Firearm Advice Help!

[climberguy]

Hello everyone,

I hope you can share some insight for me.

I am in the application process for Atlanta PD and have made it a pretty good way through. Currently I am just waiting for them to finish up contacting my references and within the next 2-3 weeks will be receiving an offer letter. If all goes well, I will be scheduled for the academy set in November.

I am a pretty good shot and enjoy shooting. My current firearm is an XDS .45 single stack. I am not very familiar with Glock pistols. I have shot them a few times but not enough to be comfortable. My plan is once given an offer letter from Atlanta PD, I want to purchase a Glock and start practicing with it before I head to the academy.

Atlanta recently changed to the Glock 22 Gen4. I have found the 22 Gen3 for a much cheaper price then the Gen4.

My questions:
-Is there a noticeable difference in the Gen4 and the Gen3? What are they?
-Does the price difference justify a pre-owned Gen3 or a new Gen4 (About $150-200)?
-A friend of mine suggested that I purchase a 9mm Glock vs the 22 .40cal for practice. He believes that for training purposes, I will get the same feel/reaction/control of a .40 at the range with a 9mm. I am of the mindset that I should train with what I will be carrying. Thoughts?

I look forward to your responses! Thanks.

[TheSlammer]

As a Glock fan, I will say that the Gen3/Gen4 differences are minimal. With the Gen4 you get backstraps to find a size that fits your hand better. Personally, I love both my Gen3 Glocks. And as for preowned, unless it was beat to hell, it'll work. And if something breaks or needs replacing, its very inexpensive to do so.

[Madcap_Magician]

If for some reason you thought the Gen3 and earlier Glocks felt like holding a 2 x 4, the Gen4 fixes that. They only took about 0.07" off the total circumference of the grip, but that and the new grip texture pattern are huge improvements IMHO.

[Shush]

-A friend of mine suggested that I purchase a 9mm Glock vs the 22 .40cal for practice. He believes that for training purposes, I will get the same feel/reaction/control of a .40 at the range with a 9mm. I am of the mindset that I should train with what I will be carrying. Thoughts?

I look forward to your responses! Thanks.

You are correct. a 9mm and .40cal feel nothing alike in terms of recoil and site picture recovery.

[stormz5192]

Don't do a damn thing until they send you to the academy and are at the range. They teach you how to properly use that particular firearm.

[just joe]

Shooting fundamentals are the same no matter what firearm you have in your hand.

[SCSU74]

I would wait for the academy and shoot how they teach you. It's hard breaking bad habits. As far as your questions go:
1. Yes, different RSA and grip(s)
2. With your offer letter you can buy a new gen 4 for $398
3. 9 and 40 are nothing alike. If you'll be shooting a 40 shoot that round

[stormz5192]

Also, why would you buy a firearm that will be issued to you when you're hired. Why would ya want 2 of the same gun? Again, just wait. If you already shoot OK, you'll be fine.

[ERMedic]

^ Beat me to it.

1. Don't practice. It's hard to break habits, especially bad habits. People who haven't shot before the academy"generally" do pretty well.
Sometimes, better than most guys who've shot alot before the academy.
2. Don't buy the gun. No reason to eventually have two of them.

I much prefer the Gen 4 over the Gen 3. I carry at my new agency a Gen 4 G17, it's a little thinner than the Gen 3 G22 I carried at my previous agency. The difference between .40 and 9mm is absolutley noticable. Infact, after shooting thousands and thousands of rounds of .40 the 9mm felt like it didn't recoil at all. It felt almost like a .22, especially after the dual recoil spring in the Gen 4 G17 compared to my old G22.

[stormz5192]

Gen 4 22 has the dual recoil spring.

[climberguy]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

SCSU74- Thanks for letting me know about the discount once I receive an offer letter. That helps out a bunch.

stormz5192- Good point on waiting to practice until I see what style of shooting the Atlanta PD trains us on. I shoot a good bit as it is and hope that my technique does not interfere with how they train us. Also, my reason for purchasing an additional firearm is "one can never have enough" lol. But honestly, I am not sure how it works with an issued firearm. Are you allowed to carry it while off duty or will they prefer me to carry my personal?

Thanks again everyone and if there are any additional thoughts, please dont hesitate.

[KenW.]

Also, why would you buy a firearm that will be issued to you when you're hired. Why would ya want 2 of the same gun?

You can alter and modify your own pistol. Most likely not your issued pistol. There's nothing wrong with having one for fun and one for business.

[ERMedic]

Are you allowed to carry it while off duty or will they prefer me to carry my personal?

Follow their policies once you get hired. I doubt anyone here knows that agencies policy (unless they work there). I've only heard of two agencies in my area where officers could not carry their issued when off duty. I try to carry my issued firearm off duty as much as possible, probably 95%+ of the time. It gets heavy carrying a fullsize pistol all the time. I'd rather have enough gun one me and have them take the issued gun instead of one of my personal guns if involved in a shooting.