After a dozen years of gun ownership, I have finally joined the ranks of Glock owners. I’m a blank slate. Which sources should I study to learn about my new weapon?
Replace the sights with metal sights asap if you are using it for carry. Lube it and don’t forget to lube the connector bar. Other than that, treat it like your lawn mower.
Factory extended slide release was a must for me, along with Ameriglo Spartan Operator night sights. Some will advise against this but I also had to drop in a Ghost Edge trigger connector because the stock Glock triggers leave a lot to be desired. I went much further on mine with trigger work but if you’re new to the Glock I would go no further than a drop-in trigger connector.
Other than that, stock up on mags and shoot the piss out of it. If you have ejection problems like I did after 3500 rounds through my Gen 4 19 I would recommend the Apex extractor.
I have three items I’m going to change off the bat. Get rid of the horrendous plastic sights and install Vickers Elite Battlesight. Change out the serrated trigger and put in a smooth G17 OEM trigger. Add a Vickers plug, I need a takedown tool anyways. That’s it, I’m not about to start messing with this gun and start swapping parts just to swap parts.
You can start by selling all your other handguns. Consolidate magazines, ammunition. Live simply. Spend more time doing other hobbies or with loved ones.
Agree…sights are the most important upgrade from the stock plastic ones…I would leave everything else alone with regards to internals. Especially if this is a HD or CC gun.
First thing I always change are the sights then trigger. Everything else like barrel or even slide I’ll change if it it’s a competition gun or for fun. Carry gun i pretty much only change sights and trigger.
Sights, ammo, instruction.
OP the smooth face OEM trigger is a worthy upgrade if you are so inclined to tinker with it. The factory serrated trigger is awful.
Glock’s stock sights are just space fillers to keep dust out of the front sight hole & rear sight dovetail until owners can get a real set of sights to install. There are many out there. Pick what suits you. I always put extended slide releases on my Glocks too. Everything else I leave stock.
Do these, then figure out if you want a G17 trigger or extended controls.
WRT sights: I agree that the stock plastics are useless, but unless you already know what sights you want based on experience or what you had on a different platform, I honestly recommend leaving them stock until you take a class or meet some other Glock shooters and get to try a couple different designs out. Make an informed choice; don’t just buy because some guy with a lot of posts said so.
There are lots of Tupperware bins in basements that are full of blind recommendations. The EE has a lot of them, too. Not trying to be a jerk, but folks offering upgrade advice should qualify their recommendations.
First time owning a Glock. But I’ve shot them plenty. Given the popularity of the platform it seems that everyone other than me had one. My cousin performed the G17 trigger upgrade on his Glock, I like it better than the stock unit. And as for the Battlesights, I like plain black sights. Vickers’ design seem best in class.
That’s it though. I don’t intend to monkey around with this pistol, I’m going to shoot it stock as much as I can.
Any tips on maintenance schedules?
You can learn from YouTube how to completely tear down the entire pistol with nothing more than a punch. Super easy.
The 25 cent trigger job is generally worth it, but basically just gets you a cleaner trigger, as would happen after a few thousand dry-fire or live-fire cycles.
The MagPul mags have been good to me.
There are some decent bolt-on magwell options if you want to go that way, but not really a necessity.
Some folks like extended slide releases, I am not one of them, as a high aggressive grip with medium or larger hands will override the release, causing the gun to fail to lock on an empty magazine for me. I don’t like that. Some don’t care, and some don’t have the issue.
When it comes to permanent modification, I like to relieve some of the trigger guard material where it joins the grip, reducing “Glock Knuckle”, and making the grip a bit easier to get high on.
The best thing I ever did with any of Glocks was add RMRs. ATEI does a fantastic job of fitting the RMR to the slide cut, and I highly recommend them for that. Forward slide serrations are a nice to have feature if they already have the slide for RMR fitting. I was on the fence about mini-red dots on pistols, but once I made the leap on the first one, I am now completely disinterested in standard sights other than specific skill-building exercises.
I cannot stand the serrated triggers on the G19/G23 pistols, so the G17 trigger was a no brainer to me (but is a preference, not a necessity).
The trigger smooths a lot with shooting and the stock pull weight is reasonable. If you are using the gun for competition, I guess that’s different.
The great thing about the Glocks is the broad range of holsters and other accessories that are available.
I would definitely say make the modest changes you plan and shoot it a lot before making any others.
You might be on to something here. I’ve been considering scaling back my collection significantly over the past couple months.
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I have with 15 and 17 rd PMAGS, but not as much with the 21rds in the G19. Considering it only happened during longer strings of fire in matches, but never during practice where I was really focused on what was happening, I assume I was getting just enough hand on the 21 magazine to screw up the feed angle and not an inherent issue with the magazine.
Had good luck with ETS magazines also. Did not have good luck with Winchester Forged steel case 9mm in either magazine which seems to be common.
Heresy, but I have never had a malfunction with a single KCI branded 15 round magazine I have used for years. Finally picked up a few more at Knob Creek along with one non KCI Korean mag, but haven’t tried the new ones yet.
Trade it for a M&P while it’s still new.
Start saving your money for more of them as you become hooked.
While Magpul Glock mags have been fine with brass, they eventually starting causing failures with steel cased ammo - it would take seconds (yes, seconds) for follow on rounds to feed into position.
If you buy in bulk, you can get ten OEM G19 or G17 mags from Brownells for around $17.50 shipped ($189.99 normal price, wait for a $10-20 off or 10% off and free shipping).
You and me both. As interest wanes, the desire to simplify grows.
I am starting to think that Euro might be some kind sage or something.
ETA: If you don’t mind some old fashion reading, this isn’t a bad read
https://www.amazon.com/Glock-Americas-Paul-M-Barrett-ebook/dp/B004X6PRXC