I also agree with Para- if I could have only one gun, it would be my 26.

I bought it here off of a forum member over ten years ago and it has been alongside ever since. It is a reliable, trusted old friend.

At night it is on the couch nearby, and then put in the night stand. When I travel to and from work, it's in my bag. When I'm on the bike, it's in a shoulder holster. When we vacation, it comes along as a backup or for the wife while my 43 rides on the belt.

I don't plan on ever getting rid of it- so for me, it will never be obsolete. My 19 rarely comes out of the safe- but it's there. And it will also be sticking around.

Obsolete? Absolutely not. Are there better guns that have crept into the G26s roll? Possibly.

Let's look at the roll the G26 played in uniform back up guns. It allowed the officer to have a back up gun that uses the same magazines as the main duty pistol. In the day, it excelled at the uniformed BUG gun role. However, lug it around for 8-12 hours a day, and the older you get, the more likely you were to leave it at home due to weight and dimensions.

Enter the 43 and 43X. They weigh less, and the dimensions seem to be better suited for carrying it on your ankle 12 hours per day. Thus, the G26 is a whole lot less popular these days in that role. Looking around, at least around here, everybody is issuing/approving the 43X in the BUG role.

It doesn't make the G26 obselete as the G26 still does some things better than the G43X.

Man I hope its not obsolete! I just bought a Gen5 G26 last week and it is a fantastic little carry gun. I really like it for IWB. The 43 and 48 are thinner but I like shooting the 26 more and I shoot the 26 better.

quote:

Originally posted by Nframe:
Man I hope its not obsolete!

We'll have somebody get back to you on that.

The 43X is great at 10 rounds, and seems to run just fine with the expense of a mag catch and dedicated steel mags, at 15 rounds.

The G26 runs 10-24 rounds all day long with standard Glock magazines, no modification necessary. And for someone already carrying a 9mm Glock, the G26 makes a great backup.

The G43X doesn't take those G17 mags nearly as easily...

Don't confuse obsolete with fashionable.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
Don't confuse obsolete with fashionable.

Best post on this thread! That's worth remembering...

Not obsolete, just not as popular as it once was and for valid reasons, so I believe.

Speaking for myself, neither my G26 or G27 completely fulfilled that "tidy/small" void in my conceal carry needs. Sure it was silly fun running 33rd/22rd mags through them, respectively. Yet from my perspective, I've rarely had any concerning issues conceal carrying the compact G19, and now the G23. But when I did encounter a problem with fit in specific carry circumstances, I found that the old subcompact G26/G27 carries nearly the same for me, especially with an extended magazine in the magwell. So in went the flush mag. And yet it was still a lump, only a little smaller in grip height. So I was constantly looking for an alternative...and hoping that it would be Glock that supplied it.

So in comes the G43. Though seriously down on firepower it was for me a revelation. A few years ago I carried a G43 nonstop through the summer after my G23's IWB holster broke and I spent nearly three months finding a satisfactory replacement (my hatred for the broken BladeTech was well documented here on the site back then). The littlest Glock 9mm wasn't a perfect solution due to its meager capacity but in the Glock universe it defines 'convenient' carry much better than the G26 ever did for me. That's its validation. And now that the G43X has been around for some time now, it's an even better solution given the available option for G19-level cap magazines. And when I finish building my set of G43Xs it will likely become my carry platform of choice down the road, moving over my P365s and supplanting my once-intended return to the G19 when I retire my G23s and their live fire propensity for creating stinging pain in my strong hand elbow.

That's been my take on my G26/G27 pair. I like 'em but frankly I just don't need them.

Mine totes just fine.

I carried my 26 today. It's an old friend that will always be around. Yes, I have a P365 and a 43x, but the 26 is just so damn solid.

No way. I prefer DA/SA all day, but even with that I’d say the G26 is the best CCW of all time. For a civilian a G26 concealed with a G17 spare mag is a great combination. High capacity back up mags is a key feature.

quote:

The 43 and 48 are thinner but I like shooting the 26 more and I shoot the 26 better.

And therin lies the root of the issue. Some folks are willing to sacrifice shootability in order to carry a smaller gun. I'm not. The G26 is about as small as I can go and still shoot it as well as I can my service weapon. Coupled with the ability to carry a full-size mag as a backup, it makes an excellent carry weapon.

When we went to the P320 for duty, I got a P320SC as a backup, due to mag and platform compatibility, and that has replaced the G26 as my off-duty gun as well. It's a similar form factor to the G26, but the Glock is just a hair more svelte, and the slide profile is more comfortable for carry. If we were using the G17 for duty, I'd still be packing my G26.

I doubt it. Lots of police I know have them as back up and off duty guns.

As long as people are still buying G17\G19\G45 pistols they'll be buying G26's.

I have a couple of g26s and g27s. I don’t carry them after I got my 43x. I’m also testing out a 365.

Only a couple? The man who owns 63 Glocks?

I figure you should own at least seven.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
Some folks are willing to sacrifice shootability in order to carry a smaller gun. I'm not. The G26 is about as small as I can go and still shoot it as well as I can my service weapon.

In agreement with this 100%. My opinion, the 26 is the smallest 9mm that shoots like a full size duty gun.

The 365, Hellcat, 43, M&P Shield, XDS9, LC9, Kahr P9, K9, 938, Micro 9, etc... all really shoot pretty much the same. Some will like the features on one over the others, but they really shoot pretty much the same, like small pistols.

My opinion of course (but I know a lot of other shooters that feel the same).

I must have a really obsolete gun in an obsolete caliber, a G27.
Just before I changed to a different carry gun I had a stock of several thousand rounds of Gold Dots and Federal JHP and a bunch of WWB for practice. Still have them.
Now, when ammo starts to run short, the last to go seems to be .40 so it's probably a good backup plan firearm.
The grip never felt that great to me but it shoots really accurately anyway and has been 100% reliable as expected of a Glock.

I've had at least one G26 since 1999 but also currently own a G43 and P365. I've also tried and sold most of the other small 9mm pistols on the market. The G26 is still my favorite. I'm just better at shooting it, although the P365 has been growing on me. I personally don't pocket carry any of these small 9mm pistols, so for IWB or OWB, the slightly larger size of the G26 isn't a big deal to me. I definitely don't think it's obsolete.

Someone once noted that they weren't aware of a single shooting in which the shooter wished he'd had less ammunition or a smaller pistol.

There does seem to be a trend toward ranking a pistol's worthiness by its capacity, and the smaller and the higher capacity, the better.

There's a lot to be said for controllability.

I suspect that there are some shooters here who could run a micro pistol through it's paces in record time, but for most of us, reduced speed and accuracy accompany that compromise in size.

The P365 rides fine in a pocket holster, and given a choice between not carrying on that occasion, and having the P365, then clearly the P365 is a good choice. Personally, if confronted with a shooting situation, I'd much rather have a full grip (and the capacity that comes with). The G26 is a short grip, but a more full one, and probably more controllable for many shooters.

I really like the grip on the G43X/G48, but thus far, with the limited shooting I've been doing, I'm not as accurate or efficient with them than a G26, G19, or G17, etc. I suspect that the hand-filling grip and controllability that comes with it, is at least part of that.