Seduced by the Dark Side--My First Glock Gen 4

[450 Dakota]

I have always been an ethusiast of all-metal handguns and tended to avoid the polymers, not so much for reasons of functionality but the asthetics. A good STI 1911, a custom Sig P226 or even an accurized Beretta 96 just feels so good in the hand. I had owned several polymers, but never really felt the love!
Then last November, I wanted to get another 10mm and, after all of my research, decided to try a Gen 4 Glock G20. As with all of my pistols, I added a Sprinco recoil system, a Guardian trigger system and an aftermarket land and groove barrel (adding another $400 to the purchase). Wow! The Gen 4 felt so much better in the hand than the Gen 3 G20 I previously owned and I shoot very well with it. So well, in fact, that I decided to give a Gen 4 G23 a chance in January. And then in February a Gen G23 in flat dark earth! Spent about $400 extra on each to upgrade trigger, barrel, recoil system and mag spring. Kind of went crazy. I know.....$400 is way to much to add to a $500 pistol! After practicing I now know how to quickly and completely strip them and add upgrades and parts as needed.
I've got it bad now! I am certainly no fanboy, but very impressed with the function and fit of the Gen 4s. What is it about the Glock Gen 4s that feels so much better to me than the Gen 3s? Anybody want to share your experiences with the Glock Gen 4s?

 

[PabloJ]

I have two Gen 4 G20s. While Gen 3 SF feels little better in palm I went with counter recoil spring system of Gen 4. The Gen 4 G20 is excellent choice if one wants to have just one full size pistol. I would be prefectly happy with just one G20 and R9 as backup. The only real downside to 10x25 is that it can't be put into tiny deep concealment package.

 

[450 Dakota]

Gen 3 SF feels little better in palm

Yep. I am using the G20 without any backstraps--very similar to the feel of the SF. Even though my hands are large, it just feels better in the hand!

 

[Salmoneye]

So have they cured the G3 and G4 tendency to bounce brass off your head?

 

[450 Dakota]

So have they cured the G3 and G4 tendency to bounce brass off your head?

With the G20, yes. It was a 2013 model and ejects beautifully. To be honest, though, the first G23 was a 2010 model that didnt have the new ejector (probably why he sold it to me) and threw brass everywhere, including a few to my head! Once I replaced it with the new version, it leaves a neat pile of casings about six feet to the right at 3-4 oclock. To their credit, Glock was very fast good to work with on this. My other G23 had the new ejector and throws the brass nicely as well.

 

[Robert]

My duty weapon is a Gen 4 G22 and it is my first Glock as well. The trigger is just a tad over 5 pounds which was rather refreshing. In training I have made 75 and 100y hits with it. Not shots I ever plan on taking but at least I know it can be done.

 

[450 Dakota]

It's really strange how I never thought much of plastic guns and didn't understand the hype and fanboyism from the Glock crowd. Then the Gen 4 comes out and I am turning them into $1000 guns. I could have had three really nice, accurized production 1911s or Sigs or two pretty nice STI 1911s or 2011s. Instead, I have invested nearly $3000 into three of the tupperware pistols I used to despise. I have definitely been seduced by the dark side...........

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

I'm trying to sell my G26 Gen4...not because I don't love it and shoot like the dickens with it but because I am concerned/worried about the lack of extrenal safeties. Convinced myself I'd love a Sig Sauer and want to sell the G26 to recover a few $.

Shot a Sig P224 and a P239. I don't want a Sig...I want my G26.

I'm screwed. In love with a gun I don;t feel comfortable carrying. But more to the point, I adore Glock Gen4s and can't find a bad thing about them...love the changeable back straps and the new texture on the grips way better than Gen3.

VooDoo

 

[450 Dakota]

I'm screwed. In love with a gun I don;t feel comfortable carrying.

Yep, its a strange attraction. Cant put my finger on it!

 

[theQman23]

Might I suggest some mental and physical exercises to cure the problem. You stated loving the Glocks but not being comfortable carrying something without external safeties. I too went through this thinking, when I was switching back and forth between 1911's, (love the triggers and asthetics) and the glocks well...... because.......... they're almost perfect as a fighting tool.

This is what helped me to get over, train with, and conquer the ideas surrounding not having safeties on the piece.
Look at what a safety does. It disables the piece until you take an action to make it "ready" to fire. Glocks have striker block safeties that keep the striker subdued until you pull the trigger. 1911's have a backstrap that won't allow the piece to fire until you grip the handle, and then pull the trigger. Carrying an older 1911 hammer down is more dangerous than cocked and locked because the pin is floating. Carrying a Glock without a proper trigger cover, i.e. holster, etc, is just as dangerous for the same reasons. Now, let's look at two safeties that every Glock owner should install on their guns. First, the holster device that covers the trigger. Second, the hand doesn't grip the gun until it's time to NEED the gun, which is, hopefully, never.
You see where I'm going with this? If you install a holster safety on your Glock, i.e. put it in a blackhawk, or serpa style, or iwb tha covers trigger, whatever, the holster is the safety. If you install a hand block safety on your Glock, by never playing with it, then you're done. You'll have 5 safeties in play. The little trigger piece that keeps the trigger from slamming with momentum until YOU pull it back, 2nd is the pin block, 3rd, is the shape of the striker which prohibits it's possibly going forward until YOU pull the trigger. They are built into every Glock. Then you add to that covering the trigger, and not being able to touch or bump the trigger with proper holster and training, then you'd have to overcome 5, YES FIVE procedural or mechanical issues to get an AD.
Is it safer to carry a 1911 or a Glock? Or a Sig? NEITHER, get that kind of thinking out of your head. What is safetest, is properly training and using the correct procedures for THE SPECIFIC FIREARM YOU'RE CARRYING. How many 6 shooters did the cops carry for like, oh I don't know, a hundred years or whatever, and they didn't have a statistically problematic issue with discharges? And those revolvers had NO safeties built in whatsoever. Pull the trigger, gun goes bang. Drop the gun, gun could go bang. Improper de-cock, gun could go bang. They had like 4 to 6 more ways to screw up than you do with a Glock and yet they didn't have a problem.
Why? training to put the think in a holster, and leave it there until needed.
It really is, really and truly is, that simple.
Peace, and train properly with whatever you carry.

 

[tarosean]

So have they cured the G3 and G4 tendency to bounce brass off your head?

It was predominantly the 17 and 19 that saw BTF..

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

The trigger is just a tad over 5 pounds which was rather refreshing. In training I have made 75 and 100y hits with it. Not shots I ever plan on taking but at least I know it can be done.

It's good comfort knowing you can if you half to make a long shot.

Have you added night sights or a grip plug...etc. ?

I have a 3rd gen 22 mostly for range, winter carry (sometimes) and HD. Pretty accurate gun.

 

[JDR]

Gen4 Glock 21, wasn't sure about the grip on it when I first held it & dry fired it, once I started shooting it now I wish my my 17 & 22 had the same grip!

 

[Hometeached1]

Vodoun da Vinci if the pull weight bothers you you can put the NY1 trigger spring in. I have them on every Glock I own not so much for the extra weight, but they make the trigger smoother, nothing like a old S&W DA trigger smooth, but better than a stock trigger.
At least if you sell your Glock you can always get another one pretty easy.
BTW if you get a SIG I'm pulling for the p239.

 

[Godsgunman]

Sad thing is you had to put an extra $400 into a $500 gun to make it worthwhile. I once drank the koolaid but tasted the Glock gall and quickly threw it up. To each his own, glad you like your purchase.

 

[450 Dakota]

Sad thing is you had to put an extra $400 into a $500 gun to make it worthwhile.

Well, I do that will all production pistols anyway, so its not like I HAD to add the parts. Since Sigs, 1911s, HKs, Berettas and CZs ALL have a little creep to the triggers anyway, extra money goes into any production gun I purchase. Right out of the box, they always go to Bill Springfield for trigger work. Then the match barrel and the Sprinco recoil reduction system gets added, since these make target shooting and plinking a lot more enjoyable for me. My only two pistols that did not need trigger work are STIs that cost over $2K apiece, so these cannot be considered "production".
My other pistols are all safe queens. The thing I appreciate about the Glocks is the fact that I am not afraid to actually use them. If one gets dropped in a muddy puddle while in the field or bangs around in the back of an ATV or under the seat of my truck, its not a big deal. Later, I detail strip it down to the frame, hose it out, rinse the parts dry them and put it all back together. Holster wear--who cares? Drop it on the concrete (happened twice now with my son) at the range--who cares? I think that's the beauty of the Glock. Of course there are WAY nicer pistols and I own many of them, but the Glock Gen 4s are growing on me and its nice to have three in the safe now!

 

[BYJO4]

While I'm definitey a fan of all steel 1911s and revolvers, I finally bought a Glock model 19 last summer and I am very satisfied with it for a defense gun. After 2000 rounds, the finish still looks like new and I don't worry about tossing it in the car or constantly removing it from the holster. The cost is great for a knock around gun.