I have owned a G34 Glock 9mm since they first came on the market in 1996.
It has always been a decent but not spectacular pistol.
Fact is I have always shot my Gen 2 G19 better than my G34 and have lately found myself shooting my H&K USP Elite more than the Glock

I have tried many things over the years to improve the accuracy of the pistol, aftermarket barrels, metal guide rods, new sights, 3.5 connector with an NY-1 trigger spring,,,always the same results, fliers that ruined group sizes and sometimes lost matches.
Flyers that not always occurred not at the start or end of a magazine but in the middle too, with no rhyme or reason as to when or why they were occurring.

I tried everything except the obvious,,,

This weekend I ground the finger grooves off the front grip strap and raised the trigger guard undercut by 0.500mm.
The result was remarkable!
My groups improved!
No more fliers!
Aftermarket barrel groups=excellent!
Metal guide rod, MEH, still shoots low with one of these in place,,,
Anyway, those damn finger grooves had been binding my shoooting ability with this gun for all these years!
Dummy me for not trying this years ago!
I guess I was worried the frame would be horrifically altered, truth is, that didn't turn out to be the case.
The gun now feels better than the old Gen 1 G17 I shot so well with over 20 years ago.

Matter of fact, without the finger grooves the gun feels more like my old love, the Sig 210.
Mind you the G34 still doesn't shoot as well as my old 210 pistols, it never will, but I will take 2 1/2" average groups over 4" average groups every day of the week!


This is a work in progress. I haven't yet decided exactly how I will finish the front strap. I may punch stipple it or I may checker it, or, I may just polish it to a smooth finish.
Whatever I do with it is still going to be a positive improvement over the old frame.

I like the finger grooves.

I liked the grooves until my hands grew (or my Glock shrunk) and it pushed my grip high enough to get slide bite.

If someone would make a 2nd generation frame with a 3rd generation light rail, but picatinny sized so I could more easily swap my X300 back & forth between guns, it would be damn near perfect.

I like the grooves. At least I don't hafta put grip tape on them like i had to do with
the Gen 2's I've owned (sweaty meat hooks).

I don't mind 'em. Don't really care either way.





<––––––––––––Gen 2 17 sitting my desk as I type

Love them on the full sized guns hate them on the compact guns.

My very first glock was a 'slick grip.'  The best $3.00 I spent was on a bicycle tire tube I cut up to put on the grip.  One of the glock 'upgrades' I hated was the finger grooves.

Because the checkering/stippling was not removed from the rear and sides the handle is still quite "grippy"
It just feels more like a 1911 now.

I never did care for the finger grooves and agree it is one thing they could eliminate on the frames that I wouldn't feel bad to see go.

I never liked the finger grooves, and liked them even less on the compact models.   They are a bit further apart on the full-sized guns, but I'd still rather do without them.

I'm glad to see you undercut the trigger guard.   I always felt like I couldn't get my hand high enough on a Glock.

I cut mine off and duplicated the grenade checkered Gen 2.

If they don't fit then file them off.  Honestly I think this must be what Glock intended.  They put the grooves on originally to score import points, not to make the gun more shootable.  For a while they were doing the same thing with sights, they'd put adjustable sights on the guns at the factory to score import points, then the importer would remove them and put fixed sights on and ship the adjustable sights back to the factory for the next batch. Or at least that's what a Glock armorer told me.

So what points were they scoring on the Gen 2's that they weren't scoring on the Gen 3's?

The Gen3 finger grooves came with the Glock 26/27.
In the subcompact guns the finger grooves and "thumbrest" depressions added import points.
Glock uses the same mold structures to create all the frame structures.
By adding or removing mold pieces, they create fullsize, midsize,, and subcompact frames from the same mold.

Eventually they will break the Gen3 mold down and the Gen4 frame structure will be standard on all the guns.

That is incorrect. Glock has stated numerous times that there is no intention of ending GEN3 production.



 

finger grooves, on any sort of production grade gun, imo is retarded...its not like they will definilty fit everyone's fingers

Yeah, I COMPLETELY believe EVERYTHING Glock says too!

I agree, but it was done to satisfy a US law.  A retarded US law, which goes back around and fits in with your theory.  

 

I agree 100%. It's one of the dumbest "improvements" Glock has ever done (and stuck with). I can tolerate the finger grooves on the full size frames but on the compacts, they got to go!

Now you should stipple the front strap. It would look dope.

Even though I'm a new Glock owner I like the finger grooves. When I shot my XD after awhile my grip would start to slip in my hands so I decided to put some grip tape on the thumb recesses and sides. With the Glock I don't need anything at all.

I have gen 2 and 3 and I have shoot both well.

Same here.  I have a 2nd gen G19 and I love it.  The 3rd gen G19 just doesn't fit my hand because my fingers are actually on the peaks of those grooves which yields a shitty grip and shitty shooting for me.  I'm thinking about buying a 3rd gen just to grind the grooves down and mount a light on it....which is the only thing my 2nd gen is lacking



 

gen2 G19 grooves fit my hand perfect, GLOCK made the G19 just for me apearently.

Same here. I had to file the grooves off my Gen3 G19 before I could shoot it well. I would love to pick up a Gen2 G19 some day.


That's a good trick considering Gen2 G19's don't have finger grooves

For some people the grooves fit just fine and for some, not so much and that there is the problem. For those of use that the grooves don't fit, we have no options other then finding an older Gen2 (and loosing the rail) or taking a file to our Gen3 or 4 frames. At least before with the Gen2's, those that wanted finger groves had the option of using a Hogue grip allowing both groups to be happy. Not really the case anymore

One of the reasons I bought G34 is to use the pistol as a dedicated light platform.
The longer barrel puts the muzzle in front of the lens and prevents premature bulb failure from mizzle blast.
Not so much of a problem now with LED light modules but this was an issue with earlier bulb designs.


The G19 works extremely well as a general purpose pistol but wouldn't be my first choice for attaching a light to so I don't need the rail on this particular handgun.

I don't like the grooves either, and have ground them off 2 of my 17's, and have a couple of Gen 2 guns sitting around for just that reason.

Vanna, give this contestant a door prize!

I feel really bad for you guys for whom the finger grooves are not comfortable.  

They feel great to me... I guess that I just got lucky.  Just so that you know, I am drowning in the glock kool aid, but I really like my S&W M&P 9 and I would highly recommend it as it does not have finger grooves..

I have some issues with Smith and Wesson that continue to this day,,,

While I own a newer Model 629, all my other S&Ws are pre-lock, pre saf-t-hammer and weren't made by a company that turned against its citizen customer base then hired a convicted felon to smooth things over,,,

I will admit that a BIG reason I've got an early G19 on layaway
right now is the lack of finger grooves, and I've got a section of
inner tube waiting to go on......................I love that mod, it works
so well.

I have fairly large hands, and have honestly only met one other person who has bigger mitts then me. I cant imagine how someones hands are too large for the finger grooves that glock is putting out.

They make very nice reference points, so i get the same grip every time i present, or even pick it up off a table.

To each his own though....

now put some grip tape on that thing.  you will fall in love all over again.

here is mine, it is a G-17 with the grooves removed, the grip slightly reduced, the grip shortened to G-19 length, and the trigger guard undercut.