New Glock Gen 5 G23 arrived.

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Trey Veston

Trey Veston

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IMG_20201125_190924487.jpg Very happy with it on initial impressions.

I have a Gen 5 G19 MOS that is probably the best pistol Glock has produced in terms of function, fit, and overall usefulness as a carry gun.

The G23 is exactly the same pistol as far as the frame; same great trigger, same great ergonomics and feel. The difference is in the slide.

The Gen 5 G23 slide is 3mm thicker than the G19 and the Gen 4 G23. This worried me since the G19 is already a monster when compared to my P365.

Hold the G19 and G23 side by side and the difference is obvious.

IMG_20201125_182751289.jpg

But when you are just handling the G23, you don't really notice it. It's not nearly as bad as the photos suggest.

Trigger was a little better than my G19 with a pull of 5lbs and very crisp and predictable with a lovely re-set.

No time to take it to the range, and working a 12-hr shift tomorrow, so won't get to try it out until next week.

I've already worked up some loads for it using 200 grain Speer Gold Dots and 180 grain RMRs and they plunked fine at the recommended 1.125" OAL.

Can't wait to do some bench rest shooting to see what it's capable of, as well as some speed drills. Don't have a Gen 4 G23 to compare it to in terms of recoil or accuracy. But I do have a Gen 4 G35 match gun that will do 1.5" groups at 25 yards. Hoping the new Gen 5 can match it.
 
Nope.... not interested at all. The thickness will kill it like what happened to the .45 GAP chambered G37, G38, and G39. When GLOCK was promoting the .45 GAP, the biggest thing they were telling agencies at the time that if they had 9mm and .40 S&W GLOCKs was that they don't need to swap out duty holsters since the guns were the same sizes. Well, when they actually released the thing. That didn't happen. All the hard shell plastic holsters like a Safariland SSIII or Raptor for a G17/G22 wouldn't fit a G37 since the slide was thicker. Leather holsters didn't fit. I had to wet and stretch one of my Bianchi leather holsters when a agency I worked for swapped over to the G37.

I've carried a Gen 2 G22, Gen 3 G22, and Gen 4 G22 on duty and shot thousands upon thousands of rounds through them and they all worked fine. Never had an issue with frame or slide damage.

GLOCK going back to the two pin frame and thickening the slide is a huge mistake in my opinion. It will kill the reason why so many agencies went with the ,40 S&W chambered guns in the first place.

I'm not ditching my Gen 4 guns for the Gen 5 guns. Nope.
 
1. How is the chamber support compared to the Gen 4? ( This is in no way to imply that there's something lacking in the Gen 4. I like the Gen 4.)

2. How is the throat length of the barrel compared to Gen 4?
 
Would like to pick one of these up when I find a good deal on one. The Gen 5 Glocks are the best yet.
 
Congratulations! :thumbup:

I didn’t realize the .40 Gen 5’s were out. I hope you are very happy with it. I have a G45 that has become my favorite pistol. Standby for front serration bias...:D It seems front serrations cause mental anguish in some folks.

But seriously, enjoy your new acquisition. :cool:
 
Improvements on the Gen 5’s that made a difference to me:

1. No finger grooves
2. Front serrations
3. Trigger
4. MOS models for future proofing
 
TheProf said:
1. How is the chamber support compared to the Gen 4? ( This is in no way to imply that there's something lacking in the Gen 4. I like the Gen 4.)

2. How is the throat length of the barrel compared to Gen 4?
Click to expand...

Chamber support and throat length is identical to my Gen 4 G35. Both good to go.

jeff-10 said:
Did you find it online or at a local gun shop?
Click to expand...

Found it on Gunbroker at 2am at a shop in SC. Auction was ending in an hour and only $5 more than MSRP, which is hard to find.

I did a video of it for Youtube since surprisingly, there are no detailed videos of it. Mine was crude and I am sooo monotone. But at least it's out there...

 
1KPerDay said:
Weird. Wonder why they felt the need to thicken the slide after 30 years of .40s being the same size as 9mms. Holster selection will now be problematic.
Click to expand...

Indeed, and the fatter slide goes awful close too Glock 21 width, which gives me some issues with the corner in my carry setup.

At first I was pretty excited thinking i might have a reason to get a .40 again, but with the fatty slide it's not super exciting now.
 
1KPerDay said:
Weird. Wonder why they felt the need to thicken the slide after 30 years of .40s being the same size as 9mms. Holster selection will now be problematic.
Click to expand...

Seems rediculois to me, maybe it has to do with their manufacturing line and with 9mm taking more and more market share it has enough volume to take the whole line while the new 40 slide will be the same as the 10mm and 45ACP and will be on the same line so they don’t have to change as many settings or raw material sizes? It has to be something like that I would think.
 
BreechFace said:
Seems rediculois to me, maybe it has to do with their manufacturing line and with 9mm taking more and more market share it has enough volume to take the whole line while the new 40 slide will be the same as the 10mm and 45ACP and will be on the same line so they don’t have to change as many settings or raw material sizes? It has to be something like that I would think.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking it's because they went back to the two pin frame on the Gen 5s and needed to do something to beef it up to handle the recoil without the 3 pin design from the Gen 3 and 4.

At least that's what I read on Glocktalk. I had hoped the dual captured recoil spring from the Gen 4 and 5 would fix that, but I guess they needed more slide mass too.
 
JR24 said:
I'm thinking it's because they went back to the two pin frame on the Gen 5s and needed to do something to beef it up to handle the recoil without the 3 pin design from the Gen 3 and 4.

At least that's what I read on Glocktalk. I had hoped the dual captured recoil spring from the Gen 4 and 5 would fix that, but I guess they needed more slide mass too.
Click to expand...
I fail to see how pins in the frame have any impact on the durability of the slide but whatever... I guess Gaston thought it was a necessary change. Perfection... updated... again...

I suppose maybe it's intended to go the other way; which is probably what you meant. More slide mass potentially means less stress on the "perfected" 2-pin frame.
 
1KPerDay said:
I fail to see how pins in the frame have any impact on the durability of the slide but whatever... I guess Gaston thought it was a necessary change. Perfection... updated... again...

I suppose maybe it's intended to go the other way; which is probably what you meant. More slide mass potentially means less stress on the "perfected" 2-pin frame.
Click to expand...

I don't know enough about the design to fully answer. What I can say is they changed the design in ... Gen 3? For some durability issues and when the Gen 5 came out as a 2 pin frame knowledgeable folks expressed concern how they'd manage to use that for .40 or .357 SIG without a frame redesign, I'm sure there have to be far better knowledgeable folks here, or I'm sure some quick searching on Glocktalk would get you your answers, and if it's from Mike M it'll be in extremely accurate detail, if perhaps full of snark.
 
BreechFace said:
Seems rediculois to me, maybe it has to do with their manufacturing line and with 9mm taking more and more market share it has enough volume to take the whole line while the new 40 slide will be the same as the 10mm and 45ACP and will be on the same line so they don’t have to change as many settings or raw material sizes? It has to be something like that I would think.
Click to expand...

The new .40 S&W Gen 5 slide is not the same width as the 10mm and .45 ACP slides. I compared them side by side in my video.

Width of the 9mm Glocks is 1.00", the Gen 5 G23 is 1.08", and the Gen 4 10mm and .45 ACP Glocks is 1.12".
 
Trey Veston said:
The Gen 5 G23 slide is 3mm thicker than the G19 and the Gen 4 G23.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I wondered how they were going to get a .40S&W gun into a one pin frame.
I fail to see how pins in the frame have any impact on the durability of the slide...
Click to expand...
It's not the slide durability that's the issue, it's the locking block, among other things. They went to a sturdier locking block with a second pin because the non-9mm guns were having issues. Now that they've gone back to a one-pin design, they also went to a thicker (heavier) slide to reduce slide velocity which helps resolve durability issues.
Trey Veston said:
Width of the 9mm Glocks is 1.00", the Gen 5 G23 is 1.08"
Click to expand...
Trey, in the original post you state that the thickness difference is 3mm. 3mm is 0.12", not 0.08". If it's really 3mm thicker than 1", then it should be 1.12" which is the same width as the 10mm/.45ACP slides.
 
JohnKSa said:
ITrey, in the original post you state that the thickness difference is 3mm. 3mm is 0.12", not 0.08". If it's really 3mm thicker than 1", then it should be 1.12" which is the same width as the 10mm/.45ACP slides.
Click to expand...
Doh! Math is hard...

I used my calipers on the new slide, as well as my Gen 5 G19, but didn't think to check the slide of my G29.

The G23 Gen 5 slide is indeed 1.08" wide...

VAtbxgrAQvKufAkxIaTjig.jpg
 
The slide, I believe, is essentially a .45 GAP slide. The .45 GAP is on the same frame as the G17/G19/G22/G23. Some .40 S&W Glock users in the past found .40 S&W barrels for their G37/G38/G39 and found the combination useful and a little more functional than the G22/G23/G27 guns.

The whole reason for the Gen 4 guns was in an attempt to fix issues with .40 S&W models. This is the next try.
 
Last edited:
Trey Veston: said:
...Width of the 9mm Glocks is 1.00", the Gen 5 G23 is 1.08", and the Gen 4 10mm and .45 ACP Glocks is 1.12".
Click to expand...

Good video, I see you put the small beavertail backstrap on your Gen5 before even shooting it. I have big hands, so I have & need beavertails on all of my Glocks to keep a high grip hold on these guns. My Gen3’s have Grip Force Adapters and the 19X and the Gen4 21 both have the large beavertail backstraps. The wider slide on the 21 would carve up the web of my shooting hand without it. I also think the GFA’s and the BT backstraps help to point the guns to a target for me. I guess it’s one of the things I had to do to contend with the Glock grip angle.

I imagine the Kydex holster makers are now in a mad scramble needing to redo their molds & tooling to accommodate the wider slide of the new Gen5 40 S&W Glocks. But that leather holster has just enough stretch to work with your Gen5,
 
Very nice, I ordered a new G22 Gen5 MOS the other day. I'm hoping the Lone Wolf 9mm conversion barrel work in the Gen5 as well as it did in my Gen4.
 
Trey Veston said:
View attachment 958225 Very happy with it on initial impressions.

I have a Gen 5 G19 MOS that is probably the best pistol Glock has produced in terms of function, fit, and overall usefulness as a carry gun.

The G23 is exactly the same pistol as far as the frame; same great trigger, same great ergonomics and feel. The difference is in the slide.

The Gen 5 G23 slide is 3mm thicker than the G19 and the Gen 4 G23. This worried me since the G19 is already a monster when compared to my P365.

Hold the G19 and G23 side by side and the difference is obvious.

View attachment 958224

But when you are just handling the G23, you don't really notice it. It's not nearly as bad as the photos suggest.

Trigger was a little better than my G19 with a pull of 5lbs and very crisp and predictable with a lovely re-set.

No time to take it to the range, and working a 12-hr shift tomorrow, so won't get to try it out until next week.

I've already worked up some loads for it using 200 grain Speer Gold Dots and 180 grain RMRs and they plunked fine at the recommended 1.125" OAL.

Can't wait to do some bench rest shooting to see what it's capable of, as well as some speed drills. Don't have a Gen 4 G23 to compare it to in terms of recoil or accuracy. But I do have a Gen 4 G35 match gun that will do 1.5" groups at 25 yards. Hoping the new Gen 5 can match it.
Click to expand...
 
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