The Ubiquitous GLOCK 19

The late 1980s saw the introduction of the first pistol GLOCK named as a Compact, the G19 — it was/is essentially the popular GLOCK 17 9mm with the barrel and slide shortened by half an inch and the butt proportionally cropped, bringing cartridge capacity down from a 17-round magazine to 15. That was, at the time, the capacity of full-size 9mm Beretta, SIG and Smith & Wesson service pistols.

The G19 was an instant success. The 19M is now the standard-issue duty pistol of the FBI, which of course works primarily in plainclothes. On NYPD, our nation’s largest municipal police department, a reported two-thirds of their 36,000 officers have chosen the GLOCK 19 from the approved list, largely because it’s the smallest and lightest they’re allowed to carry in uniform and it works great for plainclothes assignments and off-duty wear. In the military, it’s the chosen sidearm of the SEAL teams, and on the executive protection side, it’s standard issue for Secret Service. Here’s why.

G19 Advantages

Unloaded weight of the GLOCK 19 is approximately 21 oz. — the same as the Colt Detective Special that set the concealed carry standard of small-frame snub-nose .38 Special revolvers almost a hundred years ago — yet it holds 16 rounds of 9mm Luger (11 in magazine-limit states) instead of six .38s. Though less suitable for pocket or ankle carry than a .38 snub because of its squared shape, it is much easier to shoot accurately at speed thanks to its longer sight radius and shorter, lighter trigger pull.

Back in the time of double-action service revolvers and later, DA/SA pistols with long trigger reach, I spoke as an expert witness for multiple female officers and Federal agents who had been fired for failure to qualify with issue handguns whose trigger reach was too long for their short fingers. We generally prevailed on their behalf and got them rehired or compensated. I’ve never had to do the same for a law officer who couldn’t qualify with a 9mm GLOCK. These pistols are simply shootable. They have established an excellent reputation for reliability and frequency-of-repair ratio.

Having owned every generation of GLOCK 19, I’ve found myself gravitating to the current Gen5. It has, in my opinion, the best “street trigger” this manufacturer has ever put in a carry gun. There is a firm resistance to the index finger from the beginning of the pull, reducing the likelihood of an unintended discharge under stress about as well as a “New York” trigger module in the earlier GLOCKs, but still allowing a good, controlled release of an intended shot. The pull is smooth and clean, like a good double-action trigger pull in microcosm due to its shorter pull length. Like many shooters, I prefer the straight front on the Gen5’s frame as opposed to the finger grooves of earlier models. I’ll decide how I hold the gun, thank you very much, and don’t need the pistol to tell me how.

Gen4 and Gen5 GLOCKs have inserts on the backstrap allowing it to fit hands of different sizes. They both have reversible magazine-release buttons, though I prefer the size and shape of those on Gen5; and the Gen5 also has an ambidextrous slide lock/slide release lever.

Perspective

The International Defensive Pistol Association is the apotheosis of concealed-carry handgun sport. A few years ago, they surveyed their competition shooters across the many gun-type divisions as to what they actually carried concealed on their own time — and the overwhelming favorite was the GLOCK 19. Accordingly, the dimensions of the pistol became the maximum size standards for IDPA’s then-new division, CCP (Concealed Carry Pistol). This, I respectfully submit, tells us all something about the G19.

Personal experience? I bought one of the first G19s for my 11-year-old daughter the year they came out. I had found the GLOCK 17 worked well with women and I figured, “smaller female, smaller GLOCK,” right? Alas the early G19s ejected brass right over the adult shooter’s shoulder, and on my then sub-five-foot daughter, the first spent casing went right down the front of her shirt. I switched her into a 17, problem solved. Today’s G19s fortunately don’t do that. I shot that same 19 in a few classes and dropped a point each time demonstrating the qualification course. I finally figured out that it fit my hand so well I was taking it for granted. I focused, and the G19 never after gave me less than 300 out of 300 points on a demo qual.

Over the years I’ve acquired customized G19s from Wilson Combat and Langdon Tactical Technologies. I’ve been pleased with them, but as an instructor these days I prefer to teach with an out-of-the-box pistol like most of the students bring. A box-stock Gen5 G19 with GLOCK’s optional Ameri-Glo sights — and its mag release button reversed so I can hit it with my trigger finger since arthritis has twisted my gun hand thumb out of line for dumping mags — has been one of my most-used teaching guns. Since I carry what I teach with, that means it’s also one of my most frequent carry guns.

“It’s only a 9mm!” some cry. Yes, it is but consider: When I load it with Winchester 127-grain +P+ Ranger rated for 1,250 feet per second out of the 4″ barrel of the G19, I’ve got something quite comparable to the 1,200-1,220 foot-seconds I’ve chronographed from 2.0″ to 2.5″ .357 Magnum revolvers with the famously effective 125-grain hollow point. Carrying 16 of those ready under my trigger finger as opposed to five or six .357 Magnum cartridges, a GLOCK 19 does not leave me feeling under-gunned.

My wife carries. She has won state and regional championships with her GLOCK 17 and 34, but her first centerfire pistol and still her favorite has been the G19. Of her 20-plus GLOCKs, at least five are 19s and her favorite is that first one, customized by David Maglio (firearmsacademyofwisconsin.com).

When things are popular for as long as the GLOCK 19 has been popular, you know there are good reasons why.

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