As an American citizen and a believer in the Constitution, I also believe in the right of the people to keep and bear arms. In keeping with this belief, I recently purchased a Glock 26 9mm pistol from a local firearms dealer. This was the first pistol I have ever purchased, so I decided to critique its usability.
The Glock 26, pictured here, measures 6.29 in. long and 4.17 in. high and weighs roughly 26 oz. when the firearms is loaded with the standard 10 9mm rounds. This seems very small, especially for a rather large person like myself, but the Glock 26 feels like it was molded specifically for me. My middle and ring fingers fit into the groves of the grip, my index finger can rest comfortably along the triggerguard or on the trigger, my pinkie curls comfortably under the magazine well, and my thumb can easily manipulate both the slide and magazine release buttons, as pictured below.
Once I had taken my Glock to the range and gotten it broken in, everything is very easy to manipulate. The slide release button, located just above my thumb in the middle of the weapon in the picture above. Releases a locked slide with a light press down. The only problem is it is a bit small, which means people with large or sweaty fingers might slip off before it is depressed. The magzine release button, located just below my thumb in the picture, is firm, without being stiff. Its placement makes it hard to accidentally press with the fingers from below due to the trigger guard. The pressure required for magazine release is also enough that it is hard to accidentally eject the magazine with a brush of the thumb.
The trigger of the pistol requires a rather long pull to fire, 5.5lbs of pressure and half an inch of pull, but this only serves to prevent negligent discharges. You have to want to pull the trigger in order for it to move.
As with all Glocks, the Glock 26 has three safeties. A dropped gun safety that prevents the firing pin from moving forward if the weapon is accidentally dropped. A firing pin safety that prevents the firing pin from striking a chambered round without a trigger pull if the pin does move, and a trigger safety, that prevents the trigger from moving unless it is depressed while firing.
While there is no external lever safety, unlike many other firearms, the three of these mean you must want the weapon to fire in order for it to fire. Despite this, however, proper firearm handling should be followed at all times to prevent accidental injury to you or others.
Disassembly of the Glock pistol is
very easy. The takedown lever is located just above the triggerguard, and to separate the slide from the frame, only a few simple steps must be followed.
First, the firearm must be completely unloaded. Then the trigger must be pulled so the firing pin is decocked. Once that is done, the slide must be pulled about 1/8th of an inch backwards, easily accomplished with the grip shown in the picture to the right. The takedown lever is then pulled down with the other hand, and the slide can then be slid off. Once that is accomplished, the recoil spring and barrel can be separated with the fingers. That is all the disassembly the Glock needs for cleaning and basic maintenance.
In conclusion, the Glock 26 is a very user friendly firearm, with a great positioning of components, the right balance between safetey and ease of use, and a great combination of concealability, capacity, and firepower.
