So, back in 1987 or 1988, this new imported handgun caught my eye. being intrigued, I purchased one of these new Glock 17's.  odd in itself as I am a die hard 1911 fan. but I figured I would give it a shot (pun fully intended) it was my first 9mm and I was not unhappy with the caliber. I ran several hundred rounds through it and it just never quite felt right. So as I did back in the day, I sold it and moved along never really giving the brand another thought.

Fast forward to a month ago.

My youngest son is home on leave from the USMC. one afternoon we go to our favorite fun shop so he can visit with the owners who we have known for quite some time. after catching up and having general conversation, he announces that he wants to purchase the Gen 4  Glock 19 in the display case. He asks my opinion and I relay the story as above. He says he has fired one that belongs to his friend here at home and he really like the feel. Great. lots of people like them and if it fits him then that's what he should get. so he did and we headed out to the property to break it in.

A hundred or so rounds later, "Hey pops, wanna try it out?" I did. and I was impressed.

Now since he cannot have a firearm at his duty station, the 19 sits in my safe with all his other guns. and I will admit to taking it out and running a box or two through it. and I find myself looking at holsters and a few other parts and pieces her and there. I think I am slowly converting over to a fan...

I have carried a 17 for years and shoot the 17, 34, 35 and 21 in competitions fairly often....
They all run well for me and I do well with them...

Between all the shooters I know, I have access to many brands and have tried a lot of them out.  If there was something that worked better for me, I'd be on it.

Curious, I wonder why he did no go gen 5? His friends G19 musta been a gen 4.
I first was introduced to Glock back when I was in service. I was in Europe at the time
and at a NATO training range. One of the allied Armies had the Glock (this was in 80's).
They were marked completely different

Our 1st Sgt. asked us if we wanted to shoot a plastic gun. We thought he was BSing.
I liked how light it was. Two overseas tours later (early 90's) I found Glock in the Rod n Gun
Club on base. Bought one. Popular Mechanics had done a story on Glock and I was interested again.
The article stated they put the gun in bucket of salt water for 30 days and tested it and (eta: NO) issues.
It covered their ruggedness, simplicity and reliability vs cost, coming out as a
no brainier in that arena.

The G19 is Glock's most popular model. It's production began with introduction of gen 2's so
that's the first generation for the G19 (gen 2). Gen's 3 and 4 have finger grooves  where gen 2 and 5
do not. The gen 5 is worth taking a look at if you don't like finger grooves. Gen 4 and 5 offer grip
back straps.

To each his own, but I gave up 1911 platform. Not that I don't like them, I preferred the simple Glock.

Attached File

Welcome to the Dark Side.

If you're in love with 45 acp and full size 1911's give the G41.4 a try

modern day and age 19.4/5, g45, 19x, 34.5, or 17.5 are all good 9mm options

10mm master race 40, 29, 20 in that order.

Something you could look into is a different frame.  I was never a huge fan of the glock grip angle or the bulge on the rear of the grip.  I prefer the 1911 grip angle and how straight they are.  A polymer80 frame fixes the grip angle issues I have with glocks.  You can pick up an 80% kit for about $100 shipped and finish it yourself with parts you want or do like I just did and buy a gen 3 G17 Leo trade in from Aim Surplus along with a serialized polymer80 frame (its finished machined and ready to assemble).  I took the 17 out last night and ran a couple hundred rounds through it stock.  Then came home to clean and swap the parts and was done with the project in 15 minutes.  Now aside from the aging Trijicon HD sights its perfect to me.

Don't look at the current value for a Gen 1 G17 with Tupperware and manual.
I was never Glock fanboy, but recently, out of the blue I scratch-bulit a G17 and a G19.
34 parts per each.....easy and fun to build.
An amazing design.

I think the main reason he went with the GEN 4 is because the local shop has a number of them left in stock. lol It's a smaller family owned shop. Like I said, I haven't had any experience with the brand since the late 80's. I am impressed with the way the weapon has progressed. It just seems to be a more solid, better built handgun than I remember. I actually like the finger grooves in the GEN 4. I like the additional backstraps for fitting the grip. I am also looking into modification/customization options. I do tend to accessorize.

Other than replacing the plastic sights I have found glocks best left alone. I have seen FAR more problems on the range with glocks that have been tinkered with than those left stock. As is they work really well

Sounds like a good call. the more I research, the more I'm finding this out. the magwell is probably as far as I will go for now.

Go look @ Polymer 80 frames, the Kel-Tec SUB-2000, and Stern magwell adapters...

I have seen multiple mag wells cause mags not to drop free. Agency seems to be the worst, then salient. Personally the only mag well I would use would be the ALG, but its quite large and heavy so if you are going to carry the gun, you might want to re consider.