The 8 Best Glocks for Beginners

It’s no secret that Glocks are the favored firearms of the police force and other law enforcement agencies. But Glocks have become a household name too, with many civilians choosing to purchase a Glock for home defense purposes as well as range practice.

If you’re considering buying a Glock for the first time, you’re probably feeling a bit confused by the vast array of models on the market. Luckily, many of these models will make the best Glock for beginners. In this article, we’ll explain why Glocks are an ideal choice for a first gun and how to use one.

Our Pick of the Top 8 Glocks Suitable for Beginners

We’ve chosen 8 of the most popular Glocks currently on the market. We tested and reviewed each model to give you a thorough analysis of why they’re an ideal choice for first-time users. We’ve also listed the pros and cons of each pistol for a simple breakdown and easy comparison.

Why are Glocks so popular?

Glock has an almost 65% market share of handguns in the U.S, making Glock a celebrity in the gun world. Glock is the preferred pistol for both law enforcement and civilians. But, what is it that makes Glock pistols so popular?

Glock is known for having spent considerable time and effort working on the “pointability” of the pistol. Pointability refers to the pistol’s natural ability to act as an extension of the shooter’s hand and eye coordination. The high pointability that Glock has obtained makes the pistol easier to aim than most of its competitors as well as being more user-friendly and accurate to shoot too.

• Glocks are made in a plastic mold rather than being assembled from steel. This is what makes Glocks so lightweight and what allows them to have large capacities.
• The lightness of the Glock is one of the most desired attributes. Glock has produced many compact, feather-light models that are the perfect gun choice for shooters wanting to conceal carry.
• The low maintenance of a Glock also adds to its popularity. These pistols will function well even if they are not cleaned properly or regularly.
• Gaston Glock came into the game knowing nothing about handguns. Surprisingly this is what he credits his success to. The lack of knowledge gave him no preconceived notions about what a handgun should be. This allowed him to focus on just a handful of requirements: ease of use, simplicity, and reliability, mastering them all.

Why Glocks are perfect for beginners

A Glock is the ideal pistol for first-time buyers for many reasons. Firstly, Glock is a well-known and trusted gun manufacturer throughout the world. Even though they have only been around since 1981, in this short time they have created a new era of pistol design and become the favorite firearm of both law enforcement personnel and civilians.

Purchasing a Glock will guarantee high-quality and reliability but without breaking the bank. Glocks are surprisingly affordable, and as a beginner, you’re probably not looking to splash out on a firearm just yet. Glock pistols are extremely easy to shoot. To operate you simply squeeze the trigger.

The recoil on a Glock is very manageable, even in larger calibers. That being said, beginners may prefer a Glock that’s chambered in 9×19, as this round is slightly less powerful than other calibers but still effective.

Safety is a huge concern for all shooters, but even more so for beginners. All Glock pistols feature the Glock Safe Action system. This comprises of three individual safety mechanisms (trigger safety, firing pin safety, and drop safety) that operate on a single trigger stroke, meaning there is no double-action trigger to worry about.

Lastly, there are only 34 parts to the entire Glock, which increases reliability and reduces maintenance costs.

How to use a Glock’s controls

Most Glock models including the 9mm pistol family are built with a “striker-fired” design. This means the cartridge primer is struck by a spring-powered rod rather than a firing pin and hammer, leading to a simpler design and straightforward operation.

Remember, the rules of safety are there to protect you and others.  Whether you have decades of experience with firearms or if you are a beginner to them, the same rules of safety apply, and for good reason too. The controls of a Glock include:

• The magazine release, which ejects the magazine when pressed inwards.
• The trigger and integral trigger safety.
• The slide release sends the slide back into the battery when locked back.
• The disassembly lever allows the upper receiver to be removed from the lower.
• The chamber (round) indicator, which raises outwards and becomes flush with the slide when a round is chambered.

Loading And Unloading Your Glock

Anytime you come back to a firearm and put your hands on the firearm to unload it, ASSUME that it is loaded, and go through the proper steps of unloading, clearing it and checking the chamber. There are many times that you will need to perform this operation: When doing dry-firing training, when you start cleaning your firearm, when you hand the firearm to someone else or when you are packing your firearm away before you head home. Never practice loading and unloading with live ammunition! You can purchase “dummy” ammunition from sporting goods stores and guns shops.

1. Point the weapon in a safe direction with your finger outside the trigger guard: Do not point your weapon at a person or the walls. Do not point your weapon at anything you wouldn’t be willing to shoot if the weapon were loaded.
2. Keep your finger off the trigger!
3. Remove the magazine from your weapon: Press the magazine release and remove the magazine.
4. Set the magazine aside: Just because the magazine is set aside does not mean the pistol is unloaded. Ammunition may still be inside the chamber.
5. Lock the slide to the rear using the slide stop.
6. Visually inspect the magazine well and the chamber: Look to see there is no magazine and there is no cartridge in the chamber.
7. Use your index finger to check for a round in the chamber. Check the magazine well and the chamber. If there isn’t a round your weapon is cleared.

Unloading the weapon means removing the ammunition from the weapon, whether by removing the magazine or by ejecting all cartridges from the chamber. Clearing the weapon means to ensure the weapon does not have any ammunition seated inside of it: You are going one step further by locking the slide to the rear and visually and physically checking the chamber.

Shooting and aiming

• When the Glock is loaded with a cartridge in the chamber, it can be fired by simply pulling the trigger fully to the rear.
• The trigger safety is disengaged by depressing it until it is even with the trigger, allowing the trigger to be pulled rearward.
• Due to the Glock striker-fired action, the trigger pull will remain constant from the first shot to the last.
• The slide will lock in the rear position when the last round is fired.
• Glocks are programmed to misfire with a “stovepipe” malfunction if the pistol is shot with a limp wrist. Therefore, your grip should be firm enough to transfer recoil energy to the torso from the hands.
• You should aim your Glock with the “three-dot” method. Set up your front sight dot to be the point of focus, while the two dots on either side of the rear sight should be on-line, with even spacing to the front sight dot. Apply even rearward pressure to the trigger with the front dot set on the target.

We cover everything about the best aftermarket triggers here.

So, Which Model Is the Best Glock for Beginners?

Firstly, all the Glocks included in this list will make an awesome choice for first-time shooters or Glock users, therefore, any of these models will be a safe and reliable gun choice.

After testing these Glocks, the Glock G19 G5 9mm is ultimately the best Glock for beginners. There are a few reasons for this.

Firstly, it’s the most trustworthy, reliable, and accurate Glock on the market. It has great magazine capacity, fitting 15-round mags but is still compact and lightweight enough to conceal easily, should you wish. Lastly, as a gen 5 model, it’s performance and operation are enhanced further with less recoil and fouling.