Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Who switches between Glock and 1911 regularly?

I'm a die hard 1911 fan. Give me a choice and I'll make it my SS Springfield with fixed sights and its standard 7 round mags. I've shot it a lot and it feels natural in my hands. Switching to the full size 10mm or the officer size .45 is also quite comfortable.

I respect the Glock design and reliability. I've only owned one (a 23 with night sights) and it was great but I never warmed up to it. My wife has a 17 as that was what she liked after trying out several (I like the feel of the 19 better but it's hers - not mine).

I have often thought of getting a Glock for myself (favorites are the 19 and the 36 or even a 32) but have consistently avoided it due to how "odd" they feel in my hands after all the 1911 time. I shoot fine with my wife's and even farm carry it sometimes when the light weight seems helpful. They naturally point a bit high for me but that's not too bad to overcome. The trigger feel is obviously quite different from my 1911's. I think that while I shoot them OK when deliberate that they wouldn't (yet) be as instinctive for me on a draw.

My question is this - who here regularly uses both a 1911 and a Glock? What are your thoughts on the transitions between the two? I assume if I just spent the amount of time with the Glock that I have with my 1911's it would feel natural as well but I have NO intention of ceasing to run my 1911's most of the time. Just for similarity in manual of arms I've avoided it but curious to hear the thoughts of those who have used both. (Mackay Sagebrush? VANimrod? others of you in the same boat, etc.)

I often recommend to others when they ask me that they consider a Glock as I consider it easier for the novice to train with and learn well than the 1911 platform and it's usually quite a bit less money as well. Always seems a bit odd to recommend it and not have one around to run with myself but that's no big deal.

Thanks in advance for any experiences you may share.

G20, and Gov't Model Colt. The Colt is the CCW/EDC piece; the Glock is the field piece.

Practice, is basically where it's at.

For myself, I can't/don't like the other Glocks outside the STANDARD (not SF) G20 and G29.

I have a glock 20 and a glock 29 SF. I like the 1911's but the glocks are my go to guns if it's a life threating situation.

....you are going to kill yourselves...that is just about a guaranty.

Spent 30 years in LE and have carried a gun daily since 1970...everyday. A 1911 since 1980...everyday. I've been training people to shoot for over 40 years...defensive/tactical shooting for right at 20. Have been running a monthly tactical scenario shoot since 1991 called Survivor Series as well as teaching NRA Personal Protection in the Home and am also certified to teach Outside the Home.

This is blind scenario shooting...not the choreographed tactically incorrect IPSC/IDPA shooting. Shooters don't "compete" against each other...only against the scenario...and you have to do it legally...both civilly and criminally...right to survive.

www.majorwaldron.com Click on Courses and then on Tactical Practice/Survivor Series. Believe me when I tell you this really winds people who take it seriously....

Now back to the point... A Glock, SIG, S&W, Taurus, XD, Ruger semis (non-Single Action) and all revolvers have one thing in common...pick up...pull trigger...and it fires. 1911s, Browning HPs, Toks, CZ52s and all other Condition I "Cocked and Locked" semis all have a conscious human step between "pick up and pull trigger...." and that is "release safety".... No release safety...no fire.

Remember the adage "You will fight as you train"...train with a Glock, train with a revolver, train with anything that requires no safety to be released before you fire, switch back and forth between SA semis and anything else and when you pull the 1911 "UNDER EXTREME STRESS" you have a 90% chance of failing to release the manual safety.

Seen it over and over again...and there are dead people because of it.

Ones I can think of right off:

One of the guys I've run SS with since 1995 started off with a revolver in the early 1990s. Went to a Glock but after having a GlockBoom with a .40 decided that was enough and bought a .45 Commander XSE. He had helped setup a scenario and likes to shoot at the end just for fun. In stage one of the scenario he came up over cover to shoot a BG who was moving slowly. BG disappeared without a shot...and he had to deal with the BG later in the scenario. Asked why he didn't shoot..."I forgot to take the safety off". He had seen it happen to others and he was still training with and carrying a snubbie for times when he could not carry the 1911... He still has the Commander but the following month he started shooting a XD Compact and is still shooting it. He had been training with the 1911 for probably 2+ years when that happened.

When I was in the Dallas Police Academy during the Officer Survival Course they showed what happens when you fail to train properly with your "system". An officer several years before had purchased his own 1911 to replace his duty revolver. During a convenience store stakeout a robber came in and when the officer when to shoot the BG he was shot dead... Had the drop on the guy, the store clerk said the officer pulled the trigger THREE TIMES and when responding officers arrived they found his fully loaded 1911 on the floor...with the safety still on.

Was watching SPIKE or TruTv last fall and there was a video of a jewelery store robbery. Jeweler just KNEW the guy was about to rob him and when the BG turned to leave the jeweler pulled his gun and when the BG started coming around and drawing the jeweler had him DEAD TO RIGHTS at like 10'...and got shot...you could see him pull the trigger TWICE before he got hit... He lived and during the interview... "I forgot to take the safety off"....

Another "contributing to your own demise" training mistake made by those who have a DA semi-auto like a S&W, Beretta or Walther PPK is leaving the hammer-drop safety down. These guns are as safe as a DA revolver to carry with the hammer-drop safety off but they have to be "more safe"..and put one more step between you and surviving a gunfight. SS has cured EVERY shooter who has just insisted that they "never" forget the safety...and when put under stress EVERYONE has. I had a guy with a Walther PPK/s do it just the other day...why...his other gun is...a Glock...grab and pull. He said he always used the hammer-drop safety because it was dangerous to carry the gun with it off as a blow to the hammer can fire the gun. I then showed him that Walthers have a built in safety that prevents the hammer from going forward unless the trigger is kept all the way to the rear...just like a revolver. He no longer uses the safety....

I tell all my students who are interested in carrying a 1911 that they have to be dedicated to that SA system and not train or carry anything else. Go "play" with others but when you shoot or train for real leave the others at home....or please put me in your will.

Bob Makowski

When the Glock 30 came out I switched from a Colt LW Commander for the extra rounds and the fact that my agency paid for it. For over ten years I wore it daily, but at home I went back to the Colt for CC. Now retired, I only carry the Colt, but the Glock is there for rough duty backup. By the way, that Glock has over 7,000 rounds through it without a bobble.

RJM, good post. I've flopped around with the safety enough on different bird guns to never go there with a carry weapon.

Maybe I'm just fooling myself, but I've conditioned myself to swipe the safety while engaging the target on every handgun I own whether it has one or not - even revolvers.

RJM, I can easily see how one who trained with different "systems" could fail to remember the safety. I have the exact opposite problem when I carry any type of double action (and, by the way.....double actions are a rarity in my safe). I guess I've carried and shot 1911's too long.

When under stress, not even deadly type stress (OK, a herd of hogs got up nearly underfoot) I find myself "pawing" the side of the pistol....looking for the safety. This happened with the one...and only...Glock I have owned. Hogs started moving at 15 feet from me and I drew and "pawed". It was so uncomfortable to me that I actually looked down to see what was wrong....and the hogs ran away unharmed. This very well could have been a life-or-death situation and the outcome would be a bit more serious tham embarassment.

That Glock was sold soon there after and the only "double action" pistols I now own are dual-action types Those that can be crried cocked-and-locked as well as hammer down with double action option.....such as the EAA Witness and Taurus Millinial Pro searies....and they are ALWAYS carried cocked-and-locked!

I don't seem to have the problem with revolvers, but most of my revolver shooting is in a hunting situation where I shoot single action anyway......or maybe it's just the different "feel" of a revolver.

I absolutely HATE the feel of a double action trigger pull anyway.....and now I don't trust them as well.

RJM;

Does it count if I am constantly reaching for the safety with my thumb when I carry the Glock, as it's a field-only piece?

The 1911 is the 99% carry.

I didn't know anyone could do that. Aren't they on opposite ends of the universe or something?

Gave my Glock LE 19 to my Son-in-Law when he graduated from the academy, I kept my 1911!

I have 3 carry handguns.

I carry a Springfield 1911 .45 about 50% of the time.
I carry a Glock 30 .45 about 40% of the time.
I carry a S&W J frame .38 about 10% of the time.

I don't see why people who like glocks hate 1911's and vice versa. Each works for me.

The 2 auto's I shoot pretty often - at least 3 times a week and casually compete with both. I will say when pulling from a holster I still take the safety off the glock.....but it still goes boom just as fast even when I take the safety off. It's just second nature to flip the safety up on the draw - even if there's not one there.

I regularly go back & forth between a Glock 27 & various 1911's & I have absolutely no problem.

Once the gun is in my hand, everything is just automatic, no pun intended..........I've dealt with both enough that it's not even a consideration.

My preference is the 1911 but for various reasons, I do frequently carry the Glock.

MM

AWESOME!

Continue on...

You and Rick sound like you are doing ok....if not the opposite problem of trying to swipe everything off. Can't say that I've ever had that opposite problem of trying to swipe the safety off a DA semi-auto when I have had to carry them. But any hesitation can get you killed in a confrontation.

One of my students showed up with a new Ruger..that has the Glock "SafeAction" trigger but Ruger, being Ruger, put a thumb safety on...this little tiny tiny safety. After his first session he no longer uses the manual safety as he would either forget to take it off or miss it when he tried... Another student had two Glocks outfitted with manual safeties...that ended with their sale and he went SIG and has been happy ever since.

Bob

I can shoot the Glock accurately, but I'm slower shot to shot than with a 1911. After awhile you sortof learn how to stroke the Glock trigger and accuracy improves. I don't think there is time difference for 1st shot, cause I'm not that good and the G19/23-size Glocks point well for me. But I've never figured out how to short-cycle the Glock trigger to speed up subsequent shots.

I like the Glock for it's rugged simplicity, lower cost, higher capacity. I carry my 1911 because it is flatter and I'm a little more confident with it. I don't worry about being attacked by a platoon of ninjas, so mag capacity isn't a big concern.

I have 2 carry 1911's. A Browning HiPower 40 S&W carry. A CZ97B carry.

You could not give me a Glock.

Trust my life 100% to reliability in a semi-auto? Thus far the Browning 40 wins that checkered flag.

I carry GLOCKS, however I still shoot my 1911's at the range for steel plates or Bulleys work.......slowly mind you. My Glocks in models 20, 29 (10mm) & model 21 .45acp,..........I practice speed draw and fire, using both hands at various ranges from 3 to 35ft.

We allow two weapons systems, 1911 and Glock. I train and carry both. Like what has been said, when I go for the grip I have the repetitions that instead of locking thumb over thumb as I do on my Glock or revolvers, it hits the shelf of the thumb safety and rides up on top. It's hard wired at this point. Have fired thousands of rounds through both. Competitions, on duty and in simmunitions, while being shot at, and have had no problems. The key is, repetitions. You can't figure on shooting a 1911 or Beretta 92 or something of that nature a few times a year and being able to have the ability to think about the controls under stress.

This factor is one of the reasons all my house guns are revolvers. They are what my wife likes to shoot, shoots well and in the middle of the night when she reaches for it, she doesn't have to worry which gun it is. In fact they are all Security 6's with the same grips, sights and combos on the push button safes are all identical. I shoot them with ease and my hand knows the grip as soon as I pick it up. Practice makes a person familiar with many action types and with enough practice the brain will do the rest. Ryan

I have number of carry pistols but my go to for every day carry is my Glock 23 or 36

I transition between a 1911, a double action revolver, and a Glock like trigger on an auto with little difficulty, but the thing you have to worry about is losing the instinct to flip off the safety on the 1911 if you're switching back and forth. Naturally, the best solution is not to ever switch, but if you did a lot of training with the 1911, it shouldn't be as big a problem as people say, as your motor memory will kick in for the 1911 if you're familiar enough with it.