Practical/Tactical Glock

[KevH]

So what's the consensus (or is there one at the moment) on the Glock 34/35?

I own a 17, a 19, and a 34. All are Gen3 pre-2008 guns. I love all three. My 17 has a Wilson barrel and that's what I've carried daily as my duty gun for the past two years. The 19 and 34 sit in my safe 99% of the time.

I was at our department SWAT training last month and was shooting another guy's brand spankin new 34 MOS which I thought was pretty darn nice. I then shot another guy's plain-jane Gen4 34. I couldn't help but think, "Dang, I really like this gun."

West Point's Pistol Team uses the Glock 34. Texas A&M Corp of Cadets Marksmanship Unit uses the Glock 34. It seems there are a decent amount of other folks that really like the 34 as well.

On the other hand...

Larry Vickers and Ken Hackathorn both aren't crazy about the 34 and I've heard from others that basically say the 34 offers nothing over the 17.

Is there a current consensus on this forum regarding the 34 and it's role?

Just curious

[JSGlock34]

The G34 remains one of my favorite pistols. It has been one of the most dominant pistols in IDPA/USPSA competitions for many years. There is a long list of distinguished shooters (Sevigny, Vogel to start) who made their mark with the G34. I remain impressed with Mr_White's use of the G34 in competition and at the Roger's School. It is accurate, reliable and very flat shooting.

Personally I don't find the G34 MOS particularly interesting; one of the main advantages of the G34 (increased sight radius) over the G17 is rendered moot by using a MRDS. There's room for a MRDS equipped Glock in my safe, but I'll wait until the G17 MOS arrives (it is already available in Europe).

I think Ken Hackathorn and Larry Vickers have referenced the potential for debris to enter through the G34's open top slide and thus prefer the G17 (I understand that Mr. Hackathorn has related an incident where some loose pocket change locked up a G34 carried by an undercover LEO). Personally I consider this possibility remote, and it isn't a factor in my choices.

[Mr_White]

I don't think there is an actual consensus. I know I've seen plenty of people here post that they personally like and do better with a 19 or 17 than a 34.

I prefer the 34 at this point. I feel like it is extremely close to the 17, but I do seem to shoot the 34 better as measured in competition where I shoot the 17 and 34 on the same courses of fire (GSSF.) Subjectively, I feel like the 34 recoils softer than the 17.

[voodoo_man]

I like the G34. I had one for a while but never carried it. Not exactly the performance gain I'd like over the G17 and in all honesty, I have not personally seen a slightly longer barrel on a pistol give much more than heat on a round, which may work for accuracy down the line, but for "practical" its just a little too much.

That said, I carry a G19 and am as accurate with it as I was with a G34, though the G34 was slightly smoother shooting.

But why stop there? Get a G17L and call it a day.

http://i.imgur.com/Iz0Hdnc.jpg

[Range1]

Just to throw my two cents in for what it is worth, I have a 34 and a 23 converted to 19 and second what voodoo_man said. I love the feel of the 34 but seems everytime I shoot them head to head the 23/19 beats the 34.

[NorthernHeat]

I have carried both on duty (multiple times each because I could not choose) and I have decided I prefer the 17 to the 34 (especially when a light is attached).

I like that the light gives me a standoff from the muzzle with the 17 and with a light attached, the 34 recoil felt "swoopy" as the gun came back onto target... if that makes sense.

Also the longer barrel of the 34 in a duty holster caused a couple more problems with the holster running into items when seated in a patrol vehicle, but this was not a major issue.

With no light attached they were about equal to me in feel, but the 34 did not give me the improved performance that I felt would be required to justify carring a little longer gun and give up the above stated things I felt were pros to the 17.

Carried concealed (AIWB), the 17 is the maximum barrel length I can run before the barrel really hits my legs, so the 34 was a no-go.

[El Cid]

I am a big fan of the 34. It's my favorite pistol for steel matches. In fact I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a G17 RTF2 frame on which I can install a 34 upper.

[Surf]

I am a big Glock guy, but this was not always the case. As a hardcore steel framed pistol guy I hated the Glock. It was actually looking at how well some of the top competition guys were doing with thw Glock that made me take a hard look at them. It was actually Dave Sevigny that was the #1 influence to purchase my Glock 34 which was only my second Glock. I ran the 34 up until the Gen4's first hit. I decided to pick up a G17 and haven't looked back since.

It really is personal preference in regards to pure shooting performance between the two. As far as reliability of the system, there is no disputing that a more closed system is better but I have never personally encountered an issue with a 34/35. I will say 100% that this is Larry Vickers issue with the 34/35 and his gripe in general with the Glock is the grip opening and why he suggests the grip plug.

I suggest trying out both if you can. They are both so close, but for myself even head to head I prefer the 17.

[johncorey]

I own and have shot both Gen3 17s and 34s, and own and shoot Gen4 17s and 34s. I just recently completed converting my carry gun stable to Gen4 34s. I carry them 90% of the time I carry. My splits at 7yds and in with those are in the .15/.16 range. When I run the same check on learning with my Gen4 17s, my splits come down to .14/.15, nearly every time. Although I believe the actual mechanical reset of the pistols to be nearly identical, for whatever reason, my brain/hands/finger can process it faster with a 17.

Aesthetically, the 34s just do it for me, and yet whenever I start handling my 17s, I fall in love all over again. The lightening cut on the 34s would clearly be a place for FOD to sneak in, but the internetz is not chock full with instances of such.

With the introduction of the Gen4, I think the improvement for the 17s was the most noticeable compared to the Gen3. So, G17 Gen3 to G17 Gen4 > G34 Gen3 to G34 Gen4.

If I could only have one Glock, it would be a Gen4 G17.

[Nephrology]

I bought a Gen 4 G35 on a whim and have been very pleased with it. The .40 recoil is pretty manageable and I am planning on buying a .40-9mm conversion barrel for various gun games. I am happy with it. Not sure I would pay the ~$150 premium for the 34 over the 17 in the long run, though.

[LongLostBushman]

I really like the Glock 34. I don't have one but I want one.

As far as the opinions of Mr. Vickers and Mr. Hackathorn, I do believe the idea that something could get into the slide cutout was the reason they do not like the Glock 34 and choose to favor the Glock 17. However I do think that the Glock 34 is a great choice for competition and I do plan to get one for competition and not for carry. However I do think that the Glock 34 should be available with slide filled in. it would be nice to have the option but I don't think Glock will worry about my opinions. It would be nice to see that option as I think it would be more suitable as a duty weapon since the longer slide allows for a weapon light to stay cleaner since the gasses ported are ejected in front of the weapon light.

What I really want is to see a Gen 4 Glock 17L. I love the 17L but unfortunately cannot find one new. I know that a lot of the shooting sports frown on it and changed the rules to prohibit it but I still love the gun. I have heard that some people have made their own with a Glock Gen 4 frame and a 17L upper. I would rather have a factory option myself.

[KevH]

I really like the Glock 34. I don't have one but I want one.

As far as the opinions of Mr. Vickers and Mr. Hackathorn, I do believe the idea that something could get into the slide cutout was the reason they do not like the Glock 34 and choose to favor the Glock 17.

I've heard that quoted from Mr. Vicker's several times.

[BWT]

I'm no gun fighter, SME, Glock 34 shooter or otherwise capable of giving profound insights.

However, throwing caution to the wind; most handguns are holstered in IWB holsters that would prevent most/all debris getting into the gun and are carried indoors in a urban environment. I think in an OWB and more sandy/jungle outdoor environment this would present more of an issue.

That's all I feel bold enough to say.

God Bless,

Brandon

[HCM]

I really like the Glock 34. I don't have one but I want one.

As far as the opinions of Mr. Vickers and Mr. Hackathorn, I do believe the idea that something could get into the slide cutout was the reason they do not like the Glock 34 and choose to favor the Glock 17. However I do think that the Glock 34 is a great choice for competition and I do plan to get one for competition and not for carry. However I do think that the Glock 34 should be available with slide filled in. it would be nice to have the option but I don't think Glock will worry about my opinions. It would be nice to see that option as I think it would be more suitable as a duty weapon

I doubt you will see a Glock 34 or 35 without the slide cut out. The reason for the cut out is it reduces the weight of the Glock 34 slide so it is nearly identical to that of the Glock 17. That's lightweight allows use of the same recoil spring as the 17 and also provide optimal timing/reliability.

I think the concern about debris or foreign objects getting into the slide cut out and tying up the gun ate more of a concern in a military context rather than civilian self-defense or law-enforcement. There are a fair number of departments which issue the Glock 34 or 35 for uniform patrol and a much larger number of departments which issue 17th and 22's but use the 34 and 35 for swat. I believe the Kentucky State police issue the Glock 35 as their primary duty weapon.

I believe Tom Givens carries a 35 as well.

[El Cid]

What I really want is to see a Gen 4 Glock 17L. I love the 17L but unfortunately cannot find one new. I know that a lot of the shooting sports frown on it and changed the rules to prohibit it but I still love the gun. I have heard that some people have made their own with a Glock Gen 4 frame and a 17L upper. I would rather have a factory option myself.

My 17L is my favorite Glock and the reaction I usually see when I let friends shoot it is one of wonder! I've had them ask me what I did to make it shoot so well. I hadn't modified anything other than the sights.

Be careful about building your own. Glock hasn't produced any Gen 4 17L's to my knowledge. Some of the aftermarket stuff like Lone Wolf may work, but a 17L upper from Glock will not work with a Gen 4 frame. Rest easy though - they produce runs of new 17L's (and 24's) every couple years.

[LSP552]

LSP SWAT used G35s for a LONG time without any issues, including rural operations and training in the dirt, mud, whatever. There were never any issues related to the opening. It's the only Glock .40 I'd touch. I also carried a G34 for a number of years as a duty gun. I have always liked the P/T Glocks. At one point, I would have said I shot the 34 better than the 17. In truth, the difference between the two, for me now, is within the margin of error and day to day variation.

[Lost River]

I have 19s, 17s, a 34 and a 35.

FOR ME, the 34 is the smoothest shooting one of the group and the longer sight radius seems to be some sort of "sweet spot" for me visually. My agency is seriously looking at allowing POWs and I am torn between the G19 and the 34.
What I have been very pleasantly surprised about is the longer range accuracy with a G34, using a thin Dawson FO front sight. The long sight radius, coupled with a Dawson Heinie sight combo has proven to be a tack driver.