Mods for a Glock 19

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Kevinfreem

New member
Just got a Glock 19 because I had a gift card to the place and the price was right. Shot it today and noticed the trigger was ok but not great. When I was buying it the guy at the store tried to sell me on an agency brand trigger for the gun. Didnt have the money but is it worth saving up to buy one and install it myself? Also noticed the little cut out at the bottom of the grip annoyed me to no end but is not a deal breaker. Was hoping to use something to cover that up without affecting the grip and shooting. Anybody have any experience with this or similar mods? Not looking to EDC with it but I might keep it as a SHTF gun.
 
When you say the trigger was "ok but not great," what do you mean? Was it mushy? Rough?

As an EDC or SHTF gun, I'd leave it stock. IMO, for whatever it's worth, is that Glocks tend to be most reliable when left as is.
 
I mean that the trigger was not a real clean break. Felt a little mushy and it felt like a long pull to actually fire.
 
Just got a Glock 19 because I had a gift card to the place and the price was right. Shot it today and noticed the trigger was ok but not great. When I was buying it the guy at the store tried to sell me on an agency brand trigger for the gun. Didnt have the money but is it worth saving up to buy one and install it myself? Also noticed the little cut out at the bottom of the grip annoyed me to no end but is not a deal breaker. Was hoping to use something to cover that up without affecting the grip and shooting. Anybody have any experience with this or similar mods? Not looking to EDC with it but I might keep it as a SHTF gun.
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What Gen is it?

Assuming there's no reliability issues, for a SHTF gun that you're just going to hang on too, I'd leave the trigger alone. How much are you going to shoot it?

Best to dump some money into a few spare 15-rd mags if it only came with one. I prefer steel Trijicons over the factory plastic sights, but I make that upgrade on all my Glocks.

Might want to layback some amount of SHTF ammo for it as well. Something like 124gn 9mm NATO with sealed primers. It seems to be the preferred choice of 'thinking' preppers who run the mini-meter.
 
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"OK but not great" is pretty much the working definition for a stock Glock trigger. The Glock 19s I have shot all have long, spongy pre-travel and a creepy break. The reset is pretty decent, however.

Sounds as if your pistol is probably a Generation 5. My G 19 is a Gen 4. Some people have maintained that the Gen 5 trigger is better than that of the Gen 4. Others say no.

Depending on what you want to try to do with the trigger, there are some simple parts swaps you might try using only Glock OEM parts. In my pistol, I have installed a Glock factory "-" (minus) connector and a NY-1 (New York-1) trigger spring. The NY-1 spring increases the pull weight, the minus connector decreases the pull weight relative to stock. The net result of both together is a mild increase in trigger pull weight over stock, but the NY-1 provides some resistance to the pre-travel and makes it feel less spongy. Some people like this combo, some hate it so no guarantees. But the parts are relatively inexpensive and very easy to swap.
 
All Glocks feel mushy to me but then I'm a 1911 guy...that said, we buffed/polished my wife's gen 3 G23 innards (connector etc) and improved the trigger...cheap and effective...the secret with Glocks for those of us brought up on other handguns is to shoot them exclusively for a period of time...this give you the muscle memory to make good trigger breaks.

As to modifications, I'd opt for tritium night sights, Glock's or aftermarket, if you intend to carry the gun...other than that, I'd say you're GTG.

Senor Spats commented on reliability...we've had two Glocks in the family, a Gen 3 G19 & the current Gen 3 G23...IIRC, we've had zero malfunctions with either gun...that's over 4000 rounds now of factory practice, and carry ammunition, and my own FMJ hand loads...they are reliable at least in the examples we've owed. BTW, her G23 also works at 100% reliability with a Lone Wolf 9mm barrel.

From a modified Weaver Stance, either gun will put 5 in a row through a single ragged hole from the 7-9 yd. line, and my eyes won't do any better than that no matter what pistol I'm shooting. If the gun wasn't so ffffugly and the trigger so mushy, I could grow fond of them!

Just happened to think, if you get a deal on Federal American Eagle 124 gr FMJ's, buy as many as you can get...in the half dozen+ 9mm's here on the farm (3 Sigs, a Hi Power, two Colts, & my son's 92FS) that ammunition is as good as the very best of my tuned/tweaked hand loads. Too, it seems to be mid-velocity stuff based on recoil feel and the ejection patterns so it's easy on the guns....through the Sig 226 & M11a1 and the tuned Colt 1911, it's good for 2" gps. at 25 yds from a rest!

HTH's Rod
 
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Since my 19 has its main purpose as a nightstand gun, I added TruGlo day/night sights. There is a plug for that semi-circular gap at the heel (if that was what you were talking about - check Amazon)
Some folks have used aftermarket trigger groups, or different weight disconnects.
Personally, I would leave it alone until you have put 500-1000 rounds through it to see how it feels after that.
 
"...the trigger was ok but..." Factory triggers don't count. And a 19 isn't a target pistol.
"...guy at the store tried to sell me..." That's his job, but one must always shoot any new firearm before doing anything.
"...cut out at the bottom of the grip..." Where? On the bottom of the back of the frame? I think it's the normal beveling of the mag well.
 
Kevinfreem said:
Just got a Glock 19 because I had a gift card to the place and the price was right. Shot it today and noticed the trigger was ok but not great.
Click to expand...

Good description.

When I was buying it the guy at the store tried to sell me on an agency brand trigger for the gun. Didnt have the money but is it worth saving up to buy one and install it myself?
Click to expand...

Not if you just bought it. Ammo, lots of shooting, lots of dry firing.

Also noticed the little cut out at the bottom of the grip annoyed me to no end but is not a deal breaker.
Click to expand...

Gen 2 or Gen 5?

Was hoping to use something to cover that up without affecting the grip and shooting. Anybody have any experience with this or similar mods? Not looking to EDC with it but I might keep it as a SHTF gun.
Click to expand...

You just got it. Don't do anything but shoot it for a while.
 
Assuming it is a Gen 5, a few owners who have been bothered by the magazine well cut out window at the bottom of the front strap have reported the radiusing the square edge of the cut out with a file and some sandpaper helps.
 
Dry fire?

Put your ammo in another room and kill the bad guys on TV.
My G 19 got a lot better after what was likely 100s of thousands of dry fire.

Weight stayed about the same, reset got much better. Most anyone who has shot a Glock raves about that G19 trigger.
Some don't beleive it is bone stock.
 
OP here. To answer a few of the questions. It is a Gen 5. I have fat fingers so I never liked the finger grooves on older gen Glocks. Also I have put around 200 rounds through it so far and the mods were simply things I had seen based on that. Im not really a gunsmith myself but I do Load my own ammo and My ammo did seem to run through the gun better(I always run factory ammo through first to make sure if I have a problem it is the gun and not my loads). I have definitely dry fired the crap out of it so far but I like the idea of shooting the guys on tv since it will give me draw practice as well.
 
If you do plan to try some trigger modifications, you will need to be sure that any parts you buy are compatible with the Gen 5. There are just enough modifications in the design of the internals that many aftermarket parts designed for prior generations will not fit. I presume there will be redesigned items for the Gen 5 before too long.

You don't need to be much of a gunsmith to disassemble and reassemble a Glock, but if you do make modifications or install aftermarket parts, you will need to take care not to compromise reliability or safety.

I detested the finger grooves on the Gen 3 and Gen 4 Glock 19 as well. My solution was the grind and smooth them off, undercut the trigger guard with a Dremel, and stipple the front strap with a wood burning iron. But that was before the Gen 5 was an option.
 
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