Tactical Practical Adaptable glock

When thinking about handgun selection is there a "one gun to rule them all?" There are a TON of options out there, makes, calibers, finishes, etc. Some are made up to be super tacti-cool, some are shiny, some are just square black slabs of metal and sometimes plastic. How is a person supposed to choose between these in an analytical fashion? With lists and criteria of course!

So, I set about thinking what I wanted my handgun to do and which ones would be best at doing that. I wanted something more oriented towards target shooting with a longer barrel. It absolutely had to have the ability to easily convert to .22lr so I could practice cheaper (there is .22lr out there to be found, more on that in a later post). I am a huge fan of flat dark earth, so if I could get that finish from the factory, that would be a bonus.

Xdm 5.25 threaded. Sexy. 

As I started to think about guns which might meet my needs, I started with offerings from Smith & Wesson, Springfield & Glock. I shot the M&P 9mm and it was ok, but it can't convert to .22lr (Glock, CZ, Sig & XDM all have conversion slides) and the pro series doesn't come in dark earth. I really liked the looks of the XDM threaded but I will not be running a suppressor anytime in the near future (if I do, it will be a 300 blackout AR upper, not a pistol), so it lost some points.

Admittedly, I could have tried the CZ and the Sig, and I have read good things about both, but the obvious answer was staring me in the face. In the words of Tommy Lee Jones "Get yourself a Glock, lose that nickel plated sissy pistol." Hm. Can shoot .22lr with a slide change. Modular and easy to tinker with. But the 9mm Glock 34 doesn't come in flat dark earth. However, the Glock 35 does and there are conversion barrels which let this normally 40 S&W chambered pistol shoot 9mm (I know, conversion barrels aren't legal in USPSA, more on that later).

looking forward to testing this out. 

I did a lot of research into conversion barrels, how they work and which one to go with. As is generally the case with forum posts, some people thought brand x was awesome, some swore allegiance to brand y. There were videos on Youtube, but nothing to suggest one was better than the other or one was a big steaming turd. I chose the lone wolf based on price and the fact they could do a black oxide treatment on the barrel so my conversion barrel looked close to stock. The only downside is 4-6 weeks so I haven't had a chance to test it. That will definitely be a post. I'm less concerned about the letter of the law under USPSA because if push comes to shove, I can buy a glock 34 upper slide and just put it on the 35 lower (I have fallen in love with the flat dark earth).

So here it is. There are many like it, this one is mine.

Wearing the Advantage Arms 17-22 gen 4

I'm not one of those people who is an eternal Glock fan boy. I shot a gen 3 Glock 17 thoroughly before I decided to pick up the 35. However, it feels good in my hand, points well and as I said, I've fallen in love with the flat dark earth. I look at guns as a tool to accomplish a specific task and you just pick the one that checks the most boxes with what you're looking for.

There are a few modifications I want to do to it. I would like to polish the trigger surfaces & add a heavier trigger spring to try to get the pull weight down to 4ish pounds (its about 5 lbs now). I'm also going to add the extended slide lock because the little nubs are killing my fingers when I strip it. Along with the conversion barrel, I ordered a 9mm spring and ejector so if I need to change those out for reliability, it is a relatively minor procedure. I anticipate the majority of my shooting will be done in .22 and 9mm and I'll save the 40S&W for home defense & training for USPSA limited.