Thinking about a Glock19

[JDBerg]

Originally Posted by Alan0354:

...Also, I am living in the People's republic of Kalifornia, the magazine is limited to 10 rounds. Is it easy to modify it back to regular capacity or do I have to buy from out of state?

First of all, I myself just moved out of Cali, back to PA, and although I don’t like the low cap CA magazine laws, I can’t encourage anybody to break those laws by modifying these 10 round mags to high cap. I have 10 round Glock 17 & 19 magazines that I got back there, these are both Glock OEM and MagPul GL9 mags that are perfectly good and super reliable, and I will continue to use these magazines at the local ranges here in PA.

For somebody who lives in CA and who has to buy guns from the stupid CA DOJ gun roster, the Gen3 Glock 19 is one of the best of these guns that are available to a CA gun buyer, take my word on this.

[Alan0354]

..............

[kenny53]

I had a Glock 19 gen 2 from the 90's. Loved the gun and put many rounds down range. I gave the gun to my daughter a little while ago when it started to get crazy out there. I have M&P9 and M&P9c that are great guns and get carried every day. As said above DO NOT start grinding on the guns. they work great right out of the box. My best advice to you is get out of California. Grew up in San Diego and left 42 years ago and have been glad about the move the entire time. Good luck buddy

[ciwsguy]

I’ve owned a Glock 19 for about 20 years. Bought it used. It has a standard Glock barrel and I must admit that I’m not the best handgun shooter around. However, I must admit that the G19 is the most accurate handgun I have ever fired. The bullets go where I aim.
I also must admit that the Glock 19 is the only handgun I have shot that went Kaboom on me with factory 9mm ammo. No other Kabooms have been experienced by me). Destroyed the magazine as it was blown out of the gun with a small chunk of plastic from the frame. I still have the gun as all it needed for repair was replacing the magazine catch and replace the magazine.
I also own a Sig Sauer P320 and a S&W M&P Shield 9EZ. The Glock shoots better than the other two. It’s also easy to work on.
Should you purchase a Glock, I recommend you consider replacing the standard Glock barrel with an aftermarket barrel that has better chamber support. That is why I experienced the Kaboom as the Glock chamber is relatively loose fitting to chambered ammo, at least mine is. Wish I had taken a photo of the failed case head. Showed the “Glock smile” with a half moon blowout of the case head.

[Alan0354]

Originally Posted by ciwsguy

I’ve owned a Glock 19 for about 20 years. Bought it used. It has a standard Glock barrel and I must admit that I’m not the best handgun shooter around. However, I must admit that the G19 is the most accurate handgun I have ever fired. The bullets go where I aim.
I also must admit that the Glock 19 is the only handgun I have shot that went Kaboom on me with factory 9mm ammo. No other Kabooms have been experienced by me). Destroyed the magazine as it was blown out of the gun with a small chunk of plastic from the frame. I still have the gun as all it needed for repair was replacing the magazine catch and replace the magazine.
I also own a Sig Sauer P320 and a S&W M&P Shield 9EZ. The Glock shoots better than the other two. It’s also easy to work on.
Should you purchase a Glock, I recommend you consider replacing the standard Glock barrel with an aftermarket barrel that has better chamber support. That is why I experienced the Kaboom as the Glock chamber is relatively loose fitting to chambered ammo, at least mine is. Wish I had taken a photo of the failed case head. Showed the “Glock smile” with a half moon blowout of the case head.

Can you take a picture of the Glock so I can see the barrel and the broken frame?

[Sgt127]

I know that may be your experience. But, the .40 Glocks had some issues with kabooms. I’ve never seen or heard of it with a 9mm.
Generally, my advise for all Glock owners is, don’t do anything to “improve” it. Other than sights, leave it completely factory.

I have too would like to see pictures. I’ve never seen a Glock 9mm fail that way.

We had 260+ Glock .40’s. Always shot factory ammo. Never saw one fail.

[Alan0354]

Wow, that's not good, this is dangerous, There are a few youtube on Kabooms with glock. That's a deal breaker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q9O-wVfQ-s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U3hlcJRtPY

[rc]

Glocks are Tools, CZs are Masterpieces.

I had a Smith 915 for over 20 years. It was a lackluster shooter. If it was a 659 I'd probably still have it. The 915 was lucky to keep 5 shots in a 4 inch group at 25 yards. I'd get a tight group of 3 and usually 2 wide fliers. A CZ or Tanfoglio Copy will do 2 inches all day long shot to shot, group to group. I kept it so long because it was dead nuts reliable and would shoot fine at 7 yards where I could keep my shots all in 2 inches. I finally got rid of my smith after buying a CZ P01. It shoots great, has an aluminum frame like my smith for weight savings and a decocker that works more naturally than the flip up/flip down smith slide mounted safety. All steel CZs shoot even better with the durability of steel. Nothing wrong with your 659 but what do you want with your next gun? Do you want a light plastic fantastic or just another solid reliable shooter? If that's the goal, a CZ is a much more natural pointer and better shooter than a GLOCK! Look at the SP01 and P01 models for two of the best 9mms ever made! If you just want a plastic fantastic, go for a glock and join the masses. I believe you'll find Glock uses PLASTIC sights. I think every pistol shooter should have a good double action all purpose 357 mag like a GP100, a double stack CZ75 in 9 and a classic single stack 1911 in .45 Auto! If you look at the glock action, the guns have a very high incidence of unintentional discharges in the law enforcement circles. That glock trigger snags on anything putting it into the holster it's going off. They are unforgiving when there is carelessness or lack of training. Much more than with the 659 and other double action autos with longer first pull triggers and a safety.

[JohnKSa]

There are a few youtube on Kabooms with glock.

Here's what the first video poster said was the cause of his incident:

"Cause of the KaBoom! was my negligence in over-expending the case mouth and then over-crimping. This caused insufficient neck tension and also the mouth of the case to impede the barrel throat, giving the pressure nowhere to go but out the back."

The kB! in the second video was not caused by chamber support issues. That was obviously an overpressure condition, not merely a simple case failure. A case failure may blow the magazine out, but it won't ruin the barrel like that. The idea that the brass is all that keeps the chamber from blowing up and that if the brass fails, the barrel steel will rupture just doesn't hold water. A case failure will blow out the magazine, possibly damage the magazine release and maybe cause some gas cutting/etching but it can't rupture the steel of the barrel. In fact, the venting of the pressure during a case failure will actually result in LESS pressure being applied to the chamber--because some of it has been vented.

Overpressure rounds are not common with factory ammo, but it does happen very rarely.

There are lots of guns out there, and you should look around and see what looks good to you and fits your requirements rather than just focusing on one brand. But you also need to be a bit careful about ditching a brand because you can find a few youtube videos about them failing. It's pretty rare to find a brand with no catastrophic failures documented on the internet--when you do it's likely because they aren't very commonly used. Pretty much any gun can be blown up by bad ammo.

[AK103K]

I have a bunch of Glocks and a few of them are 19's. The 19's are OK, but are actually my least favorite Glocks, and I prefer the 17's and 26's over them.

Nothing really wrong with the 19's, other than for me, I just find their grips a tad cramped and just really dont see their point. The 17s are just as easy to carry, and the differences between the 17 and 19 are basically negligible.

There is enough of a difference between the 26's and the 17's and 19's, and the 26 can be carried where the 19 cannot.

As was mentioned, 10K rounds is nothing and if for some strange reason something were to go, Glock will make it right, as long as you didnt do something stupid.

A little over a year ago, I sent my one 17 in due to a broken rail. Id been shooting the gun weekly, at least 300 rounds a week, and on many occasions, 500+ rounds a week, for over 10 years. When I sent the gun in, it had right under 150K on it, based just on the 300 rounds a week count.

Glock replaced the frame, which I had stippled a couple of times, and was told they would never fix anything due to it. They also rebuilt the rest of the gun with new parts. The only original parts on the gun now, are the slide and barrel.

Glock only has a one-year warranty, something I wasnt aware of until I was looking through the manual for something. When I called them about the rail, the gun was nine years out of warranty and the grip had been stippled multiple times. All they said was, send it in and we will look at it. Two weeks later, it was back, fixed, and right back at work. All it cost me was $25 to ship it down to them.

Im still shooting that gun on a weekly basis, and its heavily dry fired, every day. Those two weeks it was at Glock, were the only two weeks that gun wasnt shot since 2009.

If youre looking for mag, the Korean KCI mags are a great and cost-effective option. Ive been using the same lot of around 20 mags every week with the gun above. Never had a problem with them, and Id trust them for serious use. This applies to the 17 and 19 mags. The 33 rounders arent not as relaible, and I dont reccomend them. I have a bunch of factory 33 rounders as well, and they arent all that great either. If you want the larger capacity mags, go with the Magpul 27 round mags.

Magpul mags are also a good and reasonably priced option. Both the KCI and Magpuls will cost you about half what a factory Glock mag will cost you.


Just want to comment on the grip angle thing, since it always seems to come up. Yes, the Glocks grip angle is slightly different than the others, but in realty, they are all somewhat different from each other, and not really all that different.

If you shoot them all, and your brain has the learned reference ingrained, you can easily shoot any of them, interchangeably, put one down, pick one up, with little or no trouble what so ever. Might take a mag to readjust early on, but I dont even find that happening anymore.

I shoot most of the different types of handguns on a regular basis. SA, DA, DAO, auto, and revolver. While I do shoot a Glock weekly, Im usually shooing at least one or two of the others along with it on a random basis each week.

Most of my shooting at close range is done without sights, and with any of them, the rounds go where I was looking on the target when the shots break. "Pointing" is not an issue.

If there is an issue with the grip, its in your head.

Same goes for complaints about triggers.

[Onward Allusion]

I used to be an only steel kind of shooter, but I now have almost a dozen of them. They are IMO one of the most reliable semi-auto pistols out there. I own & have owned Colt, Beretta, S&W, Ruger, Taurus, Hi-Point, and the occasional off-brands like Tisa, EAA...etc. Glocks just work... They come plain jane but with the thousands of aftermarket options out there, one can customize to the heart's content.

Everyone should have couple of 'em.

[TBM900]

There are quite a number of much better options available today
I personally carry a Kahr K9 which would satisfy your CA compliant needs
Other top choice options would be the Steyr and the Beretta PX4
Any of which I would take over a Glock
Partially because they are simply better
But mostly because Ive had too many issues with Glocks
Go to ranges that offer rentals and try as many as you can

[eflyguy]

Originally Posted by Alan0354

Sounds like Glock is very durable that can last 10,000rounds.

Any firearm with that kind of life expectancy would be considered junk. Also, the 'kaboom' issue you reference was not caused by a design issue. Covered above.

I'm in no way a Glock fanboy - I have (in addition to 3 Glocks) Springfield, Ruger and S&W pistols. My daughter shoots a G17 (pretty much the same pistol) in USPA, it's one of the sweetest guns I've ever shot (slightly upgraded.) I've tried to steal it to use in place on my match XD, but she prefers to keep it on her nightstand.

If you're unsure, go rent one, or find a friend with a selection of similar pistols to try. None are "the best", and not all might suit you.

Edit - re: carry - I carry a G43. Previously a G26, but it wasn't as easy to conceal, I waited for the 43 for a long time. The 43 fits in my pocket.

[ciwsguy]

Originally Posted by Alan0354

Can you take a picture of the Glock so I can see the barrel and the broken frame?

The frame was not broken. Only a small chunk of polymer separated from a non critical area. I still have and shoot that Glock. Please don’t think I’m slamming glocks as they are very reliable guns. I’m not afraid to shoot mine even after experiencing a factory ammo Kaboom. I concluded the KB was a result of two things: the slightly oversized Glock chamber and an overloaded factory round. I understand Glock barrels are that way so they will chamber virtually all commercial 9x19 ammo. Other barrels can be ammo sensitive as to what they chamber.
A couple of years ago, I decided to try reloading just for a hobby, went to the range to compare my reloads to factory WWB 115 FMJ. Fired factory loads first. One magazine load gave a group of about 8 inches at 10 yards. My hand loads resulted in a 4 inch group at 10 yards. A significant improvement.
So to conclude this, I recommend the Glock 19 as it fits my hand the best and is quite accurate, especially with tightly inspected hand load ammo. I don’t load cartridges too hot. Find a good compromise is half way between lowest and highest charge.
BTW, i disposed of that ammo of which I experienced the Kaboom. I also take a closer look at any ammo, factory made or hand loaded as I load up the magazine looking for obvious things like bullets set too deep in the case.

[ciwsguy]

Originally Posted by Sgt127

I know that may be your experience. But, the .40 Glocks had some issues with kabooms. I’ve never seen or heard of it with a 9mm.
Generally, my advise for all Glock owners is, don’t do anything to “improve” it. Other than sights, leave it completely factory.

I have too would like to see pictures. I’ve never seen a Glock 9mm fail that way.

We had 260+ Glock .40’s. Always shot factory ammo. Never saw one fail.

Like I said, wish I had taken photos at the time, but didn’t think to do that at the time. It was about 15 years ago. Gunsmith I took it to gave it the once over. Said it was fine just replace the magazine and I replaced the mag catch and spring for insurance. Gunsmith said should it happen again to contact Glock as they are interested in these type of failures. Said I could possibly have them replace the pistol with a new one.
After having experienced the 9mm KB, it may be smart to wear shooting gloves to protect the hands as well as other safety equipment. My hand was numb for a few hours after the KB.
BTW, have you examined the fired casings after a shooting session? On my G19, there is a noticeable slight bulge on the lower part of the fired casings. This is the least supported part of the chamber. That’s also the part of the case head that blew out and produced the Glock smile.
Bottom line is I’m not afraid of this or any other Glock pistol. Just taking some precautions to prevent a recurrence. Of course that is no guarantee.
I don’t have a .40 S&W glock, though I do have a caliber conversion on my P320. The .40 is much snappier than the 9x19. After shooting the .40, I wouldn’t want to shoot a full power 10mm.

[ciwsguy]

Originally Posted by Alan0354

Wow, that's not good, this is dangerous, There are a few youtube on Kabooms with glock. That's a deal breaker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q9O-wVfQ-s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U3hlcJRtPY

One more word on this pair of videos. He was shooting handloads (which Glock says not to do) and one round was over-crimped which resulted in improper headspace on a high pressure round. This may be different from the factory ammo Kaboom I experienced and his KB resulted in a destroyed handgun. Mine did not result in a destroyed handgun.
Bottom line is ANY gun can Kaboom under the most inappropriate situations to which they are exposed. I wouldn’t hold this KB against Glock.

[ericuda]

Jeez, a kaboom with a glock may be as rare as finding local ammo right now. I would be guessing but I bet the g17/19 have shot more 9mm rounds down range than any other make or model. Law of averages, poor reloaded ammo is probably the cause of most issues.

To answer the original question, yes a g19 is a good choice and i would also recommend a g19 mos. I got mine because as others have posted before if you are in a tight spot and need a pistol that works in any condition there is none better.

[Alan0354]

Thanks for all the replies, I watched more videos and read more, sounded like it's the .40 that is more likely to KB, then the 10mm as they just make the chamber larger to fit the bigger bullets without increasing the outer dimension. Thereby the chamber wall is thinner than the ones for 9mm. I have no interest in 10mm or .40, so that's not a big deal.

From the description, the back of the casing protrude out more and is not supported by the chamber wall, particularly the 6o'clock feedramp area. That's where the pictures of the exploded casing looked to be. I guess like a little oversized chamber to increase reliability, making the feedramp not as steep an angle increase reliability of feeding, but expose more of the casing unsupported.

[Shadow9mm]

A glock should be good to go out of the box, although personally I would tear it down and lube it myself. I have heard of people taking new glocks, straight of the the box, and shooting matches with them.

[Shadow9mm]

Originally Posted by Alan0354

Can you take a picture of the Glock so I can see the barrel and the broken frame?

the chamber support on glocks it better than it used to be, although they are still not fully supported.

[Alan0354]

Originally Posted by Shadow9mm

the chamber support on glocks it better than it used to be, although they are still not fully supported.

I think I can only get gen 3 Glock 19, did they improve the gen 3?

[AK103K]

Gen 3's are fine.

[zeke]

After 4 generations, finally bought one of the new fangled Glocks (19). Didn't buy it for a target pistol, but for it's reported reliability, durability, limited maintenance, excellent affordable mags and easily found accessories.

It does not fit my hand as well as some others, but i can adapt to it. After shooting it awhile, found my favorite feature was the cheap plastic sites. Am calling them the old man sights, as the white outlines are easy to line up fast without precise aiming.

For me it is not as easy to conceal as others, the trigger less refined and it is butt ugly (relatively). As i get older the practicality of it may win out, especially with how the mags interchange with some small carbines.

As it got shot more, the trigger improved a little. The only mod done to it was to get an extended threaded barrel, which dropped right in and increased accuracy.

Glad i bought it, and it won't be sold off.

[Alan0354]

I am still looking at the Kaboom stuff, seems like every time I type something like pistol kaboom, Glock kept coming up and lots of pictures of Glock Kaboom. They showed picture the lack of support at 6 o'clock where the feedramp is and that's the most common spot of blowing out. I don't recall seeing any S&W semiauto kaboom picture. Seems like the chamber wall of the glock is very thin and don't have much margin of error.

BTW, I found a store selling Glock 19, they want $659 + tax and something. That's a lot higher than the MSRP I recall. Is this because of being in people's republic of Kalifornia?

[FITASC]

It really isn't that high with the current political climate and the added costs of compliance with the laws in CA by the dealers.

My LGS sold my used Gen 3 for a little over 600 several months ago- and I am in Florida where guns are easier to obtain.