If you want to know “what stupid thing you shouldn’t do” is, just watch me.
I received a manufacturer’s sample gun on a Wednesday afternoon. I got it home, field stripped it and ensured I had proper lubrication where it needed it, along with a short inspection.
That’s not the stupid thing. A few days later, I did the stupid thing. That was a couple of weeks ago.
The first rounds fired out of the gun were for-the-record annual semi-auto qualification under terms of the federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act. I also used a holster that was, while similar in various ways to holsters I’d used before, was different in that it featured a thumb break safety strap.
On the line at the range, my verbal self-help messages consisted of “Don’t shoot yourself.”
That’s pretty stupid.
The good news, for me, is that I used premium range ammo (yes, there is such a thing) and the gun was a recent iteration of one of the most proven service handgun designs in history. That it was chambered in 45 Auto was, for someone my age, a potential issue.
All ended up well.
To add detail, I shot the new GLOCK 30 Gen5, using Federal American Eagle Syntech Range 230 grain Syntech Jacket Flat Nose ammo and drawing from a DeSantis Gunhide Thumb Break Scabbard.
I’ve shot better, but under the state scoring it was 100%. For me it was a 90% - and for what it was, I congratulate the makers of the pistol, the ammo and the holster.
The holster is a vastly improved “pancake” outside the waistband design. The gun rides high and conceals quite well for an OWB. This particular holster – for this gun and the G29 – is the “three slot model.” It’s capable of wearing with a forward cant (“FBI”), vertically oriented or cross-draw. The belt slots are 1 ¾” wide. My 1.5” belt pulled the rig in tightly and it didn’t shift. It’s tan, though you can get it in black. My sample was unlined, but you can get suede lining as well.
The gun is around G19-size, except with a noticeably thicker slide; this is not a modern analog to the G30S “slim slide” 45 Auto. That gun would fit some G19 holsters and made me very happy.
I supplemented the factory-supplied 10-round magazines with an elderly 13-round G21 magazine. Each worked quite well during the event. There were no stoppages.
While firing the course, I found the “dominant hand only” phase was interesting; the gun’s not that heavy for a 45 Auto and the ammo supply (a good part of the weight of this gun) was thinning out for that string of fire. Still, the recoil when shooting two-handed was unremarkable. While I was slow with the 45, I’m finding I’m slow with everything these days.
Perhaps “deliberate” is a better term for my ego …
I had 10 hits out of the center circle (around 7” in diameter), with all hits in the main scoring ‘bottle.’ One hit was just inside the line, taking a nick out of it. I’m not sure why I was tending right, but I figure I know about the low shots.
All in all, it was a good start for a new gun.
To balance it out, I shot one of the old backup guns I had for the revolver portion of the course. It’s been proven since around 2008.
The gun is the Smith & Wesson M&P 340 (from 2008) with Apex Tactical Action parts and the Crimson Trace LG-405 stocks, Winchester “white box” 130 FMJ ammo, drawn from the Galco SM158 “Speed Master” (now, their closest product is the Combat Master)
This gun too was shot on the agency’s new target, marked to the size of the required FBI-Q. I was told I was “down 1,” but I considered it a poorer performance. For a nice action, good sights, on a very light gun, I really should have done better. The little old gun was a pleasure to shoot. I’ll be looking to refresh the sights and sort out a few minor issues, but the gun is rock steady and reliable. It needs only a better grip holding it and it’ll do the job.
Thinking back, it would have been smarter to shoot the auto portion of the deal with a proven gun, but where’s the fun in that? A full examination of the GLOCK 30 Gen 5 will be forthcoming.
— Rich Grassi
