Glock and .40S&W ?

[awmp]

First time poster.

Been shooting .45acp and 9mm for more years than I can remember.

Forward to yesterday, G22 and G23 Generation 4. I fire about three hundred rounds of 180 grain .40S&W and now have a painful blister on the knuckle of the finger next to my index finger on my right hand.

Never had an issue with recoil or such a problem.

Is there some trick to firing a G22/G23?

[DocGKR]

Don't...

The G23 is one of the most uncomfortable pistols I have ever shot; I far prefer the M&P40.

Also Glock knuckle is fairly common and can be cured with a bit of judicious trigger guard shaping and smoothing.

[GJM]

I fire about three hundred rounds of 180 grain .40S&W and now have a painful blister on the knuckle of the finger next to my index finger on my right hand.

Never had an issue with recoil or such a problem.

Is there some trick to firing a G22/G23?

No trick, shooting a .40 a bunch in a Glock hurts. If I shot that much .40 in one session, my hands and wrists would hurt a lot the next day. Bill Rogers has told me, after demoing high round counts on successive days with a .40 at a federal agency, he had to soak his hands in ice each night.

I carry a Glock 22 in the summer in Alaska, and practice almost exclusively with a G17, shooting .40 just enough to confirm reliability and make sure I know how it feels in recoil.

Buy a 17, ammo is cheaper and your hands will thank you.

[WDW]

Have you tried shooting with a beavertail, either the Glock backstrap or the GFA? It gives you a little leverage & helps mitigate felt recoil & muzzle flip.

[GJM]

Have you tried shooting with a beavertail, either the Glock backstrap or the GFA? It gives you a little leverage & helps mitigate felt recoil & muzzle flip.

Are you sure they give you more leverage? Robert Vogel made a point of saying, and I later was able to observe, that the GFA gives you less leverage as your hand is forced lower on the backstrap than without. My quick look at the Glock backstrap shows it to be like the GFA in that regard.

Now if the slide is cutting you, that is a different story.

[WDW]

Are you sure they give you more leverage? Robert Vogel made a point of saying, and I later was able to observe, that the GFA gives you less leverage as your hand is forced lower on the backstrap than without. My quick look at the Glock backstrap shows it to be like the GFA in that regard.

Now if the slide is cutting you, that is a different story.

Muzzle goes up after firing, extra beavertail material acts as a lever making it not go up as far or as long. JMO in firing my Glock .40's. I much prefer the feel of no backstrap, but I shoot it with the beavertail better. It may be physically lower, but it is in contact with more material.

[Sal Picante]

After getting my "M" card with a stock G22, then earning my Rogers advanced with a stock G22, I've got a bit of advice:

HTFU (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=htfu)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/731798/chopper-read.jpg

[GJM]

Hey, I was in the bay next to you all week -- you were shooting gamer loads! :)

[awmp]

Thanks for all the replys.

Fired glocks for years but in 9mm and 45acp, .40S&W is not in the fun category.

However here is the issue.

I'm going to be working as a Reserve Officer and the duty pistol, yep you guessed it is a Glock 22.

The end of September I'm going to a Glock Armorers Course and then the Glock Law Enforcement Trainer Course. I was told I needed to bring atleast 1,000 rounds which we will fires in 2 1/2 days in my Glock 22.

I can't modify the pistol, but may sand just a little and make sure it is not noticable.

I have tired others back straps and the pistol feels the best with no straps installed.

Any points, ideas or solutions that might help?

[Nephrology]

Don't...


Also Glock knuckle is fairly common and can be cured with a bit of judicious trigger guard shaping and smoothing.

Or, alternatively, through the eventual development of a hump-shaped callous just above the second interphalangeal on the middle finger...

[Sal Picante]

Or, alternatively, through the eventual development of a hump-shaped callous just above the second interphalangeal on the middle finger...

This.

Start dry firing now - use your 9mm Glock if you need to - and you'll start to build some callouses.

How to dryfire? Check this book out. (http://www.benstoegerproshop.com/Champion-Shooting-A-Proven-Process-for-Success-p/proven-process-for-success.htm)

15-30 minutes a day. Not only will your hands get tough, you'll shoot like a boss.

[LOKNLOD]

Any points, ideas or solutions that might help?

A little bit of cloth tape around the finger in the offending area can help with the abrasion, sometimes.

[Chuck Haggard]

This stuff on that spot works great as an artificial callous;


http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-liquid-bandage-antiseptic/ID=prod6093853-product

[LittleLebowski]

After getting my "M" card with a stock G22, then earning my Rogers advanced with a stock G22, I've got a bit of advice:

HTFU (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=htfu)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/731798/chopper-read.jpg

I know of quite a few people that (including myself) that just can't take high volume .40 or .45ACP shooting due to injury or simply damage from a lot of shooting.

[Chuck Haggard]

I know of quite a few people that (including myself) that just can't take high volume .40 or .45ACP shooting due to injury or simply damage from a lot of shooting.

I know of people who has been injured by high volume shooting with Glock .40s, some of them very hard dudes.

[Sal Picante]

I know of people who has been injured by high volume shooting with Glock .40s, some of them very hard dudes.

Yes, but his post was that he's shot a lot of .45 and 9mm and now has a blister by his knuckle. Not exactly uncommon.

"HTFU" approach is one way to deal with it... It gets better with a little exposure. That dryfire goes a long way.

[LittleLebowski]

I agree, the knuckle is surmountable. I have the callous myself. How does dryfire help it, though?

[pangloss]

I agree, the knuckle is surmountable. I have the callous myself. How does dryfire help it, though?

I don't dry fire or practice my draw regularly enough, but on days when I do practice my draw for a while, my finger starts to blister. For me the blister seems to be more a function of presentation than firing.

[RBid]

I find the 3rd Gen 23 to be a bit uncomfortable after more than about 100 rounds in a session, but the Gen 4 (with factory beavertail backstrap) to be very comfortable.

As to your particular issue, here are some angles to take:

1. Trigger time-- dry or live

2. Trigger guard radius work

3. An appliqué of some sort on the bottom of the guard may help.

Naturally, gloves and other hand-side solutions are available, when convenient.

[TCinVA]

I don't dry fire or practice my draw regularly enough, but on days when I do practice my draw for a while, my finger starts to blister. For me the blister seems to be more a function of presentation than firing.

If you practice the draw purposefully, as if you're doing it for real, it will beat you up to some extent and cause callouses, blisters, etc.

There's a certain amount of beating that comes from trying to control the pistol during recoil, though, that you won't get from anything but live fire.

[Sal Picante]

I agree, the knuckle is surmountable. I have the callous myself. How does dryfire help it, though?

It gets that callous building up...

Someone said it was more about presentation than actual live fire. Gotta agree...

[LittleLebowski]

It gets that callous building up...

Someone said it was more about presentation than actual live fire. Gotta agree...

So many things lead back to dry fire :D

[Little Creek]

First time poster.

Been shooting .45acp and 9mm for more years than I can remember.

Forward to yesterday, G22 and G23 Generation 4. I fire about three hundred rounds of 180 grain .40S&W and now have a painful blister on the knuckle of the finger next to my index finger on my right hand.

Never had an issue with recoil or such a problem.

Is there some trick to firing a G22/G23?

My experience is that I much prefer the G22 Gen 4 over the G23 Gen 4. I much prefer the G17/19 over the G22/23. Easier to shoot well, cheaper practice ammo, terminal ballistics (with proper ammo) not significantly different. More taste, less filling, etc.

[Kobalt60]

I carry a G23 gen4 and agree that it can feel pretty harsh, especially with the gen4 texture which is like holding a cheese grater. Polishing the internal contact points for the trigger mechanism (aka The 25 cent trigger job) can smooth out the pull a little so you aren't rubbing so hard on the top of the trigger housing. Other than that and holding it hard as hell with your support hand, I'd say just work on your presentation technique. The recoil can be controlled, but it's never going to feel smooth as a steel frame .45.

[BobLoblaw]

My first handgun was a 23. I got some blisters but you learn to deal and the callouses will make every trigger guard equally unnoticeable in comfort. Plus, the excess abrasion caused me to crank down on the grip and aided me in learning recoil management. Disliked the staged "target" trigger more than anything though. My hands are smaller so the 17/22 gen 4 frame seats the front strap corner rtf dimples in the crease of my knuckle which was way worse. It's like models and high fashion dresses: change yourself to fit them.

[Sal Picante]

I always managed to grip higher on the G23 than on a G22 - as a result, it treated me like a deli-slicer.

G23 was my least favorite glock...

[t101]

Interesting about how felt recoil is such an individual thing. The first five years of my career were spent shooting a Sig P229 in .357 Sig. I got very familiar with the big blast, mild recoil of that round. After I transferred to my current agency, which issues and mandates duty carry with .40 caliber Glocks, I can remember preparing to shoot that first familiarization course of fire at the academy. I had never fired a .40 caliber Glock and after reading all I had on the internet, I was expecting that oh so "snappy" caliber to whip the muzzle back into my forehead and/or to leave my hands bleeding. It didn't happen. As a matter of fact, I remember actually shifting my head to the side to watch the action of the weapon work as I didn't initially believe the gun was going off properly.

A few years later, I picked up a Gen 4 Glock 23 as an alternate duty carry weapon for my Glock 22. At the time I also had owned a Gen 3 G19. Shooting those guns side by size, with the .40 load as 165 grain Gold Dots vs. the 9mm load as 124 +P Gold Dots, the 9mm was a harsher, sharper recoil than the .40. But that is just for me. I wont dispute the 9mm being a more shootable and just as capable as any .40 (or .45), but any time I hear complaining about how terrible the .40 in a Glock is I think of Jesse Ventura's line in Predator while they are riding out in the helicopter.

[MD7305]

I carried 9mm Glocks for several years and then made the decision to consolidate all of my ammo and guns to .40 so I could stay consistent with my issued stuff. I swapped my Glock 19s for Glock 23s. The only issues I ever experienced were on extended range sessions, my hands would get tired and a case of the shakes where with my 9mm Glocks I didn't experience that as much. I wouldn't say that was purely an isolated .40 Glock issue because it also occured with my then duty gun, Sig 229 .40. I predominately shot my G23 in classes and IDPA and I was often told, even by Todd and Ken Hackathorn, how difficult the G23 was to shoot vs. a G22. I had never owned a G22 at that time so I eventually purchased a G22 Gen.4 to see for myself and it was in fact much easier to manage. I also purchased a G35 and I found it very soft shooting. I eventually got rid of my G23s for G22s and chopped one of them to take G23 mags. Even the G22"K" is easier to shoot than a standard G23, IMHO. My agency just adopted G22 Gen.4s with TRL-1s (no issues with that combo yet , knock on wood) and the concensus has been that officers much prefer it commonly saying they feel less recoil compared to the Sig 229 .40 we previously carried.

I remember when I took AFHF we did a drill where we were able to shoot guns belonging to other students. In this particular class everyone was shooting a 9mm except me and Todd made sure the guys taking part in the drill had a chance to shoot a gun different than what they had been shooting all weekend. It was entertaining to watch the reactions of guys who had shot several hundred rounds of 9mm over the weekend pick up a Glock 23 .40. They all said the difference was very noticeable.