Late to the party......Glock 19

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ECVMatt

ECVMatt

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When I bought my first Glock the only model available was the 17. I guess that gun made an impression, because from there on I have alway gone with the 17 sized frame. I generally hunt, camp, and explore in the deserts and the mountains, so I saw a full size as an advantage. I carried my 34 for years and before that my original 17.

A while back I bought a Gen 3 Glock 19 on sale and it just sort of languished in the safe. I have pretty big hands and it just never fit right. Then I picked up an Agency Arms Glock 30 and it fit like a glove. That got me thinking about the 19 in the safe and I compared the two guns. I realized that I needed to remove the finger groves and slightly undercut the trigger guard. After just a few minutes of work, the Glock 19 felt like a different gun.

When I took the gun shooting I found it shot almost same/same with my 17 but was just a bit easier to carry around. So I added a light, got a Tenicor ARX LUX (Both work equally well on my G45) and ended up loving the package. I just got back from spending a few days in the desert and carried it the whole time. It is easy to conceal under a t-shirt, doesn't bother me or my seat when in the truck, and is easy to draw and shoot from the holster. All in all it is an excellent field pistol that works just as well as a CCW in town.

While I realize I am hardly the first person to figure this out, I am surprised it took me so long. I love shooting my Glocks but never gave this frame size a good go. Besides being a long and somewhat rambling post, I hope it is a reminder to go through the safe from time to time and reevaluate those soiled doves in the back corners of the safe. You never know what might come of it.

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I'm the same, the Gen 3 pistols never fit my hands due to the finger grooves. I do like the Gen 5 pistols and shoot them well.
 
I guess I just got lucky. The first Glock I ever owned was a 4th Generation 19 and it fits like they used my hand for the mold. It has finger grooves but it feels like they're not there
 
Everyone's hands are different, what fits one person will not fit the next person. Most gun manufacturers and grip manufacturers make frames/grips with finger grooves to fit what they think is the average hand. If you have small hands (like me) or larger hands, you might find that finger grooves don't fit you well.

No right or wrong answer or preference, go with what is comfortable for you.
 
The Gen 3 Glocks never fit me quite right. The Gen 4 17/34 and 26 fit me, but the 19 never did. If you look closely, the middle groove on the 19 is narrower than the middle groove on the 17/34 (or the bottom groove on the 26). So I bought a 17.
 
Call me insane, but I must have bought and sold half a dozen G19s. Every time I thought I would get used to it, nope, index finger always got smashed under the trigger guard. Enter the Gen5!! I held one and I do believe this is the answer! Of course, under cutting the trigger guard and removing the grooves would have done the same thing, but I don’t care to modify the frame.
 
And for me it just isn't Glock finger grooves that don't fit my hands. I've had other pistols along with grips with finger grooves and none of them fit me.
 
All-around, I prefer the Glock 19 as an "out of the box" pistol (with night sights). Generations don't really concern me unless I am mounting a light. I was issued the 17 for several years as a security contractor. I would have prefered the 19 for the shorter frame, because I just think its more comfortable, but I didn't have a choice. I "came by" a Gen 3 17 a few years ago that I really didn't need, so I did some experimenting. I shortened the frame to 19 size, so now that portion is more compact and takes 19 (or 17) magazines. A friend with a knack for "craftiness" removed the grooves, undercut the trigger guard, and put a not-too-aggressive stipled texture into the grips. To me, this is the "perfect" combat handgun (as in, real combat- not CCW). I call it a Glock 19L. IMO, this is what the 19X should have been- I think the 19X is actually backwards.
 
Never had much success having a comfortable grip with the finger grooves on the various Glock models. My HK VP9 is the first gun with finger grooves that fit me perfectly and I have small size hands. I also benefitted by swapping out the Medium size backstrap and side panels with the Small size versions.
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FL-NC said:
All-around, I prefer the Glock 19 as an "out of the box" pistol (with night sights). Generations don't really concern me unless I am mounting a light. I was issued the 17 for several years as a security contractor. I would have prefered the 19 for the shorter frame, because I just think its more comfortable, but I didn't have a choice. I "came by" a Gen 3 17 a few years ago that I really didn't need, so I did some experimenting. I shortened the frame to 19 size, so now that portion is more compact and takes 19 (or 17) magazines. A friend with a knack for "craftiness" removed the grooves, undercut the trigger guard, and put a not-too-aggressive stipled texture into the grips. To me, this is the "perfect" combat handgun (as in, real combat- not CCW). I call it a Glock 19L. IMO, this is what the 19X should have been- I think the 19X is actually backwards.
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I have actually built two pistols just as you describe using the Polymer 80 940CL frame. I have to agree that the grip size of the 19 and 17 length slide is a nice combo. The FDE one is 9mm and the ODG is a 40S&W

940CL 40S&W.jpg CL with Kingslayer.jpg
 
Shipwreck said:
Same here. I've bought 4 Glocks this year because of the Gen 5 changes. They were not my thing before!
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I've only bought 1 Gen 5 Glock this year (G44) because that is all I can find locally without them being way overpriced. I have built a few pistols using Polymer 80 frames though.
 
I still have 1 more Blue Label purchase available this year and can’t decide which Glock to get.

So far I have a 19, 20, 27, 32 and 43X in the collection
 
Lennyjoe said:
I still have 1 more Blue Label purchase available this year and can’t decide which Glock to get.

So far I have a 19, 20, 27, 32 and 43X in the collection
Click to expand...

Depending on how many 22lr pistol you already own, maybe consider the G44. If you want something in 9mm then consider the 17 or 34 or maybe the G22 if you want to stick with 40S&W
 
I like the extra size of the 17 a little more for a shooter, but I don't carry it either.
 
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A few years ago I bought a Gen 3 G19. I tried hard to like it but the finger grooves didn’t work for me and I didn’t want to modify it. I figured the next owner might like it the way it was so I sold it as it was.
I like the G17 frame. I have a G45. I had a 19X that I gave to my Son-in-law when I moved to California. I have a G34 and just bought another. This one will be my third.
I would like to shoot a Gen 5 G19 to see how I like it but since I live in California the likelihood of that is pretty low. We can only buy new Gen 3s here unless I pay a lot more for one that was brought in.

ECVMatt, I am glad you found what works for you. :thumbup:
 
As far as the G19 grip length vs the G17 grip length, the shorter G19 works well for me since I have small hands. It's the same for me with 1911's While I shoot the full size well, the compact frames seem to fit my hands a little better, especially with a flared magwell. I like the Polymer 80 PF940CL frame since it had the 19 grip length but I can use either the 17 or even longer 34 slides on it without any mods or additional adaptors needed.
 
Welcome to the club!

I have a gen3 and a gen5 and love them both equally. Plan to pick up a few more gen 5s.
 
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