Since its release in May 1987, the GLOCK 18 has become a fixture in the manufacturer’s product portfolio in its G size. After the GLOCK 17 and G17L, it was the third weapon from GLOCK.
Because its tactical mission value is rather controversial and in most countries fully automatic weapons remain inaccessible to civilians, the weapon was never able to achieve a wider distribution. Nevertheless, or perhaps because of that, a certain mythology has built up around this fully automatic version of the service pistol classic.
Features and technology of the fully-automatic GLOCK 18 pistol
The GLOCK 18 is technically very similar to the G17 with its 114-mm barrel length and full-size grip. The interior contains the track proven technology of the 3rd generation, but because of the rather low sales it has achieved, there will probably not be a 4th or 5th generation.
The fire selector lever is on the left side of the slide. For left-handers it is therefore a little awkward to use. In the uppermost position, however, it fires semi-automatically, while in the lowest position it fires fully automatically.
The slide rails of the slide and the corresponding steel inserts in the grip are, however, dimensioned differently than they are in the civilian variants of the G17 models. In the first models of the G18, the grips were even dyed red for better recognition, but today you will only find this colour with official training weapons from the manufacturer.
In addition, the locking surface of the barrel is designed to be larger. With that, GLOCK deliberately avoids the possibility of interchanging barrels and slides.
The magazines on the other hand are fully interchangeable, so that the oversized cartridge containers holding up to 33 cartridges can also be used.
In addition to the G18, there is also a G18 C which comes with compensator slots in the barrel and a corresponding recess in the slide. This should allow it to be controlled better during shooting.
GLOCK 18: 1,200 rounds per minute
Due to the technology of the recoil loader and the quite short slide movement (in contrast to the situation with rifles), the rate of fire is quite high. The manufacturer claims it to be 1,200 rounds per minute. Thus, a 33-round magazine will empty in less than 1.7 seconds. For comparison, a Heckler & Koch MP5 achieves around 800 rounds per minute.
However, this high shot rate does not make it easy to control the about 1 kg heavy weapon when it is loaded. During fully automatic shooting, the compensated model could be more easily mastered in practice.
In general, however, only experienced shooters should be trusted to use the GLOCK 18, because this gun requires an experienced handling of the recoil. The concentrated firepower concealed in this fully automatic pistol is revealed here in a video clip.
More information on GLOCK pistols can be found directly on the company’s website.
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