The Glock pistols are reliable and effective guns for self defense. For most of the brand’s life, they have been 3″ guns at 25 yards. Some might be a half inch better and some a half inch worse. They are not as easy to shoot into that group as a gun with a good single action trigger or a double action trigger by someone who can shoot one well. The gun is light and the trigger is heavy. The “sproing” as the trigger breaks is not conducive to good groups either. Many have said they are “combat accurate”.
The Gen 5, though, has a more rolling break on the trigger and the “marksman barrel” is more accurate. I have seen amazing groups out of Gen 5 Glocks.
For me the journey with the Glock began with my first pistol, bought when I was 19 and on leave from the Army after Basic/ Infantry Training and Airborne School. I wanted a pistol. I really wanted a 1911 in .45. I had been told that Berettas were crap and 9mm wouldn’t work on dangerous people. There were no 1911s to be had where I was able to shop. However, in the case was this comparatively small gun in 9mm that held 15 rounds. It was light and I thought maybe it would be easy to hide. I couldn’t leave without something and this one spoke to me.
I quickly moved from the Glock 19 to 1911s but the G19 always had a place in a waist pack when hiking or when doing things I did not want to subject to a gun I liked. From reading gun magazines and talking to many of the knowledgeable people I ran into, it seemed that 1911s were the right answer.
In 2011, I had gone to the range with my two well worn Thunder Ranch Special Baers. One cracked a firing pin stop, so I switched to the other one, which promptly broke a barrel link. I fitted a new firing pin stop on the first one and then went back to the range where the tip of the extractor departed the gun. It was definitely just a bad day. I replaced those guns with some Ed Browns that looked prettier and immediately had to change all my magazine followers because they wouldn’t lock the slide to the rear. I was a little frustrated and took a Glock 34 to the range. I swore I would not leave until I could shoot it without rounds going to the left.
Making that switch to Glock was one of the smartest things I ever did. It doesn’t mean that I don’t miss 1911s but it was smart. I finally accepted that 3″ accuracy at 25 yards was good enough. I learned to run the Glock trigger and quickly figured out that I could shoot anything. Once you have mastered the worst trigger, the merely bad trigger is a small hill to climb.
When the Gen 5 came out, I scoffed at the Marksman barrel in the adds. The first one I shot caught my attention due to the more rolling break of the trigger. When I started trying to zero the Gen 5s with duty ammunition, I decided there was something to the new barrel.
The MOS guns also brought forth the breech face cut. Glocks have historically had ejection that is more like a dribble. The Gen 5 breech face cuts make the guns eject rounds nearly like an HK roller delayed rifle. I have seen Gen 3 Glock 19s with the brass turned backward in the ejection port and shooting my Gen 2 for this range session was disconcerting as the brass landed on me and around me. You won’t have that with a breech face cut Gen 5. It is harder to find your brass.
The Gen 5 Glocks have taken the best things about Glock and improved them. With these new generation of Glocks, I don’t even consider jumping on the Staccato or other 2011 bandwagon. The Gen 5 holds its own with the guns that cost 3 times as much. There are 1911s that will shoot better but they are closer to 10x as much money, require significantly more maintenance, and I have found that I just prefer the simplicity of the Glock for police duty use. It just works.