I’ll start this off with a disclaimer for my friends who aren’t yet ready to jump with both feet on the Glock bandwagon. There are very few guns that I dislike, and as I teach in the firearms classes that I teach, the very best brand of gun in the world is the one at your disposal when you’re in a gunfight. If it goes bang when you pull the trigger, and shoots straight.
I own Glocks, I own HKs, and I will own a Sig when my piggy bank gets full again, and that list can go on and on. The weapon I have chosen to carry as my duty sidearm, however, is a Glock Gen 5 Model 45 MOS. For those not familiar, it is a 9mm, and I use that caliber with all my work guns. Yes, it feels like a box in my hand, but it’s a box I have grown to love and count on.
I have had it for almost three years now and have run a few thousand rounds through it and it’s never let me down. It’s dead on accurate, no credit to the stock Glock sights, which are absolutely horrible. I run a Holosun 407C optic, which is also a workhorse that has taken a beating and has never required adjusting.
I chose the Glock 45 because I liked the shorter barrel of the Glock 19 with the full grip and magazine capacity of the Glock 17 as I thought I would use it to carry concealed as well as my exposed holster duty weapon. The boxy Glock grip prints no matter what I put it in or how I try to stow it so I use my subcompact Glock 43X or my full frame HK VP9 for concealed carry as they work far better for that purpose.
The flared magwell was also a positive addition, as Glock mags can be a challenge to load into the gun under stress. I was completely satisfied with my Model 45 until I ran across this video the other day, and I saw the shooter pull off a reported 200-yard shot with the Glock 47 he was reviewing. The only difference between the Model 45 and 47 is the barrel length. The 45 comes stock with a 4.02-inch barrel, and the 47 barrel is 4.49 inches long, making it 1.5 ounces heavier as well.
I can consistently make accurate hits at 100 yards with my Glock 45, but this guy stretched it out to twice that distance. You wouldn’t think that half an inch of barrel would make that much of a difference, but being easily convinced to buy yet another firearm, I am certain that I “need” the Glock 47 now and have moved it to the number one spot on my list of next gun purchases.
