RANGE REPORT: GLOCK 17 GEN 4

Allright folks, I know that it has been a while… You folks do want your Turkey correct? Christmas Ham?  And the Professor wants his Broccoli, plus he got 40K pounds of Cauliflower delivered to Hunters Point… I survived that delivery… Somehow…

Which brings us to the subject of this post. Which is, basically Combat Tupperware! Yes, both Fred and Neil will grunt at this. ( My way of being polite about people passing gas!)

Gaston Glock came into the firearms business completely from the outside. His 17th try was a success to put it mildly. That became the Glock 17. It is the most popular handgun in the world, period. I have owned a Glock 20 for many years, and it is still my go to gun should a “social situation” arise. Yes, I still love my 1911 types and styles. and the 45ACP is indeed a well proved man stopper. Including Moro’s and crazed Muslims of all genre’s stoned on whatever…

So why a 9mm Paraballium? Because, if you shoot straight it works. At least according to Navy Seals, Army Rangers, Air Force PJ’s, and? United States Marine Force Recon Operators. It works. That said they all prefer a 45…

All this aside… I received my new in the box Glock 17 generation 4 pistol, and was impressed. My G20 came in the all too familiar plastic box that was, and is a chore to open. The 17’s box has two easy to open snaps! Gads! It comes with 2 extra magazines! And some gizmos… Grip modifiers… Okay… Sights are not the TRU GLO’s, but appear more than usable…

Reliability is always job one when it comes to defensive weaponry, and I have never seen a single Glock that didn’t digest anything in the proper caliber. So, just to be sure, for this test I picked up a variety of ammunition. From the cheap green box Remington to Hornady‘s Zombie killer loads. Bullet weights ranged from 90 grain Talon HP’s to 124 grain bullets of various styles. Let’s get this out of the way from the beginning. There were no malfunctions of any type, period. Federal Hydra Shok’s were used for a “Hot Gun” test where I burned through three complete magazines in under twenty seconds, and, again, no malfunctions.

The Gen 4 comes with a few gadgets that may make your life on the range easier. There are different grips that can be fitted to the pistol so that you have a better functional grip. The set that came already mounted fit my hands nearly perfect for target shooting. However, during simulated stress firing the point of impact seemed a bit high. To that end I will be trying out different combinations of grip panels and back straps at a later date.

I also acquired a Lone Wolf Match barrel for it in order to run a short test of Polygonal verses Land and Grove rifling. Which we can get out-of-the-way in a hurry! Until I moved out to twenty-five yards (75 feet) and fired from the bench there was little or no difference. However, from that range there was a pronounced improvement using the Lone Wolf barrel. On a standard B-20 target the stock polygonal barrel made kill zone hits using 115 as well as 124 grain offerings. Shots from the Lone Wolf barrel were all ten and “X” rings. Need I say more? At least if you are an accuracy freak like me!

The Gen 4 came with a very good trigger, and I seriously doubt that I will be replacing it anytime in the near future. Muzzle flip was, well? Almost non-existent. The sights are great right out of the box. The pistols low weight and flat profile make it a great carry pistol, and I would recommend it for those that have such needs or desires.

All in all I highly recommend this pistol. It is reliable, accurate, and reasonably priced. A must buy? Does a 9mm exist in that category? Not in my book, however, I know that the caliber has many fans. Now, I am waiting for Glock to bring out offerings with all the nice updates in 45 ACP, and 10mm Auto!

 

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