Glock 23

In fact, many of this handgun's parts are interchangeable with the Glock 19 (the exceptions are the slide, frame, barrel, locking block, recoil spring, recoil-spring guide rod and slide lock spring). Glock 17, the original 'building block', was the Austrian gun manufacturing company's first handgun and it can be assumed that Glock has sentimental attachments to the basic model. The Glock 23, which appeared on the market in 1990, chambers .40 S&W rounds. It was, in fact, one of the first two handguns to feature this caliber - the other one was the Glock 22.

While the difference in caliber does make for certain visual differences, this pistol's look is otherwise the same as that of the Glock 19. It is also slightly heavier than its predecessor. However, it comes in the same black finish peculiar to all of Glock's handguns, and a faded olive polymer finish has also been introduced recently. This handgun measures 6.79 inches in length and 4.92 inches in height (inclusive of sights). The width is 1.18 inches and the barrel measures 4.02 inches. The entire pistol weighs 20.67 ounces in an unloaded condition. It disassembles into a total of 37 component parts, though Glock Company claims that there are actually only 35. This is a remarkably low number of parts and this is one of the factors that makes the Glock 23 give other brands in this category of handguns a run for their money.

It incorporates an 18-pound recoil spring and many buyers have found this insufficient, replacing it with heavier springs weighing 20 or 22 pounds. In order to facilitate reduced recoil and faster follow-up shooting, the Glock 23 has been fitted with a ported barrel and slide for venting gases resulting from firing. The fact that this produces a very visible flash has been criticized in certain circles. For this reason, the Glock 23 may not be the most suitable weapon for use in circumstances calling for concealment. There are also issues regarding its reliability in personal protection, since flash is bright enough to blind the shooter temporarily. Additionally, some shooters have stated that the recoil remains heavy enough to be disruptive in sustained precision shooting.

The Glock 23 is hammerless and striker-fired and it does not incorporate a manual thumb safety or de-coking lever. Instead, it has what is called the safe action trigger system. This comprises of outer and inner triggers that cannot operate independently of each other. The tripe-safe trigger assembly is incorporated in a polymer frame. The Glock 23 has a magazine capacity of 12, plus one in the breech, giving it a very suitable profile for a variety of repeat-fire situations. The magazine is made of polymer, with steel liners and indicator holes. They are of the staggered column, single-position feed format and are interchangeable with the Glock 22 model magazine (not vice versa), though these will jut out from the frame.

With magazine capacity obviously sufficient, the only possible impediment to rapid firing of the Glock 23 could be the trigger, which some users claim to be heavier than comfortable. However, it is highly compact and fires any brand of .40 rounds without any problems. Users have obtained consistent performance with diverse ammunitions such as Remington Golden Saber 165gr JHP, Cor-Bon 165gr JHP, Federal Hydra-Shok 155gr JHP, Speer Gold Dot 165gr JHP and Winchester Silvertip 155gr JHP.

The Glock 23 remains reliably stable in performance and requires very little maintenance in situations where disassembling and cleaning it on a regular basis is not possible. With extremely good balance and excellent grip dimensions, it fits into any shooter's hand comfortably. On purchase, it is fully equipped with adjustable, white-outline polymer rear sights and these should be replaced with fixed sights if the handgun is meant for use in defense. Such fixed sights can be purchased cheaply in four different heights, each corresponding to the model purchased.