Bought my first handgun! Glock 19. Needs & Mods?

I missed the list I think....

 

Glocks are solid, reliable pistols. I’ve had several over the years, thousands of rounds down range and never any issues. I’ve always added night sights right away. I prefer the trijicon orange or yellow front post with 2 dot rear.

 

Travel thing

Trijicon night sights
Trijicon RMR
Surefire x300
Mag of black talon
Zev barrel
Zev trigger

 

Great pistol Wes. Hope you’ve enjoyed it.

 

^^ This story is already bullshit..

All a Glock needs is range time to get used to the grip angle and maybe a 25¢ trigger job.
You can Google the 25¢ trigger job, chances are you already have the stuff to do it..

 

In other words.... You are answering your own questions and taking a position on a particular product. Nothing wrong w/that. Simply put, you don't like them and therefore should probably NOT buy/own one. I don't understand why people buy things that are not comfortable or functional to their needs and then bend over backwards or go broke trying to make it into something it wasn't engineered to be.

So... "The gun has a boxy uncomfortable feel and the trigger is not nice at all, but if I address these issues the reliability goes down?" I'm not arguing here, but making a point...

To address the boxy feel of the Glock we must first look at the function of the boxiness you are referring to. Is there function and purpose behind that design, and if so what are they. Yes there is, and these are just a few of the basics behind that design...

A large boxy frame allows more shooters to comfortably apply more surface friction to the real estate of the pistol (more contact w/your hands); more contact with your hands equals more control; more control equals better recoil management; better recoil management equals quicker and more accurate follow up shots; more accurate rounds on target equals better chances of you surviving a gun fight.

Another benefit to the frame design is no sharp edges. I've shot Kimber, Wilson, Browning, Sig, Ruger, H&K, S&W (just off the top of my head), and about 90% of those pistols have sharp shit somewhere on the slide or where you manipulate the action of the weapon; cuts equal blood; blood equals slippery grip and manipulation of the weapon (poor control); poor control equals no bueno in a gun fight.

Another benefit to the frame design is that manipulation and use of the weapon is virtually the same with and without gloves. Glocks were designed with the thought that a high majority of its users will probably don sometimes fairly thick gloves during the operation of the pistol. I've used other pistols that require far more dexterity to manipulate than a Glock. In a critical incident, your dexterity and fine motor skills are already going to be diminished; therefore larger more gross motor skill fire controls will be more successful for the average shooter than those requiring greater levels of dexterity.

There are several more benefits to the frame design, but I hope that makes some sense!

Trigger feel: In comparison to a "high quality" custom trigger job on a single action 45 or Wilson Combat (for example); no the Glock trigger will never feel that smooth, and no not all Glock triggers feel the same. But, we need to understand why the Glock trigger is designed the way it is. Most folks are fine w/the trigger "break" of the Glock, they just have issue w/the slack (if you want to call it such) between it being fully extended and when the slack has been pulled completely out of the trigger and it's a nm from the break over point. What's happening in that area is the 'safe action' design of the pistol; it's the reason there's not safety lever/switch on the weapon.

This is a great video depict that design:

How a Glock Works - YouTube

Now, to get beyond that 'feel', one must learn how to properly manipulate the sear reset of the trigger; and even beyond that would be to learn remove the trigger slack (when on target) so that the decision/need to send that first round is that slight nm press of the trigger, which is actually very smooth. Although most shooters are not and do not train enough to be able to safely manipulate the weapon to this level. However, it would be very prudent for folks running Glocks to learn how to do proper trigger manipulation and actually understand how and why the gun does what it does.

Finally, in my opinion, to simplify reliability (of the weapon), it comes down to two things: tolerances and parts that don't break! We start w/the parts (which by the way, by having the fewest parts it inherently has less to go wrong to begin with). However, let's just focus on your final point of changing what you don't like about the gun or "cleaning it up".

Glock tolerances are for the most part pretty lax for a reason. To reliably accommodate a greater variety of shooter, shooter experience, ammo, training, maintenance of the weapon, etc... When you decrease the tolerances, yes you do start to fine tune the weapon to a higher level of performance. However, there is sacrifice to that, and the sacrifice is that you narrow the types of ammo and shooting technique (weapon control) that the gun will accept to perform reliably. In other words, you take a Glock do a trigger job, swap out the barrel, polish some things inside, swap out the slide, etc... You will start to create a gun that likes/prefers to shoot and maintain reliability w/specific ammo, w/a specific load, w/specific amount of shooter control of the gun, etc...

Yes, you can build a Glock to be more accurate, feel "better" in your hand, and cycle faster. However, you probably won't be able to run a box of old military ammo through it w/o a malfunction, or even switch ammo from 1900fps barrier round to a 1100fps JHP to a 1300fps FMJ; you probably won't be able to dunk it in the lake, retrieve it and have it function; and you probably won't be able to give it to every person who goes to the range and have them put a magazine through it w/o malfunctions. Finally, as you dive/slide behind cover and accidentally kick up a dust cloud, you're hoping that the decrease in tolerances doesn't create a situation for you when the weapon is unable to fire/cycle because there's no longer enough space in the guts to function w/even smallest of debris...

Bottom line... Yes, tightening up any pistol will make it less reliable for about 95% of its users in 95% of its situational and environmental conditions.

 

I absolutely agree. Every part is modded on the above glock but not because it needed it. A Glock performs so well stock. A simple trigger job and a case of ammo you are ready to go.

 

Damn fine post sir.

 

Definitely understand your point. However, just to play devil's advocate, if folks are operating in a low light environment there is nothing wrong w/having night sights (more specifically a front sight) that will illuminate in low light conditions, even a reflex sight so they have quick reference to the front of the pistol and where the round will impact at normal confrontational distances (inside of about 15'). Being able to quickly acquire the front sight will keep shooters confident and help reduce the chance of sending a round off target under a stressful event.

 

You are missing one!

 

I think we are in agreement. I'm always thinking low light, close quarters. Under those circumstances, I just hope the shooter knows who their target is.

 

I’m a flashlight addict. Honestly I prefer a torch that is not mounted on a weapon. Check out
https://thyrm.com/

They make a great tool for good lights.

this is my edc light.

it allows you to shoot and hold a light at the same time yet you can stay on target while you look another direction.

 

I’ve seen a couple people mention it after skimming the first page and I’m sure other have as well, but training is where you should spend your money at first. Get some decent ammo and find a good instructor: JJ Racaza, Mike Seeklander, Rob Leatham, Mike Pannone are some top ones. There’s plenty of others. Take one of their classes. It won’t be cheap, but worth every penny. From there, dry fire, a lot. During a class you’ll find out what works and doesn’t work on your Glock for you. Get what you need after that: extended slide release, RDS, stipple, etc.

If anyone tells you dry fire is a waste of time, they’re full of it. Any of those instructors I listed, at least 2 are world champion competition shooters (I’d have to look to make sure about another one), will tell you to dry fire. My $.02. Have fun with the new gun and be safe.

EDIT: Some obvious stuff you’ll need to get started: good holster, mag carriers and belt. There’s a ton to choose from and I’m guessing there’s a bunch of suggestions already.

 

Plus, if you need to, you can point that at someone w/o pointing your pistol at them to visually assess.

 

Exactly

 

My beater Gen 2 G17, truck gun (if I had my truck, on day 224 but who is counting ?).
Bought it for $300 several years ago at a gun show from an FFL dealer for this specific purpose.
BTW I hate finger grooves.

Out of I don't how many Glocks I own (or owned) it is the most accurate.
Fuckin' bone stock except for a +2 extension on the carry mag, 25¢ trigger job, and HD Trijicons.
It rivals my WG P226 and Glock 45 on a good day...

 

We don't have to, you reported yourself!!!

 

I didn't read this and I agree with it...

 

You forgot to mention the backplate...

 

That's damn near OG status!

 

Thats an old pic. I need to update it..

 

Limited drop shiz. Can you imagine

 

Damn it, Mr. Beam!!!!!

OG Gen 1 Glock and EC 18!!!!!! I can't take it anymore!!!!!!!

 

For you Tundra Gen 3ers..

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If it fits Glock 45 I'd be all over it...
Should be a standard Glock slide size...