Full Gen4 Glock 19 Review (long)

[Mike325]

A previous thread here motivated me to do a full review on my Generation 4 Glock 19. On a side note, I'm also procrastinating studying my college history class, boy do I wish I went to college right out of high school



Background

The gun that took me through the academy was a Gen3 Glock 23. I was very comfortable with the compact frame Glocks and preferred them over their full size counterparts. I always felt the compact frames were the perfect all-around gun, good for off duty CC as well as duty carry. During the academy, things were looking really good that I was going to be hired by an agency that mandated all officers carry either a sig p229 or a sig p226. I found a decent deal on a 229, sold my glock, and got the 229. Yep, you guessed it, that department fell through. I was not stuck with a heavy gun that never fit my hand right and absolutely SUCKED for off duty/cc. I ended up getting an M&P9c to handle my off duty carry, I loved it so much I sold the sig for a full size M&P9 for duty, and carried it for a year.

When the Gen4 Glocks came out, I was in love. Despite being realistically minute in difference, the grip angle felt exponentially better to me than the previous generation guns, and I knew I had to have one. Surprisingly, the Gen4 guns felt better in my hand than the "ergonomic M&P", which honestly I never found a backstrap that fit me exactly right. At the time, the Glock 19 was still on the horizon, and I decided to wait. The month it came out, I sold my M&P9c to fund one. As soon as I was able to get to the range to qual with it, I put it in service, sold my M&P9, and purchased a Glock 26 to go along with it.

Caliber Choice

I was a .40 kool-aid drinker for many years. I believed it was a better round, as do many officers. I had done quite a bit of practice with the .40 in several different platforms and felt myself to be quite proficient. The biggest reason I switched to 9mm was the purchase of my M&P9c. I knew that the .40 was totally uncomfortable in those small packages, so I began some research of my own. What I found surprised me. The .40, from a ballistic standpoint, offers no real advantage over the 9mm. The 9mm has the advantages of being cheaper to shoot, softer recoil, and higher capacity. The choice was clear.

The Recoil Spring

I want to start by talking about the newly designed recoil spring, as well as the reported failure to feed issues. A simple inspection of the spring and a rack of the slide shows that without a doubt the recoil spring is heavier. The spring was redesigned by glock, probably for the .40S&W, to offer a ligher and flatter recoil. In my experience, it delivers just that. For me, high power factor rounds (power factor is the product of velocity times bullet weight) feel like cheap range ammo while you are shooting. I can say that this gun shoots these rounds softer than any other polymer frame weapon I have personally shot. Many will argue that 9mm doesn't have much recoil to start with, some tell me I should just practice more, but I look to the competition shooters. These guys load their own ammo, and many of them perfect load workups to be just enough to cycle the gun. They do this to gain speed advantages during competition. It is my experience that these speed advantages can be seen with the Gen 4 guns, even while using +p duty ammo.

There is a caveat to this situation. The gen4 guns have had numerous reported issues of unreliability with lower power factor rounds, such as range ammo. Some people report issues every magazine, every round (though I think they may be exaggerating), and some report them sporadically. My own experience with my gun tells me I might have 1-2 rounds fail to feed every range session when using range ammo. It is important to mention though, that I have not read of, nor experienced myself, any issues with cycling when using +P duty ammo.

As a reloader, this was not a big issue for me. I simply reworked my load data to something a little more stout, and have not had any issues since that time. I think it's also relevant to add, the load that I'm currently shooting quite rapidly and comfortably through my Gen 4 gun were snappy and uncomfortable out of my M&P9, which has a longer barrel and higher gun weight.

The unfortunate fact of the situation is that many people have complained to glock about cycling issues with range ammo. Glock has redesigned the spring (now stamped 04) which is a lighter spring. This spring has been reported to solve the cycling issues with lower power factor rounds, but it has also been reported to have a noticeably snappier recoil when shooting the high power rounds. I do not know if new glocks are being shipped with an 04 spring or an 03 spring, but I certainly hope the 03 spring will remain available to those who prefer it.

On a side note to the above, a vocal minority are blaming a redesigned extractor on these issues. While the extractor may be causing some issues in some guns (reported instances of failure to extract seem extremely low in my research), I think these people are completely ignoring the physics of a heavier recoil spring as it relates to gun cycling.

The Frame

Most people by the Gen4 guns because without any backstraps, the long complained about Glock hump is reduced. I am no different, and I love the shorter grip (from backstrap to front) of this gun. I have not personally tried the backstraps, because as stated I purchased this gun for it's shorter profile. The medium backstrap brings it to the dimensions of a Gen3, and the large backstrap makes it about 2mm bigger than a Gen3. I have read reports that the backstraps are prone to ripping off, and while I can't confirm that, I can say that as I inspect how they attach to the frame, it is very believable that they could get snagged and torn off. If you desire a larger grip, I think a rubber grip sleeve would be a better option.

In addition to the above, Glock redesigned their grip pattern to be much more aggressive. Home made and commercial stippling seem to be extremely popular right now, but I feel glock has answered that question. I do recall the RTF2 frames that came out, I personally felt they were quite sharp and uncomfortable. The Gen4 frames are no where near that aggressive, but still offer a very positive grip. I do recall their being reported issues of the RTF2 frame snagging and ruining uniform shirts, I can report that I have had no issues with snagging of anything with my Gen4.

It has been my own experience that no matter how much stress I'm under, or how poorly I put my hand on my weapon before a rapid draw from holster, I am still able to attain a very positive and stable shooting grip.

The magazine release was also redesigned, something that was a big plus for me. I have small hands and have always had to rock guns in to activate my mag release. Generally speaking, this process for me results in a big change in grip and it requires me to completely readjust when I'm loaded. The Gen4 still requires a bit of a rock for me, but no where near as much as before.

As with the recoil assembly, there is one disadvantage to this factory texture work. I personally do not care for carrying this gun inside the waistband without a t-shirt. I know there are threads out there where people claim it doesn't bother them, but I'm not one of them. I find it rubs my love handles and is uncomfortable. With that said, during the winter months when we're wearing a t-shirt and a sweatshirt, I have no problems carrying this gun IWB, and do so.

Conclusion

I love my Generation 4 Glock 19. I know exactly what it is and what it does, and it's issues with light range ammo do not bother me. I have ever confidence in carrying this gun with my +P bonded ranger duty ammo, and I know it will cycle every round just fine. I also appreciate the speed and accuracy advantage gained with followup shots due to the way it handles recoil as compared to other polymer frame guns I have owned.

As with all glocks, the bore axis remains low and is a true point shooting combat weapon. Another advantage the glock has is the simplicity of a complete gun strip. If you are anal like me and like to clean EVERYTHING, the glock seems to be the gun to have.

[MacLean]

Thank you for the review!

[SPD]

Well-done review.

[Jks9199]

Great review! Now -- put the same effort into your history paper!

[Five-0]

History major here. Let me know when I can help. Buy me a new Gen 4 9mm and I'll write a paper or two.

[Mike325]

Lol, thanks all..

As for the history class, its just freshman level western civilization.. ~2500 BC through ~1300 AD. The material isn't difficult but the instructor (I refuse to call him a professor) is rude, vague, and just generally bad. I finished the paper, two more chapters to read for final this week. I'm going to take a b in this class, I just don't care enough to really smoke this final.

[Jenna]

If you're lucky the final will contain a question about firearms. You could write a pretty good essay on that.