Glock 21/50 GI

Well yesterday afternoon UPS delivered my new toy, an upper slide kit chambered in 50GI. I was chopping at the bit all morning to go shot this beauty and finally got the opportunity to at lunch today. I went to Hot Wells Shooting Range, our local outdoor range, since the city of Houston does not allow the discharge of anything larger than a 44 magnum indoors.

Let me first start with a little background. I already own almost every Glock made, and I already have another upper slide kit in 22LR for my G21SF, I decided to look around and find a donor lower receiver from a G20 or 21 since they are basically the same. After a short hunt on Texas Gun Trader, I found a first gen 21 with a nickel plated slide. A little bling for me, but the price was right, less than $400 and after some haggling I got it for less than $300! So now I can leave my G21SF alone and use the slightly bulkier G21 for the two slide kits.

Now a little about the round itself. The 50GI was developed by a Dane named Alex Zimmermann. After 2 years of R&D on the weapon system, he went public with it at the 2004 Shot Show with the 50GI round itself and a purpose built 1911 called the Model No. 2. His company Guncrafter Industries now offer a few models chambered in the 50GI and Kits to convert 1911 to the 50GI; as well as the Glock Conversion Unit I Got. The round itself comes in 185 grain CHP at 1200 FPS and a 230 grain CHP at 1000 FPS, these rounds pack roughly 600 and 500 pounds of energy, respectively. Guncrafter Industries also offers the reloading dies, brass, and bullets, which I will be picking up myself very soon.

Finally that’s out of the way let’s get to the shooting! After shooting the other big cal handguns I must admit I was a little nervous to put this 50 down range with it being in such a small package. The Desert Eagle and the S&W 500 both have their own gotchas you have to watch out for. The 50AE flips up and wants to kiss your forehead, where the S&W want to pound the palm of your hand until it is black and blue. I put one round in the specially designed 10 round magazine, flipped the slide release, and pointed it at the target. Not being use to the large grip on the G21 and the 7lb trigger pull, the time it took to pop that round seemed to go a little slower than I wanted, but it was worth the wait! It was surprisingly easy! No flip like on the DE 50, and no punch to the palm like the S&W 500, to be honest it felt easier than the 45 ACP. Since I had brought the G21SF, I quickly loaded it up and popped a few off. Because of the low pressure of the 50GI the recoil was amazingly mild in comparison to the 45 ACP and a lot less than a 10 MM! I load a full magazine and started killing me some paper. The gun was easy and tame, flip was minimal and over all a fun shoot! Setting it down for my partner in crime Ford to shot, I again put a magazine of .45 ACP down range. It was true, we both agreed, the 45 was a beast in comparison. The round could even be, in my opinion, use for concealed carry.

So my over impression of the round is great. In comparison to my other two 50 cal handguns, this would be the only “practical & usable” gun for self defense. Without a doubt Its Fun To Shoot!