EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: It's a Gen 5 Glock through and through, and it shoots .22LR. If you shoot Glocks you need one of these.
Exterior: The G44 is a G19 sized handgun that shoots .22LR. Externally it is the same dimensions. A holster that will fit the G19 will also fit the G44. It weighs half what the G19 weighs. The top half of the slide is plastic, but the bottom half is metal. The grip frame is the same as G19. The gun ships with the same set of backstraps as the G19. It appears that Glock builds it rather than subbing it out to Umarex or somebody, as the Georgia proof marks are present.
Sights: The sights appear to be the same as the OEM plastic sights on all Glocks, but the rear sight is adjustable for windage and elevation with a small jeweler's type screwdriver. The gun was sighted in from the factory and no adjustment was needed.
Inside: The grip frame uses the same parts as the G19 except there is no Browning-style cam block. The usual Gen 5 dual recoil spring is present. The gun field strips like any other Glock. The barrel is not fixed to the frame as with virtually all other blowback .22s, but neither does it function as a Browning locked breech short recoil action.
Magazines: The gun ships with two magazines. The magazines are the same external size as G19 magazines and will fit in a magazine carrier designed for G19 or G17 magazines. They are actually so close a fit that a G19 magazine will fit into the G44 and lock in, and will even lock the slide back when manually operated. They are stoutly made of plastic. There is no inner steel lining as with all other Glock mags. On either side is an assist attached to the follower so the follower can be gripped and pulled down for loading, similar to many other .22 magazine designs. Capacity is limited to ten rounds; Glock apparently opted for reliability over higher capacity. This is fine as the gun is not intended for duty or self-defense use.
Firing: The gun ships with the familiar copper anti-seize grease applied. No cleaning or additional lubrication was performed prior to or during firing, other than a patch was run through the bore to ensure no obstruction. Ammunition was:
Winchester Wildcat 40 grain high velocity bulk
CCI Blazer 40 grain high velocity
Aguila Super Extra 40 grain high velocity
Approximately 400 rounds were fired. The trigger feels like other Glock triggers. Recoil is light (it is a .22 after all) but gives a satisfying snap and a little muzzle flip. Ejection is positive. It appears that any functioning problems with the original release have been worked out. No malfunctions were experienced with the Aguila and the CCI. Two problems occurred with the Winchester Wildcat. The first was a dud round well struck by the firing pin. The second was a stovepipe. I'm blaming both on the Wildcat bulk ammo. Accuracy was acceptable at seven yards. Most of the shots were flash-sight fired, about one every second. This yielded a fist sized group which accords with results obtained from the G17 and G19 under the same conditions. After 400 rounds with no cleaning or lubrication, the gun cycled as well as when it was first fired.
Impressions: This was amazing fun. It was easy to stand there grinning and burn through ammo. If I weren't under time constraint, I could have burned up a whole brick. The G44 has the same relationship to the centerfire Glocks as my Smith 15-22 does to the M4. It is an accurate replica where all the controls function as on the real gun. The G44 allows for .22LR training and plinking in an accurate representation of the real thing. The only quibble is that Glock could have somehow made the weights more similar, perhaps by putting a lead weight in the airspace between the magazine and the backstrap?
Everybody that shoots AR needs a 15-22, and all Glockheads need a G44. It's that much fun.
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Originally Posted by Firefly
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