Glock 19. My first Glock. My first impressions

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Tony k

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Stumbled upon a good deal for a NIB G19 Gen4. Decided to see for myself why it is one of the most popular handguns in the US.

Girlfriend and I took it out to the range yesterday and put 225 rounds through it. 100 rounds were 115gr xtreme plated over 4.0 grains of PB with oal of 1.10. 100 rounds were 147 grain xtreme plated over 4.5 grains of Longshot with oal of 1.135. the final 25 were hornady critical critical defense factory ammo.

The grip angle works well for me and goes on target pretty naturally. Muzzle flip is minimal, and the trigger reset point is easy to feel and intuitive. Combined, those two features make double taps or controlled pairs or whatever you call them really easy, accurate, and fast. I experienced one failure to feed. I really like the gun, and I can understand why they are so popular.

My girlfriend liked the way the gun handles, but experienced MANY failures to feed and stovepipes. We attribute them all to operator error. They became more frequent as the day progressed, which we attribute to fatigue. She was pretty frustrated. We experimented with the different backstraps, different stances, and different grip techniques. The medium backstrap with the beavertail seemed to help some, as did a some adjustments to her stance and grip. Thing is, I'm only a moderately experienced handgunner, and definitely not an instructor.


The guy I bought it from is an LEO with about 30 years of experience. He warned me that any propensity to limp-wrist by the shooter would cause stovepipes with this gun. He was spot on. My girlfirend's solution is to work on her hand a wrist strength. I'd like to see her take a formal defensive handgun class, or at least go out and shoot with people more experienced than me.
 
Congrats, they're good guns. Had a gen3 as my main CCW for three years. I only sold it since the grip was slightly to big so that I had to shift my hand to reach the mag release and I prefer DA/SA but will probably pick up a gen 4 at some point.

I highly recommend the Truglow TFO sights they work great at night and during the day.
 
I bought my first Glock about a month ago. Primarily because as an instructor, we teach trigger control with SIRT laser pistols in the Glock configuration and I figured I should at least own one so I bought a Gen4 G19.
I have since added some Ameriglo sights and a Grip Force adapter that just slightly changes the grip angle to a bit more like a 1911.

I like the size of this gun a lot and will be carrying it quite often. Simple and dependable.

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Seen it many times with women.

Get your grip as high as you can. The Glock slide won't bite you. I'd use the smallest grip. Gun has to be held firmly. Hotter ammo helps IMO. Make sure to get that all worked out before trying different triggers.
 
Get her into an NRA basic pistol class before a defensive pistol class. She can get her shooting fundamental instruction there and then the defensive techniques she learns will be much easier to apply.
 
Congrats on the new pistol. I've never owned a Glock but I've shot a 19 on a couple occasions and really liked the trigger and it was very accurate, but the grip was not friendly to my small hands. It felt ok shooting with two hands and like I said, I shot it very accurately, but one handed it didn't feel comfortable. This was a Gen 2 though, and I haven't tried any of the newer configurations. I'm happy with my XDM, and never felt the need to switch.
 
Two solutions that don't involve your girlfriends grip or grip strength, if it's going to be her pistol, you can change the recoil spring assembly to a RSA that's two pounds lighter. The other solution is to have her shoot with hot ammo. The stove pipes have a lot to do with the velocity of the slide in relation to the movement of the frame during recoil. This is where the "limp wrist" accusations come from so often with this particular style of "limp wrist" failure. If your girlfriend simply doesn't have the hand or wrist strength to hold the frame still enough during recoil, changing the recoil spring assembly or ammo are the next options.

Yeah, I know y'all are going call me crazy or a traitor to say it could be partly the fault of a Glock, perfection and all that rubbish, but that's just the way it is.
 
If it is operator error, it is often a grip issue and not a strength issue. Here's a good place to start... http://youtu.be/ChSazF41q-s

Don't start replacing springs and other baloney unless you have eliminated all other issues and a different weapon is not an option.
 
Timely thread for me. We went with a M&P9c because my wife shot it the best and it has an optional external, ambidextrous, paddle safety. It currently is getting an Apex trigger kit installed, hopefully to remedy the long travel, mushy set and vague reset.

I'm getting my own pistol next. It will probably be a G19 because I shoot it well with zero modifications. I prefer the firmer set in the trigger, plus the break is crisper and reset much more definite. The G19 fits my hand better than any polymer 9 that I've rented so far.

They're not much to look at and I prefer to have a 1911-style safety but the accuracy, dependability, purchase price and availability of parts make it such a good value.
 
If you shot the same ammo without problem, its operator error. Part limp wrist, although I have tried to induce it with my Glocks and havent been able to. Also, she maybe anticipating the recoil and causing exagerated limp wristing, which results in stove pipes?

As to Glocks not biting, this is false, well known phenomena know as "Glock Bite." After 350 to 450 rounds through multiple Glocks, I usually have a very small slightly bleeding slice on top of my thumb knuckle closet to the hand. I grab really high and if thumb isnt just right, there is slight contact. After hundreds of rounds its a small cut. Mine are Gen 3 Glocks, maybe Gen 4 have more protection? No big deal. Basically a small, very small cut on top of a callous. More of a "wear groove" than a cut...
 
Congrats and welcome to the Glock Club! I started with a G26 Gen4 and will likely have a G19 Gen4 soon. I have never had a failure with my Glock 26 but my Wife can make it do things like stovepipe at will by shifting her grip and reaching "around" the gun to get more finger on the trigger.

Weirdest thing I ever saw. She had a few similar issues with her G42 when she first started and then fixed it by getting "serious" with gripping the gun and not handling it s if it were going to break or bite her. Some folks don't believe it and say "limp wristing" is not a verifiable phenomenon and I have to agree that it may not be a limp wrist per se.

But the right kind of bad grip on a Glock can get some pretty spectacular failures in the right hands. I have seen it. It can be fixed usually.

VooDoo
 
We planned to use it primarily as a home SD gun for her. She's shot other glocks before and really liked them. We are convinced that it is primarily operator error, specifically fatigue. She hasn't shot a handgun in a few months, and she hasn't been doing much to keep her hands, wrists, and forearms strong. Her words, not mine.

We'll take it out next weekend probably. If she can put a couple magazines through it without fail, we'll call it acceptable for the intended purpose, but with the caveat that she needs to work on fundamentals to move from acceptable to proficient and confident. Then we'll test some more SD ammo and consider upgrading the sights. I like 340PD's front site.
 
We are convinced that it is primarily operator error, specifically fatigue.
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It doesn't really matter. If it won't operate reliably for her at the range, it's unlikely it will operate reliably for her in a self-defense situation.

I recommend trying a couple of things and if those don't work, it's time to look for another gun.

1. Contact Glock and make sure you have the most recent recoil spring assembly. Some early Glock 19 Gen 4 pistols shipped with a recoil spring that was too strong and it caused reliability issues for some shooters.

2. Experiment with different types of ammunition until you find one that is 100% reliable.

If neither of those approaches fixes the problem then that pistol is not a suitable choice for her for home defense.
 
Glocks are pretty easy guns to shoot, which is why most police departments use them. If she limp wrists that gun, and there is nothing wrong with it, chances are it will happen again. My wife isn't a shooter yet has fires my glocks as far as 20 yrs ago, and never had that problem. I would look for another gun, it will happen again.
 
Beretta 92fs, limp wrist won't be an issue, and it's of higher build quality.
 
Grunt96 said:
Beretta 92fs, limp wrist won't be an issue, and it's of higher build quality.
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And it has a much thicker grip that will worsen his girlfriend's current grip problem as well as having a very long DA trigger pull that won't do any favors.


And build quality? :rolleyes:
 
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I don't see anything that said the gun was too thick, just that they settled on the medium blackstrap, which would be the same as the Glock if not thinner. Try the Px4, you can't tell anything about a gun until you actually hold it, and preferably shoot it, with the rotating barrel system the recoil is dampened. I just watched a video "3 part" where Nuthin Fancy compares about 7 small 9's including the SIG 938, Keltec PF9, Glock 26, Kahr PM9, LC9, etc., and the Glock won out over all of them.
I had just about all of the guns mentioned at one time of another, and I had to agree with the test.
It was a Field test, like ISPC type. I suggest the Kahr PM9, which I carry for 3 years, or the 26, which are two of the most reliable along with the Sig. But If you wanted a good pistol at a great price, that Beretta is worth looking at. The sig is going to cost you 2 times as much as the Beretta, and it is sa/da with a decocker /safety.
The Sig is cocked and locked SA/DA. The easiest one to use would be the Glock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oVsU61-ico
And my doctors 2 female nurses both carry the Beretta.
 
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Tony k said:
We planned to use it primarily as a home SD gun for her. She's shot other glocks before and really liked them. We are convinced that it is primarily operator error, specifically fatigue. She hasn't shot a handgun in a few months, and she hasn't been doing much to keep her hands, wrists, and forearms strong. Her words, not mine.

We'll take it out next weekend probably. If she can put a couple magazines through it without fail, we'll call it acceptable for the intended purpose, but with the caveat that she needs to work on fundamentals to move from acceptable to proficient and confident. Then we'll test some more SD ammo and consider upgrading the sights. I like 340PD's front site.
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Try a bit hotter ammo in it, especially for the first couple of hundred rounds.
 
My Gen 4 G19 about 2000 RDS through her. Trijicon night sights. Next will be some trigger upgrades. I've never had a problem will this handgun. I carry it with me everyday. You'll find that you will be happy with your purchase. Just recently got a Gen. 3 G 17 in OD Green put the same sights on it going to do some upgrades on this one also.
 

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Beretta 92fs, limp wrist won't be an issue, and it's of higher build quality.
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My first autopistol was a Beretta 92FS. Nice gun.

But I wouldn't recommend it for a new shooter who picked the medium backstrap option on a G19 Gen 4 since it has an even larger grip than the G19 Gen 4 with the largest backstrap installed.
 
Yeah, it sounds like she's limp-wristing. The G19, while it may fit your hand well, is a bit of a handful for others and has an angle that doesn't agree with a lot of people.

I bet a G26 with a pinky extension would suit her nicely.
 
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