Airsoft Glock Guide: 17, 18C or 19, and Which Brand?

Walk through the safe zone, the rest area, of any site and you will not need long to spot an airsoft Glock, or something shaped like one. The real pistol made the plastic (polymer) frame normal, and it is a service pistol all over the world, with the British Armed Forces among its users.

In airsoft the design has a second advantage: it is simple. There is no hammer and there are no levers to snag, the grip takes a fat gas magazine, and nearly every maker of gas blowback pistols, the kind whose slide moves with every shot, has a version. That is also the problem. With so many models and brands, which one do you buy?

The model number tells you the size and the fire mode. Three of them cover nearly every purchase.

The 19 is the one people mean when they search for a Glock 19 BB gun: the compact that still fills the hand. Around these three sit the niche models, such as the subcompact 26, the long-slide 34 and newer crossovers like the 19X and the 45. They are fun, but magazines and holsters are thinner on the ground.

The 18C fires full-auto, and that changes its legal class: it falls under the lower of the two energy limits in Great Britain. What counts is that the pistol can fire automatically, not where the switch is set. A gas pistol as it leaves the factory normally sits below that limit, but have the speed measured (a chrono reading) in warm weather and never assume with CO2. Then there is the site. Many CQB sites, the indoor close-range venues, allow semi-auto only, so the switch stays on semi.

Three names come up in every Glock discussion: Tokyo Marui, Umarex, whose gas pistols are built by VFC, and WE. They differ less in how far they shoot than in what they are made of and in what fits them.

Umarex holds the official Glock licence for airsoft. A licensed Glock carries the real logo and markings in the right places, and for many owners that is the whole point. WE sells its pistols without them, under its own model names.

What the licence does not change is the shooting. The logo is trademark law, not engineering. Whether a licensed Umarex airsoft pistol suits you better than a Tokyo Marui depends on what you value: the metal slide and the markings, or the lighter, quicker action.

Nearly every airsoft Glock is a gas blowback pistol that runs on green gas, the standard airsoft gas. Gas pressure falls with the temperature, so a British winter morning takes the edge off: the slide moves more slowly and a fill gives fewer shots. A light plastic slide copes better than a heavy metal one.

CO2 is the alternative. Some models are sold as CO2 versions or take CO2 magazines, and they keep their kick when it is cold. Check the stated energy against the power limit of your site before you buy one.

Few pistols have as many holsters made for them. A moulded holster is shaped for one size, though: one for a 17 with an open end usually takes a 19, but not the other way round. Airsoft replicas can also differ a fraction from the real dimensions, so look for a holster that lists your brand.

Magazines follow the same logic. Stay within one brand. As a rule the longer magazine of a 17 also fits the 19 of the same brand, but do not assume that a magazine from one maker feeds in a pistol from another.

What a toy shop sells as a Glock BB gun is usually a spring pistol in the same shape: fine for the garden, not for a game day. A used gas blowback Glock is the better bargain, and easy to find because so many were sold. Spare magazines often come with it.

Most listings on Airsoft Bazaar are in the Netherlands and Belgium. A replica sent to the UK crosses a customs border, and the rules for realistic replicas apply to the import too. Magazines and holsters are simpler to buy across the border.