The Top 5 Most Popular Glock Pistols
A lot has changed since the first Glock pistols were introduced more than 40 years ago. The world’s population has just about doubled since then. Gas was $1.22 per gallon; minimum wage was $3.35 per hour. One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is that people simply cannot stop talking about Glock pistols.
When the company emerged in the 1980s, the guns were the talk of the town because of their innovative three-part Safe Action system and non-fiberglass reinforced polymer frame. Quite simply, no one had ever done anything like that before. There were early adopters who jumped aboard the bandwagon and saw the benefits of Glock’s design as the way of the future. Plenty more, however, were hesitant to embrace a “plastic gun.”
With four decades of hindsight, we know that the guns aren’t plastic (the entire slide and barrel are metal), they’re easy to use, are incredibly reliable, and that striker-fired guns have eclipsed revolvers and single-action pistols.
Everyone is still talking about Glock pistols, so here’s a rundown of the top five most popular Glock pistols the company offers today.
Glock 19
Introduced a few years after the flagship Glock 17, the Glock 19 is what they refer to as “the all-around talent” in the company’s lineup.
Essentially just a more compact version of the Glock 17, the Glock 19 has a 4.02” barrel that’s about half an inch shorter and at 7.36” in length, is almost three-quarters of an inch shorter overall. Aside from that, they’re pretty much the same gun. The Glock 19 weighs 30.16 ounces with a loaded magazine, which holds 15 rounds of 9mm Luger ammo. That number has essentially become the benchmark for a standard capacity 9mm magazine.
The Glock 19 has proven itself to be the industry standard when it comes to semi-automatic pistols used for law enforcement and concealed carry. A large number of law enforcement departments throughout the United States (and plenty of other countries, too) carry the Glock 19. Undoubtedly, more than any other semi-automatic pistol on the market today. If you ask a concealed carrier what they’re packing and they’re willing to answer you, I’d be willing to bet that a large portion of them have a Glock 19 in their holster. If they don’t currently, they probably have had one at some point in the past.
Glock 17
The Glock 17 is the gun that started it all for inventor Gaston Glock in 1982. In an era dominated by steel revolvers and single-action pistols, the polymer-frame striker-fired Glock 17 was a bit of an odd duck, but it turned out to be an absolute gamechanger.
Holding 17 rounds of 9mm Luger in the magazine, the Glock 17 is a full-size pistol. It has a 4.49” barrel, is 8.03” in overall length, and weighs 32.28 ounces with a full magazine. That’s a few ounces less than the weight of the most common unloaded revolvers of the day. Law enforcement officers would have to carry two extra speed loaders to equal the same capacity of just one Glock 17 magazine.
Even though it’s considered a full-size pistol, plenty of people still carry a Glock 17 concealed every day - and they manage to do it comfortably.
Glock 43X
Models with an X in the name boast a combination of features from different models, but they are not always interchangeable. Things can get a bit confusing, but the key takeaway here is that Glock listened to their customers and built the gun that they wanted.
The Glock 43X is a slimmer, subcompact single-stack pistol that has a higher magazine capacity and a longer grip frame (similar to the Glock 48) that makes it easier to hold and shoot compared to some of the company’s previous offerings. The 43X is similar to the 43 except it has a longer and thicker grip to accommodate a single-stack magazine capacity of 10 rounds of 9mm Luger. The Glock 43 was designed as a slimline version of the subcompact Glock 26, with the former holding six rounds and the latter holding 10 rounds.
Overall length of the Glock 43X is 6.50” with an overall height of just 5.04”, which makes for a nice, small pistol that doesn’t sacrifice capacity for comfort.
Glock 26
Essentially, Glock made the revolver back-up gun obsolete by introducing the subcompact Glock 26. Back-up guns were often small-frame, snub-nose revolvers, and the Glock 26 was designed to be similar in size and weight but with more firepower. Sporting a 3.43” barrel and coming in at just 4.17” tall and 1.26” wide, the Glock 26 weighs 25.75 ounces with a magazine loaded with 10 rounds of 9mm Luger.
The result is a gun that has a barrel that’s at least 1” longer than a standard snub-nose revolver, which means better ballistics and accuracy, and standard capacity that is double that of the five- or six-shot revolvers it was designed to compete against.
It’s safe to say that the subcompact revolution is complete, as I don’t know of any officer who still carries a snub-nose revolver for back-up. It’s just impossible to argue against the 10-round magazine capacity if you’re in a situation where you have to resort to the back-up gun.
Glock 45
The nomenclature used for Glock models can be a bit confusing. Case in point: the Glock 45 is chambered in 9mm Luger, not .45 ACP. (The Glock 21 is in .45.)
The Glock 45 is considered a compact pistol, featuring a 7.44” slide, which is just one-tenth of an inch longer than that of a Glock 19, with a 5.47” overall height, which is the same as a Glock 17. Essentially, the Glock 45 marries a compact slide with a full-size frame to create a compact crossover pistol that can hold 17 rounds of 9mm Luger ammo.
Equipped with a flared magazine well and front cocking serrations for easier reloads and better manipulation, these are features that the Glock 45 offered standard long before the newest Gen5 pistols incorporated them.
Truly Unique
Everyone has tried to replicate the secret sauce that Gaston Glock created. With more than 80 different variations available in five different frame sizes and eight different caliber options, it’s safe to say that the Glock pistol is a simple design that is often imitated but never duplicated.
Even though Gaston Glock is gone, his name and the pistols that bear it are here to stay forever. The Glock 19, Glock 17, Glock 43X, Glock 26, and Glock 45 are just a small sample of models that stand as a testament to ingenuity.
