I went to the local gun store/range for the Reveal Day for the new gen. 5 Glock 19 and 17. I shot both pistols, as did my wife, then I shot just the 19 a second time. Here's a summary of our range time:
Pros:
-probably irrelevant, but we both liked the new finish
-I liked not having the finger grooves
-the best factory trigger Glock has ever put on a pistol. We both preferred it to our gen. 4 19's that have (-) connectors and a $0.25 trigger job. The gen. 5's felt smoother, lighter, and seemed to have slightly shorter resets.
-most, but not all, of the lateral wobble is gone. It's at least a 75% improvement, maybe more.
-both pistols were accurate, though not any better than my old gen. 3 or my best gen. 4.
-we both liked the beveling on the muzzle end of the slide. It may make bolstering a tad easier, and, subjectively, we thought it was aesthetically pleasing.
Cons:
-it does not pass the extraction test. I tried it four times on the 19 and it failed three times.
-it still has plastic sights
-while the flared magazine well looks good, I could tell no difference in performance from other generations. Glocks are pretty easy to make fast speed reloads.
-it still points high, so no changes in the grip angle.
-while accurate, my P10c's are more accurate, as is my wife's 2.0
-the trigger is terrific for an out-of-the-box Glock (VERY useable), but it's not as good as a host of competitor pistols such as the VP9, PPQ, P10c, P-07, etc. We came away thinking Glock was competing with its previous generations, rather than market competitors.
-while the follower and floor plate have both been changed, the magazine tube length is the same, so downloading one round will still probably be wise.
-maybe it's the way the new front strap is changed by the trigger guard, but the bone on the middle finger of my shooting hand was really pounded (Glock knuckle). I had no desire to shoot it any longer. The area being pounded hurt worse than some recent surgery (not joking!). The RSO told me he had the same issues with the new pistol. Due to the new design, I'm not sure this will be as easy to rectify as on my gen. 4 19's. For whatever reason, this did not happen to me on the 17.
We're it not for the "Glock knuckle", or whatever term you want to use, I thought the new pistols were a significant improvement over the previous generations. Neither of us had any issues with the cutout on the front strap, as others have noted, but as of now, I will not be getting one. I never got the Glock knuckle on any previous Glock pistols I've shot/owned, so this issue was somewhat surprising, so when I combine that with the failure to pass the extraction test, I'll pass for now on the gen. 5's. I went in to the store wanting to walk out with a new 19, so I think I was as objective as possible in my evaluation.
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Originally Posted by RichY
