The 9mm Glock 19 has a long track record for being a well made and a highly reliable pistol. It is essentially a compact version of the Glock 17 and retains that pistol’s world famous reliability. In overall length, height and barrel length, the Glock 19 is 0.5 inches shorter than its big brother. It has the same slide mass and most of its 35 parts are interchangeable with the Glock 17. The parts that are obviously not interchangeable are the slide, frame, barrel, locking block, recoil spring, guide rod and slide lock spring. Standard capacity is 15 rounds in a double-column magazine. You can also buy 17-round magazines with an extended floor plate. While Glock 17 magazines will work in the Glock 19, the magazine will extended below the grip.

A high-impact polymer framed pistol, the Glock design is that of a short recoil operated Browning system. Lockup is tight with almost no noticeable movement between the slide and barrel. The barrel locks to the slide in the ejection port, similar to SIG Sauer P-series pistols.

You won’t have to worry about hammer bite. There is no hammer. The pistol is striker-fired. There is no manually operated thumb safety or decocking lever. The “Safe Action” trigger system provides a safety using a wide outer trigger with a smaller spring-loaded inner trigger. The gun will not fire unless the inner trigger is pressed flush with the outer trigger. The spring-loaded firing pin safety in the slide blocks forward movement of the striker. It is disengaged by the trigger bar as the trigger is pulled to the rear. Before the trigger is pulled, the firing pin spring was already lightly compressed when the striker was cocked. Full compression of the firing pin spring takes place when the trigger is pulled to the rear. Removal of pressure on the trigger before the firing pin spring is fully compressed will return the firing pin spring to light compression. Continued pressure, however, moves the firing pin fully to the rear and fully compresses the firing pin spring. The trigger bar is moved to its final rearward position in a stepped safety notch so that it is free to drop away from the connector and release the firing pin (which fires the round). The connector also serves as a disconnector. As the slide returns to battery the connector is pushed away from the trigger bar to prevent another round from being fired (until the trigger is released enough for reset and pulled again).

The slide is CNC milled from solid bar stock and a very hard Tenifer finished. This finish is as good or better than stainless steel and more corrosion-resistant than hard-chrome.

The hammer-forged barrel has Hexagonal rifling with a right hand twist of one turn in 9.84 inches. Compared to traditional lands and grooves rifling, Hexagonal rifling is intended to provide a better gas seal, produces more consistent velocity and be easier to maintain.

Both the large ejection port and the large claw extractor in the slide greatly enhance the pistol’s functional reliability. Tension on the extractor is provided by a spring-loaded plunger.

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Ergonomics

At 7.4 inches long, 1.18 inches wide, 5 inches high and a 4 inch barrel, the Glock 19 is a little smaller than a Colt Commander. Even though the Glock 19 uses a high capacity magazine, the grip fits normal-sized hands well and there are no separate grip panels adding width. However, because the Glock 19 is a high-capacity gun holding more rounds, it is noticeably wider than the Commander. The Glock 19 is 23 ounces with an empty magazine inserted.

For many shooters, the Glock 19 has a comfortable grip. The grip angle of the 19 is the same as that of the 17 and is noticeably steeper than other pistols. The front of the trigger guard, front strap and rear strap are serrated. The front strap is finger grooved.

With Trijicon night sights, you get a clear sight picture in both normal and low light conditions. The sight picture appears as three green dots and are aligned when the dots are in an evenly spaced row. Although the sights are well regulated for elevation, the rear sight can be drifted for windage. Sight radius of the 19 is 6 inches.

The trigger is very consistent and breaks at 5 pounds. There is a short take-up, but no noticeable creep and very little over-travel.

Field Stripping the Glock 19

You’ll notice that, while somewhat different, the Glock is relatively easy to disassemble for cleaning. Make sure the gun is unloaded. Remove the magazine. After you have verified that the chamber is empty (and not before then), pull the trigger. Wrap the four fingers of the right hand over the slide from the right side with the thumb wrapped around the rear of the frame and retract the slide about an 1/8 of an inch. If you retract it too far, you will reactivate the trigger and will need to pull the trigger again. Pull the slide lock downward with the thumb and index finger of the left hand. While the slide lock is down, push the slide forward. The slide can now be taken off the frame. Remove the recoil guide and spring. Remove the barrel. The pistol is now field stripped and ready for cleaning. To disassemble the magazine, squeeze the side walls at the base and slide off the floor-plate.

Shooting the Glock 19

Shooting was done at The Indoor Shooting Company in Tampa, Florida. Five round strings were fired at 7 yards unsupported on a 1 inch circle target. Group size averaged 1.4 inches with Winchester, 115gr FMJ ammunition. Point shooting (meat on metal) at 3 yards produced lethal hits. The polymer frame soaks up felt recoil and the muzzle heavy pistol quickly comes back on target. There were no malfunctions of any kind.

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Critical Items

As with any bottom feeder, make sure that the magazine is always fully seated and the catch is positively engaged, otherwise you’ll likely experience feeding problems when the slide attempts to strip off the next round.

New magazines will drop free from the Glock 19, however, after some use, they may set with a bulge and require removal by hand.

The new-in-box Glock 19 with Trijicon night sights I purchased was not so “perfect” out of the box. The first problem I noticed after getting the gun home was the front Trijicon night sight. When I got it in a low light area, I realized it was completely dead. The next problem I encountered… the rear Trijicon sight was set too far right in the dovetail. This is how the gun came from the factory and I can only imagine that it must have been built on a Friday.

Fortunately I was able to handle both of the problems without the need to ship the gun off. I installed a replacement front sight and adjusted the rear sight for windage. Good thing I had a sight tool onhand, the local dealer doesn’t seem to be interested in helping its customers beyond the initial sale.

Conclusion

The Glock 19 is a very good pistol with better than average shootability. It is compact, light weight and easy to shoot making it well suited for concealed carry. It is easily appendix carried in a IWB holster with shirt un-tucked.

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