They’re Here: GLOCK Announces Three New Gen6 Pistols

Having never written a review of any of the GLOCK pistols, this is a first for me. Not because I haven’t owned, shot or tried GLOCKs, but because I always considered it pretty much like evaluating a hammer. Whether you wanted a tack hammer, a claw hammer or a heavier framing hammer, they are, after all, hammers. They work if you swing them correctly.

That was always my impression of a GLOCK pistol. It was first, last and foremost, a fighting pistol. Like a Bic pen (Google it), it worked…first time, every time. And like a hammer, it offered functionality, but lacked the appeal that would get me queued up in a media line to get a turn running one of their guns. 

After spending a day with the people of GLOCK, including their most senior leadership from the U.S. and Austria, I have a new respect for the company and found their new Gen6 pistols to be, for lack of a better word, appealing.

For four decades, GLOCK owners, primarily on the civilian side of the market, have used everything from skateboard tape to Dremel tools and woodburning pens to wrap, file and melt their GLOCKs into something that was uniquely (occasionally) or awfully (often) their unique take on what a GLOCK should be. There’s also a much larger-than-cottage-sized clone industry out there offering customized frames, slides, barrels, and sights in every color, flavor or trigger pressure imaginable.

Then, only a few weeks ago, the foundations of GLOCK-world were shaken when it leaked, and then was announced that GLOCK was discontinuing almost all their current pistols and introducing an all-new line. The interwebs went wild. And the rumor mills went to three shifts, speculating on what the company was thinking. 

Speaking with senior GLOCK leadership, the whole thing gobsmacked them. The leak had definitely upset their normal uber-organized plans. 

All of that background is to say that the first models in their new Generation 6 pistol line has been officially announced It’s been in research and development, testing, revision and production planning for years — not weeks — in response to any legislation nor litigation.

GLOCK U.S. and Austria have worked collaboratively on the new generation of guns, making innumerable revisions, modifications and doing extensive testing (40,000 rounds per gun with a variety of US and European ammo brands and types). That level of testing per gun/prototype is a lot of shooting and isn’t unusual for any major gun company’s testing protocols. It’s also an impossible amount of work to accomplish under the rumored rush to produce guns to satisfy either litigation or lawfare threats.

All that having been said, the Gen6 pistols appealed to me. I have always been able to shoot GLOCKs well, I just never really wanted to. They appealed to me as much as the hammers in my toolbox. I knew they worked, but could never see myself buying one because other guns just appealed to me more. Not for performance, for feel.

The new Gen6 pistols, however, have a look and feel that prior models lacked for me. GLOCK has listened to its customers, looked at the marketplace and in their measured and methodical way, they’ve revised their pistols to make them feel like the melted, Dremeled and otherwise customized pistols and myriad clones out there in the marketplace.

In case you were wondering, all prior models will continue to be supported by GLOCK. 

From an improved palm swell (the interchangeable backstraps are still there) to the enlarged beavertail and the new RT6 grip texture (it’s actually a combination of an RTF2 substrate with RTF4), the Gen6 pistols feel good in the hand. It also won’t hurt the feelings of Gen5 owners to know that the new Gen6 guns, despite the changes, will still fit just fine in Gen5 holsters.

Talking with GLOCK executives about the reasons for subtle changes like a flat face trigger, the addition of a pseudo gas pedal forward of the takedown lever, and reduced trigger finger reach (length of pull), they had a simple explanation: helping everyone shooting the Gen6 pistol to better control recoil to be more accurate.

As it they explained to me, “dominate the frame and you can slap the trigger and still stay on target.” I couldn’t agree more. No less than great competition shooter Rob Leatham used to tell me the same thing. 

Gen6, they told me, reflects the company’s guiding principles: Test. Learn. Improve. “We’re slow to change,” one exec explained, “because we don’t beta test into our customer base. Other companies do.”

The listening and responding are obvious from looking at the changes that have been made. The Gen6 guns are, of course, optics-ready with three polymer — yes polymer optic “plates” that allow red dots to screw directly into the slide. Rather than forcing the optic higher over the slide cut. These plates act as a sort of “crush washer,” improving the mount, while keeping the optic lower over the bore. 

This change came in response to owners of the earlier MOS system using a combination of too-long screws and too much torque, causing pressure that affected case extractions. 

After a detailed briefing on the new Gen6 models, we headed to the range to try the new trio (17,19, and 45) for ourselves.

GLOCK’s presentation helped us understand the “why” of changes. Only trigger time conveys whether they mean anything substantive for you. Everyone took full advantage of the opportunity to get behind the guns.

I liked them. With fewer than 150 rounds through each, I found the G17 to be my favorite, but had very acceptable results across the trio. I shoot optic-equipped pistols better than iron sights, and prefer a simple dot to the more complicated options on the variety of open and closed-emitter models that were mounted on the test guns.

But pistol optics are no longer something I consider optional equipment. They make shooting, especially when surrounded by really good shooters, more enjoyable and less frustrating. That means an increased interest in the single ingredient most often missing in most shooters’ toolkits — practice.

The new Gen6 pistols carry an MSRP of $749 regardless of the model, and there’s a fourth model being introduced into the international market, the G49. The new Gen6 models will be hitting stores in the US on December 20.

Our editors are waiting for T&E models for considerably more detailed testing and evaluation and, as always, we’ll keep you posted.