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“Vickers” just sounds like a gun word. The Vickers machinegun—the English adaptation of Hiram Stevens Maxim’s belt-fed masterpiece—shed blood by the vat along the Western Front during the First War to End All Wars. The same storied moniker also belongs to one Larry Vickers, a unique product of both US Army Special Operations and the Information Age.

Larry spent nearly a decade in a Delta Force Sabre Squadron. This means he was at the tip of the spear for American Special Operations. Delta assaulters are the guys who kick in the doors, or more likely just blow them off their hinges, and then kill the Bad Guys lurking within. They call it Army Compartmented Elements these days. It used to be the Combat Applications Group. Guys who have actually been there just call it “The Unit.” Delta, along with Seal Team 6, is the best the US has to offer.

Larry took part in Operation Acid Gambit to free American hostage Kurt Muse during the military assault to overthrow Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. He provided input to the development of the HK 416, the world’s premier special-operations assault rifle, and trained the guys who captured Saddam Hussein and killed his two reprobate sons. When it comes to real-life street cred in the world of armed combat, Larry has indeed been there, done that.

Unlike most career military special operators who burn out their bodies and then retire to the country someplace, Larry has parlayed his extensive experience as a Tier 1 Special Operator into a thriving online brand. Larry uses his military experience to optimize tactical weapons and equipment, promote worthwhile causes, and train military, LE, and civilians in the art of armed combat.

Larry ultimately took his show on the road, in the digital sense, and built an unprecedented social media following. His YouTube channel is a perennial favorite, and his voice lends credence to the latest and greatest in combat gear and tactics. He has joined forces with Lipsey’s—the largest distributor of GLOCK handguns in the world—to produce the ultimate combat pistol. Amongst polymer-framed combat handguns, the RTF-2 Vickers Tactical 9mm is the apex predator.

In The Beginning…

It could be argued Gaston Glock built such a revolutionary handgun simply because he had never before built a handgun. He lacked the baggage carried by most folks who’ve lived in the gun world all their adult lives.

When the Austrian Army was soliciting a new combat pistol to replace their aging WWII-era P-38 in 1980, Glock—then an engineer specializing in the burgeoning industry of polymer science—decided to try his hand at gun building. He studied existing designs, but came at the problem without a lot of preconceptions about how handguns should work. His subsequent plastic invention—the G17—revolutionized the sidearm.

The Austrian military had listed 17 criteria for a new service handgun to meet and Glock produced his prototype in a scant 3 months. His eponymous plastic pistol set a new world standard for reliability and simplicity. As rugged as a tire iron while remaining both exceptionally accurate and versatile, the modern G17 has but a mere 34 parts.
Glock’s guns now fill the holsters of 65 percent of American LE officers—including Britain’s MOD as well as our FBI. They are currently the most popular pistol on the planet and are in institutional use in 54 countries. Not bad for a gun bodged together in 3 months by a guy with no real experience making firearms!

“RTF” stands for Rough Textured Finish. It’s noteworthy the RTF-2 Vickers Tactical is not a 4th Generation pistol. It may be an earlier frame design retired by GLOCK, but Larry always thought it the best of the lot. His influence exerted in concert with Lipsey’s got this “obsolete” frame resurrected just for this project.

Still incorporating the rakish grip-to-frame angle and post-triggerguard undercut that so nicely distribute the line of recoil along the shooter’s arm, this particular variant also sports a uniquely rough texture to keep the gun steady when the shooter is rushed, sweaty or petrified.

The entire gun is finished in an aesthetically pleasing Flat Dark Earth. GLOCK introduced the gun world to ferritic nitrocarbeurizing, a process that imbues the surface of the steel with an integral molecular finish rather than simply coating it with something. Previously you could get your guns in any color you wanted so long as it was black. In this case, the FDE really does look cool.

The front sight is a Pro I-DOT tritium unit from AmeriGlo. The rear sight is a proven Wilson Combat U-Notch. The gun features a Vickers TangoDown extended magazine release, extended slide catch and oversize FDE magazine baseplates to provide a little extra purchase should your mags ever need a little encouragement. The color also matches the rest of the gun. The grip plug that occupies the curious void in the base of the grip includes an integral disassembly tool as well as a small Allen wrench with which to adjust the rear sight.

The mag catch and slide release are not installed, but this is not a chore. The included disassembly tool will punch out the slide release retaining pin.

In Larry’s own words, “The only things we changed over the baseline GLOCK pistol reflected commonsense modifications that brought something new and good to the table. The extended magazine catch and slide release along with the enlarged baseplates were evolutionary accessories developed as a result of my real world experience alongside input from my students. We just took the most popular combat handgun in the world and filled its few voids.”

Range Report

In the final analysis, the RTF-2 Vickers Tactical is a GLOCK. It shoots every time you squeeze the trigger. It runs whether it is on the range, on the beat, perched atop your bedside table, underwater or in outer space. You pretty much can’t kill it. Believe me, I’ve tried. The day a GLOCK fails to run reliably and well is the day you’ll find me organizing the Mississippi Chapter of the Charles Schumer Fan Club.

On the range, the Vickers GLOCK does everything you’d expect. The sights are simply fantastic—easy to acquire and fast. The extended magazine catch and slide release really do improve your purchase on these items substantively, while the grip plug helps funnel your magazines into the magwell. The inimitable GLOCK design tames recoil, even with spunky ammo. For close encounters of the up-close-and-unpleasant variety, little else runs as well.

The striker-fired trigger inspired a generation of handguns. At 5.5 pounds it really is about as good as it gets. The primary safety is imbedded within the trigger face and the gun simply won’t go off unless your finger is on the trigger. Mind your finger and the gun is your slave.

Numbers, Availability

The initial production run will be limited to 2,000 G17 (shown here) and 3,000 G19 models and will likely sell out in short order. However, there will undoubtedly be more Vickers variants to come after these. Larry tells me these runs bring the total up to 20,000 guns thus far resulting from this union with Lipsey’s. When you combine the world’s premiere polymer pistol manufacturer with the street cred of Larry Vickers and the marketing power of Lipsey’s, you end up with a combat implement providing you with the edge you need for either competition or real-world security.

Most of us will never kick in the doors in the ongoing effort to rid the planet of the vermin who threaten our flawed but beautiful republic. However, this doesn’t mean we can’t benefit from the many years of experience of those who do. Regarding the Lipsey’s GLOCK RTF-2 Vickers Tactical 9mm, this is indeed an optimized combat implement.

The GLOCK pistol is the most adaptable handgun since John Moses Browning’s inimitable 1911. If you have a healthy credit card and a little time you could build up your own custom gun at home easily enough. However, if you’d prefer an enhanced, ready-to-go specimen based upon real world combat experience, this is it.

17RTF2
Distributor: Lipsey’s, 7277 Exchequer Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70809, (225) 755-1333, www.lipseys.com

Primary Maker: GLOCK, 6000 Highlands Parkway, Smyrna, GA 30082, (770) 432-1202, www.glock.com

Type: Semi auto, Safe Action
Caliber: 9mm
Capacity: 17+1
Barrel length: 4.4 inches
Overall length: 7.3 inches
Finish: Flat Dark Earth Cerakote
Sights: U-notch rear, Tritium dot front
Grips: Polymer, Price: $750

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