Gun GLOCK 18
The Glock G18
by Walt Rauch
| As we've seen the development, design and worldwide acceptance of every Glock model and caliber, one model has all but been ignored - the G18/G18C. These are Glocks that offer the option of fully-automatic fire. The Model 18 has three external changes from the original Model 17: a left side, slide-mounted fire control or selector switch; a barrel that extends past the front of the slide and three horizontal and diagonal cuts that run across the top of the barrel to act as a compensator (the same design used on the 17L and 24 compensated models). |
The newest Glock 18, the G18C, has a keyhole opening cut into the forward portion of the slide, not unlike the opening on the Glock long-slide Models 17L and 24, although the G18 has a standard-length slide. The keyhole opening provides a venting area to allow the four, progressively-larger (from back to front) compensator cuts machined into the barrel to accomplish their job, which is to afford more control over the rapid-firing machine pistol.
The compensator cuts, of varying widths, appear to be EDM-machined into the barrel and start about halfway back on the top. The rear two cuts are narrow, while the front two cuts are wider. The slide is also hollowed, or dished, out in a rectangular pattern between the rear of the ejection port and the rear sight. My guess is that this lightening of the slide serves to maintain the cyclic rate of the original G18, since the compensator should drain off some of the bullet's velocity, thus slowing up the cycling. Making the slide lighter would compensate for this decrease.
First Glock 18
While completing the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Sub-Machine Gun Instructors' Course at the DEA Firearms Training Unit at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, this past summer of 1996, I was permitted to spend an hour or so familiarizing myself with a very early-model G18 that belonged to the DEA. The sample G18 appeared to be one of the first imported into the U.S., for it lacked the now-familiar impressed checkering on the front and back straps.
Both the original and the new C18C are easy to operate; the semi-auto function is the same as every other Glock with its 'Safe Action' trigger and safety. The control for semi- or full-auto firing is not unlike a side-mounted thumb safety and works in a similar manner. The control switch is located on the left rear side of the slide in the grasping groove area. It is easily moved by your firing-hand thumb or your left hand while gripping the gun in a two-handed hold. When the selector is horizontal with the length of the slide, or in the 'up' position, the gun works as a semi-auto. Pushing the lever down 45 degrees puts the gun in full-auto mode.
Shooting Impressions While at the DEA and under the very careful control of the DEA instructor, I first loaded the standard 17-round magazine into the gun with an assortment of Federal Hydra Shock 147-grain JHP and Winchester NATO 124-grain JRN ammo - the duty and practice ammo for the DEA. After dry firing and then shooting a half-dozen rounds semi-auto at the FBI/DEA QIT bottle target 10 yards away with a two-handed hold, I threw the switch over to full auto. Wow! The gun emptied the mag in a blink of an eye! In proper technical terms, the C18 cycles between 1100 and 1300 rounds per minute, dependent upon the ammunition used.
The easiest way to describe shooting the G18 full-auto is that it feels just like turning on a high pressure water hose. The gun bucks and just starts pushing straight back in your hands, while you note an ejected stream of brass cases arcing up and over your right shoulder.
Glock 18 Specifications
| Caliber | 9x19 mm |
| Action | Safe Action (constant double action mode) |
| Modes of fire | Safe, semiautomatic and fully automatic |
| Overall length (slide) | 7.32 in. (186 mm) |
| Height, including magazine | 5.43 in. (138 mm) |
| Width | 1.18 in. (30 mm) |
| Barrel length | 4.49 in. (114 mm) |
| Sight radius | 6.49 in. (165 mm) |
| Rifling | Hexagonal profile with right-hand twist of one turn in 9.84 in. (250 mm) |
| Weight, without magazine | 21.87 oz. (620 g) |
| Weight, empty magazine | 2.75 oz. (78 g) |
| Weight, full magazine | ~9.87 oz. (~280 g) |
| Magazine capacity | 17 rounds |
| Standard trigger pull | ~5.5 lbs. (~2.5 kg) |
| Trigger pull length | 0.5 in. (12.5 mm) |
| Number of safeties | 3 |
Image
