What’s with all the hype here for the Glock 19?

[Rockrivr1]

So full disclosure, I own a G19 and it’s a decent handgun. But I’m not getting all the hype here for it. What am I missing?

Just looked. There are 5 of them for sale in the classifieds. Some are demanding a pretty penny for them.

 

[Palladin]

because people think they're 'pre ban" whatever the F that means....
Four Seasons GS doesn't help the matter, as they sell pre 1998 Glocks for outrageous prices....'hey, if they're doing it...I can get 10 grand for my Glock!!"

 

[mikelawtown]

because people think they're 'pre ban" whatever the F that means....
Four Seasons GS doesn't help the matter, as they sell pre 1998 Glocks for outrageous prices....'hey, if they're doing it...I can get 10 grand for my Glock!!"

I was lucky about 20 years ago I bought my first Glock 17 at four seasons with two pre-ban 17 round mags for 499

 

[RumRunner]

I heard the G19 was the holy grail of handguns. Makes you shoot straight and might even protect you while you are sleeping.

 

[1903Collector]

I have a G19 & 17, I have them for two reasons, first my Ruger PCC is set for Glock magazines and second they are two of the most popular handguns in the world, If I ever have to scavenge for mags or parts it shouldn't be too hard to find..Yea I know but that's how my head works these days.

Edit: I'll add that I really don't care for Glocks all that much, I don't shoot them well for some reason, they don't fit my hand naturally like a 1911 does but they do work.

 

[FalArAk]

It's a Glock thing, you wouldn't understand.

 

[Chris M.]

Because something tangible needs to be the quintessential symbol of 'Overrated'. And it does this wonderfully, like in an artform kinda way.

 

[Dench]

The G45 MOS has some hype for it. I haven't seen any new hype for 19s though.

 

[Spartan65]

Because it’s the most popular handgun in the world?

Because parts are easy to come by?

Because it’s reliable?

Because it’s the most customizable handgun?

Because 9mm is the most common handgun cartridge?

Because the dirtier it is the better it shoots? (ok not really but you get it)

 

[M1911]

The Glock 19 simply a damn good gun. Very reliable. Accurate. Easily maintained. And until the release of the P365, it was about as space efficient as you could get — very well packaged.

Does it have downsides? Of course. It has a Glock trigger, which is at best meh. The stock sights are horrid, but easily replaced. The slide release is stupidly small, but the Glock extended slide release is cheap, effective, and easily replaced. The grip texture is a bit slippery, but easily fixed with grip tape.

 

[whatluck]

The G19 is the #1 sold handgun in the world. Ultimate symbol of no frills utilitarianism.

 

[p..]

So full disclosure, I own a G19 and it’s a decent handgun. But I’m not getting all the hype here for it. What am I missing?

Just looked. There are 5 of them for sale in the classifieds. Some are demanding a pretty penny for them.

I think most of it comes down to:
- good reliable tool that has been the most popular of its type sold in the US or close to it for a long time
- they're not on 'the list' here and everyone wants what they can't have especially considering who is telling us we can't have it

 

[s&w3913]

because people think they're 'pre ban" whatever the F that means....
Four Seasons GS doesn't help the matter, as they sell pre 1998 Glocks for outrageous prices....'hey, if they're doing it...I can get 10 grand for my Glock!!"

I want a 1990s Glock 19 to sort of complete my collection of police guns…. Looked on gun broker nope. Super expensive everything Glock is like Nike. I have a 6946 is similar in size to the Glock 19 that was my grandfather’s duty gun. I’ll just stick with that. Unfortunately in Biden’s America it’s super expensive for everything else so my gun buying has gone way down sad

 

[Parker Schreiber]

So full disclosure, I own a G19 and it’s a decent handgun. But I’m not getting all the hype here for it. What am I missing?

I'm not sure I see a whole lot of "hype" or "cheerleading," but if you are a "civilian" you can't buy a Glock from a dealer in Massachusetts without invoking the magic formulae. So people list them here at a premium in hopes of receiving a "convenience/stupidity" premium.

 

[Mark from MA]

G19 hit the right size/capacity marker for most CC people, and was the gold standard for CC for a long time. Im not gonna comment on the stupid prices other than if you pay more than free state for a brand spanking new one your overpaying.

That said....there are better guns out there now, that carry with the same slide length, but much slimmer with the same capacity as the G19 at half the price with the same reliability.

I jettisoned my G19 for two Mossberg MC2C's, one for down south, and one for up here, both with factory Trijicon night sights and still had money left over.

If I carry a Glock it will always be a Glock 17 though, because it can take the same mags for my PCC.

 

[vcman]

Paid 250 for a g23 with 10 mags,good deal(from anather nes member) gun is around 25 year old, will shoot 100 rds soon and see if the frame crack(plastic gun frame that old may not be safe ) if thing work out I'll get a bca .40 to 9mm barrel and turn that into a 9mm glock lol.anyone's here shoot old glock?how them old plastic frame hold up ?

 

[BONESTOCK]

So full disclosure, I own a G19 and it’s a decent handgun. But I’m not getting all the hype here for it. What am I missing?

Just looked. There are 5 of them for sale in the classifieds. Some are demanding a pretty penny for them.

The Glock 19 is simply the end all best defense pistol ever made, bar none. Size shape reliability and capacity put it perfectly in the middle for home defense, concealed carry or even fun at the range.

 

[413dan]

 

[Boghog1]

People in MA seem to think they are unobtainable, hence the ridiculous prices. as for me I'm getting ready to dump mine, been having trigger burs develop, might be time to find a decent smith to look at it and fix it I just hate to dump more money into it.

 

[Individualist]

Also makes for a good HD gun in MA if you have an older version that takes preban 15/17 round mags.

Edit: The above statement is not entirely accurate and I was rightfully called on it. Newer models, 3 and up can use preban mags if they do not have an ambi- or lefty-user (right side) mag release. IMHO I would also not recommend using them on newer models without upgrading the springs and followers out of reliability concerns. Others may disagree. Carry on.

 

[Spartan65]

Also makes for a good HD gun in MA if you have an older version that takes preban 15/17 round mags.

 

[drgrant]

So full disclosure, I own a G19 and it’s a decent handgun. But I’m not getting all the hype here for it. What am I missing?

Up until very recently (past 5 years) it was the only 9mm handgun on the market that had a perfect cross section between not being too large, not being too small, and having 15+ rounds on deck, while not being excessively thick or weighing 900 pounds, while simultaneously not being so light that you can't shoot it fast. There are very few handguns that could really touch that, in all those aspects. Even today with the P365HellcatProwonderAXGshitzenpistols out on the market, it still holds its own relatively well. Up until those kinds of guns started coming out, it was literally the G19, the Caracal-C? (which got recalled and never got made again in that form factorr, afaik) and then CZ finally released the P10-C, which IMHO is about as close to a peer as you get to the G19. Most everything else that tried to compete with the G19, fell short. Unlike most things in life that "try to do multiple things, well" the G19 actually isn't a failure.

I will concede I am biased, and I own like 5 of them. I was relieved not all that long ago when I saw an old TNOutdoors9 video, and noticed he had like 5 of them too. granted I think in a couple cases he had different sights etc on different guns. By hours/days carried, the G19 as a platform for me exceeded everything else. My 43x I've carrried since the end of covid is catching up, but still a long ways off.

It's a thing that "if you know you know" if you don't, then don't feel bad. Glocks, or even 19s dont work for everyone.

ETA: wrt stupid MA prices, that's not really rational and has nothing to do with whether something is good or not. At all.

 

[DW357]

Also makes for a good HD gun in MA if you have an older version that takes preban 15/17 round mags.

I’m not a Glock boy and never owned one but I’m quite sure preban magazines work for any generation glock

 

[Cur]

In a SHTF situation, it'd probably be easy to find ammo, parts, and mags. It's also got a boatload of aftermarket support.

I personally don't own one, but I can see reasons people would. I have been thinking about getting a P80-kind of thing with a better grip and checking them out.

My 2nd handgun as an adult was a G19, and I kept it for a while but didn't like shooting it. (First was a RIA 1911, which while not the best, just worked for me).

 

[greencobra]

for sure the most dependable semi auto pistol ever made arguably. i own many glocks, 5 g19s among them in gen 2,3,4 flavors. i bet my life on glocks, can count on one hand the number of malfunctions with them. i'm the biggest fan boy, gaston designed and made a near perfect firearm. so perfect they can't find any way to improve it except to make a few cosmetic changes every so often to stay in the game. oddly, what we're seeing now is the glocks claim to fame, the hi capacity, is killing it right now because of the tiny gun trend we're seeing. guns are like fashion, there are trends. so now glock is going in the other direction making single stacks. hell, they had one 30 years ago, the 36, and no one wanted it because it was a single and same capacity as a 1911.

what pisses me off is the 2 or 3 "ka booms" of 35 years ago. if you listen to some people, they'd have you think there have been 100's yearly. glock did something on those explosions few gun companies would do. they acknowledged the problem, took responsibility for the problem, knowing what the issue was right away they fixed it. there was humble pie eaten and apologies put out. it made the company better and i'm not sure they had any major malfunctions with their product again. compare that with sigs reaction when their gun went off when dropped. they only sat up and listened when police and the military started to question the pistols. don't know what you're fishing for here. the planet knows the product works...and seriously, in free states it's rather inexpensive also.

 

[LuvDog]

Because it’s a do it all pistol. And if you ever needed to scrounge mags and parts then you’d be more likely to find them for a G19 than most other guns. I wont ever be without one.

 

[Rockrivr1]

for sure the most dependable semi auto pistol ever made arguably. i own many glocks, 5 g19s among them in gen 2,3,4 flavors. i bet my life on glocks, can count on one hand the number of malfunctions with them. i'm the biggest fan boy, gaston designed and made a near perfect firearm. so perfect they can't find any way to improve it except to make a few cosmetic changes every so often to stay in the game. oddly, what we're seeing now is the glocks claim to fame, the hi capacity, is killing it right now because of the tiny gun trend we're seeing. guns are like fashion, there are trends. so now glock is going in the other direction making single stacks. hell, they had one 30 years ago, the 36, and no one wanted it because it was a single and same capacity as a 1911.

what pisses me off is the 2 or 3 "ka booms" of 35 years ago. if you listen to some people, they'd have you think there have been 100's yearly. glock did something on those explosions few gun companies would do. they acknowledged the problem, took responsibility for the problem, knowing what the issue was right away they fixed it. there was humble pie eaten and apologies put out. it made the company better and i'm not sure they had any major malfunctions with their product again. compare that with sigs reaction when their gun went off when dropped. they only sat up and listened when police and the military started to question the pistols. don't know what you're fishing for here. the planet knows the product works...and seriously, in free states it's rather inexpensive also.

I have a G20 in 10mm and before I bought it I read a few posts about it being too powerful for the “unsupported” slide/frame set up. Not my experience but a lot of talk about it right or wrong.

 

[CrackPot]

the G19 is the #1 selling gun that is best at absolutely nothing. g17/g34 are better range guns. g43x is a better CCW. (if we are sticking to glocks).

If we move outside glocks, the glock has the WORST trigger of any striker fired gun being made. It has a horrible grip angle that if you train with optics, you either use glock or you use EVERY OTHER gun made.

So while I sell LOTS of them I own none of them. The only striker fire gun I own and actually shoot is a Canik TP9SFx. They at least know how to make a good trigger out of the box.

 

[drgrant]

what pisses me off is the 2 or 3 "ka booms" of 35 years ago. if you listen to some people, they'd have you think there have been 100's yearly. glock did something on those explosions few gun companies would do. they acknowledged the problem, took responsibility for the problem, knowing what the issue was right away they fixed it. there was humble pie eaten and apologies put out. it made the company better and i'm not sure they had any major malfunctions with their product again.

Lol, well, only kinda. It literally took them until the Gen5 to redesign the G22/23/27 to beef it up a bit, as most of the KBs are in .40, by orders of magnitude. Also in the case of Kabooms you can usually point to some user stupidity (repeatedly rechambering the same round), bad reloading practices, or just plain bad ammunition.

I probably have more Glocks here than avg but I won't play an apologist for some of the shit QC issues they had. The Gen4 rollout by and large was a disaster until about midway through the product line. That said I've probably owned over 25 Glocks, and maybe 4 of them had what I would call significant issues, and out of that 5, like 3 of them were used.

Fast forward to today though and the out-of-box fail rate is stupidly low, possibly even nipping at HK's heels.

 

[M1911]

the G19 is the #1 selling gun that is best at absolutely nothing. g17/g34 are better range guns. g43x is a better CCW. (if we are sticking to glocks).

I have a Glock 43x. While it is indeed slimmer than a Glock 19, in a free state the 19 has better capacity (15 rounds versus 10 rounds). In addition, I find my 19 to be easier to shoot well than my 19. So in colder weather I carry my 19, not my 43x. YMMV.

I think the P365 xl may outclass the 19, but I don’t have any direct experience with it.