The first decent centerfire handgun I bought was a Gen 3 G34. I remember the excitement, and how glad I was to have the Academy-special Taurus out of my life. I apparently missed the paper once during my NRA intro to pistol class with the Taurus, with its inconsistent and incredibly heavy trigger. I knew myself to be a much better shot than that, due to my experience with a Buck Mark at that point. My first round ever through the G34 was in the bull. Things were going to get a lot better. I soon picked up a police trade-in 96D just to see what that was about. I was shooting at ranges with slow-fire rules, but I found I could be notably more accurate with that old, well-used and inexpensive pistol than I was with the Glock. Loading the right (Hornady Critical Defense) ammo in that pizza gun the first time was a quantum leap in my apparent shooting skill and expectations of progress. A friend I went shooting with, who's had guns for 25 years, shot that old Beretta significantly better than he did his own guns that day.
The Glock has been sitting in the safe for a couple years while I continued to learn about other, more interesting pistols. But Glocks have a lot of good qualities and, although I wouldn’t now buy one, it seemed silly to get rid of a perfectly good G34 that I already have.
You can’t circulate in the gun world and avoid learning more about Glocks, and with the idea that I’d get back to it eventually and want it to be a good piece, I’ve picked up little things here and there. Some Meprolight sights that were $67 on Amazon, a NY1 spring, the Apex extractor and supporting bits recommended by Wayne Dobbs, and a Gadget. Recently, the P320 fiasco got me more focused on the Glock action and appreciating its operation, and I decided it was time to get hands-on. So I installed all the parts, and did a little further tuning of the Grip Force Adapter (chopped the beavertail for Gadget access and a little more while I had the files and sandpaper out). Made sure things that should move smoothly actually move smoothly. I’ve eliminated the undercut bump on the trigger guard that gave me Glock Knuckle the first time out, chamfered the annoying sharp corners of the mag release, and shaved the trigger dingus so it is almost flush with the trigger itself. I’ve been shooting TDA, and the NY1/minus trigger is about as close to that as I can imagine a Glock trigger being. Basically, it’s everything I can imagine wanting it to be, and there’s nothing I would change about it.
Took it to the range last night. Started off with three slow-fire holes touching in the center of the bull. Sights are on. Did my usual routine. At the end, I was shooting it acceptably, given how different it is from the TDA guns I’ve been working with lately.
Does the G34 work? Yeah.
Could I get A LOT better with more training focusing on it? Yeah.
Did I feel any joy or passion while shooting it? Nope, not even a little.
Do I look forward to getting back to the range with it next time? Haven’t actually visualized doing so.
I feel about the Glock almost exactly the way I feel about the staple gun in my tool chest. Nice to know it’s there if I need to staple something, but other than that, I’m not going to dwell on it.
Contrast it with my previous range session, where I had thoughts like, “Realistically, I should just sell all my other centerfire pistols.” That was a plastic gun, too. And I intend to spend more money on it to make it work better for me. (Planning to explore the world of LEM/Match parts mixing.) I’m excited to get moving down that path, dialing in the pistol and working to improve myself with it. But I won’t sell all my others, because I like them, too. When I pull the GP100 out of its case, it looks just sooo right, and when I dry fire it, it’s beautiful on the inside. It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling and makes me want to build some serious revolver skills in this life.
I think the answer is obvious. The G34 is a good gun. Mine is now dialed in just right for me. And it should go down the road.
If I sell it now, I don’t expect I’d ever buy another Glock, so this decision is likely to determine whether I’ll ever have a Glock in the future. I’m a little reluctant to close that door, especially when the do-nothing option leaves it open. Not that I really care whether it's open. But when most of the rest of the world seems to think Glocks are great, I kinda hesitate.
So the question, does anyone have any good reason why my G34 should go back to its place in the back of the safe so I can try again later?
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Originally Posted by OlongJohnson
