Glock 19X (G19X), Glock 19 (G19) Gen5, Glock 17 (G17) Gen5, and Glock 34 (G34) Gen5 at the Range: Some Interesting New Pistols

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

By David Crane
david (at) defensereview (dot) com

January 31, 2018
Last updated on 1/31/18.

Speaking (briefly) of Glock pistols, there’s been a bit of interest surrounding the Glock 19X (G19X) and Gen5 Glock pistols, and perhaps even a bit of hype, so DefenseReview (DR) was glad to get to test fire them at SHOT Show Industry Day at the Range 2018. Since we’ve already covered the Gen5 guns a bit, and haven’t yet done so with the G19X, we’ll start with the latter.

The G19X is a strange commercial pistol offering. Designed to compete for a US military contract, it mates a G19-length slide to a G17-length grip frame. The pistol is “Coyote” brown/tan , and utilizes an anti-corrosion nPVD slide coating. According to Glock, this is the first factory-colored slide they’ve ever done. According to the Glock website: “additional features include the Glock Marksman Barrel (GMB), no finger grooves, ambidextrous slide stop levers and lanyard loop. Included with the pistol is a standard 17-round magazine, two 17+2-round magazines and coyote-colored pistol case.” So, if you buy a G19X, you’re getting something different, and kind of cool from a Glock collector’s standpoint.

But how does it shoot? Well, interestingly, DR shot better with the new Glock 19 (G19) Gen5, perhaps because we carry G19s over here, and are just used to the shorter grip. The G19 Gen5 we shot was a tack driver. We were pingin’ steel targets with ease. We missed a few with the G19X for some reason. Fine, so it was probably our fault, but still. We’ve heard and seen some criticism of the G19 Gen5’s front grip cutout (for assisting with mag removal) being uncomfortable and/or painful, but it didn’t bother us in the limited shooting we did with the gun. That may change with high-round-count shooting.

We didn’t shoot the Glock 17 (G17) Gen5. The Glock 34 (G34) Gen5 seems great, but we couldn’t tell the difference between it and the G34 Gen4 in shooting feel or performance. We’d have to shoot them back-to-back. We here at DR are actually big fans of the G34 as a pure shooting and competition gun. It’s tough to beat, particularly for fast long-range (pistol) shooting. Some guys even carry it concealed instead of a G17.

Perhaps the most impressive thing at the Glock Range Day booth was Team Glock shooter Michelle Viscusi, who was kind enough to help us out and shoot a few quick videos for us (see below). Michelle was very generous with her time. She’s also a great shooter, and as it happens, looked great doing it, especially in here snazzy artic-camo (camouflage) Glock jacket, which we really dug. Michelle’s terrific, and Glock’s lucky to have her, in our opinion.

Editor’s Note: We tried to film some of our usual indoor exhibition videos (see our previous article on the Walther PPQ M2 Sub-Compact pistol) covering all the features of G19X and Gen5 Glock pistols at the Glock exhibition booth at SHOT Show, but we couldn’t get a Glock representative to assist us with it while we were there. We made two separate attempts. This is highly unusual for us.

Anyway, the following is DR writer/contributor and chief new-product tester Jeff Gurwitch’s take on the G19X:

Glock 19X, The Cons: There has been a demand forever for a Glock with a long sight radius and small grip. The desire is for a concealable gun (due to small grip) but full sight radius of a full size Glock along with the added benefits of less felt recoil due to full size slide. So, the ideal would essentially be a Glock 17 with a Glock 19 grip.

So, when the G19X came out, it was actually the opposite of what many wanted, a G19 size slide on a full G17 grip. So my initial impression was “Why? What a waste.” A full size grip means you are trying to conceal that giant grip without the benefits of a full length slide and barrel. But now that I’ve given it some thought, I’m thinking maybe Glock has actually done their homework and has produced a gun specifically for a current trend, and that is Appendix carry. If so the 19X makes perfect sense.

One issue with appendix carry is a long barrel/slide can get in the way of comfort with it poking so far down. A shorter barrel is more comfortable to carry. The full size grip is not that big of a issue with appendix carry since it is sitting flat against the abdomen.Unlike traditional strong side carry, where a long grip can stick out if one is not careful. With a shorter slide the 19X will give up some accuracy and some increased felt recoil. But, for a carry gun, I think both are marginal compared to a full size G17 slide.

The Pros of the G19X, you are getting a full size grip. So that is a plus in a gun fight.
So, while proponents of traditional strong side like myself may view the 19X as completely backwards of what we wanted to see, the G19X just might be the perfect pistol for the ever-growing appendix carry crowd.”

Company Contact Info:

GLOCK, Inc.
6000 Highlands Parkway
Smyrna, GA 30082
Phone: 770-432-1202
FAX:770-433-8719
Email Contact Page: http://us.glock.com/customer-service/contact-us
Website: http://www.glock.com

© Copyright 2018 DefenseReview.com (DR). All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without receiving permission and providing proper credit and appropriate links. If you are reading this article anywhere other than DefenseReview.com, please email us the website address/URL (where the unauthorized DR article reprint is located) at defrev (at) gmail (dot) com. Thank you.

All embedded DefenseReview.com (DR) photos and videos were shot with an Apple iPhone 6s Plus smartphone still/video camera.

Related Articles:

Walther PPQ M2 SC Sub-Compact Striker-Fired 9mm Combat/Tactical Pistol for Concealed Carry (CCW): 16 Rounds Ready to Go with Extended-Basepade Magazine! (Video!)

Walther PPQ M1 Classic versus Heckler & Koch HK VP9: High-Capacity Polymer-Frame, Striker-Fired Combat/Tactical 9mm Pistol Face-Off!

Walther PPS (Police Pistol Slim) Single-Stack, Striker-Fired 9mm Compact/Sub-Compact Pistol for Concealed Carry (CCW) Applications and Covert Missions/Operations

Gen5 Glock 17 and Glock 19 (Glock 17M and Glock19M) 9mm Combat/Tactical Pistol Models Take a Step Forward, and a Step Back: Best 9mm Glock Pistols Ever? Recoil Magazine Gets First Detailed Look!

Nous Defions Arsenal Democracy NDAD Blackside Custom Glock 17 (G17) and Glock 43 (G43) Pistols and Pistol Accessories: Actual, True Glock Perfection May Finally be Upon Us! (Videos!)

Nous Defions/Arsenal Democracy Blackside Suppressed Glock 17/22 (G17/G22) Combat/Tactical Pistol Holster: Taco Shell-Design Kydex Holster is Tactical White Light/Laser-Aimer Module-Compatible! (Video!)

Arsenal Democracy AD Blackside Glock Pistol Packages: Customized Combat/Tactical Pistols with AD SwiTch Aluminum Glock Trigger, DOCTER Sight III Bronze 3.5 MOA, Trijicon Night Sight Suppressor Set and Storm Lake Threaded QPQ Barrel for Silencer/Sound Suppressors! (Video!)

DR Interview with David Pavlick of Nous Defions about Arsenal Democracy’s Future, and Tactical AR Carbine/SBR and Blackside Glock Combat/Tactical Pistol Accessories, Components and Parts: 10 Questions

Select-Fire/Full-Auto Glock 22 .40 S&W Machine Pistol at the Range: STS Arms Select-Fire Backplate/Backplate Fire Selector Switch for Glock Pistols (Video!)

Arsenal Firearms AF Stryk B Compact Ultra-Low-Bore-Axis Striker-Fired 9mm Combat/Tactical Pistol with Grip-Mapping Technology Grip and Reciprocating/Sliding Barrel: Flattest Shooting Combat Pistol Ever? (Video!)

CZ P-10 C Compact Striker-Fired 9mm Combat/Tactical Pistol for Concealed Carry (CCW): Superior to the Glock 17 (G17) and Glock 19 (G19) Pistols?

Hudson H9 Low-Bore-Axis Striker-Fired High-Capacity 9mm Combat/Tactical Pistol Debuts at SHOT Show 2017! (Photos and Videos!)

Glock 19X (G19X), Glock 19 (G19) Gen5, Glock 17 (G17) Gen5, and Glock 34 (G34) Gen5 at the Range: Some Interesting New Pistols by

About David Crane

David Crane started publishing online in 2001. Since that time, governments, military organizations, Special Operators (i.e. professional trigger pullers), agencies, and civilian tactical shooters the world over have come to depend on Defense Review as the authoritative source of news and information on "the latest and greatest" in the field of military defense and tactical technology and hardware, including tactical firearms, ammunition, equipment, gear, and training.

Check Also

Canik TTI Combat 9mm Tactical/Competition Pistol Collab Project with Taran Tactical Innnovations Gives You 18 Rounds of Race Gun-Like Firepower!

By David Crane david (at) defensereview (dot) com March 17, 2024 Canik Arms launched a …