Glock 21 Gen 5 w/ C&H Duty RDO. Very Impressed.

[Lost River]

Friends,

Those who are long time PF participants and readers are likely to know that I have been an advocate of the Glock 21 .45 ACP for many years, having a couple decades worth of experience with them. I have used the G21 Gen 3 as a duty, competition, hunting and large animal defense gun. To be honest I really did not pay much attention to the Gen 4s when they came out. However I did pick up a Gen 5 G 20, and it had some very interesting upgrades. Enough so that it piqued my interest about perhaps getting my hands on a Gen 5 G21. Plus I had heard a few people make some comments about the Gen 5 G21 being super accurate. Honestly I was curious about this, as I knew from shooting the Gen 3 that the G21.3 is extremely accurate. Far more than most really realize.

Skipping right to it, I finally got my hands on a G21 Gen 5. It definitely was going to need an RDO to eek out top accuracy performance. So it was topped with a C&H Precision Duty, closed emitter RDO.



Our weather here has been not so hot (literally). But after getting the sight mounted I could not stand not shooting it. Schools were shut down due to blizzard warnings, and kids were driving me nuts so it was a good day to take a mental health break and go to the range, even if it was snowing, the wind was blowing and the temps were in the single digits!

I did have to do a little shovel work first..



But morning found me at the range and surprisingly there were no other vehicle tracks going in!



The wind was blowing a LOT more out of town! But I paced off 20 yards, set up a target and decided to see how close I would be on a USPSA target. I was just shooting over my tailgate with a couple of sandbags. I did not have much desire to drag everything out, as it was brisk out..

Not exactly a fancy setup and the wind was blowing hard enough that it was covering my gear and rocking my target a little.




The first 5 shots over the bags with cold hands/stinging fingers and I had a pretty good idea that this was something to pay attention to.



I went back and made an adjustment, to move the point of impact up. Fired another 5 rounds.

Actually, before I fired the next 5 rounds, I literally did 10 jumping jack and stuck my fingers in my armpits for a minute as they were fairly cold, and I needed to warm them up enough to feel the trigger better.



Yep,

This gun shoots.


BTW, the big window on RDO was very nice. It is one of those things where you instantly know it is the right choice.

I had some old 200 grain LSWCs and put 10 in a mag, just to see how they would group.

They were not bad, but I could tell I was not going to do my best work, as my hands were already getting really cold, but here is the group with those:



I shot 2 mags of my heavy 250+Ps at a relatively quick pace, at part of the backstop, just to confirm function. Ran great, not a real surprise there.

I have been a LONG time advocate of the G21.3 but I can tell already that the Gen 5 is going to cause my old Gen 3 to be put into backup, status.

Quite impressed so far.

There will definitely be more to report with this gun. But I knew I was not going to give it a fair shake due to degraded human performance caused by environmental factors.

[GJM]

1) you need some battery powered hand warmers!

2) I am starting to get a feeling that the G21 may be more reliable than the G20.

[Lost River]

1) you need some battery powered hand warmers!

2) I am starting to get a feeling that the G21 may be more reliable than the G20.

The G21 is ridiculously reliable.

I am not sure if I ever discussed this here or not. That is the problem with head injury/memory problems, my CRS disease has struck me far too early...

Anyways, in the very early 2000s, I used to hang out with a guy who had been quite successful in the pistol shooting world. Guy by the name of John Shaw. He had a school down in Mississippi, called Mid-South. Long story short, I flew down there one time and spent a week. Took my duty gun, a G21.3 along. I cleaned it prior to the training. The school was a high volume shooting place. I fire a little over 5K rounds in 3.5 days. All 230 grain ball ammo.

Just to see how long the gun would go before it choked, I purposely did not clean it. I only added a little oil, but never disassembled it. Finally after a few days I ended up wiping down and cleaning off the front sight as tritium was carboned up and we were going to do shoot house stuff. But the whole time we shot steel, all day, over and over, I never cleaned it.

The entire week I never had a single malfunction. The gun was quite filthy but just kept running.

[fatdog]

made me freaking cold just to see the pictures

My G21.5 has an Acro P2 on a FCD/Tango Down plate and I have been quite pleased with it. Currently zero'ed for your 250's which it seems to like. Waiting for deer season to end so I can go hiking safely again in the Talladega National Forest and it will get some trips end of winter and spring.

[awp_101]

Now we know who left the door open and sent all that cold stuff to Texas!

Is there any significant difference in the 21.4 frame and 21.5 frame, especially grip size? If not, are there any tips or tricks for someone who can't palm a volleyball, much less a basketball? Administratively handling the 21.4 at a nearby pusher, my meaty palms and stubby fingers struggle to get a solid grip.

I need to see if one of the nearby ranges has one to rent to see if I can actually make it work with my hands.

[Lost River]

Now we know who left the door open and sent all that cold stuff to Texas!

Is there any significant difference in the 21.4 frame and 21.5 frame, especially grip size? If not, are there any tips or tricks for someone who can't palm a volleyball, much less a basketball? Administratively handling the 21.4 at a nearby pusher, my meaty palms and stubby fingers struggle to get a solid grip.

I need to see if one of the nearby ranges has one to rent to see if I can actually make it work with my hands.

The frames are different. I am not sure how best to describe them. The best thing is definitely go try one. I immediately noticed a difference. There are very obvious changes, then things you might not notice at first, but you would when really concentrating on shooting the gun.

However every hand size has to adapt how they hold different sized guns, in order to suit them. I tend to be a bit pragmatic about handgun fit. When I was an instructor at an agency where we issued the G21, we had people both large and small that could shoot the G21s quite well. Their various grip styles suited their needs and their scores were proof it worked for them.

Things I noted on the Gen 5 is the magwell HUGE. I always thought the G21.3 had a big magwell. The Gen 5s are bigger and more rounded. Side by side, it is notable.

I sent this pic to a holster maker buddy not too long ago. This is actually from my G20.5 versus my G21.3 but no difference frame wise.



Plus what I personally like is the fact that the front strap is flat, without finger grooves, and the grip has a pretty aggressive texture. For a gun that may be used in austere environments, I think it is a excellent.

One thing that is less noticeable at first, but the rear of the trigger guard is undercut/reshaped on the Gen 5 compared to the Gen 3. For someone who likes to choke up on their gun, grip high, or has big hands (like me) I noticed it pretty quickly.

Plus the mag release is larger and flatter. I can easily hit it with my thumb and not break or adjust my grip. It is the perfect blend of larger size, but still low profile, without any sharp edges. It is like they took a custom mag release and made it a factory standard item.





The punchline is the gun just feels better.

[awp_101]

Thanks @Lost River! I'm not anti-finger groove and they don't bother me on my 19.4 but that flatter front strap might be a difference maker.

[SwampDweller]

Glad to hear your report. The Glock 21 is my favorite model of Glock to shoot with amazing accuracy in my hands. I shot mine today alongside my USP 45 and G19, and it wasn't even close. While I shoot the other two just fine, the G21 Gen 5 is just better in terms of my ability to put rounds exactly where I want them in quick order. I'm in the process of vetting mine for carry. I did have a weird malfunction today (detailed in a thread I posted a bit ago), but everyone seems confident it was mag-related.

I do have another G21 Gen 5 that I haven't fired yet, but if things shake out how I want them to, the G21 Gen 5 will take the top spot in my pistol book. I'm fortunate in that I don't have much trouble concealing one and recently ordered a JMCK holster for them. I have three Gen 4's that have been flawless over many thousands of rounds each. I think the G21 is the most reliable model of Glock I've ever owned, even counting today's weird stoppage.

My hands aren't notably large, but something about the way the grip is shaped and sized gives me better control over the gun than any other pistol (especially with Talon grip tape). It's my favorite pistol to make one big ragged hole in targets with.

I look forward to reading more of your experiences with the G21 Gen 5. In my opinion it's shaping up to be the best of the Gen 5 lineup.

[fatdog]

I am one of those people who the Glock finger grooves caused problems, they actually tend to force separation in my XL glove long, but thinner fingers which is not good. That was true on the gen 4 G21 and all the gen 3-4 small frames 17/22/19/23 as well. My solution has always been to get a good plastic surgeon to just remove them as part of a stipple job which I did to my 21.4. The thing about the front strap feeling slightly broader was true after the grooves were ground off my 21.4 and I find the 21.5 to have the same feeling. Out of the box the 21.5 (no backstraps for me) was damn Goldilocks but of course it is different for everybody.

Long term interested to hear how that optic holds up for Lost River. I specifically went with the aimpoint for perceived long term durability facing the recoil impulse of .45 ACP, not because it is my favorite optic. My 21.4 has a Holosun 407CO which is holding up so far.

[JonInWA]

LR, you and GJM are costing me Gen5 money....my Gen5 G23 is just finishing it's shakedown cruise, and, as you, I've been exceptionally pleased with my "big butt" Gen 3 G21. My caveat with the Gen 3 is that while it's probably my most mechanically accurate Glock, it's also the most difficult one for me to naturally shoot, unless there's a period of significant dedication to it.



You're slowly easing me into the Gen5 G21 realm. I probably should rent one and shoot it side-by-side with the Gen 3.

Best, Jon