Tag Archives: new glock

The 10mm Baby Glock, Now in its 5th Generation

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Whether straying into the backcountry or just a fan of the 10mm Auto, Glock has long had one of the smallest carry guns offered in that caliber and I’ve been kicking around its latest variant for a couple of months.

The Glock 29 first hit the market when the Stone Temple Pilots were in the charts and Val Kilmer was Batman. It has since evolved through two generational cycles to stand here today as the Gen 5 G29. Coupling the flat trajectories and renowned performance of the 10mm Auto– a cartridge that has never been more popular– with a proven and well-liked sub-compact handgun that can easily be carried concealed and still clock in with 11 rounds when needed, is a strong platform on which to stand.

There is a lot to like about the welcome changes now bestowed to the Gen 5 G29, and there is still room to grow, for instance, with an optics cut (perhaps with a direct mill RMR footprint, just saying), but it remains tough to beat for someone who wants to carry a 10mm.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Glock Finally Dropped a Factory 19L: Meet the New (To Glock) G49

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The so-called Glock 19L, using the compact G19 grip with a full-sized G17-length slide and barrel, has been a thing for years, with folks typically hacking a Glock 17 grip to make it a 15-shot capacity pistol that accepts G19 mags. Others used a standard G19 frame with an aftermarket G17-length slide that was compatible with the shorter frame.

The benefit was that, for many, the G19 is considered easier to conceal with its shorter grip/height than the G17, while the longer barrel and slide give the user a longer sight radius.

The Glock 49 Gen 5 MOS was first leaked back in May 2022 by Vickers Tactical in a post that had over 3,000 likes and comments. A popular rumor on Glock groups at the time was that it was a spinoff of the company’s large 2019 CBP contract that saw the federal agency purchase $85 million worth of pistols including the crossover G47, which was designed to run a shorter Glock 19 recoil system in a Glock 17-sized slide and barrel with a slightly shorter dustcover on the frame.

For the last year, the G47 allows the user to make a more or less OEM 19L pistol, by swapping a Gen 5 slide and barrel from a G19 over to the G47 frame.

For instance, take a look at this:

Showing off that modularity, I give you the “you got chocolate in my peanut butter” that is the G19X and G47 MOS with swapped uppers. Both guns shoot and cycle fine. You could do the same between the G47 and the G17 Gen 4/5, G45, and G19 Gen 4/5. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Now, the G49 is finally a real thing, as Glock announced it Wednesday.

Chambered in 9mm Luger, it holds 15+1 rounds in standard magazine capacity, has a 4.49-inch barrel, all the standard Gen 5 characteristics like the accurate Glock Marksman Barrel, and the company’s MOS system for mounting optics. (Photo: Talo)

Hopefully for Glock, there is still interest in this concept. Even if there isn’t, they’ll probably sell a million of them.

Glocks Fuddy Five Lurches into the 2020s

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Glock first announced the .45 ACP-caliber G21 alongside the 10mm G20 and .40 S&W caliber G22 back in 1990, in a host of caliber changes that offered more than the company’s 9mm initial offerings– the G17 and G19. At introduction these were 2nd Generation guns, a series only gently updated from the company’s original debut in the mid-1980s.

I’ve been fooling with the G21 off and on for almost 30 years. My first was a Gen 2 AAZ-serialized G21 that I picked up in 1994, just as the federal AWB and magazine cap kicked in that chopped the standard mag capacity from 13 rounds to just 10. I kept that tough-as-nails .45 through Hurricane Katrina, during which and immediately after it was never far away, and only passed it on to its current owner in 2006, downgrading to a 9mm as my everyday carry.

My first G21, a Gen 2 model, is seen here in a low-res circa-2005 image. It worked when I picked it up 11 years before, ran everything I fed it in the interlude, and it is likely still working wherever it is today. Note back then they didn’t even have thumb grooves or an accessory rail.

Then came the Gen 3 Sport/Service models in 1997, which brought with them recessed thumb rests, finger grooves molded into the frame, and, eventually, an accessory rail.

The Gen 4 G21 arrived in 2011 with the company’s improved RTF-4 texture, interchangeable frame back straps, a reversible enlarged magazine catch, a dual recoil spring assembly, and a new – some would say improved – trigger

And since then, the G21 has been frozen in time, locked in 2011. In the meantime, the company introduced their 5th Generation guns – but only in 9mm (G17, G19, G19X, G26, G34 and G45), .40 S&W (G22, G23 and G27) and .22 LR (G44).

Now, Glock finally reached back and brought the old “large frame” 10mm and .45 full-sized pistols into the present.

Importantly, it is the first time the G21 is optics-ready, in addition to other Gen 5 enhancements that are long overdue.

More in my column at Guns.com

Going the Distance with the Plinker Glock

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Some 16 months ago, Glock did something they had never done before: make a rimfire handgun.

The Glock 44: Like a Glock 19, but in .22LR

I was there in Georgia when it was announced, and a lot of people at the time were bummed out, wishing the company was introducing a new micro 9 to compete with the Sig P365, or perhaps a 9mm PCC Glock carbine.

Nonetheless, I ran a T&E on the gun for a few weeks, dumping a couple thousand rounds through it, and liked it enough to buy it.

I even wrote an extended article on the gun for the 2021 Glock Annual.

Boom.

Well, with 9mm ammo in record low supply, especially at affordable prices, I have been taking the G44 to the range a lot in the past few months and have easily over 5K rounds through it.

It is really growing on me

My thoughts after the past 16 months of use in my column over at Guns.com.

Seems like everyone has a new .22LR pistol for 2020

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Only a few weeks into 2020 and the domestic U.S. firearms market has seen a flood of new .22LR pistols from some of the biggest names in the business.

Last month saw the 42nd annual SHOT Show in Las Vegas where more than 2,600 exhibitors gathered from around the globe to display their freshest wares. When it came to rimfire handguns, there were lots of new faces in the aisles.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Glock’s new pistol turned out to be a super reliable plinker

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When it comes to .22LR, the biggest problem is the round itself.

First marketed in 1884 as a black powder round, the little lead-nosed pipsqueak was intended for use in rifles and revolvers, with its rimmed case proving notoriously difficult for pistols to cycle. Compounding this, there is a myriad of loads in circulation, all with slightly different specs and performance. When you magnify those problems with the fact that the rounds are often produced by the millions as economically as possible, especially in the case of bulk-pack budget ammo, and you get a cartridge that tends to be finicky in a lot of semi-auto handguns.

To get it right, Glock spent nearly three years testing and developing the G44– which is why models like the G45, G46, G47, and G48 passed it up in reaching the market while the rimfire chewer was still in R&D.

During that time, they used no less than 141 different rimfire loads in testing, popping over 1.2 million rounds in the process. Federal, which supported the effort, used everything in test guns from 42-grain subsonic to CCI Stingers with no problem. In short, while many 22LR pistols come with the caveat that they are picky about their diet, the Glock is billed as being omnivorous.

Well, I grabbed 2,200 rounds of a wide array of .22LR and headed to the range with a new G44 sent for T&E.

How did it do?

More in my column at Guns.com. 

In Glockspeak, the G44 is a 22LR pistol

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The big reveal this week in Georgia, after much fanfare, turned out to be Glock’s first rimfire handgun– the G44.

The Glock Gen 5 G44, left, is the same size as the 9mm Gen 5 G19, right, but is chambered in .22LR (Photo: Chris Eger)

Chambered in 22LR, it is a dead ringer for the G19 in size (though not in weight) with the same surface controls and trigger. This makes it an ideal training gun. Similarly, it is reliable as all get out, being tested with over 140 different rimfire loads by Glock in a developmental process that went back more than five years– hence the fact that the G45, G46, G47, and G48 have beaten it to market.

Further, it is made by Glock, and not by Umarex or some other third company as many other handgun makers do.

I am currently testing one extensively and will get back to you guys ASAP.

Until then, check out my column at Guns.com for more info. 

CBP and the new Glock 47 (?)

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Customs and Border Patrol, which existed for decades before they were merged Post-9/11 as the Dept. of Homeland Security’s CBP, loved six-shooters. Legendary smoke wagon skinner Bill Jordan cut his chops as a Border Patrol officer/inspector in the 1930s and 40s before he helped invent the S&W M19 and M66 to give the .357 Magnum room to move.

Christine Davis (Gee) was the first female agent hired by US Border Patrol. She was a member of class 107 and graduated from the academy on July 31, 1975. Note her S&W M19 (err, Ruger Six series, thanks Shawn!), which remained standard for another 20 years after this picture was taken

Therefore, it was no surprise that the agency was among the last federal law enforcement groups to ditch the wheelgun when in 1995 they adopted the Beretta 96 in .40S&W to put their M66’s to pasture. Then, in 2004, they moved from the all-metal Beretta to the polymer-framed HK P2000.

Dig those M14s tho (HK P-2000s in holsters)

Now, 15 years after the move to HK, the guns are still in frontline use, but have been passed up by a new generation of combat handguns and are as much of a throwback as the .357 six-shooter was in 1995.

Which compelled CBP to seek a replacement last year in a tender that specified an optics-ready handgun. This week they announced Glock got the nod to the tune of $85 million smackers, which is a lot of polymer (CBP has 45,000 LE officers and agents across all of its agencies).

The interesting thing about the move is that it appears they are the first adopter of the as-yet-to-be-announced Glock G47, which looks to be a G45 with a G17 MOS Gen 5 slide fitted.

I will be sure to check in with Glock for more info on that in the coming days.

Until then, check out my article on the move at Guns.com.

New Glock Slim models inbound

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Meet the new 9mm 10+1 capacity Glock 43X and Glock 48. Two guns with the same frame, the 43X runs 6.06-inches long while the G48 is 6.85-inches (which makes it eligible for import to Canada) and yes, both are two-tone.

Sure to be the buzz of SHOT Show this month, the official release date is 21 January but most Glock retailers are already taking preorders for about $475~ in the standard models, $500 with Glock night sights and $575 with Ameriglos, although your mileage may vary.

Glock’s presser, released 2 January:

Today, GLOCK, Inc. announces two additions to the GLOCK pistol family. The GLOCK 43X and the GLOCK 48 feature the design of the Slimline series with a silver slide and are a perfect fit for everyday carry. Chambered in 9X19, both pistols feature a compact Slimiline frame with silver nPVD finish and a 10-round magazine capacity making them ideal for concealed carry.

“With the success of the Slimline series in the marketplace and over one million GLOCK 43 pistols sold in just three years, the Slimline series pistols have been tested, trusted and proven,” said GLOCK, Inc. VP Josh Dorsey. “We listened to the consumers request for a GLOCK Slimline model with increased round capacity and both of these pistols deliver that flawlessly. GLOCK’s continued pursuit of perfection drives innovation while not straying from our promise of reliability and durability and that is demonstrated in the G43X and G48.”

Designed for comfort, the G43X and G48 combine a fuller-size grip length with a minimal profile of approximately 1” for a comfortably balanced, versatile grip that’s ideal for a variety of users. While the two pistols share the same size frame, they have different slide lengths. The slide for the G43X is the same sub-compact length as the G43 (6.06 in.) while the G48 has a compact length (6.85 in) and is compliant with Canadian regulations.

These pistols incorporate elements of the Slimline series such as the short trigger distance, a frame with a built-in beavertail, a reversible magazine catch and the incredibly accurate, match-grade GLOCK Marksman Barrel (GMB). The G43X and G48 also feature precision-milled front serrations. Both models are available in three sight configurations; standard, GLOCK Night Sights (GNS), and Ameriglo BOLD.

Here is what people thought about them in a man-on-the-street that we did at Guns.com.

More to come, of course.

For those who always wanted a Glock 19…with just a little…more

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Sure, 15 pieces of flair are the minimum but don’t you want to go 17, or 18, or even 19 or 20 when it comes to 9mm without giving up your slide length?

That’s where the new Glock 19X (eXtended capacity?) comes in.

It’s been hush-hush for awhile, but the basic concept is that it is a Gen 5 G19 upper with a modified Gen 5 G17 frame and some tweaked internals, which gives you a “1917” (1719?) concept of a Glock 19 with a full-sized grip and bump in mag capacity. It is also in a factory Coyote finish, comes with night sights, and lots of other neat-o add-ons like extended mags.

[Of course, I would prefer a G19 Frame with G26 grip and a G17 slide, which would give more sight radius while allowing better concealability while maintaining the ability to add a laser/light, and you could always use extended mags if you want more capacity, but hey, at least they have something to work on for 2019!]

I’ve been shooting it for the past couple weeks and have to say that I find it kinda groovy in a Colt Commander kind of way. Be sure to check out the first look piece over at Guns.com on it, and stay tuned for an in-depth review after I get a couple thou parabellums through it.

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