Greetings all,

Was at the range recently and had brought a Gen2 G17, Sig P226 (of course, the older German made one ) and an M&P40 w/ M&P9mm barrell and mag.  The port next to me was occupied by 2 gents getting some time on their newly purchased Gen4 G17's.  They were nice enough to allow me a few rounds to get a feel for the Gen4 and it was interesting in that I could directly compare it to my Gen2.

Some observations...

Even before shooting the Gen4, I was surprised to find that the Gen2 G17 had more felt recoil than the M&P.  I always thought of the G17 as a soft shooting pistol.  
The Gen4 G17 had a recoil impulse that was much more comparable to the M&P.
The Gen4 G17 recoil impulse felt quicker and more precise vs. the Gen2 G17, which felt sloppier in it's cycling.  BTW, the current RSA in my G17 has about 1500 or so cycles on it.
The Gen4 G17 trigger felt better than my G17 trigger w/ a 3.5lb connector.  Not neccessarily lighter, but more precise in it's movement.  This is saying something for a brand new pistol.  Very impressed.
Accuracy - I didn't shoot the Gen4 long enough to really get a fine tuned group, but it "felt" easier to put bullets where I wanted them.  It didn't have the tendency of lateral movement that I'm always fighting w/ the Gen 2.  BTW, the Gen4 did not have any backstraps attached.  As an aside, before shooting the pistol, I asked the owner how he liked his G17.  He thought it was cool, but didn't think it was too accurate.  His groups looked like shotgun patterns.  I'm a decent shot I guess, and it was amusing to see the owner's expression after I plugged 5 rounds into about 1.5" at 10 yards.  When I handed him his pistol back, I mentioned I thought the pistol shot pretty well.

Ultimately, I really like the Gen4 G17 and see it as the most dramatic improvement in shooting dynamics of all the generational advances.  Seriously contemplating selling my Gen2 for a Gen4.

Thanks for reading my rambling.

Don't sell your Gen 2, just also buy a Gen 4 .  Or get a Gen 4 G19 or G34 for some variety.  The G19's a good choice for us folks in NJ since we can get 15rd mags vs. only 10rd mags for the G17.

 

I hear ya.  I have a total of 6 Glocks.  Gen2 G17, Gen2 G19, Gen3 G19, Gen3 G26, Gen4 G23 & Gen4 G21.  Not that I'm going to be buying a pistol anytime soon, but my next Glock was going to be a Gen4 G35.  I've shot a Gen4 G19 back to back w/ one of my G19's and didn't find the difference as noticeable as on the G17.  Not to say I wouldn't get a Gen4 G19, but wow, there was something about that Gen4 G17 that was really nice.  I'm having thoughts of getting a Gen4 G17 and chopping the grip to fit G19 mags.  Always liked that setup.

I've been having a love fest w/ my M&P lately, and the Gen4 G17 is the only pistol that I've shot lately that's making the M&P nervous.

I bought a Gen 4 31 in 357. Then found a Glock 22 40S&W barrel and the nfound a Gen 4 17 complete upper. Now I've got one un in three flavors.