What's with Glock finger grooves?

[Sergei Mosin]

Now I'm not a Glock person, and probably never will be. But curiousity got the best of me today so I looked over a few, just to get a better feel for the ergonomics of the things.

It was...interesting. Handled a G17, G19 Gen4, and G21. All pointed well enough, but the finger grooves on the 9mm pistols felt too tight, just a hair too small for me. The G17 felt slightly better than the G19. The grooves on the G21 were wide enough but the overall grip size was too big, didn't feel quite right. I realize it's a doublestack .45 and it's going to be big, but I prefer the feel and fit of my USP .45.

Guess I ought to see if I can lay hands on an older G17 without the finger grooves and see if that's any better.

 

[YZ]

Remember world's most interesting man in the Dos Equus commercial? Now imagine Gaston Glock in his place. "Everything I do makes zense. But ven it doesn't, I vill keep you vundering until you turn blau in das face".

 

[Regular Joe]

I like my finger grooves. Call me weird, but I actually shoot my guns. The finger grooves help in keeping my grip the same for every shot. Keeping the grip the same helps in keeping the bullet going to point of aim.
I know it's weird, but that makes sense to me.

 

[VoodooSan]

One of my favorite Glocks is the G19 but I found the finger grooves to feel a bit cramped. G17, G21, G30 fit me better. I have no clue what the dimensions are for the grooves on different Glock models. I dont know if some are the same or different. Could be in my head. But I dont mind the finger grooves. Plus I guess if I got Glock and the grooves bothered me I could have the grip modified.

 

[allaroundhunter]

I shoot a Gen 3 Glock 34 in competition and I live with the finger grooves (for now). My main carry gun is a Gen 2 Glock 19.... As far as Glocks go, it is the best feeling grip there is.

 

[YZ]

Call me weird, but I actually shoot my guns.

As opposed to whom, Sir?

 

[Bobson]

I own a G19 (gen3) and I remember comparing it to the gen3 G34 when I bought it. I remember thinking the full size grips felt super uncomfortable, and I really prefered the G19. It sticks out in my mind becsuse I expected the opppsite.

I still like the G19 grip (for a Glock at least), but I handled a G34 (gen3 again) in a shop yesterday, and man, that thing felt ridiculously comfortable. Idk if memory exaggerated the discomfort of tbe G34 grip, or if my hands adapted to the Glock grip style, or what. But it was mighty nice yeaterday, and now I want a G34 even more than I used to.

 

[CountGlockulla]

Extra support for your pimp hand.

 

[OARNGESI]

they were a unneeded improvement, thats why the gen 2 glocks are my favorite glocks.

 

[ku4hx]

At worst they're a non issue to me; at best I like 'em. I own several Glocks, including two Gen2s, but I shoot the Gen4 and Gen3s a lot more. Those with finger grooves fit my hands very well.

Basically .... meh.

 

[Teachu2]

Handling and firing are two very different things. If they really bother you when you fire the gun, they are easily filed off.

 

[Drail]

The Glock grip works only for shooting sideways "gangsta" style. Cuz it's more important to look cool than to actually hit anything.

 

[ritepath]

I never really cared for them on my g20, they just didn't jive with MY hand.

 

[Bobson]

The Glock grip works only for shooting sideways "gangsta" style. Cuz it's more important to look cool than to actually hit anything.

I think there's an aftermarket solution that lets you do both.

 

[Ben86]

The grooves are there to help you keep a better grip on the pistol, especially while shooting with sweaty hands. I appreciate them and find them quite comfortable. The spacing is different according to varying lengths of grip. I like the gen 4 grooves the best. They are not to high and have the best texture.

 

[rbernie]

The top finger groove on the full size guns is taller by about an eighth of an inch than the top finger groove of the compact and subcompact models. I find the full size guns to be more comfortable as a result.

I also find the bottom lip on the compacts too short; I actually find the subcompacts with Pierce mag extension to be more comfortable than the compacts.

 

[YZ]

Glock rarely explains what it does or does not. Gen 4 is a little less groovy than 3. It should bother the fewest number of operators.

 

[GLOOB]

The top finger groove on the full size guns is taller by about an eighth of an inch than the top finger groove of the compact and subcompact models. I find the full size guns to be more comfortable as a result.

Yep. And you have the option to mill away the underside of the trigger guard to make more room. This changes the feel of the grooves.

The grooves on the G21 were wide enough but the overall grip size was too big, didn't feel quite right

That's how it feels at first. But after awhile, all your other guns will feel too small. There's an ethnic joke in there, somewhere.

 

[Fishbed77]

It's funny how people will debate Glock finger grooves ad nauseum, but when they are done right (Walther P99/PPQ and HK P30) no one ever even notices them.

 

[Dframe]

I dislike fingergrooves on any pistol but find the ones on the glock to be the worst of all. One of the reasons I dislike glocks, lousy ergonomics.

 

[rbernie]

I only have Gen4s, but have standardized on them for range and HD/SD. The grooves on the full size bother me not at all, and in fact fit me well.

I know more than a few folk that simply rasp them off. Seems easy enough of a fix, if you like the gun in general.

 

[tercel89]

My favorite pistol is my Glock 17 Gen 2 with NO finger grooves. Gen 1 and Gen 2 are hard to beat .

 

[YZ]

funny how people will debate Glock finger grooves ad nauseum [quote\]

That's actually a tribute to this extraordinary pistol. No bigger complaints, but complain we must

 

[mdauben]

It's funny how people will debate Glock finger grooves ad nauseum, but when they are done right (Walther P99/PPQ and HK P30) no one ever even notices them.

Actually, I don't like finger grooves on any gun, so there! IMO even when they fit (which few of them do, at least for me) they do nothing to improve my grip on the gun. They are at best a best a purely cosmetic feature, and at worst an active annoyance.

 

[SuedePflow]

I like the finger grooves on the compact models. But with the standard and competition models, they just don't fit me well at all. Cutting them off my G24 was the single best improvement for the gun (for me as a shooter anyway).