The Glock 18 and the compensated 18C have become legendary as fully automatic pistols that everyone wants…
…but no one has.
Well, not that many people have anyway.
So what is this mythical Glock 18 and how does it manage its full-auto goodness?
Glad you asked, not only are we fans of the plastic fantastics, but we also happen to have shot a gull auto Glock 18 in all its glory.
What that means is…we’ve got the deets on this awesome design and we’re happy to share the info we know.
So, let’s go on a ride through the ins and outs of Glock’s 18 and 18C and learn more about this rad pair of pistols.
Table of Contents
Loading...
What is the Glock 18 & 18C?
The Glock 18 is a full-sized automatic pistol chambered in 9mm capable of 1,200 rounds a minute.
Think of it as the G17 but with a “fun-switch” that lets you choose between semi-auto and full-auto.
The compensated 18C model features cutouts in the slide and a ported barrel for gas to escape — this helps reduce muzzle climb during shooting.
The mechanics behind the full-auto is actually pretty simple. The “cross” part of the trigger bar has a raised extra tab.
And remember the “happy switch” from above?
When it’s switched to full-auto, it moves a piece of metal downwards that will contact the extra tab. So when you fire, the sear is kept engaged and you get your pew pew pew!
How Do I Buy a Glock 18?
Unfortunately, the answer is you pretty much can’t.
Thanks to a bunch of laws (1934 NFA, 1968 GCA, & 1986 FOPA), there are only three ways of obtaining a Glock 18 (or any other machine gun):
- Transferable: Guns registered prior to May 19, 1986. These are the mythical guns that forums perpetuate are out there, but they might be so few in number you’ll likely never seen one offered for sale. And if they were…they might be the price of a luxury car.
- Pre-Samples: These are ones imported from January 1, 1986 until May 19, 1986. Only dealers could have them since machine guns were deemed to have no sporting purposes for civilians. However, dealers could keep them after they gave up their licenses. Again, very low in number if any since the 18 was produced right around this time period.
- Post-Samples: These are the machine guns made after the May 19, 1986 deadline. However, they are only for dealers, manufacturers, military, and law enforcement. If you’re a Class III dealer who has a “demo letter” (letter from a police department asking you to acquire a gun to test), you can get one to sample. But, you don’t get to keep it when you give up your license.
Good news, though, if you’re a Class III dealer or police department, it wouldn’t cost you a Porsche.
It might even cost you less than a regular Glock 17 from the looks of this page from OMB Guns (now defunct site).
Glock 18 Alternatives
Another alternative if you’re a Class III dealer with a demo letter is to get a converted Glock.
A converted Glock 17 uses a selector switch on the backplate to make it fire full-auto.
You’ll also see some of these Post-Samples on GunBroker for around the $2,000 mark.
You also can check out our list of the best (and purchasable) Glocks!
How It Shoots
We recently had a sort-of-review of a real Glock 18.
But here’s a quick clip of it in action:
It doesn’t help if all the rounds go into the air…and eventually, we got it down so that we were shooting into the size of a small car.
Check out the full review here.
And our full video review right below:
Conclusion
Though most of us can only dream of owning a full-auto Glock 18, 18C, or converted 17, they’re still fun to watch in action.
And if you ever get the chance to fire one…definitely go for it! They’re a blast!
Have you ever shot a Glock 18? How about other full-autos? Tell us in the comments! In the meantime, if you do have just a regular ole Glock, check out our Best Glock Mods to make it run a little better.
23 Leave a Reply
It all depends where you live.
I saw one on gunsammoshop com
Where? Link. Watya look for
Legal. Not legal. Not my cup of tea, however, if you want full auto, its literally a few computer clicks and a Ender 3D... Man people are not very resourceful... go to grab cad and download it...
The fact that anybody thinks full auto Glocks are more dangerous than not, is a bleeping idiot. You want to know why? Because there is no advantage to full auto, over semi-auto, like at allllll.... at all. A matter a fact, a full auto Glock is actually at a disadvantage against a OEM Glock, due to several reasons. Firstly, when you go full auto, any and all accuracy goes out the f-in window. Its like holding on to a chunk of plastic, trying to run away out of your hands. Second, full auto is impractical... It takes 1 bullet to end a life. Having over a dozen firing almost at once is overkill. etc So full auto should be legal.
Sounds like the voice of experience
Nonsense. The full-auto Glock pistol isn't any less accurate than any other Glock, and it isn't at all hard to control. I've fired one, and it didn't have an arm brace, either - I simply used a normal 2-handed grip and had no problem shredding a CCW-test target.
I took my CCW class from John Ross, and after the live-fire part of the class, he brought out several of his "toys" for us to try - $20/magazine and you reloaded the magazine for the next guy. That day I fired a Thompson, a grease gun, the Glock 18, and a suppressed Uzi. None where particularly hard to control, or noticeably inaccurate. I also had the chance at a BAR, and John's new S&W .500 revolver, but passed on those.
It may only take one bullet to end a life, if you're good enough to make that one bullet count, but a full-auto anything is good at laying down suppressive fire, and giving you a chance to move to better cover, or whatever. It also gives you a fair chance of putting more than one bullet on your target, which isn't a bad thing for "stopping the threat".
First of all, youre an idiot.
If you cant see why a gun firing potentially 33 rounds in a basically uncontrolled manner isnt more dangerous than a semi-auto, you deserve to have your guns taken.
I would like to buy glock 18
My 1st exp w/ a full auto was w/ an HK MP5. I couldn't keep the gun on target. (I only had 1 arm.) So my Army buddy told me to relax and shoot short bursts. The gun would naturally go up but when it came back on target, he told me to shoot again. It worked! I own several Glocks including an original Glock 17. I can't shoot 1200 rpm but I can dump a full mag AND keep my shots in the black.
I was only looking for airsoft but dam
so a glock 18 slide can be fitted on a glock 17?
No.
Would like to purchase a glock 18
If you have a Class 3 licence I can help
How do I get a class 3
illegal tho ithought you could have one
Went through the Glock armorers school in Smyna many many years ago and one of the things we go to do was fire a 32 rd magazine through the G18, basically two trigger pulls. Weapon got so hot you couldn't touch the slide to charge the weapon, so the instructor held it in the eye wash fountain until you could touch it. I have wanted one ever since.
Scary thing was, he had gone to train a PD on site and found that not only did they all have G18's, they thought the selector switch on the slide was a safety. Except they were all set to full auto.
After taking my concealed carry class, the instructor brought out some of his "special" firearms for us to try if we so desired, for $20/magazine. One of them was a Glock 18.,
I had expected it to be difficult to shoot accurately, with the constant recoil I expected from the high rate of fire. Nope, it was quite controllable and reasonably accurate in full-auto mode.
I've fired semi-autos that were harder to shoot accurately during rapid fire, but the 18 was easy. Perhaps because all I had to do was pull the trigger once, and then hang on, and wasn't constantly jerking the muzzle around trying to pull the trigger rapidly? Whatever, it worked great, and it was FUN!
may I ask where this is at? so I can experience it
You can RENT to shoot at some ranges....
EXPENSIVE but, fn FUN!
Thanks Eric!
Dangit