Glock 18

The GLOCK 18 is a Selective fire pistol manufactured by the famous Austrian armament company, GLOCK Gmbh. It is an efficient 9×19mm caliber hand gun with excellent handling characteristics capable of fully automatic fire along with semi automatic mode of fire. The pistol is recoil operated, closed breech weapon universally known for its reliability, with a barrel length of 4.49 in and an overall length of 7.32 in. The GLOCK 18 weighs 21.87 Oz without the magazine and over 30 Oz with a magazine on-depending also on the type of magazine used. Like all GLOCK pistols, the 18 has an all polymer frame and precision molded steel slide that has been hardened through the tefiner hardening process. The weapon is light and easy to handle, and is as durable, tough and reliable as all other GLOCK models. The secret behind the durability of GLOCK pistol being the tefiner hardening process. Muzzle lift during full automatic fire is compensated by the integral compensators on the barrel, which are cut using an EDM machine, and are precision engineered to allow for exact compensation.

The GLOCK 18 can be adapted to the utilization of a 10, 17 or 19 round magazine commonly used on the GLOCK 17, or it can be fitted with a longer magazine holding from 31 to 33 rounds, which is not common but which is preferred for use during full automatic fire because of the larger ammunition load. The cyclic rate on full automatic fire is 1300 rounds per minute, but this is the stated theoretical rate of fire and the actual cyclic rate of fire varies between 1100 rpm to 1300 rpm. Firing modes are easily changed by manipulating the selector lever-the GLOCK 18 pistol has a selector lever on the left side of the slide, this selector lever on the slide allows two modes of fire-fully automatic or semi-automatic. These options can be changed by the simple rotation of the lever to the bottom position or 'down 'position for full automatic fire and to the top or 'up' position for semi-automatic fire respectively. The other mode is the safe mode enabled by placing the selector in the middle-the gun will not fire in this mode.

The GLOCK 18 is similar in most respects of functionality and in appearance to the earlier GLOCK 17, an equally illustrious and earlier pistol model on which the 18 is modeled and which it resembles to a great extent. The greatest difference between the GLOCK 18 and the GLOCK 17 largely lies in the availability of a select fire option in the 18, and differences in some of the internal mechanisms which are not interchangeable, thus making it a totally new weapon vis-à-vis the GLOCK 17. This has been deliberately done for security reasons- the other major difference that does not allow a change of parts is that the frame rails on the GLOCK 18 have been raised preventing the interchange of slides with the 17. The GLOCK 18 is intended for use only with the military or law enforcement and hence this differences in parts from one model to another. Some external differences are also obvious, the GLOCK 18 has a barrel that protrudes past the front of the slide, the selector switch is of course the main difference between the models and is placed on the left side of the slide, the last difference is that the extended barrel in the GLOCK 18 has an integral compensator-in the form of three horizontal grooves cut out on the top. These integral compensators allow gases to escape during active fire and compensate effectively for muzzle lift.

The new version of the GLOCK 18, called the GLOCK 18C, or simply the 18C is a slight improvement on the original GLOCK 18. Along with minor and superficial improvements on the frame like a finger groove on the handle and an under belly attachment rail for different accessories, the GLOCK 18C has a keyhole opening that has been EDM machine cut in the frontal region of the slide, while the slide length is similar to the original GLOCK 18. The slide of the GLOCK 18C resembles the long slides found in the GLOCK 17L and the GLOCK 24 in this respect. The cuts which increase in width from back to front allow for greater muzzle control and lift compensation during rapid fire mode. In the GLOCK 18C, the metal slide has also been lightened with respect to the slide on the original GLOCK 18, for better overall compensation. The GLOCK 18C is therefore much more fine tuned for accurate fire during automatic firing modes and handles such as easily as the older 18. The trigger pull on the GLOCK 18 was stated as 8 pounds which has been reduced to the GLOCK standard of 5.5 pounds. It is in the compensatory mechanism against muzzle lift that the GLOCK 18C has really been improved upon.