I was confused as the man who is commonly known as the beard, handed me his Salient Arms Glock 19. The gun looked like he found it at the bottom of the ocean sitting next to the Titanic. I’ve seen World War 2 era issued 1911s in better shape than the gun he has handing me.
I thought the Glock 19 was a one off until he handed me his Salient Arms Glock 17. I wanted to put holy water on it and pray for it, because it was in worse shape than the Salient Arms Glock 19. I was confused but a little turned on. Something about a faded slide on a Glock or HK that makes a gun feel special to me (Thank God this doesn’t translate to my taste in women). Even with my affinity for used and abused guns I was still confused by the state of these guns. After taking his Handgun Employment 2 class, i’ve concluded that Chris Costa is the Ike Turner of the gun world, because he beats the sh*t out of his guns.
It’s quite amazing to watch really. He slides the top frame of a Glock along solid rock like he’s trying to create sparks for a fire. He doesn’t stop there, he racks it off his holsters, his belt, his pants, his shoes anything that can get that gun up and running. I know the haters of Chris Costa are sucking their teeth pounding out a comment about how Chris Costa is a poser, operator wanna be, etc. For the record, he ran the course in a pair of jeans and t-shirt and he concealed carried for 60% of the course.
Keep in mind that he shoots the piss out the gun in his classes (He Ran Salient Arms Glocks 90% of the class). God forbid A students gun goes down, he lets the students shoot the damn the thing through the course. Keep in mind I shot over 2000 rounds in his course with his Salient Arms Glock 17 and he says at least one student will need to use his gun in just about every class he teaches. Go to CostaLudus.com and look at the number of classes he teaches and you do the math.
I wonder if Miley Cyrus would Lick the top of this slide?
Here’s the thing, you may no like sliding your $4000 Wilson Combat (Actually, one guy did) on rocks, but you’ll walk away from the class knowing what your gun is made of. The abuse isn’t arbitrary. The crazy thing is, I don’t think he’s aware that he’s abusing the guns until its all said and done, the gun abuse is just a by product of a realistic curriculum.
So, if you love the pretty finish on your fancy 1911, Glock, Sig or HK, do yourself a favor, don’t let Chris Costa Borrow it, and don’t bring to one of his courses (At least not Handgun 2) because your gun will have battle scars, but I have to be honest, the scars really do build character.
