Tactical Tuesday: Pistols

It's Tactical Tuesday!
Today's subject is pistols, most specifically the Glock series.

Glock 19

Why Glock? Well here's my reasoning: because it's not a piece of crap. Because they're affordable but not cheaply made; easy to hold, shoot and keep clean. The ammunition is easy to find, as are the cleaning kits and spare parts since pretty much every gun shop in America has some in stock due to their prevalence in the home defense market. Plus, they're scary looking--which doesn't really matter to a zombie, but they do scare the equally dangerous living ghoul (that guy trying to steal your cache of bottled water for example).

Now there has been some dispute concerning which caliber, the 9mm or .45 ACP and thus which model of Glock (the 19 or the 21 respectively) would be best. But first let me explain my thought process.

I prefer carrying things in my pockets because when my hands hang down and I happen to have pockets or a coat with pockets, it's easier for me to extract whatever it is I need to extract: in this instance a firearm.

This is easier with a gun that fits the description gun manufacturer uses as "compact" without going as far as "subcompact" which is even smaller.

Glock 21

That leads me to the choice between Glock 19 or Glock 21 (left) both of which are compact versions of the Glock 17 and Glock 20 respectively. The Glock 19 chambers the 9mm round and the Glock 21 the .45 ACP. Both calibers have their pros and cons.

The 9mm is definitely suitable for someone with little to no gun experience because you can fire them all day without really getting tired from the recoil. It also provides a smaller muzzle fire because of its lower powder charge (smaller bullet, smaller amount of power) and thus would be quieter (lessening the chances of ghouls hearing you). These bullets also hurt a great deal when shot into a living target because of their prodigious ability to penetrate.

Conversely, the .45 ACP being a larger munition is largely capable of making an undead cranium go bye bye, it also has immense stopping power where living targets are concerned. These cartridges also tend to be quite loud (ghouls have mysteriously good hearing) and the recoil from them may require a decent amount of practice before accuracy can be expected.

.45 ACP is on the left, 9mm on the right

So which to chose?

Well if you bent my arm behind my back I would probably chose the Glock 19 if only because I'm lazy and a cheap-o and don't want to spend 30 cents on each .45 bullet when I can spend .22 cents on each 9 mm bullet. That and realistically the 9mm is easier to find and more plentiful and is more easily procured (some states restrict how many bullets of .45 you can purchase at a time) and is a more practical gun. However, practicality aside I would prefer the stopping power of the .45 in my hand if in a pinch, if only because apparently it causes a pretty astounding ballistics pattern upon impact. (wink)

Happy Surviving!