I’m hardly a Glock fanboy, but I’m not willing to overly knock a gun that just works, and works, and works. I actually like to run cheap – not bad, but budget – reload ammo through some of my guns during testing. If the ammo fails, that’s one thing, and there are normally some tell-tale signs that it was the ammo and not the gun’s fault. But a gun that can eat the cheap stuff just like it does primo ammo is worth mentioning.

I just feel like it keeps the testing process honest to use non-premium ammo from time to time. Still, neither the cheap ammo nor the gun itself has ever failed to put rounds down range when it came to my used LEO Glock 17.

Generally, I’m a fan of used service guns because they come with some history that just makes the guns so much more interesting to me. Still, it’s hard to ignore the fact that even a used Glock is a gun that can live through a whole lot more shooting before you even need to worry about it. Better yet, it comes with some other extra perks, so let’s dig into this used Glock 17 Gen 4 that was once the daily carry of a police officer and found its way into my personal safe.
 

Why Grab a Glock 17 Anyway
 

There’s nothing very new about this Glock 17, coming as it does from a design that dates back more than 40 years now. That being said, I didn’t have a G17 in my personal safe, and I wasn’t interested in something that was highly customized or expensive. I wanted something that had some character and, quite frankly, offered that standard Glock shooting experience.

To that end, I turned my eye toward a stash of used police trade-in pistols that found their way into the Guns.com Certified Used Vault. You can normally find guns there at a pretty nice discount, and I had little worry that even a used Glock would have anywhere near the number of rounds through it that might require some upgrades. It’s not uncommon to see these guns go through tens of thousands of rounds before they need any sort of real maintenance.

I also intended to make this gun a regular range companion – we’re now sitting well north of 1,000 rounds together – so I wasn’t terribly interested in paying a premium on anything new and shiny anyway. While Glocks aren’t necessarily going to turn anyone’s head at the range anymore, there was just something that felt missing not having one of the most quintessential Glocks in my safe. 

So, I eventually jumped on the opportunity to get a budget-friendly LEO trade-in gun when it became available. After all, it is a gun that any experienced shooter should have some time and experience with before they cast judgment on other, newer options on the market.
 

Used Offers Some Extra Value

A stand-out feature that I have learned to love about used police trade-in firearms is the fact that they come with some pedigree. I won’t bore you with yet another review of the specs of the Glock 17 or how it compares to the venerable Glock 19, those are all just a few clicks away these days. But I will say that the LEO trade-in guns I’ve seen often solve one of the biggest issues I have with Glock pistols – the sights. 

This trade-in gun came with metal tritium sights that are Glock marked from the factory. The tritium was still plenty bright, and the sights showed just a slight amount of wear from their time of service. Even used, they were miles ahead of the polymer sights that normally come from the factory. Just as importantly, the gun also appeared to be only an occasion shooter, which is not uncommon for LEO guns that often only get fired during annual qualification or occasional training.

All of that is a bonus for a gun that comes in at a lower price point because it is technically used. But there’s another reason this Glock 17 caught my interest. Before it ever made its way into an officer’s holster, there was some thought that went into the gun. Since it was a duty gun, it first had to meet with the approval of the department that selected it, which means it had to be something they were willing to trust the lives of their officers to beforehand. 

There are plenty of great duty guns, but I do take comfort in knowing this specific pistol passed muster for actual professional use before it made its way into my collection. It also brought some cool and unique history along with it as a result.
 

Aftermarket Support

Given just the sheer popularity of the Glock 17 and its longevity as a go-to gun for many shooters, there are tons of aftermarket support options and extras for the Glock 17. I’ve become a fan of the extended ETS mags, and they’ve proven reliable and enjoyable on the range.
 

I was skeptical about using the G17 as a regular carry gun, but it has actually been easy enough to conceal and comfortable to carry with the right holster. The size only makes it slightly larger than the Glock 19, though that small increase in height and length can be significant depending on how you choose to carry. Still, the gun can pull off even summer tank-top carry while still offering full-size firepower.

RELATED: Glock 17 – Are Full-Size Carry Guns Too Big?
 

Complaints?

It would be unfair to call this my favorite gun, even if it is one of my more common range companions. I do have some complaints, but they have more to do with Glocks in general than the fact that this one is a used police trade-in gun.

First, as a used gun, this one did only come with one factory Glock magazine. That was easy enough to remedy, and the lower price still made the gun a solid investment. But I do find it less than optimal when a gun comes with anything less than three magazines. Then again, some used guns I’ve tested have come with six or more mags at little to no extra cost, so that might just be about shopping around.

The bigger issues are common to most Glocks. The trigger works, and the gun is reliable, but it’s still stiff to break and hardly optimized. For self-defense shooting, it's practical and effective. For target shooting, there are competitors that offer far better triggers right from the factory – the Canik line comes to mind. 
 

Beyond that, Glocks are fairly mediocre in the grippiness department. Given the size of the gun and the controls, I generally don’t really notice that on the range, and I actually shoot this Glock quite well, with a pretty standard 15-yard target in the picture above after a few mags. You can always solve that with some aftermarket grip options. But Glock’s 22-degree grip angle that's often criticized is much harder to fix. Again, it’s something that I have trained around with some success, but it’s an undeniable complaint with many shooters.
 

Final Thoughts

It’s easy enough to add a Glock 17 to your collection but adding one with some history and a few extras is a nice way to expand your collection at a lower price point. If you’re looking for a competition shooter, this might not be the place to start. Yet, as a gun that was trusted to save lives in dangerous situations, it’s hard to beat a trusty Glock that actually saw service. 

Someday, long in the future I imagine, the Glock 17 will be looked at as an important relic from an older age of firearms. But even after more than 40 years, I can’t see that moment coming any time soon. So why not add it to your collection to enjoy for many years to come.