I found the GFA to be quite beneficial, but I don’t particularly like the added portion of the grip. I need the beaver tail to keep slide bite from getting me and nothing else. So, I’ve started cutting the top third or so off and then Devcon putty-ing them onto my Glocks. With some time and patience, they can be blended into the frame pretty nicely, but I don’t care a whole lot about how my Glocks look, so I haven’t spent that much time or effort just yet. Doing them that way is a quick and easy (and cheap) solution to my slide bite issues, since it seems that Glock Inc. doesn’t plan to ever get the back straps across the pond.
I’ve seen one in person and it’s nice, but it doesn’t help with the pre-Gen 4 guns. I know of two full time LE instructors who were given them to T&E. Not sure what, if any, fielding date they are looking at…
I ordered one along with some LAV parts from Net Tac a few days ago. I’m really excited to try it out. I’ve only gotten bitten once by mine, but I do struggle a lot with the angle, it feels awkward as hell in my hands so hopefully this works for me. If not, $30 is still worth the shot.
Never got slide bite with my Glocks, but it makes my G17 shoot almost as well as my M&P 9 Pro now. There’s much less grouping to the left now. I roll with the Gen 2 smooth version. Ended up having to file the pin down on one side since it tended to stick out on the left from gripping the gun right handed.
Wish I’d known about it sooner…I might not have dumped my G34 and G23. (Well, still might have dumped the G34…no matter what, it was never going to be as natural as the M&P, and I managed to sell the idea to my wife that if I dumped the G34, I could pick up a SCAR-17 since it’s a no net gain in weapon inventory. Decent trade in my book.)
Holy shit. May honestly be the best $25 I’ve ever spent.
I just got mine last night.
I have a Gen 4 and installed the ridged version, as it is the only one ‘for’ the Gen 4 me thinks. However, will the smooth (Gen 1-3) fit if I shave some off of the top extension in front of the beavertail which butts up to the frame???
My initial impression is that:
- The gun does NOT feel as good in the hand with it installed.
- It surely points better, and the extra distance to trigger MAY be somewhat beneficial (yet to see in shooting).
- It seems to eliminate slide bite from what i can see. It’s too bad. My left hand gets NO bite. My right hand is fatter, and a high grip puts me in the bite category most of the time I purchase the weapon.
We’ll see how it goes at the range - if it saves me from slide bite AND helps in shooting, it is a major ‘go’.
Time to follow up after several hundred rounds through with the Gen 4 G19.
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It is actually making the gun feel good in my hand. You sacrifice some trigger reach (you are adding it of course), but it is actually a tad less than a Gen 3 without the GFA. So, unless you have short fingers, this is a good thing. It sets up the angle like a 1911.
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The ridges on the Gen 4 version actually help a tad in grabbing the web and keeping the lateral movement to nothing - not bad, because sometimes in grabbing a Gen 3 Glock my hand can slip laterally.
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It really starts to make the Glock feel quite good, while really benefiting your shooting hands position and recoil management. It is almost ‘therapeutic’. I know people complain about Glocks, but some of the blockiness makes the gun sit very firmly in the hand - especially with the GFA. It wedges my hand perfectly between the beavertail and the hump bottom.
I will say that with gloves it gets a little tight - I also wish the Glock trigger guard was a bit larger anyway. With bare hands or slim gloves the GFA is tops. Hats off to the folks there for a quality product which is designed right.
BTW - I would install it permanently, unless I was not thinking of handing it down to one of my sons eventually. If you don’t go permanent, you have to reinstall anytime you detail strip the weapon.
I recieved my GFA set on Friday. I had the smooth one installed first, but then tried the ridges and liked it better. I still need to shoot with it and see how it helps/hinders there. It does help with indexing my G30f on the draw, and that was the main reason I purchased it.
We’ll see.
Some bad photos:
I’ve had a G19 for years and never a problem, but needed something for my new G30 because it is so small. When I bought the GFA, it came with one free, so now both my Glocks have a beavertail and I like them a lot. Good value for the money.
I’ve been happy with mine during my dry fire practice. We’ll see how I do on the range.