I presume the answer should be "yes".  I noticed that mine rides on the bottom of the hole in the slide.  I have not yet shot it so this may or may not matter... it's more just an exercise in curiousity.  Lock up is tight, so there probably isn't any reason it wouldn't shoot great.

yes, i'm a glock newb.  my only other centerfire semi-auto is a Springfield 1911 that has a tighter fit between the barrel and the bushing (i know there isn't a bushing on the glock).

When the slide is in battery, the barrel will sit on the bottom of the hole in the slide just as you have described. Your pistol is normal.

The extra room above the barrel when it's in battery is to allow for the barrel to tip upward as the slide moves out of battery. Notice that the barrel is tipped upward when the slide is locked back. The barrel is now occupying the space toward the top of the hole in the front of the slide.

Thanks for that... makes perfect sense!    and I demonstrated it to myself with the pistol.  Thanks for the info Hero!

No prob!

Yes, perfecly normal.