A Grudging Review of the Glock 19

I know this thread is older than dirt, but I thought I'd give it what will probably be its last update. I've had Gretchen for 6 years and run about 2K rounds through her. Obviously, I haven't had 100% reliability, but she's been very, very good. From time to time, I consider selling her, but I never do. As I said in another thread, she runs like a scalded dog. She'll eat any kind of ammo I find, and requires a minimum of maintenance. I know me and I can't sell a gun like that.

Nonetheless, about 6 months ago, I retired Gretchen from regular carry. I unloaded her mags and set her in the safe. I'd bought a Smith and Wesson Shield 9mm in ~2017 and just wasn't carrying her any more. The Shield is just much more comfortable to carry, and I'm OK with 8 rounds and a couple of backup mags most days. I'll keep Gretchen around and take her on trips, but I'm unlikely to put her back into regular carry service.
 
I got into shooting when the Gen 4 was new, and never found them to fit my hand. I thought the Gen 5 was a good change.

I *really* like the new 43X and 48 though. They fit my hand beautifully. I can't imagine it'll be too long before they release an MOS version of those since micro red dots are becoming all the rage. I too have mostly moved away from carrying a double stack.

Glad your Glock has been good to you :)

The Shield is a pretty sweet little gun too.

Give it another year or two and I'll bet 12-15 round single stacks will be the new normal from every manufacturer. Sig spun things up, Springfield is on the wagon now, and it can't be long before everyone else follows suit.
 
Spats, we all wish Gretchen the best in retirement. Glad you're hanging onto the 19 for now. I have one that rarely gets shot but it's such a good gun, can't ever let it go. Stay safe!
 
OhioGuy said:
I got into shooting when the Gen 4 was new, and never found them to fit my hand. I thought the Gen 5 was a good change.

I *really* like the new 43X and 48 though. They fit my hand beautifully. I can't imagine it'll be too long before they release an MOS version of those since micro red dots are becoming all the rage. I too have mostly moved away from carrying a double stack.

Glad your Glock has been good to you :)

The Shield is a pretty sweet little gun too.

Give it another year or two and I'll bet 12-15 round single stacks will be the new normal from every manufacturer. Sig spun things up, Springfield is on the wagon now, and it can't be long before everyone else follows suit.
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They're not single stacks though. It's more like a 1.5 stack. If they were single stacks the grips would be very tall.

I don't have large hands, or moreso I have stubby fingers. I still shoot "double" stacks better. I like my P365XL but I shoot the G26 better, from what I can tell in part because it's easier for me to maintain the same position on the grip. For people that don't find that an issue the newer pistols are a no-brainer.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 
Had my 19 Gen 5 for a little better than a year. Shoots every time just like my 92 FS, LC9 and my DW Commander. If the trigger didn't bite my finger and if the pull was smooth I could like it. I've almost given up on it.
 
My experience with the Glock 19 was recent and brief, but all the negatives that I had heard didn't seem as bad as they were made out to be and they also seemed like things I could quickly and easily get used to. If I ever get one, it'll have a permanent home. I keep all my guns. They form a record of my journey and I neither dislike nor do I regret any of them.
 
I know this thread is older than dirt
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So are a lot of us. Thanks for the update. A little surprised you kept moving after the good things you said about the G19. If I was a woman, I would make a joke about that.

:D
 
I was exactly like you with glocks. Wanted to hate them but then I acquired 2 g19’s and they are amazing. I’m a minimalist guy with decorations, not having a lot of junk around the house, etc and these go with that perfectly. 1 complaint I wish it was just a little bit smaller. Not a g36 or shield size but just a bit smaller than what it is.
 
I have never been a glock lover, but I respect them for what they are. I wouldn't feel undergunned if I was issued one. They are, however, made by men and they do fail. As Spats found out, Glock isn't absolutely 100% perfect. No other pistol is either, but many these days are very close (including Glock).

Spats I understand the shift. I got a Kahr CW9 back in the day specifically to be an easily concealed carry piece. I still use her, but duty sized "compacts" OWB under an overshirt have become the norm for me the past few years. My most recent daily carry outside of an M4 on my current deployment was a CZ P07, OWB. Yeah it prints, but not that bad and I've found 99.9% of JQ Public will never notice.

That being said, I have no legal issues were my pistol to print or my shirt slips up and she gets shown off. OC is legal here. I'm not a fan or a believer, but I have no legal issues if my nearly full sized pistol slips out (which honestly rarely happens, but if it does happen I'm not in legal trouble).
 
I own several Glocks. I think I still own a 19, and it's stashed somewhere in the back of the safe, but I never liked it that much, mostly because I can't carry it any easier then I can a G22 or G17.

I have tried the G26's. It worked but I didn't much care for it. I shot a G30 and didn't much care for it at all. I still own a 42 and a 43, carry them some, but it's been while, because I never could shoot them all that good. And I shoot the Smith 9 mm Shield much better, and If I go smaller, I carry a Colt Mustang Pocket-lite .380 once again because I shoot much better.

I had a 23 but didn't much care for it. And I have shot the big 21 but found the grip too big for me, and I much prefer a 1911 Lightweight Commander to any of them.

But there are a couple of Glocks I like pretty good, the G17 and my favorite Glock the G22. I own at least a couple of 17's and I have lost count of the 22's but I think I own 3 for sure and maybe 4. My main Glock is a greenish dark earth colored G22 with a lighter trigger and steel night sights. It's my truck gun and I carry it in an inside wasteband kydex holster. I find it carries well, and I shoot it well. Frankly, If I owned all G22's, I wouldn't miss any of my other Glocks, really.

The one Glock I don't have, but have shot some, and would prefer over the 19 is the 19X with the longer 17 grip. I may trade some of my other Glocks off and get a 19X but frankly even if I did, the G22 would still be my go to Glock because I like the 40 cal and I don't find the smaller Glocks much easier to carry, sure as heck not any easier to shoot.

So, in the end, my main two carry guns are #1 Colt Lightweight Commander, #2 Glock 22, If must go smaller it's a Smith and Wesson Shield, or smaller yet a Colt Mustang .380, often backed up by a NAA 22mag

The good thing about The Glocks (G22) is they are good shooters, carry almost as well as a Lightweight Commander, and they are not that expensive, so I don't worry about loosing one due to theft, etc. Powerful, reliable, and fairly cheap to acquire, especially the Cop trade in's.
 
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glocks are not made to be sexy, they're made to back up the militaryhand gun.
IMHO I found that a simple cleaning once a month keps it ticking, The whole Idea was the make the semi autiomaticic in vaious sizings as ammo carry.
The twosome;s that I out of 1000000% glocks need to go be to the mag. to cottrrect
I am sure that people once they shoot their favorite that sticks to iy like glue.
I;m so grastefull to the day when my brother in law tuned me on to his G19 1st. edition.
I went thru several indoor/outtdoor ranges and was .for me. perfect, My second lock G43x trned out tp be my fasvort csrry now

Thank HGod r make such diffddn model, cry balitts .TRY ONE AR THE RANGE
 
I liked the comment someone made that Glocks have all the visual appeal of a stick of butter. The slide does. . . .
 
Good review, Spats....for me, the Glocks I've shot did well (G17, G19, G23). They were 100% reliable, accurate enough for the defensive purpose they were designed to fulfil, and did I say, RELIABLE.

I completed Front Sight's Defensive Handgun Course (600 rounds in 4 days) several years ago with a Glock 17, with the thought that I'd never shot a Glock and wanted to see what the furror was all about. I shot Distinguished with it, won the mono e mono steel shoot off and was surprised to say the least. Still, at the end of the 4 days, I didn't like it...too blocky in the hand, and the plastic frame of the trigger guard hit my strong hand knuckle on each shot...and the trigger (after almost 50 yrs of 1911's) had the esthetic appeal of a rubber band breaking. But I shot it well, ....hard to argue with that.

The gun was new right out of the box...a rental from Front Sight...and a query to the range master on how to lube it up, got a, "don't bother...it'll run just fine...just down fill the magazine to its full capacity...That turned out to be good advice and over the course, it never bobbled a round and would even feed emptys when setting up for malfunction drills.

So it you're looking for a no-frills "hammer" to use defensively and the blocky, 2x4 grip is usable, most any Glock would fill the bill.

Best Regards, Rod
 
After some 7 years, 2000 rounds, and one broken spring, Gretchen and I parted ways yesterday, and I returned to the ranks of the Glockless. She was my first polymer pistol, but she won't be my last. In spite of about 25 years of detesting polymer pistols, I've learned that there's a lot to like in the plastic fantastics. That said, over the last few years, I've also realized that there are other pistols that fit my hand a lot better than my G19 did.
 
Never owned a Glock. I’ve shot a few of my friends and a rental enough to realize they don’t click with me. If I can’t shoot a pistol good with one box of ammo it’s gone. I don’t mess around learning to shoot a particular brand over another, they either work or don’t work right away. I figure why mess around when there are so many high quality choices available. I can grab any handgun in my safe and consistently empty it as fast as I can pull the trigger into a four inch circle at ten yds. I’m not a bullseye shooter, it’s simply a tool for defense and thats all I need. Of course reliability is also as high a factor as shoot ability.
 
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I never thought about owning a Glock, I have a few plastic pistols but never got the Glock bug. Until I made my first 80% Non-Glock frame. Ended up doing a few more and even went and bought a couple of stripped 19 frames. Apex had 19 parts kits a while back and bought some of those. So I do have a couple of put together Glocks and a couple of non-Glocks. They are not flashy of real nice to look at like a blued and wood stocked pistol, but the actually fit me pretty nice and shoot well. Maybe I should have bought more of them earlier. But thinking I am not done going into the Glock rabbit hole.
 
I, too, resisted the universal Glock movement and had convinced myself to swallow the Glock Hate Kool Aid for many years. Until a few years ago, anyway. Suddenly, the little compact G19 started to appeal to me, and I thought I might like to have one. I already had polymer framed pistols, so a Glock wouldn't be my first jump into that pond.

I found a Gen 3 G19 at a local Academy. When I picked it up, I was amazed that it didn't feel bad in the hand at all. In fact, I really liked it. I have big hands, and the grip filled it up, with my index finger settling onto the trigger in just the right spot. The grip gave me a reassuring hold on it. The sights aligned perfectly as I brought the gun up.

First trip to the range, and I shot the lights out with the thing. I loved the way it shot and felt. I wondered why I'd bought the anti-Glock hype for so long. The gun is simplicity personified. Easy to detail strip and clean. I've replaced the OEM recoil spring and guide rod with a stainless steel unit. That's it. I even like the OEM sights.

Earlier this year, I bought a G23 before they faded away. I had the same experience with that gun. Glocks aren't the bee's knees for everyone. I get that. But, I'll never take seriously the comments of Glock haters again.
 
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