A Grudging Review of the Glock 19

[Spats McGee]

Glock doesn't claim an unlimited warranty, but from what I've seen short of acts of God or obvious abuse, they tend to fix it no matter how old. . . . .

Yeah, I've heard lots of good things about Glock's CS. I rather wish I weren't having to put it to the test, but . . . . such is life.

While you obviously felt comfortable carrying it.. 400rds to me, is not near enough to validate reliability as you just found out. I dont care what the name is on the slide...

Yes, I did. And while I would have enjoyed shooting 1000 rds for reliability testing, that just wasn't in the cards. Heck, when I first got her, there was no 9mm to be found. I had to horse-trade around until I got some! Besides, I apparently failed the Unlimited Budget Exam for this lifetime.

 

[gym]

Glocks rock, they get more criticizem than most other guns because there are more of them in use than most other guns. They have more than proved themselves.

 

[jon_in_wv]

Never heard Glocks compared to Harleys. Pretty sure Harley = 1911. Glock is a basic Honda. Not much show but starts every time and gets you where you're going.

I have to disagree. Not every Honda owner brags about how his Honda is the best thing in the world and everything else is just a Honda wanna be and if you own anything but a Honda you WISH you had a Honda. Glocks are Hondas, but the owners THINK they are Harleys.

 

[Delford]

I love my Honda. 10 years and $1000 in maintenance fees not counting oil changes. I don't drive it like a Harley because it has 2 extra wheels. I don't own a Glock because they don't fit my hand. I've shot the 17, 19, 22 and 23 and do fairly well getting on target but do better with my Ruger P345. It's mine and I practice with it. Glocks are fine for those who like them and 1911s are fine for those who like them. My next purchase will probably be a Springfield XDs because it is a bit smaller for CC and it fits my hand. No matter what the price there are no perfect guns.

 

[ohbythebay]

I dont think of my Glock as a Harley

Or as a Honda.

I just think of it as best in class

For the model 19 Gen 4 that is...If I wanted a .45 it would not be a Glock.

But having tried a bunch of 9mm, for ME, the Glock just worked. Plus, it was easy to customize and you have to admit, not much is designed easier and simpler.

Is it an ugly boxy thing ? Hell yeah..which is why I WANTED to hate it. But pretty doesn't always shoot straight...LOL

 

[JVaughn]

I just acquired my first 357 sig in the form of a Glock 31. I have previously owned Glocks, always thought they were good solid pistols. Excellent review OP.

 

[Spats McGee]

I emailed Glock on the day of malfunction so that there would be some written record of a report as soon as possible. (I was just ~3 days from the end of my warranty period, so this was important.) That was Saturday. Then I called Glock Monday morning to figure out how to proceed. Then I called them back to figure out what the part numbers were that I needed. Then, a day or two ago, Glock called me to follow up on the email. Good for them!

The parts order will go out in the mail today. (Don't ask me why my armorer/buddy doesn't fax it, but this is how he wants to do it.)

Once I get the parts in, I'll have to "re-qualify" the G19 for its spot in the carry rotation. Sadly, I'll have to go stock up on 9mm first, because some bozo broke into my car a few days ago and stole my entire range kit. No guns were taken, but there was enough ammo in my range box to make it sting.

@ JVaughn -- thank you.

 

[Spats McGee]

I went and dug out the spring today. I thought the spring had just come out of the frame. I now think I was wrong. One end of the spring feels rough, like it broke.

 

[Spats McGee]

Very brief update

My armorer buddy sent in the order for parts as soon as I gave it to him, by mail. That would've been April 22 or thereabouts. He still hasn't received the parts, so I called Glock on Thursday, I think it was.

Glock doesn't have the order in and said that it'd be 4-5 WEEKS from the time they get the order processed before I get the part. This is disappointing.

It's a dadgum $3 part. I guess I'll just order one. Surely, I can get one faster than that.

 

[Spats McGee]

Rather than waiting another month to get a new slide lock spring, I ordered one from Glockparts.com* on Sunday. Actually, I ordered 2, so that I'd have a backup in case I monkeyed up the first one trying to get it in. When Glock finally gets around to sending me the new parts, I'm just going to set them aside as backups. Installation was a snap. It took all of about a minute, and involved neither special tools nor swearing. (If you'd ever seen me try to fix anything mechanical, you'd understand how extraordinary that last part is.)

Now I just have to get some more ammo, and get to the range . . . .

So, now we're at:
Rounds since last cleaning = 0
Rounds since last failure = 0
Total rounds = ~400

*=As an aside, the transaction with Glockparts.com was really smooth and quick. Ordered Sunday, got an immediate (probably auto-generated) invoice, and my parts were in my hand by Wednesday afternoon, with very reasonable shipping charges.

 

[Hometeached1]

Hope it runs well. My Gen3 has been great.

 

[JR24]

Nice, hoping to hear good news once you get the spring installed.

 

[Rudedog]

I posted a couple of times here and have had my Gen4 G19 since December. Been keeping tabs on the post.
I have not had the problems that you had with your G19. However I did buy a spare trigger and slide stop spring to have on hand. Haven't used them yet.
I'm very pleased with mine.

 

[Spats McGee]

Range Day!

Mrs. McGee and I went to the range yesterday (Saturday) and I put Gretchen (as I've named the G19) through her paces. The range doesn't allow rapid fire, so I had to do all of my shooting under its "1 round/second" rule, but that's OK. This was a function test, not training. I took 200 rounds of 115-grain TulAmmo BrassMaxx (aka The Cheapest 9mm Wal-Mart carries). I shot all 200, slow fire, at 15 yards, without so much as a hiccup. She fed everything flawlessly, and ejection was consistently 3-5 feet back and to the right. Because I was standing on a concrete pad, cases bounced, so the distance is just a guesstimate. Accuracy was as expected. IOW, I still think she's capable of better mechanical accuracy than I am.

I know that some folks will complain that 200 rounds is insufficient to requalify her for the carry rotation, but it's likely to be another couple of months before I get another range day. I hereby declare her fit for duty.

Update:
Rounds since last cleaning = 200
Rounds since last failure = 200
Total rounds = ~600
Total BTF Events = 0

 

[Hometeached1]

Glad Gretchen is up and running again.

 

[Spats McGee]

I love range day! I went out to a new range yesterday, one located at Arkansas Armory in Sherwood, Arkansas. Nice place. Pricier than other ranges at $15, but that's for the whole day.

Haven't cleaned Gretchen since the last range trip, but I put about 225 rounds through her today, without a single bobble.

Update:
Rounds since last cleaning = 425
Rounds since last failure = 425
Total rounds = ~825
Total BTF Events = 0

 

[TimboKhan]

Spats, don't you know that if you don't clean obsessively after every 15 shots you are risking life and limb when the gangbangers come to attack in mass?

 

[the count]

Your 19 can be anything you want it to be...

Frame is Cerakote Burnt Bronze, slide was customized by Glockmeister. Price for both jobs about $160.
Sorry for the poor picture.

 

[David E]

$160 each or total?

 

[the count]

$160 each or total?

$100 for the slide cuts, $50 cerakote, rest shipping.

 

[Spats McGee]

Well, I got back to the range yesterday. I worked on accuracy, worked on my draw from concealment, and put about 190 rounds downrange. (An oddball number, I know, but I had bought 400 rounds, 210 of which I shot at my last range trip. That left 190 for yesterdays trip.) I also took the beating of a lifetime at the dueling tree by one of our local SWAT firearms trainers. Not that I ever expected to beat him at the tree, mind you.

So, the current update:
Rounds since last cleaning = 615
Rounds since last failure = 615
Total rounds = ~1015
Total BTF Events = 0

With that, I've concluded that Gretchen will survive just fine on the Spats McGee Low-Maintenance Program, having gone 500+ rounds without any cleaning or a single drop of lube. I'm not going to do any sort of full-blown "10K round torture test" on a pistol that I carry. This has been a fun little experiment, but I think it's time for a good cleaning and lube.

 

[Hometeached1]

Glad to hear the good news!

 

[Spats McGee]

Spats Comes out of the Closet

Gretchen and I are coming up on our 2-year anniversary. When I first bought her, all I had for her was what came with her. Pistol, 3 magazines, and a speed loader. Since that time, I've acquired 7 more magazines, 4 holsters, and a light. . . She gets way more holster time than any of my other pistols. More than all of them combined, to be honest. If I had to guess, I'd say that she gets the nod for carry about 95% of the time. That will decrease a little with summer coming, but I'm sure she'll still get most of the carry time.

Mrs. McGee and the Little McGee went shopping on Saturday, so I took Gretchen to the range. Seven of my 10 magazines had never been tested, and I had a bad case of Itchy Trigger Finger. I shot about 225 rounds and had 1 FTF. I suspect that the magazine spring is the culprit on that, because it was in a magazine that I bought used off of a guy on Glocktalk. (And yes, I'm going to order new springs and followers for that group of mags soon.) Other than that, she was flawless. That puts me at about 1250 rounds, with some 800 of those being post-spring-failure. She was also accurate. I'm not a great shot, but I am a decent shot. Also, I didn't shoot past about 15 yards. With those qualifiers, I have to say that she put holes where I wanted them, and very consistently.

I guess it's time to come out of the closet and admit it. I love my Glock 19.

 

[Deaf Smith]

The Glock 26 below is my every day carry gun.

Found it at a pawn shop. Hinnie night sights, grip reduction by Bowie Tactical, and a spare mag. Cost? It was on consignment. I got them down to $400, TAX INCLUDED.

I added a NY-1 trigger and 3.5 lb connector for a 8 lb trigger. Winchester +p+ 127 gr T series JHPs are the load. My Chrono clocks them out at 1240 fps from that very 26!

I've use it now for something like 5 years. I also have another Glock 26 I use as a practice gun and a IDPA local match gun. Same holster is used for both.

While I have that IWB, I have found a leather belt slide works best for most of the time. Just a light dockers short sleeved shirt and a spare mag.

Yes I have a good selection of other guns but I can sit down in a car, chair, walk, run, etc.. and it's concealable, fast, and comfortable.

I can shoot it one handed fast, left or right (he helps to reload and have a second 26 as a practice gun!) and I can hit with it well beyond 50 yards.

And not one jam! Ever!

Yes I have other guns, several of which are set up for CCW, especially a Kahr K9, but I use the 26 in all but super hot Texas summers (then a J Centennial .38, all stainless steel, is the ticket.)

Oh, and Spats, I've been in the Glock .vs. 1911 matches and my Glock 17 went over 1000 rounds without cleaning and not one jam of any kind!

Deaf

 

[GLOOB]

With that, I've concluded that Gretchen will survive just fine on the Spats McGee Low-Maintenance Program, having gone 500+ rounds without any cleaning or a single drop of lube. I'm not going to do any sort of full-blown "10K round torture test" on a pistol that I carry. This has been a fun little experiment, but I think it's time for a good cleaning and lube.

615 rds? Yeah, I remember when I was that stringent with the cleaning. Once upon a time, I even detail stripped/cleaned my Glocks once a year.

If my Glock just happens to fail when I need it because it is dirty, the last thing I will think before I die is that I should have bought a lottery ticket.