XD vs. Glock: Detail Strip

In the continuation of reporting my findings in my grand experiment I’m going to talk about detail stripping the guns. I posted my findings on detail stripping my XD a bit back so I don’t have to reiterate much there. I also did the latest episode of Truth About Guns which covered my findings throughout the entire experiment so go have a listen.

Anyways click the first link to learn what it takes to detail strip an XD. Go ahead and read it, the post will be here when you’re done. Seriously this post isn’t going anywhere. Done reading it? OK good. Let’s talk about detail stripping the Glock 30SF. To do this you’ll need the following tools:

1 x 3/32″ punch

Got that? First the slide. Once you remove the slide from the frame you need to remove the recoil spring and the barrel just as you would when detail stripping an XD. From here the steps differ greatly. On the Glock you’ll need to remove the rear slide plate. There are two things you’ll need to do here. First look at the part of the striker protruding through the cutout on the bottom of the slide. In front of it (against directions are given as if you’re holding and aiming the gun) there is a small plastic sleeve. Use the punch to push the sleeve forward. While holding pressure on the slide use your thumb to slide the rear plat off. Make sure to keep your thumb over the exposed holes because things with springs will try to pop out.

Once the plat is off remove the striker assembly and the other spring which I’m at a loss of it’s correct name as I type this. The striker assembly can be further taken down by pushing the spring back which will cause to plastic cups to fall off. To remove the extractor turn the slide upside down, ensure the second spring mentioned is removed, and push down on the firing pin safety, the extractor should fall out. There you go you’ve taken the slide down now for the frame.

The frame has three pins, a trigger pin, locking block pin, and the frame pin. Use the punch to push out all three. Once removed the slide lock lever will come right out. Remove the locking block from the frame (you may need to use the punch to wiggle it out a bit). Now you can remove the trigger which is attached to the trigger bar. Use the ejector to pull out the assembly at the back of the gun. To remove the trigger bar turn it outwards from the sear assembly and life it up a bit. Unhook it from the spring. That’s it.

Putting the Glock back together is the same steps in reverse. The only note I need to make is when inserting the slide lock lever. Once the trigger and locking block are in the gun place the locking block pin in first. Than put in the slide lock lever. The spring on the slide lock lever pushes on the locking block pin and uses that for tension. After that place the other two pins in, assembly the slide, and put the two components back together. You’re done.

Seriously it’s so much easier than the XD to field strip it’s scary. This step certainly goes to the Glock.

XD vs. Glock: The Guns

Some time ago I mentioned I was doing a comparison of the XD and Glock lines of pistols. Of course I didn’t follow up on that in any reasonable time but here is the follow up. Before making posts comparing the two I’m going to go over the two pistols being compared, the Springfield XD Compact in .45 and the Glock 30SF also in .45.

Both guns are the compact versions of each companies .45 pistol. The XD Compact I’m testing has a 4.04″ barrel while the Glock 30SF has a 3.78″ barrel. Not a lot of difference there I must say. Meanwhile the XD is 5″ high while the Glock is 4.76″ when using the flush 9 round magazine (I only have 10 round magazines for the Glock). For width the XD is 1.21″ while the Glock is 1.27″ which is so negligible that it’s almost unnoticeable. The XD does look quite a bit thinner due to the fact the top of the slide is thinned while the Glock slide is the same width from top to bottom. According to company provided statistics with an empty 10 round magazine inserted the XD weighs in at 29 oz. while the Glock weighs in at 26.49 oz. This surprises me a bit since the Glock feels slightly heavier.

Both guns are capable of using their bigger siblings larger capacity magazines give both the capability of 13+1 rounds. One difference is Springfield has spacers for their magazines to make the 13 round magazines fit flush with the shorter grip compact model while Glock offers no such piece. Standard they take 10 round magazines giving both guns the same capacity.

On the exterior the guns only differ in appearance and a slight number of features. The XD comes with a striker cocked indicator and a grip safety. Both guns have a loaded chamber indicator but whereas the XD indicator is a separate piece on the stop of the barrel the Glock’s extractor doubles as a loaded chamber indicator. This is not achievable on the XD since it uses an internal extractor while the Glock uses an external one. Both guns have a trigger safety mean to prevent the firearm from going off if the trigger gains enough inertia but somebody isn’t pulling it.

The Glock grip is at a steeper angle than the XD. Some people hate this about the Glock while others like it but I found it easy to adapt to with a little time. The XD grip angle is similar to that of the CZ line of pistols from which much of its design came. Meanwhile the barrel axis of the Glock is noticeably lower than that of the XD. This in theory reduced felt recoil but to make up for that fact the XD has a much heavier recoil spring in it than the Glock does.

Those are the two pistols, if you want more details just do a Google search. Most people know the guns well enough that this post isn’t really needed but being this is an experiment I feel the need to list all information.

Not So Great Britain Strikes Again

Man I hate Britain’s government. Seriously if anybody reading this blog is a Brit do yourselves a favor and start a revolt. Days of our Trailers provides another example of the stupidity of Britain’s gun control laws.

This story involves one Paul Clarke. He is a 27 year old former soldier who thought he was doing the right thing. For doing the right thing he was found guilty of a crime and now faces up to five years in prison. What was his crime? Possession of a gun. Sounds simple enough doesn’t it? Well it’s not that simple. From the story:

Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday – after finding the gun and handing it personally to police officers on March 20 this year.

Yes he found a shotgun. Believing it was his duty to dispose of it he personally took it to the police. Here is a thumbnail list of events:

he court heard how Mr Clarke was on the balcony of his home in Nailsworth Crescent, Merstham, when he spotted a black bin liner at the bottom of his garden.

In his statement, he said: “I took it indoors and inside found a shorn-off shotgun and two cartridges.

“I didn’t know what to do, so the next morning I rang the Chief Superintendent, Adrian Harper, and asked if I could pop in and see him.

“At the police station, I took the gun out of the bag and placed it on the table so it was pointing towards the wall.”

Mr Clarke was then arrested immediately for possession of a firearm at Reigate police station, and taken to the cells.

So Mr. Clarke found a shotgun. He didn’t try to illegally keep it. Instead he does what he thinks is the responsible thing and turns it in. He didn’t threaten anybody with it, he didn’t use it, he took it and went to straight to the police to turn it in. What the Hell was he supposed to do? Call the police and wait for them to pick it up? Oh wait they would be able to nail him anyways since the shotgun was in a liner and he had to remove it to see what it was. Oh damn catch 22.

If you live in Britain and you find a gun remember you’ll get the same punishment whether you turn it into the police or keep it. The only difference is if you keep you the police may never find it and therefore you won’t face jail time. Man that’s encouraging.

Finally I leave you with this golden quote from the story:

The intention of anybody possessing a firearm is irrelevant.

We don’t need common sense we have laws!

XD vs. Glock: Introduction

Oh Hell that title alone is enough to get me crucified by one side or the other. But before you send me hate mail let me explain the title.

For over a year now I’ve been carrying a Springfield XD .45 Compact. Of course I hear a lot of flak from Glock fans on how horrible the XD is and how great the XD is from fans of the pistol. I myself really don’t care I want the best tool for me. To that extend some time ago I purchased a Glock 30SF at a local gun show (where I had to fill out paperwork and submit to a NICS check, go figure). The reason I chose the Glock 30SF was simple, it is the closest model Glock to my XD.

My entire intention of purchasing the Glock 30SF was to compare it against my XD. I’m not one to needlessly say one thing is better than another until I’ve tested both (or at least been shown verifiable evidence). I’m not planning on selling either pistol when the test concludes since they are both useful firearms.

As I perform my tests I will report on my findings here. This comparison is going to span many months in length and is going to be excruciatingly detailed. I want to keep fanboyism out of this comparison and just make light of things I observe between the two pistols.

I’ve already compiled a bunch of information since I obtained the Glock 30SF so expect several posts involving this subject in the recent future. I also want to note that this comparison will be as scientific as possible but will also contain a lot of personal opinion. Many things about different guns aren’t better or worse they are simply preferred by certain individuals and undesirable by others. For instance somebody may prefer the feel of a pistol that uses single stack magazines while another person may not. Neither person is right or wrong they simply differ in opinion.

Anyways you’ll be subjected to many posts on this subject in the coming months.