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.