Photos & Story
by Phil W. Johnston
Handgun Editor

My initial thought, I've got to admit, suggested that this was just another marketing ploy when I first looked at the new .45 Glock Auto Pistol (GAP) round. I first encountered this new round on the Desert Sportsman's Range west of Las Vegas, NV, this past February. The folks at Winchester-Western (WW) had several cases of new GAP ammo lying around and there was an ample supply of new Glock Model 37s as well. Hey, free ammo, who's going to complain?

If you look at the round alone, the .45 GAP might indeed be considered a flash-in-the-pan for lack of a more fitting description. Based on a case that is .775 inches in length and loaded to an overall length of 1.07 inches, this stubby round very slightly exceeds the capabilities of standard pressure .45 ACP loads when fired out of comparable length barrels. Big deal.

In addition, the GAP cartridge must be loaded to +P pressures (25,000 psi) to beat the old war horse standard pressure loads (19,900 psi.). Stuff +P ammo into a .45 ACP and it stands alone, once more simply because the GAP is already operating there and there's no room for more. This isn't the way to look at the GAP, however. The proper perspective is to look at the GAP as a way to get run-of-the-mill, .45 ACP performance out of a smaller package. In this light, I've decided that indeed, the GAP looks like a great idea.

Joint Venture
Developed as a joint venture between Glock and Speer/ATK, the impetus was to get .45 ACP performance out of a 9mm-sized package. It would soon be called the Model 37. Over the past month or so I've been blasting away with a new Model 37 and consider this combination a winner in all respects. I'm going to hate sending this Model 37 back, in fact.

Compared to a Glock Model 21 .45 ACP, the Model 37 sports a grip frame that is narrower and thinner from top to bottom. Indeed, it feels like my dad's old Model 17 9mm in that respect. In addition to being housed on a smaller, 9mm-sized receiver, the new Model 37 weighs half an ounce less than the Model 21, too. The sample Model 37 hit our scale at 28.8 ounces.

The receiver of the Model 37 is molded with sharp grip enhancing features gracing the grip. There are three finger grooves in the front and the backstrap features a panel filled with sharp posts, too. While the Model 37 does have "noticeable" recoil, it also sticks nicely in the hand.

Anyone familiar with the Glock is familiar with the simplicity of the design. A Glock can be field stripped in seconds and I've never seen one that doesn't shoot, either! I've got to admit that I'm not a Glock expert and haven't shot truck loads of ammo through a fleet of Glocks. Still, when I see a peace officer carrying a Glock on his or her side, I'm familiar enough with it to know that they're well equipped. If they practice often with their chosen piece, they'll come out just fine.

Browning Design
Based on Browning's concept, Glock's execution of the design is very nearly perfect. Sporting the same polymer receiver that caused such a fuss when it first appeared, this black semi-auto sets an example that will at least keep their competitors on their toes. Glock equips their semi-auto with a steel slide and barrel and the polymer receiver is equipped with four steel bearing inserts to engage the slide. The spring steel recoil spring is a captive design riding on a polymer guide rod.

The Model 37 sports good semi-fixed sights with one white dot up front and a pair of 'em in back. The rear sight can be drifted for windage while elevation changes would be done by switching between four available rear sights. Glock also catalogs a fully-adjustable rear sight, should you wish. I think it would be a fine option, by the way.

Equipped with a 4.49-inch/114mm barrel, the new Model 37 shares many components with the rest of the line. It indeed is just another Glock-and that's a good thing, by the way. The single-action trigger is pretty fair. This one measured just a click over 6 pounds on my Lyman Digital trigger gauge and it was quite easy to shoot this one well. Naturally, it isn't an icicle-like target trigger but it's really not bad for a service gun.

The novel Glock trigger sports a secondary, spring-loaded lever in the trigger that keeps the pistol from firing unless the trigger is pulled. There's no additional safety and there's no magazine safety, either, fortunately. Who wants or needs a short, stubby 28-ounce club, after all?

Glock pistols are shipped in a tough, locking polymer box and each pistol is also sent with a lock that runs a padded cable through the ejection port and out the barrel. If you've got kids around, maybe this is a good idea. We relied on education when our kids were growing up but maybe this old idea won't work any more. If that's the case, this lock should work great. Still, I'd hate to have to find a key in the dark, under pressure, too. It's your call.

I ran almost every available round through this Glock for this work. To the best of my knowledge, WW offers 5 loads including a frangible load aimed at range work and a BEB full metal jacket round that I excluded as well. I tried to pick ammunition that you might grab for serious work on the street for the most part. I would hope this wouldn't include WW's ball load in the chart, either. Not that there's anything wrong with the load but there are far better bullets for serious social work.

I worked with this gem over the course of several days, but the range conditions were similar so you should be able to bet money on the range results. Most of the pertinent data is in the accompanying chart but the range session deserves clarification just the same. There were no malfunctions of any kind over the course of two days of shooting.

The only surprise came when the final four groups fired with Speer's 200-grain Gold Dot™ JHP went downrange. I used the same range procedures throughout the test, but this load threw the first round from both magazines high and right, out of the subsequent group by 4 inches! I didn't call a flyer for any of the groups, but when I looked downrange it was evident that number one was out. The following four shots would tightly cluster slightly low and right.

In fact the last 5-shot group with this load included four rounds in one hole (.728 inches). Only the Speer loads kick out over 400 foot-pounds (FP) of energy and I think I'd call the Speer 200-grain Gold Dot JHP the winner here, even though it tended to throw the first round out. This load probably hits 1,000 feet-per-second (fps) at the muzzle and it generates 413 FP of instrumental energy, 15 feet from the muzzle. It is accurate and to date is probably the strongest GAP load available. I haven't run it into ballistic gelatin yet but that's around the corner.

Taken only as a cartridge, the GAP might leave a question in one's mind. Coupled with the Glock Model 37 and other rigs that will probably follow, it is a winner. I've always liked a .45. I still do. A .45 on a smaller frame is even better.

For more information about the Glock Model 37 drop 'em a line at: Glock Inc., 6000 Highlands Pkwy., Dept. GWK, Smyrna, GA 30082; phone: 770-432-1202; on-line: www.glock.com. You won't be disappointed.