FOG HORN

April, 2016
Twobirds Flying Publication

GLOCK 17 GEN4
The senior citizen keeps getting better

Copyright 2016, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.

GLOCK 17 GEN 4 The senior citizen keeps getting better

2016

GLOCK 17 GEN 4 The senior citizen keeps getting better

By: Sal Palma
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. Its 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.
You can sum up Glock pistols by describing
them as the pinnacle of firepower and
reliability, thats 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.
Theres 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
th
G17 was Glocks 17 International patent. All other pistol
made thereafter follow as numerical sequence; for
example, G18, G19, G20, G21, and G22.

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
pistols 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

Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

GLOCK 17 GEN 4 The senior citizen keeps getting better

other subassembly including the trigger. Heres

the reason why.
The grip serves two important functions. First, it
provides the shooter interface; as such, it needs
to couple to the shooters 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.

2016

designed around your hand. So, my priority is

consistent trigger finger placement. It is in my
experience the more important requirement.
Chances are youll 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.

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

The Glock Gen 4 comes with a small standard

size grip but they also include 4 backstraps
Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

GLOCK 17 GEN 4 The senior citizen keeps getting better

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.

2016

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 its 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.

Moving the magazine release from the left side

to the right supports southpaw shooters. The
Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

GLOCK 17 GEN 4 The senior citizen keeps getting better

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, Ive
yet to find a shooter wholl 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 youre
experiencing muzzle flip on a 9mm full sized
pistol like the Glock 17 try gripping higher on
the grip.

2016

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
theres no reason to expect anything less than
the usual Glock Perfection.
-SP

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 Glocks approach to
mitigate that risk.
Ill add this one thought without reservation.
The Gen 4 enhancements appear to be timed
and target all of the Armys Modular Handgun
System (MHS) stated objectives
Glocks Gen 4 pistols werent always trouble
free and on 7 September 2011 Glock
announced a voluntary recall of all Gen 4 recoil
spring assemblies2

GLOCK Inc. is voluntarily exchanging the recoil spring

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

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 companys commitment to
perfection, we are voluntarily exchanging the existing RSA
in order to ensure our products perform up to GLOCKs
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 1-877745-8523 with your serial number and model number.
Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved