Of the guns that I've put through the whole 2,000 round thing here on the blog, I've come away with unqualified admiration for four of them: The full-size Sig Sauer P320 in 9mm, the Sig P250C in .380, the Glock 19, and the Glock 37. The 37 is the oddball of the bunch, being chambered for Glock's peculiar and almost proprietary .45 GAP cartridge (Springfield Armory cataloged XDs in the chambering for a year or so, but other than that, GAP has pretty much been an all-Glock show.)
After the good experience with the 37, I wondered how well a certain other gun in .45 GAP would work...
Keeping consistent with the rest of their catalog, Glock had followed up 2004's duty-sized Glock 37 with a 2005 introduction of a compact Glock 38 and subcompact Glock 39. The 39 was on the same frame as the 9mm G26, .40 G27, and .357SIG G33, but with a slightly wider, more massive slide to address reliability and durability concerns.
The Glock 26-size magazine would hold ten rounds of 9x19mm or nine of .40/.357. In .45 GAP it holds six, and the "Plus 2" extension is only a "Plus 1".
This is still a combination of size, weight, bore diameter, and magazine capacity that is pretty unique on the market. It scratches the same not-entirely-logical itch for me that the small/medium-frame big-bore revolvers like the Charter Arms Bulldog or Smith & Wesson 696 do...
Recoil is surprisingly mild, even with Sellier & Bellot's 230gr FMJ offering. I would rather shoot this thing than the .40 S&W Glock 27 any day of the week and twice on Sunday. The more massive slide brings it down to a recoil level that is subjectively hard to distinguish from that of the 9mm Glock 26.
The best part is that the hipster Glocks are generally pretty cheap on the used market when you can find them. This one, complete with night sights and the mag extension, was won for $375 shipped on Gunbroker.
Reliability testing will commence soon.
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