Yes. Longslides like the G34 work great with irons, but you don't objectively gain anything with a slide mounted RDS on a long slide....excepting subjective personal preferences, as noted in the lovely commentary above."In your experience, does the performance of a red dot on an otherwise unmodified 19 length slide outweigh all the typical reasons people go with 34s?"
Facts matter...Feelings Can Lie
Noted.
You don't objectively gain anything with a slide mounted RDS on anything longer than a G43.
You DO gain many things with a long slide, but it's not pertinent to the discussion about RDS.
This is the reason you see many professionals with slide mounted optics on a 34.
There are currently two offerings for a RDS mounted on a Glock 43:
Dueck Defense RMR Mount
Slide milled for the Shield RMSc
For competition use, the Glock 34 has been the Glock competition pistol for so long, that I suspect many default to it for competition use with a dot, even though sight radius is irrelevant with a dot. Some secondary reasons are:
1) being able to make power factor with a lighter load, due to the longer barrel.
2) familiarity with the balance of a 34, if used with iron sights in Production/Limited.
3) some prefer the subjectively softer feeling 34 slide, even if the shorter slide is flatter.
4) if you wanted a G5, the 34 was the only option for the MOS.
As I said previously, I always preferred how the 19 slide tracked with a dot, but the grip was too short for me, and a magwell was not legal for Carry Optics. The 19X, and particularly G45 with forward serrations, checks all the boxes for me for use with optics, as having the factory provide forward serrations saves $150 when have the slide direct milled. I think Glock did great with the new model 45!
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
Agreed.
The 19 is very popular, but it's my least favorite Glock. It's an in-between gun that fits no roles for me personally. I've carried a Glock 17 since day one. Transitioned to a 19 for a month or so, but it wasn't small enough to warrant not carrying a 17. I then transitioned to a 34 and a KKM comped 17 for a spell.