Glock 19- Small Enough to Hide, Big enough to Fight.

   Small Enough to Hide, Big Enough to Fight

    To me, that phrase sums up the Glock 19. 15 rounds of 9mm in a considerably small package makes for a decent sized concealed carry weapon. My wife found it a little weighty and hard to hide in more feminine clothing, but definitely do-able. I find that the gun disappears in a Crossbreed SuperTuck holster. On my first line battle-rattle, the Glock 19 is very light compared to most "combat" handguns. Its short pistol grip makes for a little bit harder draw, especially off a war belt. The short 15 round magazines are also a little difficult to index and grab from "one size fits all" type MOLLE pouches. Ill break down the weapon in more detail after the jump.

The Weapon-

   The Glock 19 is a 9mm "compact" frame. I put that in quotations, because to me it doesn't really fit in the compact gun category. I picked up this pistol when I first got turned on to the Glock. I had always been a 1911 fan, and loved the .45 caliber round. However, the 1911 is a big, heavy gun that only carries 8 plus 1 usually. When I went into the local gun shop, there were no full sized Glocks. I ended up with the G19, which worked out well.

    The G19 weighs in at less than a pound and a half empty. If you handle it empty, it will feel slightly off balance, due to the very light polymer frame and the upper. The magazine holds 15... or 10 rounds in less gun friendly areas of the US. The nice thing is, this pistol will also use the magazines from the full size Glock 17. This allows you to interchange magazines, or carry larger magazines that are easier to index from MOLLE or Kydex magazine pouches. That includes 30+ round magazines that are meant for the select fire G18. Definitely not what the 19 was meant to carry, but on the range, it makes for a fun time without a lot of reloading.

The Good-

1. Reliability- The Glock has not changed a whole lot since the early 80's when it was introduced. In that time, military and police forces all over the world have adopted this pistol. The Glock 19 is definitely not meant to be a tight bullseye type competition gun... It is a fighting pistol to the core. It is perfectly capable of solid combat accurate shooting, and it will do it dirty. I have put multiple hundreds of rounds through the G19 without any hindrance to performance.

2. Simplicity- The G19 is very simple to break down. Field stripping the weapon takes very little time, but a little bit of dexterity. You have to hit a takedown lever on each side of the frame and push down, while pushing back on the slide, then you pull the trigger and let the slide go forward off of the frame. It isn't as easy as an M9, but it is a hell of a lot easier than a 1911 and takes no tools like the M&P9.
   Once you twist your hands around the weapon and get it apart, you can easily take the recoil spring and barrel out of the slide. Too easy. Wipe it down, then put it back together and throw on the slide.

   

3. Size- As the title says, this pistol is almost perfectly sized to pull double duty. As a concealed carry piece, it is far better than the current trend towards "pocket pistols." Those certainly have their place as deep cover or back up pieces, but not every situation where you have to draw your concealed carry weapon is the standard close quarters, non moving target. Just look at the current trend of active shooters. One day you may have to engage a real threat that is moving and shooting, and this gun is up to the task. You can get a full grip on it, even with gorilla hands like mine.The sight radius is long enough to give you combat accurate shots, and the magazine holds the same amount as the full sized M9 Beretta, the current sidearm of our Armed Forces. Glock did a great job of balancing size and weight with fighting ability and ergonomics. "Small enough to hide, big enough to fight."

The Bad-

There isn't a lot of bad points to the Glock 19 that I haven't hit yet. It is difficult for me to find bad things to talk about on this weapon. I am not Glock fanboy at all, but they make a solid, no frills fighting pistol. There are two reasonably solid issues I have with my G19.
 1- The Sights- Definitely not the best stock sights ever, but certainly not the worst. The "ball and bucket" sights are not high-speed bullseye shooters. However, the sights are enough to make combat accurate hits. They are also made out of plastic, and there is evidence that they can be easily broken, especially if you must use the rear sight to operate the slide in a one handed reload drill. (You are practicing that, right?) This issue can be solved with aftermarket sights.

2-The Trigger- The trigger on the Glock was a huge turnoff for me at first. The trigger is the primary safety system of the weapon, and the only one of the three you actually touch. On the trigger there is a safety lever that you must push before the rest of the trigger will move. Written down, it sounds complicated, but it won't affect your trigger squeeze much. The trigger is set at 5.5 lbs, but can be adjusted up and down with aftermarket parts. Again, the G19 was never meant to be a bullseye shooter. It isn't a 1911, but it is sufficient for a fighting weapon.

 I forsee adding more Glock pistols to my personal collection in the future, starting with a full sized G17. Anytime someone asks me "What pistol should I start with?" the first answer is to try a G19. If it isn't comfortable in your hand, try something else, but at least give it an honest try.

In this man's opinion, the Glock 19 is a fine pistol that will serve you well as concealed carry peice you can count on in a fight.

-Kyle
17AUG2012