Full frame Glock choice

[Duelist]

Couldn't disagree more about the window ever being acceptable for serious uses beyond competition. Crud will inevitably find it's way in there and lockup the gun given the opportunity, I can assure you. This is why most all duty pistols are closed slides, the keep out debris. The 34/35 were designed for competition and later marketed as being 'tactical', which of course, is not a sound choice in general.

The real reason the cutout is there is to not have to change anything with the design as the slide weighs identical to 17/22 pistols. Now the Gen 5 has more mass, so they've likely had to *sigh* change other parts in the design. it probably cost them a small fortune to redesign it the way it should have from the beginning....

That *may* be true, but ...

Beretta never seemed to have trouble with open top slides, starting from well before WWII to the present.

[steve]

Couldn't disagree more about the window ever being acceptable for serious uses beyond competition. Crud will inevitably find it's way in there and lockup the gun given the opportunity, I can assure you. This is why most all duty pistols are closed slides, the keep out debris. The 34/35 were designed for competition and later marketed as being 'tactical', which of course, is not a sound choice in general.

The real reason the cutout is there is to not have to change anything with the design as the slide weighs identical to 17/22 pistols. Now the Gen 5 has more mass, so they've likely had to *sigh* change other parts in the design. it probably cost them a small fortune to redesign it the way it should have from the beginning....

Kentucky State Police issued the G35 as a regular duty gun and they didn't have any problems with them. Someone cut the top off my Beretta 92FS and it ran fine as a duty weapon. (I think the military might have used those). Crud will find a way into any firearm but open top slides have a proven track record.

[andre3k]

I'm not seeing an issue with open top slides and cutouts either. My dept has a pretty liberal weapons policy and some officers are running damn near full race guns as duty weapons that have been involved in shootings. More often than not, for the officers that are switched on, you'll see them running lights, stippled grips, trigger jobs, magwell, machined slides with cutout, extended mags, a dot and maybe a comp if they can find a holster for it. Thats a USPSA open gun. Thats nothing eye opening for the average shooter here, but in LE thats a significant change from what you saw in holsters ten years ago. I'm even surprised at what I see officers carrying now compared to when I started.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[Thy.Will.Be.Done]

The Beretta does not employ a standard Browning tilt barrel design, so I consider it a horse of a different color than most duty pistols and would not be quick to use that as a reference to prove that it works just fine with Browning tilt barrels (99% of modern pistols). Just because you're not having malfunctions doesn't mean it's the best approach. How many of these shootings involved the pistol becoming exposed to the elements (ie, dropped in mud/dirt/sand/water/etc.)? I'd wager none but then again, maybe they still would have functioned by chance. I see Glock 9mm as needing all the help it can get to stay reliable (limp wrist is a thing that happens) so anything that could detract from that is a major liability. Many are seeking improvements (Apex extractor's, HREC, etc.) because of past shortcomings. Gen 5 may have addressed much of this with the breech face cut. Case in point, H&K released their VP9 Longslide with lightening cuts but is very clear in the marketing that this is intended strictly for competition :

https://hk-usa.com/hk-models/vp9l-or/

Where optics-ready meets competition-ready, the new HK VP9L OR is destined to be a winner.
In addition to the class leading ergonomics and trigger feel that made the VP9 the best-selling HK pistol ever, the VP9L OR has some essential upgrades for honing your skills on the range.
The o-ring bushing on the longer 5-inch barrel tightens up the lockup as well as your groups and the 20-round extended magazines allow you to shoot more and reload less on long stages. Additionally, the machined optics cut accommodates most popular red-dot pistol sights with one of five available mounting plates (sold separately).
Whether you are competing at formal matches or just against yourself at the range, the VP9L OR could be just the edge you’ve been looking for.

Some will also argue that compensators have no place on a duty pistol. I tend to agree with that if we're talking about the 'compensated' factory Glock barrels or even the threaded barrel mounted units, I'd never use such a beast for several reasons (one mentioned a few posts back). I see something like the Radian Afterburner/Ramjet being ideal if you want something to carry, assuming it doesn't prove finicky with ammo and reliability. The G34 again, is something most will not carry due to the size, even if it's about the same length/height as a 1911. Perhaps on a police duty belt but the shorter slides allow ease of carry seated in vehicles without really giving up anything in ballistics and a slight loss of sight radius (mitigated by the common MRDS becoming popular). I see little reason to go with a G34 unless there will be a dedicated pistol light such as X300 which gives the same overall length, otherwise I feel G19X/G45 (better for large hands) or G19 (better for smaller hands) is really the best for the most possible roles.

[newyork]

Still waiting til my smiths sell but I’m going to go back to the store and fondle mos versions of the 19, 17 and 45. He has t received the g34.5 yet.

[steve]

Still waiting til my smiths sell but I’m going to go back to the store and fondle mos versions of the 19, 17 and 45. He has t received the g34.5 yet.

Buy one of each, problem solved it is what Glock people do.

[newyork]

Local prices are 19 and 45 mos $625
17 mos $710
34 $725

45 is looking attractive at that price

[steve]

Local prices are 19 and 45 mos $625
17 mos $710
34 $725

45 is looking attractive at that price

Join GSSF for 2 years and you will get a pistol purchase coupon and that 17MOS will be around $500. Blue Label Pricing plus about $25.

[newyork]

Where can I purchase from after that?

[Thy.Will.Be.Done]

Turns out Glock considers these competition pistols even without the top cut, can't say I disagree. There's just little reason to carry this over a smaller pistol in my mind other than sight radius and perhaps recoil.