Glock’s 19x is a winner in field test

By R.K. Campbell | Contributing Editor

Glock’s Generation 5 guns are proving successful and ever more interesting. I have fired the Glock 17 and Glock 19 Gen 5 and found each good. My personal favorite, however, is the Glock 19X, a hybrid of the Glock 17 and Glock 19. The 19X indicates that Glock is thinking out of the box. The 19X features a Glock 17 full size frame with the Glock 19 slide and barrel. The Glock 19x retains a full size grip with the short fast handling slide. This makes for a handgun with an excellent grip for control, for a rapid draw stroke, and for superior accuracy potential. But the shorter slide clears leather more quickly and is more maneuverable in most situations.

The Tru Glo combat light is a good combination with the Glock 19X

The Glock 19X was a product of US Army’s recent competition for a new service gun, the Modular Handgun System, which was won by the Sig Sauer P320. The 19X is clearly a reliable and rugged handgun; no need to vet Glock again in that regard.

The Glock 19X has the features of the Generation 5 Glock, including the new Marksman barrel, PVD slide finish, ambidextrous slide stop levers, and a reversible magazine release. The Generation 4 finger grooves have been eliminated. The pistol features the military lanyard loop. The 19X is finished in coyote brown. This makes for a very attractive handgun.

The Glock 19X is controllable with excellent practical accuracy.

The sights are self-luminous iron sights, an important addition. In a day when many makers provide a handgun with a single magazine the Glock 19X is delivered with two 19-round magazines—17 round magazines with the Glock +2 spacer—and a single flush fit 17-round magazine. That is a lot of ammunition on hand. I deploy at least one spare magazine for the carry handgun. This means 36 rounds on tap with the Glock 19x with a spare in my Tulster ammo carrier.

It is true that most personal defense incidents require only a handful of cartridges. But then there is the man that drowned in a creek of an average depth of three feet. The Glock 19X magazine capacity will get you out of a deep creek. The pistol features a 5.7 pound trigger compression. For some reason recent Glock handguns have strayed more toward six pounds or even more. The standard 5.5 pound trigger is ideal for most uses.

The long suit of Glock pistols is reliability.

I have used the Glock 19x extensively for a number of weeks. The Glock doesn’t need my nod for reliability; it has earned a reputation the hard way, through a great deal of use. While hard used Glock .40 caliber models occasionally will exhibit a problem, I have never seen or experienced an unqualified malfunction with the Glock 17 or Glock 19 9mm pistols, nor with the less common 10mm and .45 versions. I have fired most of the commercially available ammunition from our major makers in the Glock 19X. Results have been good. The Glock 19X is more accurate than previous pistols. Glock night sights feature a good sight picture, the trigger is good for accuracy work, and the Marksman barrel seems to do its job well.

Glock supplies four grip inserts, three magazines, a magazine loader and a cleaning brush with the 19X 9mm.

There is no learning curve on this pistol if you have previously fired the Glock. Load, holster, draw, fire, the drill is the same. The firing impulse is the same. When firing the piece the recoil and handling experience was similar to the recoil and handling of the Glock 17 Generation 5 than the Glock 19. I have always thought the Glock 19 was the best balanced Glock as an all-around handgun. The Glock 17, however, may be fired more accurately due to its long sight radius and larger firing grip. The Glock 19X bridges the difference and I was able to fire the pistol as accurately as the Glock 17 Generation 5 on hand.

The pistol is a joy to use and fire and the author has depleted his stores of 9mm ammunition over the last few weeks.

For this GunMag review I stoked the magazines with Black Hills Ammunition’s 115-grain FMJ loads. Affordable, accurate and clean burning is what I look for in practice loads and these are high quality. I fired at man-sized targets at 7, 10, and 15 yards and extended the practice to small targets at 20 to 25 yards. It doesn’t take long to exhaust 200 rounds. The pistol is properly sighted from the factory and accuracy is excellent. Double taps are not difficult and control is positive. I had some difficulty loading the magazines to full capacity, but with the use of the Butler Creek ASAP magazine loader (Universal Double Stack Pistol variant) I was able to endure and avoid overstressing my tendons. This kept me shooting. The texture of the frame aids in control and the trigger is controllable with a rapid reset. I really like this piece.

The author found Tulster holsters and magazine carriers good kit.

The Glock is a combat pistol and the majority of my practice revolves around rapid fire hits and double taps. But absolute accuracy is interesting as well. Recently I have proofed the pistol with three effective and well-designed personal defense loads. Ammunition is critical with the 9mm cartridge. These are formidable choices. The Black Hills Ammunition 115-grain EXP is a fast stepping number that offers high velocity with +P pressure, hence the Extra Power appellation. The load is accurate and the bullet expands quickly. Those living in a true four season climate and facing felons that may be heavily bundled or behind cover will appreciate the Black Hills Ammunition 124 grain +P. This load breaks well over 1,200 fps even from the Glock 19’s shorter barrel. Accuracy is excellent and the balance of expansion and penetration is service grade. Another choice is the Black Hills Ammunition 115-grain +P, using a bonded bullet at 1,300 fps. I am leaning toward the 124-grain +P for my personal use for the balance of expansion and penetration. Using Brownell’s Bullshooters rest I fired these three for accuracy at 25 yards, firing five shot groups. While I had some three-inch groups I also had several two-inch groups which I have never fired with Glock 19 9mm handguns prior to the Generation 5 gun.

Black Hills Ammunition offers first class accuracy reliability and wound potential.

I have carried the pistol in a Tulster appendix holster for some weeks (online at: Tulster.com). This holster offers a sharp draw, good security, and the proper draw angle. I have also adopted the Tulster adjustable tension magazine carrier. This is good kit, professional grade and with a good balance of speed and retention. Available for a variety of handguns these carriers offer good utility for personal defense.

After a thorough evaluation I find the Glock 19X a great handgun. I would not change anything. The pistol is delivered with night sights, which are usually added to Glock pistols by the end user. The frame texture is ideal, there are adjustable back straps included, and the trigger action is controllable and offers good accuracy potential for those that practice. I think the Glock 19X is a winner.