wanderinwalker
Member
So I finally made a decision and followed through. After too much online research, a few posts asking for input and handling a few at the LGSs, I up and bought...
A new Generation 4 Glock 19. Yep. A boring, simple, plain, jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none compact Glock 9mm. Once I held one in the store it pretty much made the choice for me. Familiar ergonomics and operation, improved grip texture and trigger reach with a magazine release I can reach and operate easily. What can I say, I like boring.
I took it straight to the range and fired 4 full magazines, plus 5 rounds. Initial impressions:
1) The RTF grip texture really is fantastic. My hands were cold (25* and snow at the outdoor range) and I experienced absolutely no squirming of the pistol in my hand while firing.
2) The reduced trigger reach and enlarged magazine catch are great. If your hands are on the smaller side of average like mine, the difference in ease of use is immediately noticeable on the firing range, even if not at the shop counter.
3) The numbers don't tell the whole story. On paper the G-19 is only 1/2" smaller than the G-17 in height and length, but in person it stands out as being quite noticeably smaller. Given that I carry the G-17 from time to time, the 19 is going to be significantly easier to carry.
4) It doesn't give up anything to it's bigger brother in shootability. This I knew beforehand, as I've had a couple of Gen 3 G-26s and never found them much harder to work with than the 17, especially inside 10-15 yards. The difference only became apparent in my hands out past 20 yards. I suspect with time and practice the 19 won't give up much to the longer gun out to 50 yards or so.
5) Time will tell, but my impression right off the bat is any concern over the reliability of the current Generation 4 Glocks is completely overblown. I only put 65 rounds through it but experienced no malfunctions yet. I also didn't find the magazines difficult to load to capacity, but YMMV.
I guess I've finally come to where I started. The first Glock I ever fired, which is the one that made such a lasting impression, was a Generation 2 Glock 19. Now that I'm back to where it started, I'm wondering what took me so long to get there!
A new Generation 4 Glock 19. Yep. A boring, simple, plain, jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none compact Glock 9mm. Once I held one in the store it pretty much made the choice for me. Familiar ergonomics and operation, improved grip texture and trigger reach with a magazine release I can reach and operate easily. What can I say, I like boring.
I took it straight to the range and fired 4 full magazines, plus 5 rounds. Initial impressions:
1) The RTF grip texture really is fantastic. My hands were cold (25* and snow at the outdoor range) and I experienced absolutely no squirming of the pistol in my hand while firing.
2) The reduced trigger reach and enlarged magazine catch are great. If your hands are on the smaller side of average like mine, the difference in ease of use is immediately noticeable on the firing range, even if not at the shop counter.
3) The numbers don't tell the whole story. On paper the G-19 is only 1/2" smaller than the G-17 in height and length, but in person it stands out as being quite noticeably smaller. Given that I carry the G-17 from time to time, the 19 is going to be significantly easier to carry.
4) It doesn't give up anything to it's bigger brother in shootability. This I knew beforehand, as I've had a couple of Gen 3 G-26s and never found them much harder to work with than the 17, especially inside 10-15 yards. The difference only became apparent in my hands out past 20 yards. I suspect with time and practice the 19 won't give up much to the longer gun out to 50 yards or so.
5) Time will tell, but my impression right off the bat is any concern over the reliability of the current Generation 4 Glocks is completely overblown. I only put 65 rounds through it but experienced no malfunctions yet. I also didn't find the magazines difficult to load to capacity, but YMMV.
I guess I've finally come to where I started. The first Glock I ever fired, which is the one that made such a lasting impression, was a Generation 2 Glock 19. Now that I'm back to where it started, I'm wondering what took me so long to get there!
