GLOCK’S SAFE ACTION DESIGN

The G17 hit the streets at a time where manual safety devices on handguns were the norm. Glock’s Plastic Fantastics had no manual safeties, but that didn’t mean they were unsafe. Glock refers to their pistols as the Glock Safe Action Pistol referencing the three built-in independent safety devices.

Trigger Safety

The trigger safety is that famous little doohickey that sits in the middle of the trigger. Your finger presses the trigger safety as you pull the trigger so without activating the trigger safety, the trigger cannot be pulled.

Firing Pin Safety

The firing pin safety blocks the firing pin from moving forward when the striker is cocked. As the trigger is pulled, the trigger bar pushes the firing pin safety up and out of the way. If you release the trigger before firing, the firing pin safety automatically falls back into place.

The Drop Safety

The drop safety is a device that does exactly what you think. If you drop the gun it ensures it cannot fire. As you pull the trigger the trigger bar lowers down the safety ramp and allows the firing pin to release.

A GENERATIONAL THING

Glock is currently in its fifth generation. New generations arrive as Glock makes changes, both external and internal. There’s no timeline on when Glock generations end or begin, they’re improved upon as need be.

The release of a new generation doesn’t always mean earlier generations are disappearing. Often new and older Glock generations are produced side by side.

There are also guns that exist outside of Glock’s defined generations. Some weapons are all over the place and may lack the generational signifiers used to determine which generation a weapon is. Some guns are also split generations, which is most common between the Gen 2 and Gen 3 guns. Glock aficionados often refer to them as Gen 2.5 guns.

GLOCK GENERATIONS 101

Here’s a rundown of the Glock Generations:

Gen 1 – The first Glocks ever on the market. Plain and simple: they’re guns that work. The Gen 1 is made up entirely of one gun, the Glock 17.

Gen 2 – Glock added various sizes and calibers with Gen 2 models. A metal plate with the serial number was inserted, the guide rod system became a single-piece design, checkering was added to the front and rear of the grip, and the magazine baseplate was changed.

Some Gen 2 guns have Picatinny rails, and these are typically called Gen 2.5 guns.

Gen 3 – The third generation is where rails became a standard option on guns large than subcompacts. The grip has finger grooves added, and scallops cut into the left and right side of the frame that acted as thumb rests.

Internal changes included a cross pin above the trigger pin to ease stress on the locking block. The extractor also now stood up when the chamber was loaded and acted as a loaded chamber indicator.

Gen 4 – With the Gen 4, Glock made the pistol grip slightly smaller and added a modular backstrap system to change the size of the grip. The grip was also more aggressively textured, and the magazine release was made reversible for lefties.

The Gen 4 also incorporated a dual spring recoil rod assembly that reduces felt recoil. Gen 4 was also the introduction of MOS guns that allowed for easy optics mounting.

Gen 5 – The newest Glock generation is Gen 5. These guns saw the removal of finger grooves, the magazine well is flared for quicker reloads, a high relief cut is made to the trigger guard for a higher grip, and the slide lock is now ambidextrous.
Additionally, Glock added a new match grade barrel to the guns, and the cross pin above the trigger guard has also been removed.