Barrel/slide length in relation to recoil characteristics

[TGS]

Each time I dissect it and with limited exception, G45/19X/43X show quantifiably better results in times and dispersion than their larger counterparts. There's also a trend that G45s are replacing G17s.

Do you have any of the times recorded down, or remember roughly what the trend was?

I'm just curious to see, given that I'm someone who is squarely in the G19 camp and has never really had any interest or significant experience in the G17 or G45/G19X.

Also, another question.....when you say that G45s are replacing G17s, do you mean in organizational security/LE use? Is that possibly a pure logistics issue, i.e. an agency can issue the same holsters for both the Glock 19 and larger sized option (G45), or is this a decision consciously being made based on performance?

[M2CattleCo]

Marketing hype.
It’s new, it’s high speed, you don’t want a plain old G17. You want one with a shorter barrel so you can dynamically opr8.

Seriously. It’s a Glock 19. With a little longer grip.

[RevolverRob]

The G45 is better than the G19. Because objectively, the full size Glock grip frame places the hump in the backstrap in the correct place for most hands, where the G19 places the hump too high, resulting in a grip that bounces in the hand. Hence folks undercut the shit out G19s to "sink" them into the hand and put the hump in the correct place.

The G45 may or may not be better than the 17. The fact that you can wear a slightly shorter holster on a duty belt likely has a role in people choosing G45 over G17, assuming Gen5 for the G17. Slightly less weight is always nice on the duty belt.

I've always felt the superior option for the Glock as a concealed carry gun was a 17, with the magwell of the grip chopped to 19 length but the backstrap left virtually alone (shortened just a tad so it doesn't stick out below the seated mag).

[YVK]

Good 10 years before G19x/45 started to confuse Glock owners whether it was more better than G17 and SIG presented similar options for comparisons, there were HK P30 and P30L. I shot both a tiny bit for 5 years and my results favored the shorter slide. For a bunch of Glocks I have around here I don't even remember when I owned anything longer than 4 inch slide. Lighter / shorter slides are still my preference as long as frame is full sized. For mini / micro guns I like longer / heavier slides, feels like they shoot softer when the frame doesn't support adequate grip and contact.

Then I thought about it and about G18 cycling at about 0.05 sec, and decided that there was no way that 4 vs 4.5 slide cycling difference was a rate limiting factor in gun's readiness and return. I also remembered how everyone in gaming world have been lightening their slides while keeping frames heavy, and then Shane Coley won Limited Nats with weights bolted everywhere on his Glock, including the slide. Which was the longest slide and heaviest slide that Glock made for .40, G24.

The answer to which slide, shorter or longer, heavier or lighter, is better is "yes".

[JCN]

I've always felt the superior option for the Glock as a concealed carry gun was a 17, with the magwell of the grip chopped to 19 length but the backstrap left virtually alone (shortened just a tad so it doesn't stick out below the seated mag).

You might be interested in trying out Shadow Systems version of a Glock 19 (MR920).

It comes with different backstraps with differing amounts of grip bump at the bottom to change pointing angle.

[Alan0354]

Recoil spring play a part of this too on top of longer barrel and heavier slide. I just got a Glock 26, the recoil spring is two spring combined that seems to have different tension at different stages of compression. It is not like a simple single spring. Recoil spring also cushion the recoil.

[ST911]

Do you have any of the times recorded down, or remember roughly what the trend was? I'm just curious to see, given that I'm someone who is squarely in the G19 camp and has never really had any interest or significant experience in the G17 or G45/G19X.

Yes, I'll dig some good examples out. I may have even posted some here somewhere. Off the top of my head, a 2-5% difference either by time, dispersion, or aggregate score favoring the 45/19X/43X as I recall.

Also, another question.....when you say that G45s are replacing G17s, do you mean in organizational security/LE use? Is that possibly a pure logistics issue, i.e. an agency can issue the same holsters for both the Glock 19 and larger sized option (G45), or is this a decision consciously being made based on performance?

Sorry, yes institutional but also individual. That was also echoed by some distributors. Not a logistics decision, cadre and testers are shooting models against each other and preferring 45 over 17 by a good margin. I can get G17s now, but have backorders out for G45 and 45MOS.

Marketing hype. It’s new, it’s high speed, you don’t want a plain old G17. You want one with a shorter barrel so you can dynamically opr8. Seriously. It’s a Glock 19. With a little longer grip.

Sarcasm? Because it's not that. You're right though, it is a G19 with a longer grip. And some of the added control attributes that go with that.

[ViniVidivici]

This is interesting, because lately I've noticed I'm not shooting my G17 quite as well as my G19. This is due to having shot the G19 and other smaller frame guns more over the last year. The hump being in a different place, and the fact that my gen 4 G19 grip (and compact PF9C also, for that matter) is a slimmer grip than my gen 2 G17. Fits my hand better. Just not getting quite as good hits with the 17 as with the 19, lately.

I've begun to feel the G17 slide, being bigger, moves more."sluggishly", with more muzzle flip. Actually felt like I was shooting slower. But it's all subjective, as I went back through some times I had recorded, and my splits are virtually identical:



The one on top and bottom were done with the 19, middle was the 17.

Unrelated side note: I generally get 1.5ish on a draw and first hit at 7 yards when doing singles and doubles.....I think what I'm doing with the Bill Drill is, subconsciously taking am extra .3-.4 second to "stage" my index for controllability....not sure if I should try to work through that, or be happy with the results I get, usually 5/6 in the -0 zone....pays to study!

[M2CattleCo]

Not sarcasm at all. It’s a marketing garbage product that has next to no real world advantages aside from holster compatibility.

[TGS]

Not sarcasm at all. It’s a marketing garbage product that has next to no real world advantages aside from holster compatibility.

I think we get it at this point...you don't like it. Got it. Do you have anything substantive to add to the conversation beyond that?