Glock pistols are legendarily reliable and simple to shoot. They’re also incredibly popular, so much so that an entire cottage industry has sprung up around them with tons of options for holsters, sights, magazines, and accessories. But how did this pistol rise to such prominence? It wasn’t without its roadblocks.
Safety
Glock pistols are one of the safest firearms on the market. There are three separate mechanical safeties built into the gun that provide redundancies to prevent firing or disassembly unless engaged.
The first safety mechanism is the trigger safety. This is a small nodule or additional trigger-looking element that must be pushed in before the trigger can be pulled. This ensures that the pistol cannot fire accidentally when it gets caught on clothing, in a holster, or when being manipulated.
The second safety is the firing pin safety. This is a piece of metal inside the trigger mechanism that engages with the primer or explosive part of the ammunition when the trigger is pulled, propelling the bullet forward and ignites the gunpowder to cause it to explode. This is why almost all Glock handguns, and most striker-fired pistols in general, do not have a de-cocker or manual safety of any kind. Rather than inhibiting the user’s firing sequence unnecessarily, the firing pin safety provides an additional level of security.
Trigger
Some operators like the factory Glock 19 trigger, which goes bang when it’s supposed to and has three levels of safety. Others would prefer a lighter, cleaner, and more responsive trigger, especially when engaging multiple rounds quickly or for competition.
Fortunately, there are several aftermarket triggers designed specifically for the Glock. These upgrades improve the feel and performance of the firearm, including reduced pre-travel, smoother wall, and a short reset.
This drop-in upgrade kit includes a replacement trigger shoe, trigger bar, and trigger connector. It also includes a skeletonized firing pin and trigger safety spring, reducing the trigger’s weight by about 20%.
It takes a few hundred rounds for these triggers to break in and develop full functionality, but once they do, they can significantly improve your shooting experience and accuracy. As with any modification, you should have a certified armorer install this trigger for your safety and peace of mind.
Barrel
Glock 19 owners can upgrade their pistols with threaded barrels for various firearm modifications, including the attachment of suppressors and compensators. A threaded barrel can also improve gun accuracy by tightening manufacturing tolerances.
When Gaston Glock introduced his first polymer-framed striker-fired pistols in 1998, they were met with skepticism. But 35 years later, these Austrian-made pistols are the weapons of choice for military and law enforcement professionals, concealed carry permit holders, and competition shooters.
The gen 5 Glock featured a new finish, called nDLC, as well as ambidextrous slide stop levers and a flared magwell. The most significant change, though, was the addition of traditional-type rifled rifling on Glock’s “Marksman” barrel, which replaced the gen 4’s polygonal rifling. The button-rifled Ballistic Advantage Premium Glock barrels feature a hybrid blend of traditional lands and grooves, and are honed, lapped, and tumbled to ensure that the bore deviation is kept below.0001 inches. The rifling is also sharper and more precise than factory rifling, ensuring better shooting accuracy.
Magazines
Glock pistols use double-stack magazines that contain numbered witness holes at the back of each chamber. They hold 15+1 rounds in a compact package that is easy to conceal in most clothing.
The company offers a range of different versions, each with slight differences. The Gen 4 and Gen 5 changes are aimed at improving magazine durability and frame fit, but they don’t change the basic design.
The Bottom Lines
For example, the Glock 28 is a blowback derivative of the subcompact (87 mm/3.4 in) Glock 26 with a standard 10-round magazine capacity. It also accepts magazines from the more powerful Glock 25 and can be used with a Glock 27’s “+1” base plate to increase capacity to 16 rounds.
The Glock 43 and Glock 43X are based on the full-sized Glock 17; they’re compact versions that share the same slide and barrel, but feature reduced dimensions to improve handling in smaller hands. The Glock 48 uses the same magazine as these two models, but is longer and features a rail on the rear of the slide.
