AfterSHOT: Agency Arms comes NOCing

Photos by Taylor Lange of Seeing RED.

Making its debut at SHOT Show 2016 was a new custom Glock pistol from Agency: the Agency Arms NOC. Our good friend and Agency spokesman Paul Van Dunk (who still looks pretty much like he did in Fury Road) made the presentation, explaining simply,

“We wanted to offer something that hasn't been done in a while as a refresher for the [firearms] community.”

This is a sight-tracking Glock 19 with a compensator threading onto the barrel to give it the length of a Glock 17. More commonly seen on 1911s, this is a really cool innovation to see on a Glock.

The ports are sized to allow the pistol to function with a large variety of ammunition types. The compensator features timed threading to allow the shooter to track his sights while the slide moves back and forth during the firing sequence. Its recoil assembly is interchangeable for 13, 14 and 18 pounds and the slide is cut for an RMR.

Frames are courtesy of Lone Wolf for better grip purchase with a reduced chance of slide bite due to the extended beavertail, a carefully radiused and stippled frame and no finger grooves. An Agency magazine well and an aluminum magazine release round out the frame.

The slide has front cocking serrations if you are into those and the pistol will fit in any Glock 17 holster.

Agency touts it as an “all-purpose model,” meaning it is intended for use as a defensive sidearm as well as for competition shooting. Likewise it is not a slave to either iron sights or an optic. You have the option to use one or the other or both.

We did not hear a price, but assume it will be up there — this is Agency, not Taurus.

This of course then begs the question, “Who wants or needs a $2000 Glock?”

The correct answer is simple: if you have to ask that, then you  do not. As web editor David Reeder has pointed out to more than one naysayer or disaffected troll who feels compelled to decry or revile a high priced weapon or piece of gear:

cap·i·tal·ism /ˈkapədlˌizəm/ noun 1. an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

See also “Free Market.”

To some of us, guns are simple tools. To others they represent complex machines that showcase mankind’s ability to design, invent and improve. I like Glocks because they are affordable and reliable. Beyond adding a threaded barrel, changing sights or a recoil spring, mine stay stock. That does not prevent me from appreciating the design and engineering that went into the NOC though. In fac,  I prefer to see modern mass-produced firearms customized this way than, say, US Property Marked 1911s that came home from the wars to be used as the base of so many custom pistols from the 1950s forward.

I am sure more than one veteran bemoaned anyone sinking any serious coin into an accurized 1911 back in the day, but now 50 years later factories are churning out new 1911s with those same features.

In essence, this is what Agency Arms is doing and we applaud them for it. They are building firearms that people want and by all appearances, they are doing it correctly.

The NOC is not listed on the website as of this writing, but give the Agents a few days and they'll have it loaded up for you.

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What is the NSSF SHOT Show?

The NSSF SHOT Show (Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show) and Conference is an annual event held by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Typically attended by thousands of people from all 50 states and over a hundred countries, it is (quite rightfully) described as the “…world's premier exposition of combined firearms, ammunition, law enforcement, cutlery, outdoor apparel, optics, and related products and services.
Imagine the Worlds' Fair, but packed with everything from mini-guns and every breed of body armor, bows and boots; from eye pro and ear pro to optics and ordnance, socks to swords…you get the idea. If you'd like to see a sampling of the companies who will be showing at this year's SHOT, there's a live map right here, though it doesn't reflect the organizations set up elsewhere, in hotel suites, etc.
View imagery from our coverage of last year's SHOT Show right here.
SHOT Show is online here; check out the videos from SHOT Show TV right here.
2016 SHOT Show
January 18 — Media on the Range (numerous shooting facilities in and around Las Vegas)
January 19–22, 2016
Sands Expo and Convention Center
Las Vegas, Nevada
Hours:
Tuesday, January 19 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, January 20 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 21 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Friday, January 22 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

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