Walther P99 AS

Walther P99 AS

My name is Tim and I’m a Waltherholic.  Yep, given pretty much any similar choice and I’ll take the one with that famous banner stamped thereupon.  Way back in 1997, the year before I made detective (man, that statement makes me feel old!) Walther introduced the P99 and it was an immediate hit.  Not only did it impress several nations’ militaries and police forces, but it was a hit with me.  Something about it just struck a nerve and I knew I had to have one.  The pistol has gone through several variations through the years and we now arrive at the P99 AS (Anti-Stress) pistol.  Gone is the proprietary rail on the dustcover and in its place we find not only cleaner lines but a more universal rail allowing the end user to fit a wider variation of his or her preferred aftermarket implements such as lights and lasers.  More on that in a wee bit.  I wanted a P99 and I have finally at long last brought one home.

My new Walther P99 AS

Upon my retirement from the police agency with whom I spent most of my career, our Animal Control officer, knowing my love of the design, brought his P99 .40 to work with him so I could have the experience of shooting it.  I shot it quite a bit that last day and greatly enjoyed it.  Call me a stickler, though, but I wanted the 9x19mm version.  Ballistic reasons aside, once I retired I would no longer have the key to the ammo closet and would thus need to secure my own shooting fodder.  Costs to income ratio being what they are, I wanted a more affordable round.  Also, every .40 S&W caliber pistol I’ve ever shot had quite pronounced recoil and muzzle flip (well ahead of the .45 acp, in my opinion) and my friend’s P99 was no different.  Although it was softer shooting than our issued SIG P226s and P229s, it was still quite a thump to my somewhat arthritic hands. 

I looked for, handled and priced several examples but all were priced well outside my range.  The last example I saw at a local gun show, admittedly in excellent condition, was priced at $600 used.  Fast forward about 3 years and I found a like new in box, with all the goodies Walther P99 on an auction site.  Cost, 2-day shipping and transfer fee at my LGS all totaled $400.  How could I say no?  Obviously I didn’t and I thus became the proud owner of a very nice pistol.

My high-cap 9x19mm choices for CCW these days is usually my Browning Hi-Power or my Glock 26.  I love that old Hi-Power and despite its 13 round magazine, it hides pretty well even under a t-shirt.  Alas, it has a lot of sharp edges (and a notoriously stabby hammer spur) and, not to sound wimpy, but it’s a might heavy too.  Normally that’s not an issue and goodness knows it’s ridden many a day IWB back in my “I have one duty/off-duty gun” days.  But now, in my 50s, things like sciatica and other old-man issued limit how much weight I can tote all day, every day (or at least some days).  The Glock 26 has been a long-time companion as well, both as a backup and at times as a primary duty pistol.  I keep three mags loaded for it, a flush-fit 10-round mag, another 10-rounder fitted with a +2 floorplate giving me a pinky rest and a total mag capacity of 12 rounds, and a 17-round magazine fitted with an X-grip to fill in the space between the floorplate and the bottom of the pistol’s abbreviated grip.  The latter choice essentially gives me a model 17 with a model 26 barrel.  That’s the way I keep it for in-the-house and bedside duties and frequently how I carried it, although the 12 round mag probably got a little bit more time for IWB carry.  That baby Glock is great, easy to shoot, and surprisingly accurate.  Alas, like all hi-cap Glocks, it’s a bit thick.  Call me old fashioned but I absent a thumb safety I like my first shot to be Double-Action as well.  Yeah, yeah, but that’s how I feel.

I’ve looked at and considered a Glock 19, one of the pistols I consider about perfect for overall carry.  The 26 is so short that it doesn’t stabilize well in most IWB holsters I’ve tried (with the exception of Aliengear’s excellent hybrid rig).  The 19 has just enough more barrel length to stabilize the piece and the little bit of extra grip length barely compromises discreet carry (body size and carry methods vary, of course). But the Walther P99 is overall just a fraction shorter, and though it’s ever so slightly taller (.21”) it’s 1.65 ounces lighter. and .7” thinner.  That thinness is important for anything that shares my waistband.  While I’m not obese and am considerably lighter than I was when I retired (how I hate that fat guy photo of me that hangs on the wall in my old department) thinner is generally better for IWB carry.

The weapon arrived and other than a tiny scratch on the left side of the slide just below the front edge of the wide ejection port, it looked like it had never been out of the box.  Frankly, that could well have occurred during shipping from the factory as a few weeks of nearly constant carry have produced a bit more wear that that tiny, hard to see scratch.  I’m not saying to the finish isn’t durable and there is certainly no rust.  But there are very faint marks on the trigger guard where the security device in one of my holster engages.  Again, hardly noticeable, and any gun you carry is going to get banged up some.  If such bothers you, leave it in the safe.  Along with the weapon was the case, all the paperwork including warranty card and test target from the Walther factory.  Three alternate sized backstraps were included along with four front sights of differing heights (one came installed on the pistol).  Two 15 round magazines came along as well.  The medium sized backstrap was installed on the weapon and it fit me fine.  I tried the smaller one, though and though it was barely perceptibly smaller, it felt quite good and I figured adds just a pinch to concealability so that’s the one I went with.

I dug out three holsters for it, one a Don Hume leather clip-on IWB leather holster.  It was made for a SIG P229 but fits the P99 very well so I figured it would give me a fair assessment without me having to purchase what might be yet another resident for the dreaded Box of Misfit Holsters (c’mon, we all have one).  The  Aliengear hybrid IWB for my Glock 26 fit it securely enough that I used it for a while too.  Finally I have a Safariland 578 GLS paddle holster that adjusts to fit a wide variety of similarly sized pistols.  It was fitted to my Glock 26 and the P99 fit into it fine but it could move about just a little.  So a turn or two with an Allen wrench and it now fits my Walther like it was made for it.  Lacking belt tension (the main manner of security for the two IWB holsters I mentioned, the GLS needs to fit a pistol just right.  Too tight and you’ll play havoc drawing it, too loose and … well, I doubt your weapon will fall out as that trigger guard catch is pretty darn secure, but it will rattle around a bit and why risk breaking a holster and/or losing a gun?  

The pistol carries quite well whether in a holsters similar to those I mentioned or with just a Kydex trigger-guard cover and lanyard.  For that matter, although not prescribed and certainly not to be recommended (L-I-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y) it carries well in the old “Mex-Carry” holsterless, stuffed-in-the-waistband-behind-a-snug-belt manner too.  That’s how we did it “back in MY day” when those of us who carried off duty couldn’t afford expensive holsters but were leery of anything cheap enough to be in our cop-pay price range.  A little forward cant (i.e. FBI tilt) keeps the pistol from printing even under a t-shirt.  Frankly I’m amazed I can walk around carrying it while shopping, walking the dog in the park, etc. and a duty-sized (if arguably compact) pistol can go unnoticed even when only covered by a t-shirt.  The weapon is light enough to be quite comfortable for all day carry as well.  That's something that cannot always be said for many other weapons featuring all steel frames (although I do love those heavy, solid frames, great throw-back that I am).

So, how does it shoot?  Quite well, as one should expect.  A bit of a caveat here is in order, however.  First off, do not, unless you want to embarrass yourself and ruin your trip to the range, even think about putting aluminum cased ammo in this pistol.  I bought a 100 round box of Independence brand aluminum 115 gr FMJs that my local big box store had on sale.  I got a failure to eject (dreaded double-feed) during the first magazine run and by round #38 I had a failure to extract that resulted in an aluminum case stuck firmly in the chamber.  I was later able to get it out without damaging the weapon but that box of ammo is a definite no-go for me, at least for this weapon.  The Walther’s massive extractor darn near tore the rim off the cartridge case, too, so there’s that.

Oh, and if you do any research you’ll find that there is one often repeated criticism of the pistol and that is the design of its windage adjustable rear sight.  The manual says just turn the screw, you know, like you do with any other screw-adjusted rear sight?  Alas, it lies.  See, there is this spring powered plunger that rises out of the top of the slide on the right side.  The top of the plunger has a notch.  The adjustment screw on the rear site has a square head.  Do you see where this is going?  To adjust the sight, the plunger needs to be held down very, very carefully and the screw turned by ¼ turn increments.  Make very sure when all is said and done the rear sight screw is firmly sitting in that slot on the plunger.  Most likely you’ll turn the screw, and wind up popping off the rear sight.  Don’t fret if that happens.  Set the sight atop its slot, guesstimate where it needs to be, turn the screw until it looks right, reinsert the sight in its notch from the left while holding down the plunger and fitting it to the screw-head.   Yeah … or just replace the rear sight with one that doesn’t require that silly, over-thought, over-engineered spring/plunger assembly bit of engineering madness.  Hey, it’s a German gun so something had to be over-engineered.   More than likely you won’t need to adjust the rear sight anyway as it comes sighted from the factory (although there are stories of one test-firer at Walther who feels the need to drift rear sights all the way to the left … ah, but I digress).  If it shoots low or high with your chosen carry load, simply replace the front sight with one of the extras.  That process is fairly simply.  Or, hey, choose another load.  Handgun rounds aren’t death-rays, so likely as not whatever you wind up carrying will do about as well as anything else.  Reliability and Accuracy are the primary qualities in a handgun of this type.

Anyway, following my learning experience with alternate ammunition casings, I returned to the range with a much better selection of ammo, including rounds from Federal, CCI, and other top name brands (I'm pretty sure brass cases ammo of good manufacture should work fine).  115 and 124 grain rounds were quite accurate and the installed front sight was indeed the correct one, saving me any further drama.  I began by shooting at 7 yards.  I fired 5 rounds of CCI 115 grain FMJs going for something close to one round per second or slightly slower.  I was initially shocked and chagrined to see only two holes in the target.  One, right where I’d been aiming, and another not quite an inch higher and left.  My angst turn to pride, however, as I got closer and realized that three rounds went into the first hole and two in the second.  Not bad, not bad at all, new gun jitters and everything!  I fired some more, varying from a few steps to 25 yards, but I won’t bore you with the details.  Suffice to say it is a very accurate handgun.  I noticed it was still shooting just a pinch to the right.  I fumbled with the rear sight for a bit and it now shoots ever so slightly to the left.  I mean not so much that you’d notice, especially at combat ranges and even at 25 yards it was all around the bulls-eye.  At 50 yards I could hit a Pepper popper every shot aiming dead center.  But at 75 yards I had to aim right about the width of the front sight blade to knock down a Pepper popper.  At that point I was just showing off so I left the sights where they were.  Please note in the below groups that I had "new gun jitters" which, I suspect, accounted for more of the off-center shots, especially elevation issues) than did any sight mis-alignment.  Of course, that also means that any degree of decent accuracy is due more to the pistol's inherent accuracy and ease of shooting than to my own skills.  Hmm ... I probably should have left that bit out, eh? ^_^

A quick 5-shot group from 7 yards
              (yes that's 5 hits, 3 in one hole, 2 in another) 

Five more shots, from 15 yards this time
               (total of 10 hits showing)

And five more 25 yards (showing the total group)

I tried some rapid draw-and-fire drills and found the weapon pointed very naturally.  In one drill, I started maybe 3 yards from the target, drew and began firing while stepping to the side and then backpedaling.  I stopped shooting once I got almost to the seven yard line.  I was shooting very fast and I don’t think I did more than just glance at the sights once or twice.  Nevertheless I could cover all the shots with the bottom of one of the P99’s magazines.  It didn’t seem to favor one brand or weight (115 or 124 gr) over another, at least in my informal and practical testing.  If I were shooting bulls-eye matches I’d probably test many other loads.  Or more likely I’d be loading my own.  For that matter, if I were doing any serious bulls-eye shooting I most likely would be using a purpose built target pistol and not a compact duty weapon.

The "AS" in the model name P99 AS means "Anti-Stress" and refers to it's trigger action.  When one first loads the weapon in the common manner for loading a semi-automatic pistol, the internal striker is cocked, making the weapon in essence, a single-action pistol.  The trigger, however, stays forward.  That is the "Anti-Stress" setting which let's you have a single-action pistol with the trigger in the same starting point as it would be if it were being carried double action.  When you apply the initial tiny bit of pressure to the trigger, it rolls back effortlessly with your continued finger pressure to the "cocked" position where it stacks to about a 4.5 pound single action pull weight. That "cocked" position is also where the trigger stops after being fired and on subsequent shots.  The shooter has two options here.  First, if you like to keep things short and light, once you've fired and want to go back to trigger-forward mode, you can retract the slide just about 1/8 of an inch and let it got back home (mine is still so new and stiff I usually have to give it a bump on the rear of the slide to be totally sure it's back in battery).  The trigger will jump back into its forward post once more.  Or, if you want your first shot to be double action (a'la ye olde typical DA/SA semi-auto "wondernine") simply depress the little oblong button on top of the left side of the slide, just a wee bit forward of the rear sight.  That will decock the firing mechanism and your first shot will then require a longer yet smooth and quite manageable trigger pull (9 pounds according to the factory).  This is the way I prefer to carry mine as I am quite used to the DA/SA style of pistol and lacking a manual safety (I know, I know, I'm a dinosaur) I would rather have a slightly heavier and longer initial trigger pull.  Sure, I know, there are ten thousand reasons why I'm wrong but I did carry a gun for most of my life (professionally), went through a LOT of upscale firearms training (including FBI's SWAT course back in my SWAT days), and have had to "draw down" on more than a few folks who were determined to bring harm to myself or others.  So I like to think I have at least some degree of first hand knowledge over some arm-chair commandos and range rats regarding what works well vs. what might not.  That said, I really like the options on this pistol and find shooting it either way (with the relatively light DA first shot or with the respectably light and smooth SA) to be accurate and easy.

There is a round hole in the rear of the slide through with the red colored end of the striker's cocking indicator will protrude if the weapon is not in DA mode.  You can watch the indicator drop back into the slide when you press the decock button atop the slide.

Oh, insofar as my chosen load, I decided against my normal “old boy” load of Federal's excellent 9BPLE 124 gr +P+ and went instead with Federal’s standard pressure 124 grain HST jacketed hollow points.  I did a lot of research and I’m not losing much velocity (well under 100fps) but in all the test I’ve seen the HST performs spectacularly and without the added wear I might bring to my pistol with +P+ pressures.  I’m not saying this is my forever load but I like it and the pistol likes it (that’s what I was hitting the poppers with at 50 and 75 yards).  Again, though, any quality load you choose should serve you quite well.  I've said it many times, pistol bullets poke little holes, period.  Shove a piece of 9mm drill rod (or 10mm, or 11mm, or what have you) and the results I would imagine will be very similar to what a similarly sized handgun bullet will do, with the exception of bone fragmentation.  Okay, also, contact shots add the effects of expanding gases going into the wound but insofar as the damage from a bullet's path, I stand by my drill rod analogy.  Still, you may want something with enough "uumph" to get through light cover and to reach the vitals of a bad guy even at weird angles, but not exit a human body (or at least not go two blocks down the road and through an exterior wall into someone's nursery).  Frankly, that's asking a lot from any handgun round, but modern defensive ammo manufacturers have come a long way and, IMHO, the HST line is usually about the closest as we can get to that magic bullet.

To sum up, the Walther P99 is an excellent pistol for someone searching for either a great service pistol or a good home defense or CCW handgun.  We're in the height of spring here on the sunny (and bloody hot) Alabama Gulf Coast so we'll see how well it carries in the dreaded summer heat soon enough.  I expect it'll stand up to Summertime abuses far better than I usually manage to.  My prediction is that my new P99 will prove an excellent summer carry pistol and may even get carried in times and places where I may only otherwise have had "just" a micro .380.  Time will tell.  In the meantime, I think I need to go shoot my new pistol some more.

 Overall Observations

Dimensions / Weight	7.1” length, 5.3” height, 1.1” width
Caliber / Capacity	9x19mm / 15 round magazines (.40 S&W available with 12 rd mags)
Action	DA/SA striker fired with “Anti-Stress” option
Pros	·         Very accurate and Reliable (with good ammo) ·         Lightweight for the size/capacity, ·         Rounded Edges that make for quite comfortable carry. ·         Overall a very ambidextrous design ·         Affordable after-market holsters, sights, magazines, parts and such are easy to find.
Cons	·         Rear sight is over-engineered and if you need to tinker with it, be careful or better yet, replace it (not a huge deal but worth noting). ·         Not a fan of aluminum cased ammo (again, not a big deal but you need to know this in case you hit the bargain bin on your way to the range).
Comments:	It’s a Walther!  Enough said! J

Sterling (Wiselite) 9mm Carbine

     Even if  you didn't grow up on war movies wherein each team had to have at least one British Commando, or even if you're not a rabid Star Wars fan (brother are you in the wrong place!  LOL), you still have to admit, the Sterling SMG is pretty cool.  I mean, sure, it's got that side-mounted magzine well that kind of gets in the way when you're doing anything but firing the piece, but sure, doesn't every long magazine get in the way no matter whether it hangs off the side or down below?   The Brits were fond of firing from prone which, when you think about it, is a dandy way to improve accuracy whilst reducing your own target profile.  Ever tried going suddenly prone with a standard hangs-down-toward-six-o'clock mag?  It kinda gets in the way and pounding it on the ground is a great way to damage the magazine and the weapon its self.       Speaking of the magazine, it holds 34 rounds (at least 2-4 more than the "standard" of most SMGs), and features rollers to help improve feeding.  Yep, look at an empty Sterling SMG magazine.  You'll see what looks like two black dummy rounds where the follower usually is.  Those are rollers.  Pretty ingenious, really.     A magazine is the heart and soul of a repeating weapon (any Bren Ten fans out there with expensive, one-shot clubs in their safes? ... And how 'bout those STENs?).  There have been some 10 round mags made and reportedly some 15 rounders.  A quick 'net search only found one source for the 10 rounders at a cost of about $15 per round ($150 per mag for the math impaired).  Darn shame.

     Yes, the design is a wee bit dated by modern SMG standards, and made even more obsolete by the modern uber-short rifle caliber weapons that abound, offering greater range and striking power than any pistol-caliber SMG or carbine.  Still, for those who have to a a reason for owning a cool firearm, consider that unless you are willing to go through all the BATFE red tape (and unless your state and local authorities allow for it), you're not going to get the real short barreled rifles anyway, unless it's one of the stockless "pistol" models.  Even then, once you get to the range you, your friends, other shooters on the line, and probably the range master will be at best impressed and at worst annoyed with the extremely loud report and giant fireball muzzle flash you generally get from shooting rifle rounds in a short barrel.  Now, it's the middle of the night and you're facing an armed intruder in your domicile.  Can you say "flash-bang?"  That same cannonesque report and big ol' fireball will deafen and blind you.  Introducing a new or timid  shooter to the fun?  How about getting other members of your household up to speed on handling the piece?   The lower "boom" and very limited recoil of a pistol caliber carbine might intimidate them far less and make the whole thing a lot more fun.  That's just something to consider if, you know, you just have to have a reason for adding a cool gun to your collection.

     In November of 2010 I picked up a neat 9mm carbine marketed by Century Arms, and built on a Sterling Mk4 L2A3 parts kit.  Wiselite made the receiver tube to replace the one butchered ... er, I mean torch cut to legal specifications per BATFE regs.  The bolt, firing pin, and trigger group have been modified to make the weapon fire from a closed bolt (bolt sits closed, firing pin cocked prior to being fired).  The original Sterling SMG fired from an open bolt (bolt stayed back when cocked, fixed firing pin, pulling the trigger released the bolt which loaded a new round and fired it upon closing).  Semi Auto open bolt firearms were determined to be too easy to convert to full auto and now even a semi-auto open bolt gun will fall under the National Firearms Act (NFA) like its full auto brethren.  So, they took a lovely original Sterling SMG that had been [shudder] torch cut to make it "just a parts kit," and rebuilt it as a semi-automatic carbine.  Oh, they had to add a 16 inch barrel as well since they left on the folding stock.  Otherwise it would be a short barreled rifle (SBR) and that, too, would require NFA paperwork, an expensive tax stamp, approval of the local authorities, etc, etc.  As it is, the new semi-auto carbine is just like any other rifle (at least so long as the Obama gun grabbers leave it the heck alone).  It takes the standard 34 round Sterling magazines (of which there are a few variations).  They vary in price.  When I got mine the prices were from a low of $25 (huge retailer) to a more standard of $40 (typical gun shop).  Supposedly the weapon will work with the much cheaper STEN mags of which about a bajillion were floating around the markets until recently.  The STEN mag, however, is notoriously unreliable and feeds with the cartridges in a different position than with the Sterling which replaced it.  I have no personal experience with STEN mags in a Sterling but those that do tell me they will work ... sometimes ... maybe ... in theory.  Stick to Sterling mags.  

     I have fired mine a a few different range trips, with different ammo.  So far I haven't found any ammo it doesn't like, except some cheap re-manufactured stuff that seemed to have either really hard primers or substandard primers with iffy ignition.  Either way, any round that failed to fire would eventually fire if I ran it back through the weapon after the obligatory wait to be sure it didn't "cook off" later.  The initial hits showed very light strikes on the primers but I did not notice this problem with new factory ammo.

     Initially I was disappointed in the regulation of the sights.  Rounds were striking at least two feet high at 25 yards, though they were well centered and clustered tightly.  T'was then I discovered I had the 200 yard rear aperture selected.  After uttering my usual litany against self-initiated silly mistakes (this litany has been known to wilt grass, kill birds in flight, and earn me stern, offended glares from bikers), I flipped the rear sight so the other, 100 yard aperture was up and resumed shooting.  Groups were then  down where I wanted them to be, pretty much right over the top of the front sight post at 25 yards.  Methinks, were one so inclined, minute-of-squirrel or half-minute-of-rabbit groups could be managed (check your state regs for magazine limits). While ear protection is mandatory and hearing damage will occur if you shoot this firearm without any, report is not blasting like with rifle caliber carbines.  Recoil was negligible.  Everyone who has fired this weapon, including some recoil sensitive folks, report it being fun to shoot.

     Now the downside:  The magazine, as I mentioned, goes in the housing in the left side of the receiver, parallel to the ground.  With a left support hand on the cooling jacket, the magazine lies gently along the left forearm and this helps make the weapon rock steady even in tuck-the-stock point shooting.  Also, the very comfortable grip is at about the perfect angle for a natural hold and at least with my hand, my right thumb is in place to quite comfortably flip the safety selector on the left side top of the grip.  How is these bad things, you ask?  Well, notice I said my right thumb is in the perfect position to activate the safety.  Notice I said the magazine lies comfortably along the left support forearm.  This is a very right-handed weapon.  I, you might have gathered from previous posts, am more of a left-handed shooter.  Yes, yes, I have shot my Sterling left handed, and ran some drills with it held thusly.  It works, but without the left forearm being used for support, that heavy magazine tends to make the weapon want to rotate a bit counter clockwise while being held and the balance, though still nice, is a wee bit off.  So, I willingly make the concession that I should mostly relegate myself to pretending to be a right handed shooter when using the Sterling.  That's not really a big issue, I suppose, though I'd LOVE a mirror image model.  Unfortunately, the way things are going now, it looks like we'll be lucky to have any models if the current administration has their way.

     So, through some ingenious engineering, Wiselite and Century Arms have given us a nice model of the Sterling that can be owned without any special paperwork and enjoyed by pretty much everyone (even a crusty old left-handed shooter that normally rails against right-hand only guns).  Though "dated" it can still be pressed into service and serve well indeed as a home defense gun (though that 16 bbl might make cornering a tad dicey), patrol carbine, or just a handy "woods rifle" (again, check local regs).  Mainly, though, it's a heck of a lot of fun to own, handle, and shoot, and is always good for some "ooohs" and "aaahs" from the other folks on the range.  

The Humble & Handy Glock 26

     Many years ago there was an ultra-liberal, self-serving, anti-gun president in office.  I know, I know, kinda hard to believe, except ... well, okay it's not at all hard to believe in our current predicament, but at that time we had just enjoyed 12 years of Conservative presidency.  Admittedly, President Bush the senior was not Ronald Reagan, but he wasn't half bad, all things considered.  Then came President Bill Clinton, the gun-grabber from Arkansas.  From those scary 8 years came the now infamous Assault Weapons Ban that blissfully reached it's sunset point just a very few years ago.

     If anything good can be said to have come out of that nefarious time of 10-round magazine limits, it's that manufacturers who had until then seemingly been competing to see who could build the largest, most cumbersome pistol, started seeing just how small of a pistol they could wrap around a 10 round mag.  I mean, more people than ever were getting CCW permits and those full-sized military-minded pistols get a might hard to carry discreetly in summertime.  Also, why even carry a full-sized pistol when that size was designed as a means to carry a high-cap mag and you are limited to only a 10 rounder?  Well, in amongst the new breed of ultra-compacts came the entry by GLOCK.  They took their big-honking duty pistols (the 17 round Model 17 and the 15 round Model 19) and cut 'em down around a 10 round mag.  That little engineering feat gave us the Model 26.  They did the same thing for their .40 pistols (the M22 and M23), producing the Model 27 and it's 9-round magazine.

     Those were simply TINY pistols in those days.  A pistol about the same length and height as a Walther PPK/s (very popular with CCW and LEO then), and though a bit chunky, the piece was still thinner than the diameter of the cylinder of a j-frame .38 (the main go-to BUG/ODC piece for cops and smart civvies then).  Every cop I knew wanted one.  A couple got them.  Then one day I got one.  Actually, I got the Glock 26 and then rather prohibitively expensive Emerson CQC7 folding fighter.  I hesitate to mention this, but in the interest of full disclose and for the sake of the really weird humor involved, I gotta tell you, gentle reader, they were divorce presents.  As in, "Here, I got you the pistol and knife you've been wanting."  Aw!  Gee, thanks!  "Yeah.  Have fun.  Now, then, since I gave you a present, I want one in return:  a divorce."

     I didn't realize at the time, but I came out far ahead.  I went through a few different duty pistols thereafter, but I always stayed qualified with the "Baby Glock" on our duty course and saw it more as a BackUp, Off Duty Carry, Alternate Duty Weapon.  When I got promoted and moved to CID, I still carried that G26, usually in a Renegade Ankle Rig.  Sometimes I would carry it as my duty piece if I was spending the day crawling under cars, in attics, sitting in court, etc.  Almost immediately after getting it, I swapped one flat-based mag for one with a Pierce pinky extension.  I used the flat mag for ankle and pocket carry (yes, pocket carry, and yes it's a wee bit thick for that, but I somehow made it work ... somehow).  The finger extension was for belt carry, shoulder carry, or pretty much any other time.   A co-worker, owing me for a holster (that he later retired still owing me for) gave me a 17 round Glock mag as a down payment.  There were times when that became the carry-in-the-pistol mag as even back then I felt that the most important round count was what was immediately available in your hand rather than what was in a pocket, or mag pouch.

     I  used to be assigned to "low profile" work during various festivals, block parties, and other events wherein it was believe that nefarious activity might be afoot.  "Low-Profile" is what a lot of folks call "under cover" but in real UC work, you have a cover ID, some background, and hopefully, if they love you, some backup.  I did a little UC work and enjoyed it, but Low-Profile was what I did most:  blending in with the crowd, seeming to just be one of the good ol' boys, until something happened.  Of course that meant I had usually NO cover, NO back-up, and in those days, very questionable communication abilities.  I describe those assignments as, "Gee, how can we get the red-haired, left-handed, pain in the patookus killed this weekend?"  It was not unheard of for me to carry the Glock sans holster.  Yep, just stuck in the belt, usually appendix carry (or more like descending colon carry I guess, given my South-paw perspective [not to mention, I haven't had an appendix since I was 10]).  Yeah, I know, unsafe, dangerous, reckless, and other bad things as well.  Save it.  I TRIED to trip the trigger on an  unloaded Glock carried thusly several times and never managed to find a way to manage it.  It worked well for me, stayed put, and was FAST to draw.  It was also different times and a lot of us didn't use holsters for low-profile and off-duty carry.  That said, yes you should use one or at least one of those little clips-over-the-trigger-and-pops-off-via-lanyard-on-your-belt jobbies.  There, liability avoided (insert notice that I am in no way responsible for what you choose to do).

     Spring forward a few years.  I stopped the nekkid-gun carry and stuck with holsters of various makes.  They all added too much bulk for IWB carry (and I was starting to grow those dreaded early middle age love handles by then but shhhh!  I'm hoping no one will notice).  I had many other options and finally retired my old companion.  Recently, however, after some training, research and deep thought (especially after some ALERT training, sorta hard-core and in depth training wherein one learns how to take on active shooters either alone or with pretty much anyone who you can get to go with you), I came to see the benefit of having a lot of rounds on hand.  Now, I still carry my Kahr PM40, especially when it's boiling hot outside.  I carry a S&W 30-1 sometimes or even my .32 PPK (the latter two especially if some old hand/ wrist injuries, or these days my old friend arthritis flair up).  But that Baby Glock is finding its way into or onto my waistband more and more frequently.  I usually carry that 17 rounder as the main backup mag.  Yes, I've heard that if you grip it wrong and put too much pressure on that over-sized mag body hanging out of the piece you can jam the gun.  I don't usually have any pressure on the body of the mag, and have shot it a LOT without a problem, so I feel comfortable doing this.  Plus I practice failure drills like crazy so ... yeah ... I think I'm good.

     Okay, we've covered some history (maybe a wee bit too much of mine, but I tend to blab).  What about the piece, you ask?  It's had thousands of rounds through it.  I lost count long ago, but I'm sure I'm well into the plural thousands.  The trigger on mine is phenomenal for the type.  I knew a gunsmith who worked on his own G26 until he thought it was perfect.  He tried my out-of-the-box-but-well-used trigger and cursed ... and cursed some more.  Then one evening he dropped by my house (the sort of bloke who'll sit in his car on the road in front of your house for half an hour talking because he doesn't have time to come in).  He had worked on another cop's G26 and smugly told me he finally surpassed even the trigger on my G26.  I tried the trigger (dry fire, of course).  I agreed it was indeed the best smithed trigger I'd ever felt on a Glock of any model.  While he was glowing in that review, I unloaded mine and handed it over.  He dry fired mine exactly once before handing it back to me rather rudely, calling both my birth and familial relationships into question, and driving off in something I like to describe as a snit.  Heh-heh-heh.

      With that trigger it shoots very well indeed.  In truth, however, I've never shot a Glock 26 (or it's .40 caliber fraternal twin the 27) that wasn't very accurate.  The factory sights are combat sights and most decidedly NOT target sights.  In fact, at the 25 yard line, the blocky front post takes up most of the chest of a combat target.  Still, it takes little time to figure that you just put that big-o'front sight right under the spot where you want to hit, like the bullet is sitting atop the sight post, drop it down inside the rear sight with equal height and equal light and you will hit where you are aiming.  I recently did some prone 50 yard silhouette shooting and was impressed with that that short, chunky piece would do with it's just a hair under 3.5" barrel and some standard 115 gr FMJ ammo.  Mine is currently stoked for carry with Federal's excellent 124gr +P+ HST load.  The Net Nannies and Armchair Commandos (and a few real experts) either like it or hate it.  It's 100% reliable in my pistol, accurate, does well against auto glass and auto bodies (I sometimes get to have fun with a donated vehicle), so I like it.  I used to carry Federal 9BPLE (115 gr +P+ JHP).  On a borrowed chronograph  I got an honest 1275 fps from that short bbl.  I haven't had a chrono handy since switching loads, but how much difference can 9 grains of bullet weight make, methinks?  Anyway that's up there near short barreled .357 magnum velocity with a similar bullet so I see very little to complain about. (Edited 02/10/2014:  I sometimes still carry the 9BPLE as since retiring I have far more of these on hand than the HST loads).

      So, it shoots, keeps shooting so long as it's fed, hits hard (for a pistol), but how does it carry?  It has precious few sharp corners. Almost every surface is rounded and comfortable against skin.  Almost.  When I  press the trigger with my left trigger finger, the magazine release gouges me.  Simple fix, really, I just filed the offending corner off the button with an emery board.  Now it's not a problem.  That little arch on the rear of the grip is supposed to make it fit the contour of the palm, I guess.  I think it adds too much bulk and leaves a nice place for lint and dust to gather in the mainspring.  I've seen Glocks with that arch cut off and the grips sanded and refinished ... but I just can't bring myself to do that with my pistol ... yet.  It is in truth just a wee bit long front-to-back to properly fit my hand, but for all that it still points well, shoots softly, hits where aimed, and all that, so, well, so what if it doesn't feel like it fits just right?

       For those wanting a .40 (and willing to forget that the case-head of the cartridge is not, in the opinion of many, property supported in the .40 caliber Glocks ... look up "kaboom"), the G27 is a great option.  Essentially the same piece only giving up one round to house the fatter .40s, it is the softest shooting mini-.40 I've ever fired, and I have fired several.  Just the other day I qualified an old friend on the range.  His g/f gave him a G27 for Christmas and he wanted to tote it off-duty.  His qualification (rapid present and fire to very rapid present and fire stages from 15, 7, and 3 yards) was excellent and was the first time he'd shot the brand new pistol.  We then spent a while breaking it in and once more, I was impressed with the design.  Yes, yes, we shot it along side my Kahr PM40.  My PM40 is much smaller and a bit lighter, but that means it pushes a bit more.  Honestly they make great mild-weather/hot weather companion guns.  The PM40 when you'd otherwise go unarmed or with a mousegun (no offense, I like mouseguns), and the Glock 26 or 27 when you can tote something just a wee bit bigger overall.

       Recently I started making some Kydex holsters, finding few out there that I liked or that I was willing to part with my hard earned cash for just to most likely see them in the Box of Holsters That Didn't Quite Work For Me.  That box, excuse me, those boxes, are way too full now.  Kydex is so thin I can make a good IWB holster that adds very little bulk to the chunky Glock so it can ride tucked in my waistband nearly as comfortably as it did when riding "nekkid," but is in truth firmly clipped to my belt.  Also, a paddle design I've been playing with keeps it tight into the body so a light over-shirt (or X-L Aloha shirt) and it hides quite well. There's something about knowing  you have 28 rounds at hand in two magazines (10 round mag, 17 round mag, and one round chambered) that's mighty satisfying when  you find yourself somewhere with a suspicious character or two loitering about.

     So to sum up, I've rediscovered my old friend, the Glock 26.  I think our time apart did us some good.   Oh, and it's fun to shoot, too.