I had an all-metal Fire Selector Switch for Glock (FSSG) that was given to me by a gunsmith (see "My Fab Defense KPOS Review Part 3" for the full story), and I wanted to try it out, just to see how full auto fire would be with a .40S&W caliber round and a compact frame like the Glock 23. The FSSG is currently stuck on full-auto mode only, I dare not have it fitted again to have select fire capability for fear that it will be ruined again.
I wanted to fire it free hand (i.e., without the help of a shoulder stock and/or front grip), only using my two hands. I haven't fired any pistol in full auto before, so I decided to take it slow, loading only three rounds into the magazines for every shot. I was afraid that if I load a full magazine, the worst will happen and I will start shooting the ceiling if the recoil was severe. I used my standard shooting settings: 13 meters, SWC-TC reloads.
When I fired the first shot, I was surprised at the violence of the recoil. Since I'm firing a .40S&W round, the recoil of three shots was severe, I could feel a tingling in my right hand. Muzzle climb was severe also: I aimed at the center, and the first shot was at center, the second higher, and the third out of the target board. I shot nine more rounds of three rounds per magazine for a total of twelve, and out of those twelve rounds, only seven hit the target board, two of which hit both ears of the target. I even tried aiming at the bottom of the target to compensate for the muzzle climb, but to no avail.
Lesson learned is you definitely cannot fire full auto using a .40S&W caliber in a compact pistol free hand, and hope to have decent accuracy, at least not at 13 meters. At this point, I decided to take a break, go outside, and buy a Fab Defense GLR 440 Stock. I wanted to see how much control a shoulder stock will give me when I shoot the pistol.
'Glock Full Auto - Exceeded Expectations
Aside from fitting the shoulder stock, I also pulled the target nearer to half the distance, to only about 7 meters. With a nearer target and shoulder stock support, accuracy was much better, I could keep my shots to within the target almost all of the time.
After a couple of shots using only three rounds in the magazine, I decided to increase the number of rounds to six per magazine. This time, I planned to try firing in short bursts, as burst fire is best for full auto fire. When I squeezed off my first burst, I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to fire three-round bursts, even if it was my first time to do so. Gradually I started filling up the magazines, and firing short, controlled bursts at the target. Basically, I just pull the trigger, and then as soon as I feel the first recoil on my shoulder, I release the trigger. By the time I release the trigger, an additional two shots go off, rounding off a three-round burst.
There definitely is a learning curve. You need to get used to the violence of the recoil, the intimidation of the very quick successive shots, and the timing of the bursts. After a couple of dozen rounds, though, I started to get the hang of it. So much so, that after a hundred rounds, I felt comfortable enough to increase the range to 10 meters, and got another fifty rounds, and another target board.
Result was pretty good, I was still able to keep my shots within the target. If anything, my grouping was a little bit tighter despite the longer distance, since I was getting used to firing the Glock in full auto bursts.
'Glock Full Auto Summary'
I was supposed to fire only fifty rounds to try out full auto fire, but I liked it a lot so much that I ended up firing 150 rounds on my first full auto fire session. After 150 rounds of .40S&W in full auto, I felt a slight tingling in my right hand, that persisted a couple of hours after the shooting session. There were NO malfunctions in firing all 150 rounds, not a single one.
I don't think you can dump a whole magazine of .40S&W rounds and hope to hit anything consistently with it beyond 7 meters. The recoil and muzzle climb would just be too great. Perhaps with in 9mm and with a compensator, you would be able to do so.
The success of my full-auto experiment unfortunately means I will have to say goodbye to my KPOS G1. Because of my FSSG problems with it, I just cannot justify to myself all that extra weight and bulk using semi-auto fire only. If anyone is interested, just PM me.
'Fab Defense GLR 440 Quick-Detachable Stock'
More on the Fab Defense Stock: I bought it for only P7k, as Armscor was giving a 5% discount on the unit. It is made of Polymer, so I assume it has some recoil-absorbing properties as well. It initially was my first choice over the KPOS, but at that time, I thought that the KPOS would be more durable in the long run. But with my FSSG problems with the KPOS, it was my only viable alternative for a Glock shoulder stock.
The only problem with it, is that is not so concealable lengthwise. I cannot put the Glock 23 inside the 5.11 Bail Out Bag, for example, with it attached, while I can comfortably place a KPOS inside the bag with the stock retracted. All other dimensions, though, is pretty compact, and it attaches and detaches easily to the Glock via that opening on the Glock's bottom.
The cheekpiece is a bit high using the Glock's stock sights, but then I realized that if you use an optic sight, it will be spot on since these optic sights tend to sit higher on the Glock.
(End of Part One)
--> Glock 23 Machine Pistol Configuration Part Two
--> Glock 23 Machine Pistol Configuration Part Three
--> Glock 23 Machine Pistol Configuration Part Four
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