There’s no such thing, but there are some damn good ones.

The question came up of what gun I would carry for duty if I were magically fit enough to be a police officer again. My answer as always was a Glock 17. been around for a long time, excellent track record in police and military service. Good capacity. Designed as a service pistol and works very well in that role.

“Which generation? 3rd? 4th? 5th?”

Don’t care.

“OK, what modifications?”

Optic, talon grip and maybe a WML- on the fence about the last one.

“But Talon grips come off!”

Sure, eventually, but they’re cheap and since I maintain my weapons I’ll spot and remedy that before it becomes a problem.

Which Optic? The best I can afford. Don’t know which one that is but I know how to Google and whose opinions I respect.

“O-Light? Surefire? Something else?”

I’ll find out what the current thinking is, weigh the pros and cons and decide then.

“You don’t already know this stuff? What kind of ‘expert are you, anyway?

Who ever said I was an expert? I know some stuff about some stuff, but I never said I was an expert. I am very specifically not an expert about modern duty gun accessories.

“But what about a Timney tri…”

No. The trigger is fine for duty.

“But what about…”

NO. It’s FINE.

“But…”

NO. This is a duty gun. It’s not for showing off for tacti-cool points. It’s not a prop in a movie that needs to look neat-o. It’s not a ‘race gun.’ It doesn’t have to be cool, it has to work. Glocks work already and the less I mess with it the more likely it is to KEEP working.

Let’s look at the yes items. A modern red dot is robust, works in all light conditions and is demonstrably faster once you are dialed in. If you need to draw a weapon in the course of duty you’re going to be very focused on the threat and it’s going to be hard to shift focus to the front sight. Police don’t miss so much because they are lousy shots. They miss because they have a lot going on in a very shirt time. You can interpose the red-dot between you and the target without shifting focus, and in my opinion this will increase the likelihood of getting hits in a fast-moving, confusing situation.

The Talon Grip. Glock grips are OK, but a more grippy surface is a good thing, especially on an open-carry gun where there is only a minimal chance of clothing catching on a ‘sticky’ grip. Why Talon? First brand that came to mind.

Weapon-Mount light. I can see a lot of potential utility here, but some people have indicated they may be sub-optimal for duty. Don’t know, but my Google-fu is sufficient that I am confident I can learn enough to have an informed opinion on the matter.

To me a duty weapon is a tool that has to work. It has to fit the use, fit me and function in all manner of conditions. Fit for Purpose is my guiding light. There are a lot of guns out there that fill the bill. I pick Glock based on it’s track record and my limited knowledge of the alternatives. YMMV.

Just some thoughts on a Saturday afternoon. What do you think?

Stay safe and Take care.

Michael Tinker Pearce, 12 February 2022