New Stuff

Well, I've been on a tear. As I mentioned somewhere else, I bought a new Sig P320. Then I found a Sig P239 in .357 Sig and bought that. Picked it up today. Messed up. The slide doesn't come off the frame easily. It seems to hang sometimes and doesn't want to come off. Other times it comes off. It has improved with some grease, but something still doesn't seem right. Sigs take down so simply and this one isn't.

Then there's the magazines. It came with 2. Both are Sig mags, in .40. Neither will fit in the gun! I tried, the gunstore owner tried - no luck. It became obvious they stuck part way up and any further pressure would only serve to jam them in there so it might be impossible to remove them. Spoke to the guy I bought it from and he said send it back and he'd either fix it or replace it. Fair enough.

Then I'm there and since this is a Glock store (Glock Kreig might be a clue) I asked about the new 19X. He had one. I ended up walking out with it, too. His laughing comment was, "At least you have ONE gun that will shoot."

Seriously, I rather liked the 19X. Among other things it felt like the grip angle had been changed. It wasn't a 1911, but it didn't point up like an anti-aircraft weapon when I grabbed it and pointed. Comes with night sights and 3 mags, 2 of which are 20-rounders. And the obligatory grip replacements for "fit". Can't wait to get back from San Francisco to take these out to the range. (And get the 239 sent out.)

I will be interested to hear how you like that 19X. I've sure heard a lot of good things about it.

If I recall correctly, the 19X is essentially a 19, with a 17 round magazine. I'm sure it will be an outstanding shooter. Maybe enough to convert you from those Sigs to the modern polymer world? Ha ha ha.

For the last year or two, I've been interested in the opposite direction, longer barrel with shorter grip, and lopped off about 1 inch off the grips of a 9mm Glock and a 10mm Glock, to make them more concealable.

The experiments worked, but shooting a short grip handgun definitely takes more practice and more focus on my grip, trigger control, etc. So my guess is that 19X with the longer grip should be pretty easy to shoot well.

I’m expecting it to be VERY easy to shoot. It is, IIRC a 17 frame with a 19 slide - so a lot like a Colt 1911 Commander.

2 of my buddies bought the 19x and really like it. They say it is easy to shoot and shoots well for them.

One other thing. The owner tossed in a $15 part. It's a slightly extended set of take-down what ever they call them. It doesn't stick out the side of the frame BUT it gives you MUCH better purchase on those little critters to take down the weapon. Makes it SO much easier to do. I always hated that part of Glocks. Now it's a piece of cake.

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Umm.... Who are you, and what have you done with Devereaux?

Dev, what happened? I thought you despised all things "Block". Well, whatevah, welcome to the world of Glock: plain, boring, uninspiring, unexciting, unlovable... workable and reliable. You waited to buy the ne plus ultra of the Glock world: Gaston finally removed those stupid finger grooves and improved the trigger substantially.

Congratulations! Let us know any findings. I'm thinking about replacing my Gen 1 G17 with the new Gen 5.

Actually Devereaux died and went to heaven, where he impressed upon St. Peter the need for Glock to “improve” instead of standing upon their “record” The little gizmos are one such improvement. I had a first gen 17 once, and absolutely HATED having to take it down to clean. Now it’s a piece of cake. ALL Glocks should be so. I HATED the finger grooves. Gone, like the 1st gen guns. Decent trigger (like the 1st gen guns). AND they’ve somehow modified the grip so that it doesn’t shoot at low flyiing aircraft when you grab it.

This 19X is actually a nice piece. And it supposedly still has all the reliability of Glock. I may actually get to like this puppy. AND I think I still have some of my old 1st gen magazines with the +2 bottom plug, so I may have me a bunch of magazines. Gotta go look in the safe for those puppies, but I don’t think I sold them or gave them away. They ARE plastic mags so they’ll bulge some, but as range stuff they’ll work me thinks.

?Do you have the 1st gen 17 with the light trigger. I did. MUCH better trigger than subsequent Blocks. I’ve never been a heavy trigger guy. Even my combat/carry guns sport 3.5-4# and toward the 3.5 side. My IPSC guns, to the consternation of the gunsmith that built them, both had 2# triggers - and I never had an ND while competing (or otherwise) with them. LOVE light triggers. I even use to mess with my military-issue 1911’s to have a light trigger.

Yep, my Gen 1 has the light trigger. I wouldn't let the Glock armourer "update" my Glock because he would have put in the 5.5 pound creepy trigger.

I like the Magpul mags for the G17/ G19X. I think they are a bit better, especially when inserting and letting them drop free. They are also about half the price. Never had a failure with Magpul. I've had a Gen 1 mag back split when the plastic failed, so all of my working mags are the Magpuls. In addition, Glock Gen 1-3 mags will not work with the new ambidextrous mag release.

So I think you should keep the 17. You cannot replace it, which makes it a keeper.

Devereaux wrote:So I think you should keep the 17. You cannot replace it, which makes it a keeper.

Yep, I don't sell guns anymore.  I sold two guns decades ago, and regret both. The buyer has a standing "Right of First Refusal" offer in place. His comment; "You were stoopid, I'm not going to be stupid, too."

The 5th Gen has enough improvements to make replacing and retiring the Gen 1 worthwhile.

And Devereaux would have talked to St. Paul, the Patron Saint of Mall Ninjas.

So. Been to the range. BUT first, about the 239

I’ve discovered a bunch of new facts about the 239. Seems it came in .357 Sig back when AND the mags were special to .357 Sig. They had these indents to account for the bottleneck, making the front of the mag narrower for a longer distance back. Then the frame was made to account for this, so the normal .40 mags won’t fit into a .357 Sig gun. AND the .40 round will not fit in a .357 Sig mag. BUT a .357 Sig round WILL fit in a .40 mag. So the first 239 I got was a .357 Sig gun with .40 mags. Doesn’t work. The second gun is a .40 with .40 mags, so they work fine.

Then I went on the internet to find a .357 Sig barrel. Nada. Looked for a while then bit the bullet and bought a BarSto drop-in. Cost me $240 per my card; I had thought it cost me $315, but that’s not the price when the charge came through. So drop-in’s from BarSto need fitting. It ALMOST fit, but it didn’t. First it needed the chamber block to be cut back to fit into the ejection port, which is the modern rear barrel lock-up. Then it needed metal taken off the bottom of the feed ramp to allow the slide to clear the frame block on the way back. Took it to my friend, Eddie the gunsmith. It ended up it was still too tight in the chamber block, allowing about 50% of the rounds to feed properly. I have since taken down a bit more off the front of the block and it seems to function better. Needs a run to the range for verification.

Then there’s this whole mag thing. I’ve scoured the internet but nada. Found a .357 Sig mag on Gun Broker going for $35. Drove the price up to $50 and still didn’t win the auction, and there’s still 4 days left (or there were). Then, just for giggles, I called Sig. Lo and behold, they had just gotten in 2 - .40 mags and 10 - .357 Sig mags. I bought 2 each, at $39 apiece. They are on the way. So I will have 6 mags, 2 in .357 Sig only, and 4 that can go either way. Life is good! Soon as they get here, to the range to try all them, and the barrel, out.

Oh, yeah. The range.

The guns shot as one might expect. The Block was nice. It shot well, just a touch snappy, but 9’s are that way. The 320 was the impressive one. The recoil is definitely lighter. It almost feels like a 9, not a .45. And I was shooting ball ammo. Indeed, it almost felt like the push you get when you shoot black rather than smokeless. It makes shooting the .45 ACP round a LOT easier. You guys need to rent one and try it. You will like it.

Boy, those Block magazines just shoot forever. Especially the extended ones. Just when you think it’s empty, there’s still a couple rounds left. But they feed flawlessly, and the gun shoots reliably and well. I am pleased with the purchase.

GunMagWarehouse - KCI Glock 17 poly 17-rnd mag - $9.

?Any experience. MagPul sami sami size - $16.

Devereaux wrote:GunMagWarehouse - KCI Glock 17 poly 17-rnd mag - $9.

?Any experience. MagPul sami sami size - $16.

In Gen 1, 2 and Gen 4 Glocks, as well as the Ruger PPC, the Magpul GL17 mags have been flawless. I actually prefer them to Glock mags, as they seem to drop out of the gun slightly better. And they are cheaper. I haven't tried the GL21 and GL27 mags, as I'm waiting for Magpul's long rumored GL33/35 round mags.  <Squeeee>

How do you like the KCIs?

Didn’t buy them. Thought before I put cash down perhaps someone had some experience with them. Not being in the Block circles, I knew nothing about them other than that they were cheap. That could translate to good price or bad mag.

?Will ANY G17 mag fit into ANY G17.

My understanding: Because of the Gen 3 and later Glock's ambidextrous mag release capabilities, Gen 1 and 2 mags will not work with a  gun rigged for a left side drop. Other than that, they're all one big happy Block family.  

I have used my Gen 1 mags in my Gen 4 successfully, and versa-vice. The Magpuls work in every Glock 9 I own, save for the Gen 43, of course.

And.... I'm sure you know; you can use G17 mags in the G17L, G19, 19X, 26, 34, etc...

I tried a Gen 5 G17 at the LGP. The trigger is definitely lighter, but nowhere near as crisp as my sainted Gen 1.  Conflicted.

Spent more time at the range today. The P239 is not acting well. First, it sprays all over the paper (couldn't be me). Second I had one non-lock-up in 42 rounds of ammo. I think that the darn barrel is still not properly fitted, so it's spraying. Seems to me it needs a little more addressing with my machinist files.

Meanwhile that P320 keeps shooting so nicely. Best .45 I've shot - eva'.

Been a while but figured I'd chime in. Dev, I would avoid the KCI mags. The ones I have played with seem real sloppy and some are not so great. I also use my glock mags in my 9mm ar Carbine--and the amount of flex/bulge with the KCI's made it so they are very tight fitting in the Carbine. I've found the magpul mags to work much better and be worth the extra couple bucks. I'd take the metal/plastic factory glock mags over either though--they seem to be built better than the straight polymer ones. That said, I also have played around with the clear happy sticks (30 rounders) made by ETS and they seem to work fine in my carbines and handguns.

Dev, have you ever shot a CZ97B? That's my current favorite 45 handgun. I got the pistol at a steal of a deal, and it sure is a sweet shooter.

Sorry about the time to get back to you, Corn. I've been having trouble loading the site for some reason. The browser just sits and scratches. No clue why.

I have handled the 97B and almost bought it but the guy wanted too much money so I passed. Nice piece. I look from time to time, but no great bargains yet. But the weapon was nice. CZ is making quite a name for themselves. Around DC it is apparently THE gun to have for CCW.

That said, I will still claim that you need to shoot a Sig P320 in .45. I expect that because of the size of the round, a 320 in .45 can only put other length "accessories" on. Still, the felt recoil is amazingly light. Feels just about like a 9. Last time I felt that kind of reduced recoil was back in the days I had a Gen 1 Glock 17. I taught a bunch of people to shoot with that weapon. THIS is like that. Go shoot it; you will be amazed.

Dev, so you really like that sig p320 in 45, eh? I may have to see if I can test one out at the range sometime.

Like I said, it’s been a while since I felt this kind of recoil reduction. .45’s are their own kind of shootin’ iron. I love 1911’s, but they have their own challenges to shoot well. This is a gun a beginner can shoot well. And it’s not like a Dessert Eagle, weighing a ton. It’s light yet still absorbs the recoil.

I have to say, initially I thought it was just another striker-fired gun, one of millions coming out. Then I got to shoot one in Charlotte last year and was amazed at the lack of recoil. And in the same session I shot one in 9; recoil was not much different albeit a bit less. But it just made the .45 seem to stick out that much more.

Rent one or get to shoot a friend’s. You will be impressed.

Well, bought a couple G17 mags. They don't fit in the 19X. Seeks the base plate is too long. It can be easily remedied with a saw or Dremel, cutting back the front edge of the base plate. But as they stand, they won't all fit in. You need to look at the label to see if they fit 19X guns.

I am going to try to add the +2 bases and see if they work that way.

Devereaux wrote:Well, bought a couple G17 mags. They don't fit in the 19X. Seeks the base plate is too long.

Wow. That's Glock-level stupidity. If also heard (unverified) that the new G43X and G48 (extended grip, single-stack 9s) mags won't fit the G43. Prompting a heartfelt: WTF?

So I guess Block isn’t so foolproof as it once claimed. This IS stupid. Interestingly the gun comes with 2 mags with +2 bottoms and one normal - which fits fine. Sometimes people are too clever by half.