Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Glock 19; finger grooves vs. smooth grip

The 5th gen g19 has reverted to a smooth grip in contrast to the 4th gen grooved grip. I have a g43, which I love and obviously is too small for finger grooves. I am amazed how accurate that gun is.

Any real draw back to getting a 4th Gen with grooves? Just go ahead and get a 5th gen without grooves?

When the finger grooves first came out on the Glocks, I thought they were real hokey. I don't think they add much to it, but I don't think they subtract much, either. Some might, early on in shooting it, feel that they somehow don't feel quite right, and some might like them right off, but after a little shooting, you don't even notice them. I suppose they increase the solidness of the grip somewhat, particularly with wet hands.

I have a G3 with grooves. I don't hate them at all.

1911's don't have them and I shoot that just fine too.

It's probably more personal preference rather than actual performance for a lot of people. I'd not buy a Glock just because it had/didn't have them.

Pick the one that feels best to you. I find that the Gen 4 fits me just right. I think that the "humps" are less pronounced on the Gen 4 than on the Gen 3. Compare the other Gen 5 features as well. Some people do not like the cutout in the front, especially on the 19. I also have concerns with the flared magazine well adding width at a critical CCW printing point. Many have no concerns with either of those points.

I don't even know which one I am shooting anymore, nor do I pay attention to it, gen 2, 3 or 4 all the same to me. When you first get started shooting I think you pay attention to ergo's a lot, after a while you realize all pistols suck equally to your grip.

I prefer the finger grooves. I also dislike the cut out on the front strap of the Gen 5 19. I really preferred an undercut trigger on the Gen 4 19 and with the Gen 5 its a must. Even then I dont know if it will be enough. Perhaps less of an issue if you have smaller hands but I dont like that cut out under my finger. I dont even strip mags from the front, and if I did, Id now have to change my grip to do it. I do like the new finish, bull nosed slide and organge followers though. Not enought to pay more for a Gen5 over the newly discounted Gen4 and even more discounted Gen 3

I handled a 4th Gen and a 5th gen yesterday at the LGS. Having the 43 for a while made the grooves on the 4th gen feel a little foreign and had some concern if a proper grip could happen in a hurry. Maybe I am worrying about nothing. I kinda favor the 4th gen except for that

If for no other reason than "because" you should take a look at the new M&P9 Compact. Same size as the Glock 19, same capacity, and really feels good in the hand.

Only problem with the new M&P is the grip texture is too aggressive, to the point of being abrasive.

I've decided that I like the new texturing. As JeffBird said on another thread, I don't notice the texturing when shooting. It does keep the grip on the gun the same shot after shot which is a good thing. Having said that, I don't carry IWB. I can see where the texturing might abrade the skin a bit. I can find nothing I don't like about the new M&P9, especially the new Compact.

Hawk,

Following up on lastround’s comment, I had a 70 year old woman I am teaching try about a half dozen pistols last week before she went to buy one. She liked the size of the G19 and 2.0, but she thought the texture on the 2.0 hurt her hands just handling it, so she put it down.

She worked with a Gen 3 G19 for a few mags, but was having a bit of challenge with solid control - she has MS, which complicates things. With a gentle nudge and explanation the texture could be smoothed down easily, she tried the 2.0 Compact. She immediately started center punching the target and smiling and having a good time. After 100 rounds, I asked her about the grip texture. She looked surprised and said she forgot about it once she started shooting and had a firm grip. She bought a M&P9 2.0 Compact this week. So, the texture is not an issue. Actually, it really helps with control.

The only negative is the first round is very hard to load by hand in the mag. After that the rest are easy enough.

Overall, I really like it.

I like the grooved models just fine.