Big v. Little: The Effect of Pistol Size on Shooting Performance

[HCM]

Ok so I never did sell the 19, and kept it as a backup. I took it as my carry gun down to a class with Tim Herron in Homestead FL this past weekend, since my P365X was down due to a missing battery tray screw. I accidentally left my Glock 34 at home, so I shot the class with my box stock Glock 19 Gen 5 MOS.

Well.

My shooting was much improved between Saturday and Sunday, since I put into practice what Tim taught. I discovered/confirmed (take your pick) that it's not the gun in USPSA; it's establishing your grip, seeing what you need to see, and working the trigger (shocking, I know).

Anyway, one item specifically that Tim corrected for me was my grip. He had me rotate the gun just a tad so that it was more aligned with my forearm. This resulted in curing my low and away shooting almost immediately. It felt kinda weird, but it worked.

So fast forward to today. I took my G34 and took off the M beavertail I had, to make it the same as my G19. Also removed the Talon tape. I went to my local square range and shot the G34 70 rounds, very well, at static targets. But, to be honest, my trigger reach wasn't quite the same, and I wasn't sure why.


I got home and got the tape measure out to compare. Both the 19 and 34 grips measure almost exactly 140mm around at the tippy top of the grip. But when I measure the circumference of the grip, and include the trigger shoe (striker released), I get 171 mm for the G34, and 165 mm for the G19, meaning the reach on the G19 is that much shorter. Subjectively, I seem to be able to get more of my trigger finger on the trigger with the G19, which matches the data.


My question for those of ya'll with experience with Glocks, is this correct/typical? That in general, a G19 will have a slight advantage in trigger reach, especially for shorter finger people like myself?

I'm not sure because these are the only two Glocks I have. My G34 has an Apex connector with an Apex trigger bar and trigger shoe, with the G19 having an OEM - connector and OEM trigger bar and trigger shoe. But I'm not sure if that comes into play or not.

TIA...rich

EDIT TO ADD: I ended up swapping out the two trigger groups. I put the original connector/trigger (minus) back into the G34. I then took the stock parts (dot) out of the G19, and put the Apex group in. The result? The figures reversed; now the G19 circumference measures 170mm, and the G34 is 165. This seems to be entirely due to the trigger shoe in relation to the grip; meaning at least as far as these two G19/G34 are concerned, they appear to be pretty much identical at the top of the grip. Disregard all after Good Morning.




@GJM @JHC @HCM


Apexed Glock 34:
Attachment 86185


Stock Glock 19:
Attachment 86186

I never measured trigger reach but the is difference in the g19 grip vs the 17/34. The hump on the back of the grip on the G19 sits higher and IME has a more pronounced “hump.”

This is why some people shoot one or the slightly (10-15%) better while the remaining 1/3 perfomthe sane..

[lawboy]

Ultimately if the gun doesn't fit your hand it's not going to work as well for you. It's really difficult to stabilize the gun in the hand if the grip doesn't let you get your whole hand on it.

The number of people I've encountered who are trying to learn how to shoot on a 365 and reflexively trying to get it away from their face with every shot is legion.

Lawd, have mercy, YES!

[JAD]

@RJ I shoot the 17/34 dramatically better than the 19. The placement of the hump is what I think matters.

[GJM]

A friend and I were discussing this today, as part of a conversation on the recent proposal to make the 2011 legal for USPSA carry optics. Amazingly, Nils shot 99.43 in the 2021 Limited Nationals, using a Canik shooting minor. The point this underscores, is the better the shooter you are, the less the gun matters. Conversely, when you have less developed skills, the gun can make a large difference.

[JAD]

A friend and I were discussing this today, as part of a conversation on the recent proposal to make the 2011 legal for USPSA carry optics. Amazingly, Nils shot 99.43 in the 2021 Limited Nationals, using a Canik shooting minor. The point this underscores, is the better the shooter you are, the less the gun matters. Conversely, when you have less developed skills, the gun can make a large difference.

The derivative thought is that shooters should not worry about hardware and just try to get better at shooting, and I agree so far as Cooper’s PII concept goes; but I’m a happier and more interested shooter when I’m not fighting the shit out of a gun I dislike. So, not really disagreeing, but there’s nuance.

[Donny B]

Greetings...I have noticed people tend to have more shooter induced malfunctions with the little guys then the duty size
guns when you up the performance requirements.

[Clusterfrack]

Greetings...I have noticed people tend to have more shooter induced malfunctions with the little guys then the duty size
guns when you up the performance requirements.

Welcome to P-F, Donny B.