-shot” drills to see how reliably the Pmag 21 would lock the slide back on our Glock 17. We only encountered one instance where the slide failed to lock. We could not reproduce the error.

If you have a need to gas up your Glock with 21 round magazines, the Magpul Pmag 21 GL9 is a great option. At $19.95 MSRP they are the most cost-effective method at increasing the magazine capacity of your Glock. Hopefully Magpul will have the 27 round version out soon!


Thyrm SwitchBack Review on the Surefire G2X

We recently came across a novel product from Thyrm LLC. The SwitchBack Flashlight Ring adapts your flashlight into a more versatile, tactical tool for concealed handgun carry.

Over the years I have used many different flashlight techniques while shooting a handgun. The “Chapman”, “Harries”, “Rogers”, “FBI”, etc. all work with varying degrees of efficiency. All take away points of contact on the handgun when compared to a standard two handed grip. This drawback paved the way for weapon lights to take over the professional sector.

In the concealed carry world, a weapon light causes some new difficulties. Weaponlight holsters are bulky and most sub-compact handguns are not designed to accept weapon lights. Now we are back to having to use one of the old-school flashlight techniques, while minimizing loss of contact on the weapon.

Thyrm LLC’s SwitchBack helps to solve some of these problems. The SwitchBack is a simple polymer ring that slips over the tail cap on a variety of popular tactical lights.

IMG_4980In use, the index finger of the shooter’s support hand goes through the loop with the rest of the flashlight body pointing down in the palm of the hand. This is what I refer to as the “utility” grip. During my testing, I found that it is a very secure way to hold the light for most tasks that do not involve a firearm. For regular searching I would hold the flashlight in the center of my chest, palm down. If I needed to draw my handgun, but did not have a threat, then I could use the “FBI Technique” where the light is held high and away from the body.

Thyrm SwitchbackWhen it was time to bring up your handgun and light up a target, you allowed the light to rotate around your index finger, pivoting on the ring. This brought the tail cap switch into contact with your middle finger. The “bump” on the ring falls perfectly under the pad of your thumb. In this position, pushing forward with your thumb causes the light to pivot on the ring and press the tail cap switch, momentarily illuminating the light. I will refer to this as the “tactical” grip.

Once you have the light in the “tactical” grip your middle, ring and pinky finger are free to wrap around your strong hand and assist in keeping your weapon on target. In use I found this grip to be much more stable than the G2Z in a “Surefire/Rogers” grip.

During our test I installed the Thyrm LLC, SwitchBack on a Surefire G2X light. Initially we used the stock Surefire momentary switch. At first the switch was very hard to depress, but as it broke in it became easier to activate the light in the “tactical” position. Later we swapped out the factory momentary switch for a “clicky” switch. This made is easier to activate in momentary on. The fit of the SwitchBack on our G2X made it almost impossible to twist the tail cap for constant on. The installation of the “clicky” switch solved this problem. I definitely suggest using an aftermarket “clicky” switch or selecting one of Surefire’s other models if you intend to add a SwitchBack.

Thyrm LLC was also smart enough to add a pocket clip to the body of the SwitchBack. This clip makes it very easy to keep the attached light high in a pocket for quick deployment. In civvies, it allowed me to clip the light in my support side pants pocket with no problems. I never once had anyone ask about it. In uniformed use, it clipped perfectly inside my cargo pocket divider on my 5.11 Stryke pants.

The biggest benefit to a non-weapon mounted light is during non-gun situations. Sometimes, 500 lumens of white light may be enough to discourage whatever antisocial behavior had arisen. Other times I may require a more personal non-lethal response. When going “hands-on” the G2X and Thyrm SwitchBack have some added advantages. The G2X features an aluminum head and slightly toothy bezel. In a downward strike it can dissuade an attacker from continuing his hostile actions. When held in the “utility” grip, the SwitchBack places the thumb “bump” directly at the index finger’s middle knuckle. This could provide a focused strike, or even better apply a great deal of force to a pressure point for pain compliance. Thankfully there was not a need to test either of these features during this review.

Thyrm Switchback

With a $19.99 purchase price, the Thyrm LLC, SwitchBack offers a lot of value.  Even if you do not currently have a light that the SwitchBack will fit, I feel it is worth the expense to purchase one if you routinely carry a non-weaponligth handgun.