Owning an HK and a glock.

General Firearms Handguns - Semi Auto
1

I didn’t want to derail the HK pic thread, so here’s my question…

I am a firm believer in muscle memory. Having been in true life-death adrenaline dump scenarios, I am acutely aware of just how true all of the theories are of overall mental shutdown and “autopilot” performance.

With that said, I have been bitten hard by the HK bug, and have been really wanting to get one. It occurs to me, however, that the mag release on the HK might necessitate a complete switch from glock to HK, lest I find myself in another adrenaline dump, get to the point of reloading, and finding myself in vapor lock trying to figure out what gun I am carrying and how to drop my mag. I would be nice if I could completely convert over to HK, but not only do I truthfully not have the money to finance that move, I really do love my glock 26.

The shooters on this forum have always been a notch above those who post on other forums, so I wanted to get your opinions on the idea of owning 1-2 HKs while keeping at least my glock 26, likely a few other random guns as well.

Thanks!

2

First, let me say I do not own a Glock. I do own a couple of HK’s (and a couple of Kahrs). And I have owned Sigs, S&W MP, and assorted 1911’s.
The mag release was never an issue for me. YMMV. It is for all intent and purpose in the same place as virtually all other semi-auto pistols.
However, if you use a Thumbs-Forward grip, the slide release may or may not give you issues.

post script- I have accidentally hit the raised “button” type magazine release and had a magazine un-seat. I have never had that happen with the HK setup.

3

I suggest buying one H&K pistol that you really like, and then put at least 1000rds or more through it. After that, pick the pistol that you seem to shoot the best not only for accuracy, but for speed. Then standardize on either the Glock or H&K.

What works great for some people, doesn’t always work great for others based on their training background and needs. So when someone recommends a pistol to you, that is often their own personal preference which may not click with yours.

4

I own one HK and 0 Glock’s. I’m eventually interested in picking up a Glock but I’m an HK fan first for the obvious reasons. :smiley:

I can go from my HK to any other gun and use the mag release just fine. I actually kind of prefer the HK mag release. It’s different, it works, and works well.

I think if you have enough trigger time on each of your handguns, you’ll know one release from the other, even in a heated situation. Just make one of them your “primary” carry and go-to rather than constantly going back and forth.

5

This ^^. I wouldn’t sell your Glock until you have actually shot the HK - A LOT - and then decide which one is best for you.

6

There is a very strong argument for using one type of pistol exclusively.

Frankly, I do not see much purpose in owning/shooting different autoloaders.

7

I’m in the exact same boat as the OP. My daily carry is a G26, and I just acquired a HK USP 9. The USP will serve as a HD/range gun until it’ll eventually serve as my duty gun.

Now I’ve got myself wondering if it would be worth ditching the G26 for a HK P2000SK to keep things consistent…

8

Can you elaborate on this a bit? I’ve always thought being familiar with and being able to run different guns is a good skill to have should the need arise. I think this applies to pistols, rifles, shotguns etc. I understand that at some point you choose primaries and train with those almost exclusively and carry those, so I’m not advocating rotating carry guns. I just see a purpose for running something different periodically. As an example, say Glock 17 is your primary, and you want to use a .45; are you saying that in this case a Glock 21 is the best choice for this particular user or…?

DocGKR says the same thing, so that’s at least two knowledgeable people that have the same point of view and I ask because your experience level makes me wonder if my logic is flawed in some way.

9

true, but it can be enjoyable to shoot a few different autoloaders. I’ve dabbled a bit in HK (p7) and have come back to glock. I put about 800 rounds through the HK before i carried it. I shot that gun really well, better than glock in some ways, but the parts availability and lack of a modern corrosion resistant finish brought me back to glock.

That said i think it’s worth looking at other platforms, just be sure that you’re proficient with what you carry. I definitely wouldn’t recommend changing carry guns on a daily or even monthly basis. a carry gun is a serious commitment.

10

I switched from carrying a Glock 19 to an HK45C and now an HK P30. I didn’t have an issue going from one style of magazine release to the other. I did take the time to get familiar with manipulating the HK magazine release before I fully transitioned to that firearm.

Once I transition, that’s the firearm I will take to the range, classes, or competition. I can notice a difference in the initial pointing of the firearms when doing presentation drills. That and among other things (trigger pull, sight alignment, etc.) keep me shooting only the firearm I carry.

My weakness is once I find a firearm I like to carry; I get two of those firearms. Hence, I have two Glock 19’s, two HK45C’s with LEM, and two HK P30’s with LEM. :help: Two is one, and one is none I guess. That or I’m OCD. :smiley:

11

WRT using/training on a single type of platform, here are my thoughts:

In the training community, there’s a theory known as Hick’s law. The simplified version of that is that, for every choice you give an officer, the decision part of the OODA loop gets longer (by how much, we’ll never know, but it’s noticable). This is usually discussed in terms of non-lethals; e.g. given a combative subject and an officer armed with pistol, impact weapon, chemical weapon, and/or taser, he has to look at the threat and decide - “is this an open hand threat? No? Then should I use spray? No? Should I use the baton?..” You can probably see how this can lead to “death by analysis.”

I’m not sure the same law applies to using different types of handguns, at least among pistols that are generally as similar as the ones you’ve described. For decades, I’ve been a Glock guy primarily, unless forced by agency mandate to shoot something else. I have never, however, found myself in a situation where I couldn’t adequately operate a Sig, Beretta, or HK under stress.

Now, there are some platforms that are different. I’m a FIRM believer that if you’re going to carry a 1911, you should ONLY carry 1911s to limit the problems associated with safety manipulation and the VERY short, light trigger pull on that wonderful platform.

Likewise, through a series of unfortunate events, I’ve found myself without a Glock for the last four or five months; and, in the interim, I’ve been carrying my personally owned P7M8. Now, I’ve owned P7s for over 20 years now, and I’ve probably shot cumulatively well over 10K rounds through various P7s over the years. On the range, doing our non-challenging qual course, I’ve had no problem working the P7.

Fast forward to last Friday, when we were doing stress drills on the range. I’m not too proud to admit that at least twice in the early drills I simply forgot to “squeeze” the grip enough to cock the striker - and I was getting ready to tap-rack-bang before I realize the failure is in my grip…

So, while I think that it’s generally OK to have more than one type of gun in your carry stable (even when I did have a G19 that worked as a primary, my BUG was a Kahr PM9 or S&W 642), I’d recommend mixing in “unique” manual of arms guns.

Regards,

Kevin

12

For autos, I have a Glock, a few Walthers, a couple of CZs, and a HK. My HK (45) is my bedroom gun. I personally find the modern Walther/HK mag release more intuitive and easier to use than the button.

My guess is that you will adapt to the HK very quickly.

13

Excellent post.

14

When is it necessary to know how to shoot 2 different pistols?

I own 3 9mm glocks and I shoot them almost exclusively. I do not need a larger or smaller caliber or pistol for any reason I can envision, except maybe backpacking in bear country, which is not on my short list of things to do.

15

Well in my case, I don’t particularly want to invest $3000 to convert entirely to HK, so the original question stands of the viability of carrying two firearms with very different magazine releases.

I’m not particularly worried about trigger differences, just reloads.

16

What if you need to pickup someone else’s gun in an emergency? Will you know how to run it? Yeah, I understand the possibility is remote, but it does still exist. What if your situation changes and you need a heavier caliber because you’re around some barricades, like car windshields for instance? Again, the possibility is remote, but it remains. Btw, what does shoot them “almost exclusively” mean? Are you saying you do shoot something other than 9mm Glocks? If so, why?

If you shoot ARs, AKs, shotguns etc, what makes that different from pistols? Different operating systems. If you train on all of them, is it not to familiarize yourself with all of them? And to be honest, IMHO, it’s fun to shoot something different every once in a while. That alone is reason enough.

Again, I’m not advocating you rotate your carry gun or you train with a different pistol every week; I am saying that running something different and being familiar with the different characteristics of different pistols isn’t a bad thing.

17

Short of a SHTF/end of the world/whatever fantasy coming alive, the need most likely won’t ever arise.

My take on it is that being somewhat familiar with several different firearms can give you a better idea of what works and what doesn’t. Not training with them (like you would your duty/carry/issued weapon), but just simple familiarization. It gives you some perspective.

Just my two cents worth, from my limited experience.

18

I own a number of pistols with a completely different manual of arms, including HKs and Glock, and don’t have a considerable problem switching. However, I don’t rapid-cycle and commit to one carry (and therefore practice) pistol for months at a time. I do quite a bit of dry-fire manipulations and it doesn’t take excessively long to re-acquaint with a “new” manual of arms, but I do see glitches early into a transition. I wouldn’t carry two different pistols concurrently, for example, larger HK as a “primary” and smaller 26 as a BUG or “deep concealment” option.
FWIW, my personal “speed bump” is not mag release but trigger difference between the two, especially when going from HK to Glock. I don’t think mag release is going to be an issue, but if this concerns you enough, you may consider Gen4 G26, once they are proven reliable, and revert the mag release for a trigger finger operation.

19

I have an el-cheapo RIA 1911 that I purchased as my first pistol. It also plays host to a .22 kit which does its job quite well and has kept me from needing to buy a dedicated .22. I would sell it honestly if I thought I would recoup enough money in doing so. I haven’t bought any .45 to put through it in a year at least and I certainly don’t carry it.

Other than that it’s all Glocks.

As for your listed concerns, they are totally irrelevant. I will never need to know how another person’s pistol functions instinctively. My mileage is better invested in making my gun kick ass in my hands rather than prepare for the almost impossible. Outside of a range environment I haven’t even been around handguns belonging to people other than me outside of law enforcement. In the remote chance that that occurs I trust I will know at least in which direction to point it. I have casually shot other pistols often enough to at least know where the buttons are.

And re: other calibers I really don’t feel a need for anything beyond 9mm. If I was really convinced I needed more punchI suppose I could buy a Glock 23. but I’m not. I am perfectly happy with the way my carry 9mm (147gr Golden Saber) performs through AG. Don’t really think a .40 or .45 would do much for me except make me spend more money on ammo.

20

I switched from HK’s to Glocks and haven’t looked back.