NRA Carry Guard attendees are getting a preview of the Gen 5 GLOCK 17 and 19 pistols today in the Wisconsin Center. I got a chance to handle it and the lack of the finger grooves make the gun feel…great. Really good, actually. The ‘forcing your fingers into slightly unaligned grooves’ sensation is totally gone.

As far as the internals go, mechanically the gun is “like the 43,” according to GLOCK’s Gene Hacker. And, using the tiny 9mm’s bar-like safety plunger gives it that slightly crisper, slightly heavier action that the 43 has in comparison with my Gen 3 GLOCKs.

It will also be available with optional AmeriGlo night sights featuring an orange dotted front sight and will be fully backward-compatible with previous generation magazines as well. A slightly beveled magazine well makes mag insertion a little smoother, but this isn’t one of those Rooney Gun wells that flares out dramatically. The standard Gen 4 texturing remains.

As an aside, there are no plans to release a GLOCK with an MHS-style thumb safety. That was a one-off deal for the Army’s MHS proposal and GLOCK continues to believe in the efficacy of its “Safe Action” system.

The Gen 5 17 and 19 pistols are the only ones currently in production, and will hit the stores on August 30, with a premium of about $60 over standard GLOCK MSRPs. There won’t be an MOS version Gen 5 immediately available, and no word on if/when other models and calibers will be given the Gen 5 treatment. Stay tuned.

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34 COMMENTS

    • THEY couldn’t have made this release any more underwhelming if they tried.

      Any one of these could have bumped this into something special, as standard or optional features-

      -manual safety (they already developed and tested this)
      -make the finger grooves 1 of 2 changeable front straps and end this stupid debate forever
      -metal sights, or night sights with glowing U rear site, that would have been cool
      -front serrations, they literally JUST released this on the limited gen 4s
      -make the extended slide stop that everyone adds standard
      -a de cocker button on the back or something
      -ADD A REAL M1913 RAIL

      This is what I have been expecting for years from a gen 5. We got a gen3 with a finger groove grinder job.

      • Welly you’ll just have to wait 6 years for the Gen 5.5 to get those interchangeable front straps and rear U notch night sight and then the Gen 6 a year later with the manual safety and other stuff.

        But I agree with a lot of what you said. I’d like all those features myself.

  2. Some people have stated that they already bought them, at stores involved with the introduction. #Glockreveal, and all of that.

  3. So all these internal improvements, and still so ugly.
    Not a hater, just saying that after 5 generations you could spruce the looks up a little.

    • Looks are the last thing on my mind. Then again the looks (or the finger grooves) never bothered me as much as other people.

    • No argument there. Maybe future generation Glocks will match the Walther PPQ’s trigger. Or not.

    • This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ and way overpriced!!

  9. Nope.
    I’ve resisted the urge to jump on the Glock Bandwagon my whole life and now its a matter of personal honor to continue to be a pig-headed Ruger Nerd about it.
    The closest I’ll get is to admit that I might (might) keep one or two specific models if someone simply walked up an gave them to me (models 30 and 43).

  10. I’ve heard that Glock will only be releasing the 19 and 17 in Gen 5 flavor, but I wonder if that just means “for now”. Ill admit I like the changes aside from the half moon cutout at the bottom front of the grip. I’m sure its fine in 9mm, but I had a Gen 2 G23 with the same cut out that tore up my fingers with the higher recoil when firing.

  11. According to some hearsay, the VP of Glock told people to “keep an eye out” for the MHS. So for what that’s worth. I’ll end up getting one after a while.

  12. I like it, it has evolved from my 1986 G17, which I still have, into a more polished pistol. I am a Glockophile, and a Glock armorer. I like the simplicity of its design and function… I am at about 17 Glocks in my collection; form follows function…I wish they undercut the trigger guard a bit more but love going back to the Gen 2 grip in rtf

  14. Dang! 5 generations later and it’s still a Glock. Do you think they’ll ever get it right?

  15. I’ve learned that buying a Glock brand new is a waste of money. I won’t be buying any of these Gen 5’s new unless they come out with a 10mm with standard rifled barrel.

  17. Had the chance to shoot the G5 17 today… so disappointed. It’s a fabulous gun, but the Gen4s are no less fabulous. Yes, the tapered nose and nixed finger grooves are a big plus! HOWEVER, several G5 improvements backfired in my hands:

    –The magwell did little to make mag insertion better BECAUSE the mag lips are thicker, i.e. it’s nearly the same magwell dimensions as on a G2-G4, just less fragile.
    –The magwell is a joke when it comes to concealment. GLOCK just took the hardest part of a gun to conceal and turned it into a blunderbuss.
    –The magwell SLOWED reloads by forcing me to palm only the bottom of the magazine and deliberately avoid sliding onto the grip. Rather than reloading and assuming a two-handed pose in one fluid motion, I had to (A) slap mag (vertical thrust) then (B) bring my hand around to rest on my dominant (horizontal arc).
    —-NO, SERIOUSLY! My palm is red from being pinched all afternoon.
    —-CONSIDER: If you can re-learn how to quickly insert a mag in the new magwell, you could just have easily adapted your technique to the old magwell!

    –The longer spring did tame recoil almost imperceptibly BUT certainly no better than swapping a 40 cal RSA for the OEM part in your G4 17/19.

    –The barrel is what I’d call “poly-plus”, a nice tight polygon with little beads of rifling running down the grooves. Is this conventional rifling? NO. Does this eat poorly lubed lead bullets like conventional rifling? NO. Is this a significant improvement over yesterday’s poly barrels that kills some of the need for an aftermarket? NO.

    –The trigger sucks. Actually, it’s pretty good for some purposes but costs you your freedom. If you have the hand strength of a child and insist that a PPQ is an ideal duty weapon, the Gen5 is a step in the right direction. If you’re too lazy to experiment with $25 shipped in aftermarket components, ibid. If you’re an average Joe who thinks life is precious enough to use a NY1 leaf spring on your carry gun, you’re SOL.

    I could go on at some length. End of the matter: that nicely contoured nose and retextured grip cost you compatibility with the following parts: barrel, slide, RSA, frame, locking block, safety, and likely every component tied to the weapon’s action.

    GLOCK JUST JUMPED THE SHARK! This is a brand new gun, not a refinement of perfection.

  19. when and where can I go to a store and fondle a new Gen 5 G26! Simple question as Glock knows when , where, and the cost. Please advise. Love my gen 4 g26 and have been impressed with the drop I 9 mil ported barrel! Thanks for you fast response.

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