I have been looking for a G19 for awhile now. I have read that the 3rd Gen. is the best one to buy. Is this true? From what I have read, the Gen. 3 has a much better finish than the other Gens. Also, I’m not against getting a LE trade in G23 and getting a .40 to 9 conversion barrel. Opinions? Thank You.
If your left handed or hate finger grooves get the gen 5
Otherwise it’s a toss up…personally I think the grip texture on the gen 1-3 is a joke.
I’d reccomend the gen 4 or 5
If you do go with the 23 keep in mind the gen 3 does have issues with weapon mounted lights
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The only merit a Gen 3 has over a Gen 4, is a better trigger. A Gen 4 can be swapped-out for a Gen 3 trigger. As the previous poster indicated, the Gen 5 trumps a 3 and 4, if the non-finger grooves meet with your approval. Speaking of which, I sort of missed the finger grooves when dry-firing the Gen 5 yesterday. That could change, upon actually firing the pistol.
If you want a 9mm, buy a 9mm, don’t play games swapping parts. Running a 9mm conversion barrel is only acceptable for range plinking IMO,not for a carry or duty pistol. For a .40 caliber pistol to be 100% reliable with a 9mm conversion barrel, there are going to be other parts you will need to change to ensure proper function and reliability of the pistol.
The ejector will need to be swapped to a 9mm ejector, the spring loaded bearing on the extractor plunger will need to be changed, the extractor itself, and of course the magazines. Depending on generation, you will also want to change the recoil spring assembly to the correct weight.
Glock has used several finishes over the years ranging from light grey to dark black, generation really means nothing when it comes to the finish (color of the slide). The finish used is not generation specific and may be different when comparing two Gen3 or two Gen4 pistols. Glock has changed finishes a couple of times in those generations.
I own Gen3 Glocks with the dark black, teflon like finish that looks like the inside of a good frying pan, and some Gen3’s with the dull, flat grey finish that is easily scratched. Same thing with my Gen4 pistols, some are dark black, some are flat grey. From my experience, the dark black frying pan finish look has been the most durable finish used by Glock on previous generations.
If you are wanting to buy a Glock based on how it looks, I would suggest you just purchase a new Gen5 pistol. They are the only pistols that will have the exact same appearance and will be the same dark black colored slide. They now use the new Glock “nDLC” finish.
Basing your purchase on a firearms appearance is never a good idea but if that’s the case, get the new Gen5. There are several changes to the pistol but they are the best looking pistol Glock has manufactured IMO.
Frankly if you’re not already invested in Glocks, I’d buy something else. Plenty of very viable options these days.
The Gen 4 gives the ability to change grip sizes. To me, the Gen 3 is most reliable.
I wouldn’t use a conversion for self defense.
You can always mod a Glock 3-4. The Gen 5 is too new to do so, at the moment, apart from a $0.25 trigger job.
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Pat, not wanting to get in a peeing contest because I agree that a .40 to 9mm conversion isn’t a good idea for duty or concealed carry, but, have you owned one?
I originally bought it for several reasons: 1) because I didn’t want to reload .40; 2) the SO required you to carry .40; and 3) at the time I did not have nearly as much disposable income. Buying a 17 was not how I wanted to spend my money.
That was a decade ago, I put well over 5,000 rounds of 9mm through that Lone Wolf before buying my first G17 and converting that G22 into a semi-dedicated .22 trainer.
No problems whatsoever EXCEPT with one batch of factory reloads from work that the ogive was weird on. There wasn’t enough leade in the barrel to fully chamber them all the time. Our work G17’s with factory barrels ate the stuff without stuttering.
I found the barrel to be plug and play using the .40 ejector, extractor and recoil spring.
I wouldn’t hesitate for a range toy/practice pistol, but I totally agree with you about about carry.
Nothing wrong with a LE trade in G19 or G23 Gen3. Chances are good that it may show some holster wear but the round count will likely not be too high. As far as conversions, the 23 can convert to 9mm but as pointed out in post#4, it’s not something you should trust your life to. The G23 in 40 S&W can also be converted to 357 Sig with a Glock G32 barrel swap. The 40 mags will work however, if for SD I’d get at least one G32 (357) mag as the follower is different. [The G23 and G32 are exactly the same except for the barrel and the magazine so you are GTG with this conversion.] I also have owned a few G19s and love em.
For a bit more money here the HK VP9 and it’s also worth consideration. No experience with the CZ but there seems to be a lot of love for it on the forum so It might be worth a look as well.
Good luck!
I prefer gen 3 Glock’s myself. I do have a Lone Wolf 9mm conversion barrel for my G22. It’s been 100% reliable. However, the only conversion barrels I’d do for carry/self defense would be factory 40 S&W and 357 Sig. barrel swaps G22/G31, G23/G32 and G27/G33. I called Glock before I bought the G31 barrel for my G22 and they told me the only differences between them were the barrels and the mag. followers were marked .357. This was back in 2005 or so.
Getting back to your G19/G23. Do yourself a favor and go handle one if you haven’t to make sure it fits your hands good. My G19 fits me ok as does my G26. However, clothing/weather permitting I prefer a G17/G22/G34 size over the smaller ones. Winter time, especially plowing it’s my G34.
Good luck, NYH1.
Gen 4s are reported to have better accuracy.
Finish is the last thing I would worry about, right under how the trigger feels.
I picked up a gen 4 g23 for $400, they are available online.
A KKM barrel is $250 for conversion with threads. If you don’t need threads, I’d hold out for a g19 and run a stock barrel.
That said, this is the 2nd 40-9 conversion I’ve run with 400 (50 suppressed) rds through the glock (new recoil spring) and 2k through an m&p, half of which was silenced, no other mods with no issues. I carry my conversion. KKM has a reputation, especially for conversion barrels. Just test it thoroughly before trusting.
If 5" groups at 25yds is accurate enough for you, offhand, pick whichever g19 is cheaper (gen 3 or 4). You can always add a match barrel down the road if you start to outshoot the gun.
Gen5
Arguably better trigger
Arguably better finish
Arguably better accuracy
Arguably better grip
Ameriglos as a factory option
Ambi slide stop/release
Internals improved to decrease possible failure points.
Yes, I actually own two lone wolf conversion barrels for .40 caliber Glocks.
One is used in a Gen 4 G-22, and the other in a Gen 3 G-27. They have both been reliable at the range, no doubt about that, 100% reliable with the only issue being weak ejection sometimes.
My suggestion for changing out to correct 9mm parts was stated due to possible reliability concerns if using the pistol for defense purposes. If someone has the intent to convert the pistol, the correct way to go about that is to use all the correct factory parts, (along with the conversion barrel) for that specific caliber pistol.
The conversion barrels are a great range option but if someone is going to purchase a .40 with the intent of running it as a 9mm by dropping in a conversion barrel, all parts for that caliber should be swapped for the best reliability and proper function.
I only mentioned that because the OP seemed to hint at really wanting a G-19 but would settle for a G-23 to be used as 9mm.
Nothing at all wrong with the conversion barrels, mine have been flawless. I guess what I meant with my first post was, if you buy a G-23 (that you may carry) with the intent on using it as a G-19, swap all the parts, not just the barrel. There probably won’t be any issues, but probably isn’t good enough if your life may depend on the firearm. If it’s for carry, buy the correct parts, better safe than sorry.
If not, enjoy the lower cost of 9mm and have fun.
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Try them again if you can. Find ones that are box stock as your not comparing apples to oranges. Also, try some older used Gen 1 & 2 versions if a light rail is not your thing. They might fit you better but there used so buyer beware. A buddy clung to his Gen 2 19 because he hated finger groves, he just picked up his Gen 5 19 and loves it. For me finger groves or not I never had the issues with them.
The Gen 4 is the only reason I got into Glocks. I hate the grip texture of all previous generations. The grip angle is still awkward but it’s not as bad on the Gen 4 if you use it with no backstraps. Gen 4 is the only flavor of Glock kool-aid for me until something significantly better comes along.
All but the G43:I own are police trades. Stupid cheap prices for great guns.
I own all but the gen 5. They’re all good. If you’re looking for a rail then gen 3 would be best. If you don’t care about a rail or don’t want finger groves gen 2 are great. Can’t help you on the finish. I don’t know what they are and quite honestly I don’t care.
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With the exception of .40/357 conversions with OEM barrels, buy your Glock in the caliber you intend to use it. Even the best of 9mm conversion barrels function within a narrower band than OEM.
I started out with a Gen2 23, went to a Gen2 17, then a Gen3 19, Gen4 19, and a few Gen3 and Gen4 34s mixed in.
Me personally, I like the Gen3 with grooves and thumb shelves removed, mag catch scalloped, and stippled. If I had to keep one stock, I’d probably go with a Gen4.
I haven’t tried a Gen5 yet. I really think they’re mechanically improved, but slippery finish, ambi slide stop, mag cutout in the grip, and flared magwell really turn me off.
I would put them in your hand. I know for me (I have smaller hands) the gen 3 would put the pistol at a weird off angle in relation to the axis of my forearm when I properly reached for the trigger, that caused problems with recoil management, or caused problems with trigger control, which are basically the two big sins in pistol shooting. If you don’t like finger grooves, the gen 5’s have removed those (in addition to some other changes). I ended up going with a gen 4 because I liked the way the finger grooves fit on my particular hand and was cheaper than a gen 5.
However, as someone else stated, there are plenty of other 9mm striker fired options out there, unless you are absolutely dead set on a glock 19. There is the CZ, FN, and SW make great ones. For me personally, the H&K VP series comes to mind. If someone twisted my arm, I would choose my vp9 over the glock 19. The VP9SK is a great CC firearm. People talk about upgradability of glocks and parts availability, but to be honest, the VP9 really doesn’t need any more upgrades because it comes stock ready to go (which is more than I can say for the G19), with better ergos, and I have bought 2 sets of spare parts for things that will likely go wrong (recoil spring, etc) with money I would’ve spent probably upgrading the glock trigger and extractor (if you have the BTF problem some have had with the gen 3 onward). Lets be honest, we will never have a prolonged SHTF situation where you will need more than 2 sets of spare parts, and if we do…god help us all
If your left handed or hate finger grooves get the gen 5
Otherwise it’s a toss up…personally I think the grip texture on the gen 1-3 is a joke.
I’d reccomend the gen 4 or 5
If you do go with the 23 keep in mind the gen 3 does have issues with weapon mounted lights
Agreed, I’m already vested in Gen3 so that’s what I stick with for that reason. As much as I’d prefer for mine to not have finger grooves, I can live with them. The nice thing about Gen3 apart from having a light rail is the compatibility spanning from Gen1-3. As far as I know mags are the only interchangeable item on the pistol between Gen3 to Gen4. Since you don’t have a Glock at all, like others have suggested try out the Gen5 to see if you like the non-finger groove grip. Personally I would much rather have it that way if I could. While it isn’t earth-shattering the Gen5 does has a several improvements users have been vocal about for some time. I’m surprised they didn’t incorporate that into the Gen4 to be honest.
This pretty much sums it up for me. I never even considered a Glock until I got to look over the gen-4. I’m still not “into them” but this may change if I like the gen-5 AND it proves to be solid.