I think machine pistols are super neat. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted a Beretta 93R. I understand that a machine pistol isn’t all that effective, but c’mon, a full auto pistol just seems like so much fun. I’ve even thought of joining one of the Chicago Shooting Clubs, and those guys all have switches. With that said, one day, I was researching the Glock 18 and users of the Glock 18, and imagine my surprise when I found a note that the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department issued the gun.
This Oregon-based police agency polices about 111,000 people, according to the 2020 census. It’s a moderately sized area, and the Sheriff’s Department is quite large. I could locate an article from 1993 in the Gun Digest on 9mm Handguns that detailed the Department’s use of the gun.
The Glock 18 and Practicality
If you’re not familiar with the Glock 18, it’s the Glock you can’t get. It’s a Glock 17 but features a selector switch that allows the user to fire in semi-auto or full-auto. The gun comes with a 19-round magazine, but as we all know, Glock makes a 33-round fun stick. It’s not a practical weapon for police forces, even though it has a history with the Austrian EKO Cobra Counter Terrorism force.
It’s not practical because the recoil of a full auto weapon is intense. Shrink that down to a handgun, and it’s downright dangerous. The Glock 18 fires 20 rounds a second, or 1,200 rounds per minute. That high rate of fire makes it extremely difficult to control. If you are in a gunfight as a police officer, you need to control your weapon, or you risk hurting an innocent person.
The best application for full auto fire is for suppression. That is how most military forces use it. Police forces don’t have a whole lot of need for suppressive fire and if they did, a handgun would be the last weapon you’d want providing suppressive fire. The Glock 18, like most machine pistols, doesn’t make much sense for any practical purpose.
With that said, the NFA and the Hughes Amendment are atrocious, and I should have a Glock 18 on my nightstand cause it’s my right.
The Police Use of the Glock 18
The article details that the Glock 18 is used by entry teams dealing with armed drug dealers. The gun replaced the MP5s entry teams were previously using. That’s absolutely absurd because both are 9mm, and both could be automatic, but the MP5 is much easier to control. There is one logical place for a handgun over the MP5 in an entry team, and that’s the shield guy.
The article does show a shield guy with a Glock 18. That’s still downright silly because the article even admits firing the gun with one hand in full auto is extremely difficult. We are given a brief rundown of the trained users and how they can fire controlled bursts effectively. I believe it, but I imagine it took much training and practice to learn.
Even with a lot of training, the gun is still much more difficult to fire than an MP5 or an M4 in any case. The training spent with the stocked MP5 would have been much more beneficial. The Glock 18 is much harder to control and handle in automatic.
They list off benefits like the ability to swap mags with their Glock 17s. Commonality is great, but is it necessary for an entry team on a police force?
A Crazy Grip
The article also portrays an odd two-handed grip, where the police officer holds the gun by the grip and the extended magazine. They claim this offers more leverage. I don’t buy it. I grabbed a handgun with a long 33-round Glock mag and gave it a try.
It didn’t have a full auto mode, but I have a Mk1 finger that moves pretty fast. I felt a serious lack of control versus a standard two-handed grip. I also felt stupid and made sure no one was watching as I fired five rounds as fast as I could. It’s a small part of the article, but it’s an actionable part I could fuss around with.
Why the Glock 18?
Part of me thinks the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department just wanted a Glock 18 or two. Maybe it was an experiment, or maybe Glock had a great sales guy, or maybe someone was like me and wanted to shoot a Glock 18 and was in law enforcement. I couldn’t say I wouldn’t give the gun a try if I had a Sheriff who signed off on it.
