Video courtesy of Dave Sevigny

In honor of Gaston Glock’s birthday today . . .

By now you know that one of my crusades in life is against the pre-conceived notion, the entrenched opinion. I try to apply this to myself as much as anyone else.

One that particularly gets my ire is the 1911 aficionado who completely dismisses the Glock because “the grip angle is wrong.”

In defense, I call witness Dave Sevigny.

As I reported before, Dave became the first person to beat Rob Leatham in the US Single Stack Championship, shooting a 1911.

For those who don’t know, Dave is also Captain of Team Glock. He’s used a Glock to win just about every National Championship there is, in USPSA and IDPA. You can watch him shoot some amazing strings anywhere on Youtube, including my channel.

Yet Dave was somehow able to overcome the grip angle that has been such a stumbling block to so many.

So, maybe the grip angle of the Glock (or is it the 1911?) isn’t wrong, maybe it’s just different. Maybe the steps to shooting a gun are present the gun, align the sights visually, smoothly press the trigger until the gun goes off, and follow through. Maybe there’s nothing in there about grip angle.

All sarcasm aside (shock!), I would challenge those who say a particular gun feels wrong to deliberately set out to master that gun, for two reasons. First, you should never be limited by hardware, or more importantly, your perception of hardware. And second, you never know when that gun will be the only one available for you to use to defend yourself or your family. And that is more important than any championship.