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Glock Gen 5 First Impressions with Lots of Pics

2K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  Chainfire 
#1 ·
First impressions and then there is a link to an IMGUR album with a lot of pics for you study.

Love the fact is has no finger grooves, humps and what not. SO much easier for me to grip and it feels GREAT.
Love the trigger. Definitely and noticeably less gritty, mushy and a crisper break and reset. If is HUGELY different, no, but ... every bit helps. I had the guys in the gun shop where I picked it up try it and one Glock fanatic in particular was particularly impressed. FWIW...again, nothing HUGELY better, but ... heck...nice.
I really like the new magazines, very easy to see the orange through the holes in the mag. Hope we can buy more soon.
The internals appear to be improved, the safety "plunger" looks much more robust.
The finish/coating on the slide is very nice. A nice rich black, rather than an anemic grey and the barrel appears to be treated comparably.
The front of the slide is nicely bevelled and while the critics (idiots!) here are declaring the frame not equally beveled, it looks great and just fine and dandy.
The RTF treatment on the grip is great, in fact, just about perfect in my opinion. I may or may not throw some Talon grips on it.
I purchased mine with Ameriglo Sights and they are GREAT...excellent front post width and rear sight width. For less than $100 bucks more, a good investment.


I've put together a HUGE photo album on Imgur if you want to take a look at it in detailed photos.

I noticed a few things:

The frame has a "tab" that fills/blocks a slot in the back of the slide, I used a Gen 3 Glock 17 for comparison's sake. You can see what I'm talking about in the photos.

Take a look at the photos, in a many of them I'm comparing this Gen 5 to a Gen 3 and I tried to show the difference in barrel rifling.

Click on this link to see this Glock 17 Gen 5 album, and you will notice a number of images where I'm comparing it to a Glock 17 Gen 3 model (in OD green).

https://imgur.com/a/OZegu
 
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#2 ·
In my first impressions post I offered initial thoughts and LOTS of pictures of the Gen 5 Glock 17. In this post I'm sharing my thoughts after putting a tad over 500 rounds through it today. In no particular order, here are my post-500 round firing impressions.

No Grooves is Groovy
I really grip the handgun better without the grooves and humps, but I recognize this is a purely personal opinion, due in large part to the fact that my hands are XXX-L and I just get a better "purchase" on the grip and handgun, very comfortable. I had my Glock 26 Gen 4, a Glock 27 Gen 4 and a 17L Gen 3 with me for comparison and most assuredly, for me, no grooves is groovy.

Trigger: It's Not Really All That, But...
I really prefer a trigger shoe that is flat and will be replacing the show on the Gen 5 as I do with all my Glocks, but having said that, is the Gen 5 trigger better? Answer: Yes, it is. Smoother take up, cleaner break, and a crisper reset point. Again, I had three other Glocks to compare it to and there is no doubt this Glock Gen 5 trigger is the better of the bunch, but ... all that much better? Nope.

Sights: Standard or Ameriglo
The Glock standard sights, which I have on my 17L are just so terrible, I mean, really, really bad. I have not swapped them out with something else. I have Trijicon HDs on the 26 and on the 17 a thin fiber optic front post which for me is the best of the bunch. The Ameriglo sights on the Gen 5 I bought are much better than stock, but for me...I think I'm going to go with a fiber optic front post, and today I broke down and wore my "cheater" eye pro which are safety glasses with magnification on the bottom half...wow, I had almost forgotten what it was like to be able to get a nice crisp razor sharp front post and overall sight picture and yes, makes a big difference. But...the Ameriglo with my "normal" vision (which is not that great anymore) definitely worked, I just think I do better with a thinner front post, the Ameriglo front post fills most of the rear notch and I like a bit more light on either side of the front post, again, personal choice.

Accuracy
I'm sure any Glock barrel is more accurate than me, but ... I did get my best results today using my Gen 5 Glock, though the 17L with its long sight picture will be great for me and once I get the sights replaced, I am sure it will be great as well, but the Gen 5 barrel definitely is an improvement, compare to the standard Gen 4 and 3 barrels I had today.

New Magazines
They work, but beyond that, not much else today. I do like the extended baseplate.

The Grip "Notch"
Some folks are whining about the "notch" saying they feel it when they shoot, and it has the potential for interferring with reloading magazines. I definitely did not feel it at all, and for reloads, I think it HELPS, when I grip a magazine for reload my index finger is touching the tip round and I "point" the mag into the magwell, that notch is awesome because my fingertip goes into it and I get a great mag seating that way, no guessing, and so I say the notch actually is a help for reloads if you reload in this way, and of course, it's stated purpose is to allow you to strip really stuck mags, but I find it a perfect improvement for more accurate reloads.

Ejection
I had my other Glocks to compare and I was catching some cases from the Glock 26 to the top of my head as they came straight back, the Gen 5 was ejecting every single case in a very predictable ark off to the right, in a very predictable patter. I was shooting NATO 124 grain ammo and not a single time did I catch any brass to the face, head or shoulders, Worked just fine.

Function
Blew through the 500 rounds without out a single problem of any kind. Got it really nice and hot and it just kept on chugging away. I lubed it prior to shooting using Glock's recommended application points and amounts...worked like a charm.

That's about all I can think of.

Below is a pick of my group from 30 feet away, shooting in a regular pattern, about once per second. Good enough for me. This is an 18 round group. I was not using the magnified portion of my shooting glasses so sights were a bit fuzzy for me, but .... there you have it.

 
#5 ·
I pretty much agree with harkersislandnc. It's a reincarnation of the Gen2. But it does have a better trigger.

As far as "idiots" demanding that the frame match the slide???? Well, if the glocktard idiots don't care if they get less than perfection with their perfection Glocks, well more power to you.

Even the $150 Hi Point and $200 SCCY have better fit and finish.

I was somewhat excited about the Gen5 GLOCK. I am not big on the GLOCK, but have always recommended one to anyone who asks what they should buy if they were only going to have one pistol. I was figuring to put my money where my mouth was with the Gen5. But if this is the best they can offer, no thanks. I will give my money to Ruger and Kahr.
 
#6 ·
I did not like the cut out and the flare on the 19's mag well. Hit my hand wrong. Probably OK on the 17's longer grip but I did not hold one.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Lord have mercy. Humps, bumps and color of the plastic makes for a new generation?

Mr. Browning and his co-designer made a perfectly good, functional, reliable, hi capacity 9MM pistol in 1935. It is still on it's first generation.....

The Glock is symbolic of what has happened to America. It is a foreign design, made of plastic, for people who are too apathetic to learn to use a safety effectively.
 
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