...until I shot a couple of them. I own quite a few good quality handguns, and Glocks have just never appealed to me, despite knowing that they are quality handguns. But, I made up my mind that I wanted a 10mm to carry in the woods, and this is the one I decided would be best for what I had in mind.

To me, Glocks are ugly, blocky, have the wrong grip angle, and when you dry-fire one without a magazine, they sound and feel like one of my old Mattel toys from the late '50's, early '60's. But they work, dammit, and I have a weakness for tools that work exactly as they were intended to, and then some.

I bought this G-20 last week, more or less on a whim, the excuse being that I could carry it when squirrel hunting, for hogs and such. I used to go to the field a lot, in my work as a surveyor, and I have walked right up into the middle of small herds of feral hogs, while slipping around quietly, and it always gave me a chill up the spine. They have always run away, but I know that sometimes they will freak out, before they know where you are, and run towards you, instead. So, I'm thinking that 16 rounds of 10mm hardball would be just perfect for such an occasion. I don't intend to go looking for such a circumstance, but I also don't intend to let the possibility keep me from doing what I want to do.

Here it is, Glock G-20, fixed sights, 10mm, two 15 round mags. The holster is home-made, one of my early failures that I rejected for use with my 1911. I reworked it a little, and stretched it out to fit the Glock, and I think it will work fine.





I shot a 50 round box of Remington 180 grain flat nosed FMJ through it, all from 25 yards, at the rifle range. Since this gun will primarily be used for hunting type scenarios, I think 25 yards is the appropriate practice range. The targets from this first target session are not that impressive, but do, I think give a sense of what the potential is with this handgun.

My very first shot hit the staple in the center of my target, and knocked the paper plate down - the first time I've ever done that at 25 yards. Of course, after the first shot, I had a little flinch and missed the plate on the next two shots. I took a couple of deep breaths and was able to get the next two on the plate. Bear in mind that my 58 year old eyes have a lot of trouble getting iron sights and distant targets to focus together properly.



I decided to shoot from a rest for awhile, till I beat my flinch, and managed a couple bulls on the next five.



After shooting ten from a rest, I felt like I had gotten rid of my flinch and stood back up. The first two were in the bull, but I drifted off on the others. This is fairly typical of the way I shoot - I make a few really good shots, but I am inconsistent. It's a practice thing, I know. I need to be burning up my .22's, if I expect to ever get better...just never get around to it. It's much easier to blame everything on fading eyesight.



Recoil: Not bad...a little more pronounced than .45 +P, but not unpleasant. I was expecting a lot worse, and I did flinch a little through the first 20 rounds or so. But, I finally settled down, and once I had relaxed a bit, all went well and I thoroughly enjoyed shooting the pistol. 10mm is the rough equivalent of some .41 Magnum rounds, but in this semi-auto, seems to have quite a bit less recoil.

Precision: Great. I hit several honest bulls eyes - by that I mean that I knew I was dead on when the gun 'went off.' This is a very legitimate 25 yard plus pistol.

Fit and Finish: Hey...it's a Glock. It looks like John Dillinger carved it from a bar of soap. The grip is huge, which works really well for me, but might be a problem for anyone with smaller hands. (I think they make a SF model, though, for smaller hands.) I have a drawer full of holsters and none will fit it, except the one I modified. But the craftsmanship is excellent, as far as the way everything fits together, and it never failed to feed or eject.

Conclusion: This is a very cool pistol. I wanted it to carry in the woods, and for no other reason, and I think it is going to be perfect for that. It's too big to carry concealed on any kind of regular basis, and I never had any intention of doing that. I intend to hand load 200 grain hardball for it, and use it to shoot a hog, if I ever walk up on another one. I may even eventually buy an after-market barrel, with conventional cut rifling, so I can use hardcast lead bullets. But, even if I never do use it that way, I know I will still have a lot of fun with this gun.