The 9mm short (380 ACP) has a case measuring 9 x 17mm. Opposed to the 9 x 19mm Parabellum cartridge case which is longer. Be assured that the effectiveness of this round as a self-defense caliber fires up hot debate whenever this topic is brought up.
Developed by Colt firearms a century ago. Designed by none other than John Browning who worked for Colt. Initially designated the .380 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) cartridge. As a result of its small size and low weight, it has seen a recent surge in popularity as a concealed carry weapon. Also known as a BUG or back up gun.
Perhaps Massad Ayoob sums it up best: “Some experts will say it’s barely adequate, and others will say it’s barely inadequate.”
Sign up for a Glock Experience Event, tailor-made to suit your requirements and test fire the 9mm short with the excellent combination of small size and light recoil.
The famous 1986 FBI Miami shootout which involved two suspects and eight FBI agents circuitously led to the birth of the 40 Smith & Wesson. The incident lasted under five minutes yet approximately 145 shots were exchanged. The two suspects were shot respectively six and twelve times and two agents died and all but one was wounded. The question posed by the FBI, was why had it taken six and twelve gunshots to finally incapacitate the felons. Was it time to upgrade Police officers to semi automatic pistols and lay the 38 Special revolver to rest? Was the 9mm standard issue cartridge lacking in stopping power?
Based on ideal terminal ballistic performance in ordnance gelatine during lab testing in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the .40 S&W earned status as “the ideal cartridge for personal defence and law enforcement”.
The 40 S&W shares similar accuracy, bullet drift and drop as the 9mm Parabellum but does have a substantial energy advantage making it popular with law enforcement
If you are interested in firing a Glock chambered in the hard hitting 40 S&W and in fact comparing it to 9 x 19mm and 45 ACP models sign up for a Glock Experience Event, tailor made to suit your requirements.
The 10mm auto (10 x 25mm) was developed by legend Jeff Cooper. This powerful cartridge was briefly selected for use by the FBI. This was a bit of a knee jerk reaction following the famous 1986 FBI Miami shootout which involved two suspects and eight FBI agents. The incident lasted under five minutes yet approximately 145 shots were exchanged. The two suspects were shot respectively six and twelve times before being incapacitated and two agents died. All but one FBI agent was wounded.
Shortly after introduction of the 10mm auto, the FBI withdrew the caliber for standard use. The FBI deeming it too difficult to shoot by the average agent. It still however remains in use by the SWAT teams and the FBI Hostage Rescue Teams.
The flat shooting 10mm has ballistic characteristics similar to the 41 magnum revolver cartridge, it is favoured by big game hunters as a back up when hunting dangerous game and is a formidable tactical and self defense caliber as one can imagine.
Interested in firing a Glock chambered in the awesome 10mm auto ? Sign up for a Glock Experience Event, tailor made to suit your requirements and shoot the pistol that certainly would make “Dirty Harry’s” day. More info at:
The 9 x 19mm Parabellum. The world’s most popular and widely used military handgun and submachinegun cartridge. As a result it needs little introduction. Designed by Georg Luger in 1902, the caliber has managed to go from strength to strength. This despite having been faced with stiff competition from such calibers as 40 Smith & Wesson.
A report on 9 x 19mm Parabellum was released by the FBI in 2014. The effectiveness of the 9 x 19mm round was compared to 45ACP and 40 Smith. As a result, it has certainly helped the 9mm Parabellum re-establish itself as top dog.
9 x 19mm Parabellum New Powders
The report indicated that the new powders and more advanced bullet designs used in current 9 x 19mm Parabellum defensive loads allowed for the caliber to deliver similar performance to other calibers. As an example the .45 ACP, and .40 S&W. Furthermore the FBI report made it clear that the more consistent accuracy of 9mm in the hands of their agents was a factor in their returning to 9mm as their standard handgun caliber.
If you are interested in firing a Glock chambered in 9 x 19mm and in fact comparing it to other calibers such as 45 ACP and 40 S&W sign up for a Glock Experience Event, tailor made to suit your requirements. Detailed information about our Glock Experience Event is available by going to www.glockexperience.co.za
By definition the Glock Modular Optical System (MOS) is a reliable and simple mounting system engineered by Glock. MOS facilitates the attachment of a reflex sight (Red Dot) onto the iconic semi-automatic pistol. Ideally, a reflex sight needs a machined platform to mount to the top of a semi-auto slide. Some systems use the machined slot or dovetail where the back sight is mounted as the primary reflex sight mounting point. This does not, however, give the sight the optimum platform size. Consequently the stability it requires to withstand the repeated high g- force cycles it has to cope with is compromised. Like all compromises, mount stability will affect the accuracy of the sight.
Glock slide milling South Africa.
The MOS system achieves a stable mounting platform to ensure sight accuracy. The slide has a slot machined into it about 48mm long in the Glock factory. This slot then has a cover plate fitted into it – even with matching slide serrations – that makes the frame look indistinguishable from a standard Gen 4 or 5 at first glance. A question we are are often asked is if Glock slide milling is available in South Africa. Although I have heard of successful attempts at doing this there are many unsuccessful horror stories out there. Exercise extreme caution if you try to go this route and of course bear in mind that all warranties on your Glock will be voided by this action.
Simple Installation
The reflex sight installation is then simple. Firstly you unscrew and remove the cover plate, position the new plate ( four plates are supplied to fit the most common optics) designed for use with your optic and screw it in position. The MOS plate kit supplied with the pistol. Furthermore it even has Loctite coated screws. Subsequently attach your optic of choice to the plate with screws, as per your sight manufacturer’s instructions and you’re good to go.
Four plates are supplied in the kit that will suit the following optics:
Plate1 -Eotech/TruGlo/Insight/Meopta
Plate2 -Trijicon RMR
Plate3- C-More
Plate 4 -Leupold Delta Point
If you have an optic, not on the list don’t despair: many lesser-known sights use a mounting system identical to one of the above.
The Reflex or Red Dot Sight
Augmented Reality (AR) is a term that applies to any display technology capable of overlaying graphical information within the user’s view of the real world. A heads up display is a perfect example and so, of course, is a reflex or “red dot” gunsight.
Origins of the System
Sounds like “Star Wars” technology but in reality, the origins of the reflex sight system date back formally to Dublin, Ireland, 1901. In fact, it possibly even predates this by a century. A magicians stage trick now known as “The Pepper Effect” used the same principle. Howard Grub – a telescope maker – patented a reflex (reflective) sight in 1901. A virtual image (read here, red dot) was projected onto an optical sight. This reflex principle of Grub’s was later adopted on fighter aircraft gunsights at the end of WW1 and subsequently on bomb and anti-aircraft sights.
Enter the LED
The development of the small energy-efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in the seventies and light gathering fiber optics allowed for the future miniaturisation of reflex sights to a degree where they are now available for handguns. It is worth mentioning that the next evolutionary step for the reflex sight design is the use of a holographic projection rather than a projected LED or another light source such as a tritium beta lamp. The miniaturisation of lasers has made these reflex style holographic sights possible. The technology is highly patented though and at present only available from Eotech.
Advantages of the reflex sight.
The reflex sight has many advantages over a conventional set of iron sights. For me the most important is that a reflex optic places the dot in the same focal plane as the target, so both are in focus. Unlike when using conventional sights where you keep the front sight sharp and the target blurry – the red dot sight lets you keep focused on the action: extremely useful when the going gets tough. A further benefit is that there is virtually no parallax error on a well-designed sight due to the use of collimated (light that goes in straight parallel lines) light. To the shooter, MOS means that the eye does not have to be perfectly aligned with the sight at all times to achieve optimum accuracy. Useful in a gunfight? – I’ll say.
TruGlo RMR Red Dot Sight
Reflex sights have the following advantages:
⁃ close to medium range targeting easier.
⁃ both eyes remain open instead of one eye closed like conventional sights
⁃ the reticle of the sight can be viewed at any reasonable distance
⁃ no set eye relief aiding in faster recognition of the reticle and consequently target
40 Smith & Wesson
