Adam Trahan: Roland Special (Highly Modified Glock 9mm)

The Roland Special

I was a combat medic in the 25th INF with an Expert Field Medical Badge. That designation meant that I had returned demonstration of some infantry badassery. While I was an infantry soldier first, I had the choice of carrying a 1911 45 caliber pistol or an M-16 rifle. Because my Alice pack was anywhere from 40-60 lbs (we were a light fighter brigade) and my M5 and M3 Aid Bags were about 20 and 4 lbs, I chose to carry a 1911. I would wrap it in a plastic bag and shove it in my rucksack. That way when I got back to base, I could wipe it off and turn it back in, I didn’t have to clean it

I did not like any extra time cleaning as I already had to be ready for inspection as a soldier, not to mention all my field medical stuff squared away. It was all about speed and efficiency, I wanted to get through inspection and get off base and go surfing or hang gliding…

When I exited the service, I had my fill of weapons. Being infantry, you were a weapons expert. We learned how to shoot the world’s fighting weapons. We practiced at ranges for accuracy and at the end of the day, you either expended all your ammo or you had to count it and turn it back in. We wanted to go home and not spend extra time counting bullets so we always expended what we brought. I shot a lot of fully automatic weapons.

“Hey doc, you want to shoot a AK? “ Hell yeah!!! I’ve lit up range targets on full auto in three countries, Korea, Japan and Malaysia. I’ve operated all kinds of pistols and rifles, grenade launchers, C4, explosive mines and such. Not bragging, standard infantry stuff. That was our job.

When I exited the service, weapons training was over. I had my fill. My wife didn’t like guns and personally I no longer had an interest in them.

Long story short, divorces changes things. My new wife is a country gal. Her brothers, family and friends all hunted and understood that culture. Her best friend was a hunter. I decided I wanted a pistol for fun and I had always heard about those plastic “Glock” pistols so I started shopping for one and bought a G-17, a full size 9mm. I shot that in the wild and at the range for a while never really cleaning it. It just kept eating thousands of rounds never jamming or stove piping. I looked at some press on the coolest Glock I could find and read some deep do do about the Roland Special.

A highly accurate speed shooting compact 9mm.

I bought a G-19 in FDE and slowly started to configure it. First was to get the slide milled for charging and press checks. The milling was also to attach the Trijicon RMR red dot. I put it together and bought a KKM custom barrel with a compensator. The extra length was ported so that the gas went up and to the side helping the system weight to cycle level keeping the barrel from rising too much. This allows the operator to mag dump and keep the shot group tight and on target.

I installed a custom trigger and had the frame stippled or surfaced for grip. The butt was modified by the addition of a flared magwell. I bought oversized magazines to increase capacity and for ease of speed change. I zeroed the red dot and practiced shooting quickly keeping my shot group tight. To wrap it up, a super bright light to own the night.

Roland Special

Primary & Secondary Roland Special retrospective