40 cal is a mistake

I think the Glock is a great gun, it is. Its simple, accurate, and durable. The trigger pull is far less than a smith. But why go from the .45 to a .40??? I watched the clip on Bay News 9 about it. Who ever was doing the demo sounded like an idiot. You don't want to hit the mag on a reload, cuz its bad?? Thats what training is for. And has Polk done any research on how man barrells have been blown up .40 caliber rounds??? Lots. I would have gone with the Glock 21, .45 caliber. Big bullet, big hit. .40 cal, fast bullet, high probability of over-penetration.

While everyone has their own opinion which caliber is the best, the facts are:

1. a .40 caliber weapon carries more bullets than a .45 caliber in a similiar sized weapon

2. the .40 caliber has similiar ballistic characteristics to a .45 caliber when firing bullets of the same weight

Beyond this, an argument could be made for either caliber

I agree a glock .40 can carry more than a Glock .45, but not by much. The Glock 21 carries 13+1. Almost any handgun round ballistic characteristics would be "similar". But a ton of agencies moved away from .40 cal and 10mm because they are too fast and over penetrate. A .45 packs a wallup and tends to stay in the target. At my agency we have had several shootings with the .45 and it has consistently not over penetrated.

Whats more important is training to aim or point shoot and not just be first to fire, but first to hit. By adding the statement that you want more ammo in your mag so you don't have to reload as much is saying, "fire away."

I predict you WILL have some barrells blow out due to the higher energy of the .40 cal and you will have more complaints of recoil or "kick" from the gun. Either is better than the 7 of a smith, but I woudl have stayed with the .45

I was surprised to see PCSO dropping the S&W 4566 for the Glock 22. I haven't seen any of them on the street yet, though. The deputies probably will like the G22, it is light to carry, fast to get into action, and you can pack more ammo. With the Taser and all they have on their belts now, a little less weight has to be a good thing. Plus, most of the municipal agencies, like LPD for example, have already gone to .40 so if a deputy needs to borrow ammo in a pinch on the street he or she can.

I think Glock and Federal Ammunition Co. have got around the problems that were causing 2d Generation and early 3d Gen .40 Glocks to blow up. As I understand it, the problems have been traced to a lack of case support in the Glock chamber along with bad Federal cases or overloaded reloads. I haven't seen anything about Glocks blowing up since Portland, Oregon Police Dept. had .45 ACP Models 21 blow up a couple years ago on their range.

PCSO is a good department. They're getting better all the time, too.

Miao, Cat

Now that we have talked about weapon's that should be used as a back up ONLY!!! Lets talk about a Professional's Sure fire best weapon made, Sig Sauer. There is nothing left to argue about PERIOD thee End!!!

+1 there. I have a SIG SP 2022, and swear by it.

Miao, Cat

+2 I have a Sig P229R 9mm and 220...love 'em. I'm disgusted that Glock seems to be some sort of standard now. Sig's are top notch..."to hell and back reliability!"

+2 I have a Sig P229R 9mm and 220...love 'em. I'm disgusted that Glock seems to be some sort of standard now. Sig's are top notch..."to hell and back reliability!"

Sig sucks. Glock or HK is the way to go.

+2 I have a Sig P229R 9mm and 220...love 'em. I'm disgusted that Glock seems to be some sort of standard now. Sig's are top notch..."to hell and back reliability!"

Sig sucks. Glock or HK is the way to go.

I'll agree that HK is an equal alternative to a Sig. HK's are great. I think most are turned away from them because of the price tag. But Glock...come on, it's a cheap firearm and not entirely "trust worthy." Hell, the Beretta M9 is better than the Glock.

+2 I have a Sig P229R 9mm and 220...love 'em. I'm disgusted that Glock seems to be some sort of standard now. Sig's are top notch..."to hell and back reliability!"

Sig sucks. Glock or HK is the way to go.

I'll agree that HK is an equal alternative to a Sig. HK's are great. I think most are turned away from them because of the price tag. But Glock...come on, it's a cheap firearm and not entirely "trust worthy." Hell, the Beretta M9 is better than the Glock.

I carry a Glock 21 and swear by it. However, I will agree with you that HK is far superior. I love the HK and have two of them, but right now I’m waiting for their P3000 to come out so I can transition back over to HK. SIG is a wet gun and lets face it, for MOST cops you and I work with they won't spend the time maintaining their weapon. Therefore, SIG is not the answer for Law Enforcement. I won't deny the fact the SIG is a very high quality weapon.

My friend just came back from Iraq and he was issued the Berretta 92F. This weapon failed to fire on many occasions due to all the sand and dry air over there. He said many Marines had their own Glocks and HK's that fired every time. All in all it comes down to personnel preference. What ever you shoot better with should be what you carry.

Stay safe.

[NotsoOld Cop]

The Echo platoons are going through the Glock transitional training right now. We all qualified with our new weapons yesterday, and will go through the night firing tonight. To be honest, I was nervous about switching weapons. I like my S&W .45. Though I'm female, I have a larger grip, so the .45 is comfortable in my hand. I also like that it's a tough gun. It will stand up and keep firing under any situation I happen to get in.
But these new Glocks are pretty awesome. The holster is 100 times more tactical than our old holsters, and the weapon itself is smooth, accurate, and packs a good punch. Arguably, there is little difference in fire power between the .45 and the .40 cals. So the added magazine capacity is a huge benefit. If I don't hit anything, I'll sure scare the sh!$ out of em with all the lead I'll be slinging!!

As for Sig and the H&K's, they are fine guns, but cost prohibitive. I owned a really nice Sig a long time ago. I sold it because I couldn't trust it. The Sig fires well enough. But after I put about 50 rounds through it, it would start to jam up. It doesn't handle being dirty very well at all. I want a weapon that will shoot right every time, not just when it's clean. If we'd gone to Sigs, I'd have had to find a way out of that choice. Nice weapon, but only for fair weather shooting. S&W were getting too expensive to maintain and repair, so we had to change to something else. Of all the choices we had (and it wasn't an endless array, the heck with cost!), I think Glock is going to prove to be the best one.

As a warning to those who haven't gone through the training yet, GET YOUR HANDS IN SHAPE BEFORE YOU GO!!! And bring some bandaids, cos you'll need them. By the end of the first day, your hands are going to be hurting. Your strong-hand thumb is going to take the worst of it. A bandaid wrapped around it will help protect you from a lot of the soreness. These new holsters and weapons are something you'll have to practice a LOT with, before you get smooth with it. They require a strong grip. They have no respect at all for a wimpy grasp, so be forewarned! If you have a grip exerciser, use it. You'll be glad you did! Good luck, and happy shooting!

for anyone that still has to go thru Glock training... get the hogue grip. These guns are ROUGH and will wear away on you hands as well as slide around. The hogues slip on and they make the gun sooo much better to shoot and handle. Personally I like this gun a LOT more then the S & W.