Gen3 is an abbreviated way to convey that a product is in its third generation and has undergone two revisions since its initial introduction. In our world, when somebody says Gen3 they’re almost always referencing the GLOCK pistol. GLOCK has seen Gens 2 through 5 models. And now there’s the V series iteration that has recently come to market.
Thanks to the incredible popularity of the GLOCK pistol, the term Gen3 has become synonymous with GLOCKs, more so than any other product our industry has produced.
That’s an enviable position to be in. But it’s an issue of concern. Not for GLOCK…the company has designed its Gen3 models, manufactured them, services them, and pretty much dominated sales with them for many years.
No, the issue arises when other companies use the term Gen3 to describe their product as compatible with a GLOCK pistol or OEM GLOCK Gen3 components.
Aftermarket parts makers—and often those who sell them—adopt the Gen3 nomenclature to market their products to GLOCK owners. The same is true for gun makers that have rolled out clones of Gen3 models. More than a few describe their product as a Gen3-like pistol.
A good friend had one such pistol—from a maker whose name isn’t GLOCK—and confidently declared that it was a Gen 3-based model and thus Gen3 parts would work in it.
Spoiler alert: He had issues.
Here’s where the problem lies. GLOCK makes — or made — the Gen3 pistol. Only GLOCK knows what the exact specs are for the Gen3. They know all the tolerances. They alone know the QC process to confirm which parts are in spec and which are not.
Everybody else? Not so much.
The aftermarket parts non-compatibility issue popped up once again, this time documented in a video and post on LinkedIn by Hannah Hannah, who also goes by The Tactical Stylist. I’d ignore the comments unless you enjoy reading endless opinions on what she did wrong from men who carry a gun, shoot a gun, own a gun, have seen a gun in a movie, or have ever used the word gun in conversation.
What happened was that her gun had an uncommanded discharge while re-holstering during practice. Insert your own hackneyed P320 joke here, but this wasn’t one of their guns. It wasn’t a GLOCK, either.
The pistol in question is a Shadow Systems MR920. But that’s not the issue, either. The pistol was outfitted with a Timney trigger…and that, in and of itself, wasn’t the issue either. The issue is that the Timney trigger isn’t designed to work in the MR920 but was installed anyway.
Due to wear and the incompatibility of the Timney Trigger in the MR920, the trigger mechanism broke, resulting in the catastrophic failure of the pistol discharging. As a result, the striker releases when the trigger resets.
Hannah reached out to Timney after her gunsmith diagnosed the issue and showed where the breakage occurred. In the video, she shares the positive experience she had with Timney. In an email back to her, Timney’s customer service explained that
…although Shadow Systems pistols are based on the GLOCK Gen3 platform, the sear housing at the rear of the frame is proprietary to Shadow Systems.
Timney further explains . . .
Our sear housing is engineered to fit and function only with OEM GLOCK components. While some users have found creative workarounds to make our trigger operate in a Shadow Systems pistol, that’s not its intended application.
You can read the full text, which she posted in the description of the posted video.
As for how the Timney trigger kit found its way into her MR920, it’s that ol’ Gen3 stamp of approval. If you use the term Gen3, it automatically means it works. Right? Well, that’s what she experienced when she was told the Timney Gen3 trigger kit would work in the Shadow Systems MR920 because it’s designed for the Gen3 GLOCK.
Her story—as embarrassing as it might be—is an important lesson for others. Just because the person on the other side of the gun counter says the magic phrase ‘Gen3’ doesn’t meant it will work. Only GLOCK guns and factory parts are truly Gen3. Everything else is pretty close at best—and maybe only close at worst.
No matter how much you like a particular gun or component that’s marketed as Gen3 compatible, you have no clue what specs the manufacturer designed around. You don’t even know if they have actual engineers doing the designing. And more importantly, you don’t know how well they QC their parts—or if they do at all.
The size of the GLOCK market fostered one of the largest aftermarket ecosystems in the firearms industry. It generates a lot of revenue, and it doesn’t take much to enter that aftermarket beyond a checkbook and somebody to sell you their machined parts under your label.
The next time someone tells you their product is Gen3 or fits Gen3 clone pistols, heed Hannah’s advice and do some research. You might not be as fortunate as she was and walk off the range (relatively) unscathed when you find out your Gen3 isn’t really Gen3 at all.