Quoted: 1st gen No Rail No finger groves 2nd gen Rail 2.5 cant remember one of the other Gen 3 Rail AND Finger groves.
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Not entirely correct; see picture in the above post.
To further describe:
Gen 1 frame - no FG/R, with a "stippled" texture all over the grip. Present in early G17s and a very few G19s (rare/collectible). 1985-88
Gen 2 frame - no FG/R, with a "pebbled" texture in defined panels on the grip, and checkering on the front & backstraps. 1988-1998
Gen 2.5 frame - a transitional design with finger grooves but no rails. I've personally seen the Gen 2.5 frame on G20s, 21s and 31s, but there were probably other models that had it, as well. Interestingly, the Gen 2.5 frame was featured prominently in the 1998 Glock Annual; the conversion to the 3rd Gen frame was completed later that year. Supposedly there was also a handful of frames that made it out with rails but no finger grooves, but I've never seen a picture of one.
Gen 3 frame - finger grooves & rails, 1998-present
Note that the Generations described above only apply to the full-size and compact-size frames; the subcompacts have kinda been their own beast from the start. Early G26s and 27s had smooth frontstraps, with the "grenade checkering" appearing later on. G29s and 30s retained the same frame design from their introduction until late 2005, when the light rail was added. Despite these variations, subcompacts are generally considered to have "3rd Generation" frames for the purposes of classification.