Help with accurizing a Glock 19

[jpmuscle]

The coin trick was born from revolver use. It works for them. I’ve done it.

It’s not always about you


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[Firefly]

It’s not always about you


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Every time you say that to me, it makes the Baby Yoda cry

[RWH24]

Always used this in trigger control with students. It checks their tendency to snatch the trigger.

[jmoore]

My guess is the gun just isn't for you. Sometimes it happens.

This.

When I got my P320 back from the drop safety recall work, I was amazed!!! A striker fired pistol that approached the accuracy of my 1911s!!!!!! The trigger was FANTASTIC!!!!! People have told me many different ways to improve my shooting of the Glock - none worked. There IS a design issue. Not a defect, but an issue. Some of us cannot shoot a Glock even though we can accurately shoot just about any other handgun on the planet. I personally think it is a combination of the trigger mechanics and the grip shape. Others will obviously disagree.
Yes, dry fire and practice will improve accuracy somewhat - but some of us just can’t reach the level that we desire. YMMV

geezer john

[Magsz]

There is currently a thread on another forum where people are gushing about how amazing Glocks are and how the design lends itself so well to intuitive shooting via the grip angle, trigger etc.

I read the thread and chuckled to myself. There is nothing ergonomic about the Glock. The way in which the grip angle interfaces with the trigger is friggin awful. There are so many more guns that offer a better human to machine interface.

People get way too invested in wanting to like equipment that they tend to lie to themselves. Can you make a Glock work well? Absolutely. Is it harder to do than other guns with better ergonomics? Yes, I believe so.

[Firefly]

I shoot glocks solely because they work. There are more comfy pistols but the Glock will bring you back. Glock or HK.

I never bought into the ergos. I just want things that work.

[Magsz]

I shoot glocks solely because they work. There are more comfy pistols but the Glock will bring you back. Glock or HK.

I never bought into the ergos. I just want things that work.

I agree with you.

My counter point is that there are plenty of other pistols out there that also work.

[Gunnar da Wolf]

Personally I don’t like Glocks. I saw too many growing pains over the years as an LEO. But I’ve never seen a Glock that wasn’t accurate enough. I had a rookie show up with and fail the qual course with a G27 and started blaming the gun. I loaded 10 in the magazine, went prone and put them all thru the center of the head on a TQ-21 at 25 yards. My wife wanted a G19 so I bought her one. First outing with it I obliterated the little picture of the target in the corner of the actual target at 10 yards.

Now that I’m old and those pesky sights are getting hard to see, I guess a G19 MOS is in my future as the most economic way to get into RDS pistols. Dammit!

[elephantrider]

Back to OP's question(s)
Glocks can be quite accurate, but that accuracy can be very ammunition dependent, and also assumes everything else is going right with the shooter (i.e. grip, trigger, and sights are being managed correctly). Your Glocks are very different pistols from your STI 1911 and much less forgiving to shoot, primarily because of the trigger design of the Glock (lots of movement in the mechanism before, during, and after the break). Yes, Gen4 Glocks are typically more accurate than Gen3s, and Gen5s are typically more so than Gen4s, BUT the fore mentioned ammo caveat is going to still apply. I have produced a sub 2" 10 shot group at 25 yards with a stock barreled Gen3 Glock 34. I had to use a shooting rest and this was with just ONE of the premium ammo types that I tried, but the mechanical accuracy was there with that particular load. Good results can be produced at 25 yards with a Glock, but you will have to do your part in setting up your gun, selecting ammo, and your own shooting skills. A 1" 25 yard group like a high quality 1911 can achieve is not in the cards.

Targets/distance: 25 feet is too close to correctly evaluate your accuracy. 25 yards is where you want to be. If all of your rounds are touching at a closer distance, you are missing out on the feedback that you would get from a more distant target, and dispersed shot group. A more dispersed shot group shows you where you are making mistakes via bullet holes that are outside the main group. Try a B8, or B8 repair center target on a larger backer.

Sights should be your first change to the gun. It's unlikely that Trijicon HDs are going to give you a fine enough sight picture (big fat front sight) for good accuracy at 25 yards. I prefer Dawson adjustable sights which come with a 0.125" rear notch, and plain black, or fiber optic front sights in .100", .110", or 0.115". 0.115" is about as wide as you can go, and not have the front blade appear wider than a B8 black bullseye at 25 yards. Dawson also has fixed versions of their sight, but you will not get a refined 25 yard zero when you have to drift the rear, or swap the front sight height to achieve this. The wider the front the thinner the light bars are (less error prone) on either side of the rear notch when an 'equal light' front/rear sight alignment is achieved.

Barrel: you may want, or need, to swap to an aftermarket barrel to achieve the accuracy you want. Depending on the ammunition that the stock barrel likes, it may produce the accuracy you want, but you have to test different ammunition, while shooting consistently enough to notice the differences, OR use a physical shooting rest to test ammunitions. Using a rest is probably the best way to check the gun/ammo combo, and also check/adjust zero. If you do this be sure that you have the gun, target, and your sight line level, as you would shooting free style at 25 yards. You don't want to be craning, your neck to achieve an unnatural sight picture. Use a rest, chair, table, hang your target lower than normal, or whatever is needed to accomplish this. Almost no one does this because it is not sexy, and time consuming, but can yield good information.

Aftermarket barrels can yield an accuracy improvement, but also aren't guaranteed to like all types of ammo, and don't make up for using junk ammo. Looking at tests of an assortment of aftermarket barrel/ammo combinations, different aftermarket barrels will also favor certain ammo over others, and each will have it's own favorite (differences in throat style, and rifling), so you'd have to verify different combinations. An aftermarket barrel, can give a slightly tighter fit between the barrel hood, and slide, as well as offer conventional rifling. I've played with a KKM barrel, but now have some of the Brownells barrels, which I like (1/10 conventional rifling, nitride finish, and a slightly tighter drop in fit on my gen3 slides).

Everything else: trigger job, grip/stippling jobs, aftermarket triggers, connectors, etc, can give slight improvements to the shoot-ability of the gun, but aren't deal breakers, or game changers. Cleaning up the internal trigger parts/mechanism, along with a lighter (-) connector can take a lot of the vagueness, and some weigh out of the trigger. Some years back, Grant from G&R Tactical posted a great tutorial on the proper way to do a '$0.25' trigger job, with the proper tools. I purchased the honing stones that he recommended, and follow his method. After that, things like aluminum flat faced triggers can help with trigger feel, but that is really squeezing the last few percentiles of accuracy out of the gun/shooter. I've also had Lane from Cold Bore Customs do some minor grip modification, and 360 stippling, and that makes one of my G17s a whole lot more comfortable, but not necessarily more accurate. I'd settle for some grip tape, if budget, or time were an issue there.

[LewWallace]

Before you put a single penny into a Glock, buy a 1000 case of ammo and work on you trigger press to the point you are able to put rounds into a B8 NRA target in the black center from 21 feet. Work on that trigger press. Far too many people waste way too much money tryiinng to "accurize" their stock Glocks. When you are able to do this, then put decent sights on your Glock. Glock stock sights are crap. But when you master them, then, replace them.