glock 17 gen4 the senior citizen keeps getting better

FOG HORN April, 2016

Twobirds Flying Publication

Copyright 2016, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.

GLOCK 17 GEN4

The senior citizen keeps getting better

GLOCK 17 GEN 4 – The senior citizen keeps getting better 2016

Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

GLOCK 17 GEN 4 – The senior citizen keeps getting better

By: Sal Palma

You can sum up Glock pistols by describing

them as the pinnacle of firepower and

reliability, that’s the Glock Magic. But, how do

you go from making office furniture, doorknobs,

hinges, knives and entrenching tools to being

one of the leading firearm manufactures in the

world? Collectively nothing, other than

manufacturing experience, but I guess that was

enough and in 1980, after hearing that the

Austrian military was looking to replace the

Walther P38, Gaston Glock assembled a group

of designers and in 1982 he introduced the

Glock 171 9mm pistol. The Austrian military

ultimately placed an order for 25,000 Glock 17

pistols and the rest is history.

There’s no question that Gaston Glock created

an industry; all anyone need do to confirm that

statement is to look at the number of

companies that support Glock pistols. In fact,

1 The Glock 17 got its name not from its 17 round

magazine capacity. Its name comes from the fact that the G17 was Glock’s 17

th International patent. All other pistol

made thereafter follow as numerical sequence; for example, G18, G19, G20, G21, and G22.

there are more ways to accessorize a Glock than

a 57 Chevy. Today, you can find Glock pistols

around the world with military, law

enforcement, and civilians. It’s rare not to find

a Glock pistol in IDPA competitions, 3 Gun

matches and other domestic and international

events. Its simplicity and reliability have led

Glock fans to describe it as the Avtomat

Kalashnikova of pistols.

Compared to its many competitors, Glock made

relatively few changes to its design since

entering the market 34 years ago. In fact, a total

of three changes were made to the Glock pistol

since first introduced in 1982 and most have

been relatively minor - all except for the third,

which created the Gen 4 models in 2011.

The original Glock 17 had a smooth pebble

finish with no thumb recess. In 1989 Glock

launched its Gen 2 models. This generational

change added checkering on the backstrap and

front of the grip with a pebble finish on the side

panels and its objective was to improve the

pistol’s grip. Gen 3 was released in 1997 and

added finger grooves to the front of the grip, an

accessory rail and a thumb recess. In 2011,

Glock introduced its Gen 4 design - by far the

most expansive of prior year enhancements.

Whether discussing revolvers or pistols, grip

ergonomics has always been an issue with

sidearms and by far more important to

controlled and accurate shooting than any



other subassembly including the trigger. Here’s

the reason why.

The grip serves two important functions. First, it

provides the shooter interface; as such, it needs

to couple to the shooter’s hand as tightly as

possible - not any easy task considering the

variety of hand anatomies. The palm of the

hand has two major muscle groups the Thenar

Muscles and the Hypothenar Muscles. The

Thenar Muscles make up what we normally call

the fatty part of the hand and attaches to the

palm and thumb. The Hypothenar Muscles

attach to the palm and the pinky finger. The

grip needs to fit and fill the cavity between

these two muscle groups so that both will act

effectively against the sides of the grip.

Second, the pistol grip needs to facilitate

consistent index finger placement on the trigger

and not all triggers are created equal. For

example, target triggers are best operated with

the tip of the index finger. Duty / service

triggers require that you use more of your

finger normally up to the distal interphalangeal

joint of your index finger.

A grip that fits your hand well provides the

appropriate distance, ensuring that you are

mounting your trigger consistently with every

shot. Trigger control is extremely important and

you want to be sure that you are pulling straight

back on the trigger. Consistent trigger finger

placement is 2/3 of that battle; the balance is

muscle memory from regular training.

In addition to trigger finger placement the grip

should allow you to access all operating

controls like the magazine release and slide

release lever with the thumb of your strong

hand; however, satisfying both requirements is

usually a compromise unless the grip is

designed around your hand. So, my priority is

consistent trigger finger placement. It is in my

experience the more important requirement.

Chances are you’ll need to compromise to

arrive at an acceptable balance. As they say, life

is full of compromises you just have to decide

what best meets your needs.

The Glock Gen 4 comes with a small standard

size grip but they also include 4 backstraps



consisting of one medium and one large with no

beavertail and one medium and one large with

beavertails. The beavertail influences how high

the slide sits in the hand.

In addition to consistency in trigger finger

placement, you also want the pistol to sit as low

in your hand as possible without the slide

coming in contact with your hand during the

ejection cycle. For this review, I tried all four

backstraps and very quickly eliminated the two

with beavertales – the G17 sat too high on my

hand. Of the remaining two backstraps, the

medium produced a consistent trigger finger

placement; in fact, it was so consistent that I

needed to make an effort to mount the trigger

with too little or too much finger. The medium

backstrap was spot on for my hand.

The Gen 4 enhancements also included a

reversible and extended magazine release.

Moving the magazine release from the left side

to the right supports southpaw shooters. The

process is straight forward and well

documented but it does require that you field

strip the pistol. The thing to remember here is

that moving the magazine release to the right

side requires that you use Gen 4 pistol

magazines. If you want to use your existing

Glock magazines you must leave the magazine

release in its original left side position.

The Gen 3 magazines

will have a single notch

and the Gen 4

magazines will have

two notches to

accommodate the

ambidextrous magazine

release.

Continuing with Gen 4

enhancements, Glock appears (this is my

observation and not an official statement) to

have increased the size of the slide release lever

because closing or locking the slide back seems

easier. In retrospect, they may have extended

the slide release slightly so that it’s not as close

to the slide or frame. The Gen 4 slide release

spring is different and not interchangeable with

older generations which could account for the

enhanced accessibility. If you know Glock then

you know that details are sometimes like pulling

teeth.



The most discussed change included in the Gen

4 enhancements is the new dual recoil spring

assembly. This RSA differs from the Gen 3 RSA

and is not interchangeable. The marketing angle

for the change is to soften recoil. However, I’ve

yet to find a shooter who’ll admit to softer

recoil. The 9mm is not a hard recoiling round

and most of the accuracy problems stem from

poor trigger control and a limp-wrist. If you’re

experiencing muzzle flip on a 9mm full sized

pistol like the Glock 17 try gripping higher on

the grip.

So, what could be the engineering angle for a

new Gen 4 RSA? I think it was introduced to

improve frame longevity. The original Glocks,

more specifically high mileage service pistols

like the .40 S&W police guns, suffered from

hairline fractures of the frame. The dual recoil

spring is quite probably Glock’s approach to

mitigate that risk.

I’ll add this one thought without reservation.

The Gen 4 enhancements appear to be timed

and target all of the Army’s Modular Handgun

System (MHS) stated objectives

Glock’s Gen 4 pistols weren’t always trouble

free and on 7 September 2011 Glock

announced a voluntary recall of all Gen 4 recoil

spring assemblies2

2 GLOCK Inc. is voluntarily exchanging the recoil spring

assembly (RSA) on its new Gen4 pistols (with the exception

So, was the Gen 4 necessary or even worth it? I

respond to the affirmative. The extended and

ambidextrous magazine release along with the

interchangeable backstrap and improved grip

texture are significant ergonomic

enhancements over the Gen 3. The Gen 4

launch was not without its issues but it is now

2016 and Glock has addressed all of these, and

there’s no reason to expect anything less than

the usual Glock Perfection.

-SP

of G26 and G27 models). GLOCK has developed a new design to the recoil spring assemblies on its Gen4 pistols to replace several variations that are functioning in the market today. As part of the company’s commitment to perfection, we are voluntarily exchanging the existing RSA in order to ensure our products perform up to GLOCK’s stringent standards. GLOCK is replacing the RSA in all Gen4s sold before July 22, 2011 at no cost. Please complete the following procedure to receive a new RSA. The RSA can safely and simply be swapped out using normal field stripping protocols. If you have additional questions, please contact GLOCK at 1-877-745-8523 with your serial number and model number.

glock 17 gen4 the senior citizen keeps getting better

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