Gaston Glock ushered in the modern era of polymer framed pistols. The Models G26 (9x19), G27 (.40 S&W) and G33 (.357 SIG) are sub compact pistols particularly well suited to concealed carry.

Glock pistols have polymer receivers with molded-in steel slide rails. The slide is machined (not stamped) from solid steel, and most of the internal parts are also steel.

Glock pistols, due to their polymer plastic receiver and Tenifer-coated steel parts, are more resistant to corrosion than any other pistol. This makes them ideal for daily carry, especially in harsh environments.

The essence of the basic Glock pistol design is simplicity and ease of operation. Glocks are hammerless, striker-fired, short recoil operated, autoloading pistols with a unique "Safe Action" mechanism. The Glock Safe Action is neither double action or single action, it is a new type of action.

The Glock Safe Action incorporates three separate safety mechanisms, all of which are automatically activated when the slide is at battery. There is a trigger block safety, an internal firing pin safety, and there is an internal drop safety.

Glock sub compact pistols are among the safest ever designed, and no user action is required to render them safe. All that is required is that most basic of proper gun handling procedures: keep your finger off the trigger until you intend to shoot the gun!

It is the angle of the ramp on the trigger connector that primarily determines the trigger pull weight. Glock trigger connectors are manufactured with three different angles, and all three connectors fit any Glock pistol.

The standard Glock trigger is supposed to have a "5 pound" trigger connector. This connector has a ramp set at a 90 degree angle. These are the connector usually found in civilian G26, G27 and G33 pistols.

Glock magazines are made of steel lined polymer. The polymer magazine follower trips the slide stop after the last round is fired, locking back the slide for convenient reloading.

Glock pistols have only two controls, besides the trigger, and those are conventionally located. There is no hammer and no manual safety to worry about; there is only a magazine release and a slide release. And, by design, nothing sticks out of a Glock pistol to catch on clothing.

The extractor, located on the right side of the slide immediately behind the ejection port, also serves as a loaded chamber indicator.

Glock pistols have several fundamental design advantages over most other pistols. The grip angle is ergonomic. Another advantage is the Glock's low bore axis. This minimizes muzzle flip and tends to minimize perceived recoil. Glock sub compacts come with the same high visibility sights as Glock full size service pistols, an important advantage compared to the tiny sights supplied on many sub compact pistols. The result of these design subtleties is that the Glock sub compact pistols have good practical accuracy compared to most of their competition.

The G26, G27 and G33 models are nearly identical. The salient difference is that the G26 is chambered for the 9mm Luger cartridge, the G27 is chambered for the .40 S&W cartridge, and the G33 is chambered for the .357 SIG cartridge. The magazine capacity is 10 cartridges in the G26 and 9 cartridges in the G27 and G33.

All three of these sub compact Glocks have barrels 3.46 inches long. Weight is 19.75 ounces. The sub compact Glocks have the same diameter grips as the full size Glock pistols, and in fact can use the long magazines intended for larger Glock pistols.

Only two fingers will fit on the short grip. An excellent addition is to replace the standard flat magazine floorplate with a "+2" floorplate, which allows room for a third finger as well as increasing magazine capacity by a cartridge.

There were no malfunctions during our testing of the G26, and none were expected. It delivered good accuracy for a sub compact service pistol The little Glocks are excellent pistols for daily concealed carry. They are safe, powerful, reliable, and relatively easy to shoot.

Note: A complete review of the Glock 26 pistol can be found on the Product Reviews page.