Glock is the most popular pistol brand used by law enforcement officers in the USA. The next most popular brand is a distant second and is consistently losing market share. After holding and operating the new generation 6 Glocks this past week at Shot Show in Las Vegas, I suspect that market share will continue broaden significantly.
Historically speaking, Glock has been very conservative with design changes and understandably so. When your product defines the standard for durability and reliability, and is trusted by countless professional gunfighters, you typically avoid broad sweeping changes. The old axiom “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” defines the approach Glock has taken, and they have earned some harsh criticism for what some have characterized as not being responsive enough to market demand.
Glock has been listening, and the new Generation 6 line reveals some significant improvements over previous generations. The first thing I noticed was the grip. Glocks are known for feeling like you are holding a box in your hand. The new grip is ergonomically curved to fit your hand, and the beavertail is more pronounced, so the gun fits into the natural shape of your hand now rather than being something you hang onto.
The grip stippling is more agressive which assures a more solid grip, and the slide serrations are cut deeper, allowing for easier gripping and actuating of the slide. The mag release is also easier to activate, reducing potential delays during stressful magazine changes.
The trigger group, in my opinion, was where the most remarkable improvements to this pistol were made. There are two things every Glock owner wants to change when they buy a new gun. The fixed sights and the trigger group. I run an optic on my duty pistol (Glock model 45 9mm Gen5), so the fixed sights are not a concern. The stock Glock trigger, however, could be smoother, but it’s not legal to swap out stock parts on your duty pistol in the State of Florida.
This new Generation 6 trigger is significantly improved. The overall trigger travel distance is much shorter, as is the distance to reset. A shorter trigger pull means less movement on the gun and greater accuracy. The trigger itself has a flat face, and the overall difference in how this trigger performs alone is justification for buying this gun.
The generation 6 Glock is available now in Model 17, 19, and 45, all in 9mm.
Check with Shawn at Firearmguy.com, as he has some on order and should have them in stock very soon.
I will be ordering the Glock model 17.
Adding a Holosun 507C red dot optic.
I will order 4 working magazines and 3 training magazines – magazines are designed to be under tension, so I like to keep my duty magazines filled all the time and just for duty use. I use a separate group of magazines for training.
I will order 4 of the Shield Arms magazine extensions for my duty magazines.
I will order a Streamlight TLR1 light.
