The Glock 19 Gen 6 Might Finally Be the Glock I’ve Been Waiting For

I've owned a lot of Glock 19s over the years.

Gen 3s. Later generations. Different configurations. Different builds.

At one point, the Glock 19 was one of those guns that seemed to constantly rotate through my collection.

Today?

I own one.

And interestingly enough, it's a Gen 3 Glock 19 that's been completely customized.

That probably tells you everything you need to know about my relationship with Glock.

I never stopped respecting the Glock 19. It's one of the most proven, supported, and influential handguns ever produced.

But after Gen 3?

I just wasn't particularly excited anymore.

Gen 4 came.

Gen 5 came.

There were improvements, sure.

But nothing made me look at my existing Glock and think:

"I need the new one."

Then Glock introduced Gen 6.

And for the first time in a long time, I'm actually paying attention.

Because when you look at what Glock changed, something becomes very obvious:

A lot of Gen 6 looks like Glock finally started doing from the factory what enthusiasts have been paying custom shops to do to Gen 3, Gen 4, and Gen 5 pistols for years.

And that makes this generation much more interesting.

My Glock 19 History Probably Explains My Gen 6 Interest

I've had multiple Glock 19s.

But over time, as other platforms entered the collection, the Glocks slowly disappeared.

The one that survived is my Gen 3.

But it's not exactly a stock Gen 3 anymore.

It's completely customized.

And that's historically been one of the great things about Glock.

You didn't necessarily buy a Glock because it had every feature you wanted.

You bought the foundation.

Then you made it yours.

Grip work.

Stippling.

Undercuts.

Triggers.

Slides.

Optics cuts.

Serrations.

Sights.

Magwells.

Controls.

By the time some enthusiasts finished customizing their Glock, the only thing still Glock about it might have been the serial number.

I'm exaggerating.

Kind of.

But that's also why Gen 6 caught my attention.

Glock seems to have looked at what shooters were already doing and said:

Maybe we should just build some of that into the gun.

Look at the Gen 6 Frame

This is probably the biggest example.

Glock's Gen 6 frame now includes a redesigned grip geometry with a palm swell, enlarged beavertail, RTF6 grip texture, extended textured thumb-rest area, and an undercut trigger guard.

Think about that list for a second.

How many Gen 3 through Gen 5 Glocks have gone to custom shops specifically for some combination of those things?

A higher undercut?

Extremely common.

More aggressive grip texture?

Absolutely.

Stippling?

Obviously.

Additional texture for the support hand?

Yep.

Grip reshaping?

Yep.

Beavertail modifications?

Also common.

Those aren't strange boutique modifications.

They're things Glock enthusiasts have been doing for years.

And now Glock is incorporating many of those concepts directly into the factory frame.

That's exactly the kind of generational change I've wanted to see.

The Undercut Might Sound Small—Until You've Paid for One

Anyone who has had custom Glock frame work done probably understands this immediately.

An undercut trigger guard doesn't sound exciting on a specification sheet.

But it can completely change how the pistol feels.

It lets you establish a higher grip.

It can improve comfort.

It can change how naturally the gun indexes in your hand.

And most importantly, it's something shooters have routinely paid someone else to do.

Now Gen 6 has it from the factory.

That's a theme you're going to notice throughout this gun.

Better Texture—Again, Something We Were Already Doing

Factory Glock texture has improved over the generations.

But custom stippling became almost its own industry because shooters wanted more.

More traction.

More texture.

More coverage.

Better contact with the support hand.

Gen 6 introduces Glock's new RTF6 texture, and that texture extends into new areas including the thumb rest.

That's important because modern pistol shooting puts a lot of emphasis on support-hand engagement.

We're not just holding onto the front and back strap anymore.

Shooters are deliberately building grip pressure around the entire frame.

So seeing Glock texture those additional contact areas tells me they're paying attention to how enthusiasts actually shoot these guns.

And Glock Finally Put a Flat-Faced Trigger on It

Here's another modification Glock owners have been making forever:

The trigger.

Entire companies exist because Glock owners want different triggers.

Different shoes.

Different geometry.

Different pull characteristics.

Different resets.

Different aesthetics.

Gen 6 now comes standard with a flat-faced trigger while retaining Glock's Safe Action system.

Is that going to eliminate the Glock aftermarket trigger industry?

Of course not.

We're gun people.

We'll find something to change.

But once again, Glock is addressing something many owners previously changed almost immediately after buying the pistol.

That's progress.

The New Optics System Might Be Even More Important

Then there's the new Gen 6 optic-ready system.

This may actually be one of the most important changes.

Glock MOS helped move factory optic-ready pistols into the mainstream, but the MOS plate system was never universally loved.

A lot of shooters ended up replacing plates, using aftermarket mounting solutions, or sending slides out for direct milling.

Again:

Custom work.

Gen 6 moves to a redesigned optic-ready system where Glock provides three adapter plates and compatible optics mount through a much lower system integrated into the slide.

That matters because pistol optics aren't niche anymore.

They're mainstream.

For many enthusiasts, putting a red dot on a handgun isn't an upgrade.

It's part of setting up the gun.

Glock finally seems to be treating it that way.

Even the Serrations Got Attention

Gen 6 also gets deeper, angled slide serrations designed to provide more usable surface engagement during manipulations.

Again, think about the aftermarket.

How many custom Glock slides have been sold with aggressive front and rear serrations?

How many factory slides have been sent out for machining?

Exactly.

This is what makes Gen 6 different to me.

None of these features individually reinvent the Glock.

Collectively, though?

They start looking suspiciously like a list of modifications Glock enthusiasts have been requesting from custom shops for the last decade.

That's Why Gen 6 Feels Different From Gen 4 and Gen 5

Gen 5 absolutely improved the Glock platform.

Glock removed the finger grooves, added a flared magwell, introduced the Marksman Barrel, made internal changes, and added ambidextrous controls.

Those were worthwhile improvements.

But personally, they weren't enough to pull me back in.

I didn't look at a Gen 5 Glock 19 and feel like I needed to replace my Gen 3.

My custom Gen 3 already solved most of the things I cared about.

That's the challenge Glock created for itself.

The aftermarket became so good at improving Glock pistols that Glock wasn't only competing against other manufacturers.

Glock was competing against customized Glocks.

Gen 6 feels like Glock finally recognized that.

The Question Isn't Whether the Glock 19 Is Good

We already know the Glock 19 formula works.

That's not really the question anymore.

The question is whether Glock has done enough to make enthusiasts excited about buying a factory Glock again.

Because the handgun market surrounding Glock has changed dramatically.

Today you can buy pistols with excellent grip texture, optic-ready slides, aggressive undercuts, flat triggers, modular grip systems, compensators, ports, oversized controls, and enhanced ergonomics directly from the manufacturer.

The industry took a lot of the things Glock owners were doing themselves and started including them from the factory.

Gen 6 feels like Glock's response.

And I Think the Glock 19 Is the One I Want

Glock launched Gen 6 in the U.S. with three familiar 9mm models:

Glock 17 Gen 6

Glock 19 Gen 6

Glock 45 Gen 6

The 17 gives you the traditional full-size Glock configuration.

The 45 combines the shorter slide with the full-size grip.

And then there's the Glock 19.

For me, that's still the interesting one.

The G19 has always been that do-everything Glock.

Carry gun.

Range gun.

Training gun.

Competition gun if you want it to be.

Home-defense gun.

Project gun.

It's big enough to shoot well and small enough to actually carry.

And because I've owned so many Glock 19s over the years, the Gen 6 G19 is also the one I can compare most directly to everything that came before it.

Brownells Has the Gen 6 Lineup

And if you're already looking at Gen 6, Brownells has the Glock Gen 6 lineup available, including the G17, G19, and G45.

That's also a pretty logical place to look at these guns because Brownells has always been particularly relevant to Glock owners.

Think about what happens immediately after buying a Glock.

You start looking at optics.

Magazines.

Sights.

Holsters.

Parts.

Tools.

Maybe eventually triggers or other upgrades.

Brownells has been deeply connected to that Glock aftermarket ecosystem for years—including its own Glock-compatible slides and an enormous selection of supporting parts.

And that's actually going to make Gen 6 interesting in another way.

How much aftermarket work does it still need?

Because that's the question I really want answered.

Can I Leave a Gen 6 Glock 19 Alone?

This might be the greatest challenge I've ever presented myself.

Buy a Glock...

And don't immediately change everything.

With my older Glock 19s, modifications were almost expected.

The grip could be better.

The trigger could be better.

The slide could be cut.

The serrations could be better.

The frame could use an undercut.

The texture could be improved.

So we changed them.

Now Glock has addressed a surprising amount of that themselves.

Which means my biggest question about the Glock 19 Gen 6 isn't reliability.

It's Glock.

I'm pretty comfortable assuming it's going to work.

My question is:

How much of it am I going to want to change?

If I can put a dot on a factory Gen 6 Glock 19, shoot it, compete with it, train with it, and genuinely not feel compelled to immediately send the frame and slide to a custom shop...

That's a big deal.

I'll Be Putting That to the Test Soon

And this won't just be a spec-sheet discussion for long.

I'll be reviewing the Glock 19 Gen 6 soon, and I'm especially interested in comparing it against the other pistols I actually spend time shooting.

That's where this gets more useful for me.

I don't want to evaluate the Gen 6 in a vacuum and simply ask whether it's better than an older Glock.

I want to know how it feels next to the other platforms that have pulled me away from Glock over the years.

How does the grip compare?

How does the trigger feel?

How quickly do I find the dot?

How does it track?

How does it feel during transitions and reloads?

And maybe most importantly:

Does it make me want to keep shooting it?

Because there's an important distinction here.

I can appreciate everything Glock has improved with Gen 6 without suddenly deciding Glock is my preferred pistol platform again.

Those aren't the same thing.

I may shoot the Gen 6 G19 and still prefer something else in my collection.

I may still prefer a 2011-style pistol.

I may prefer something compensated or ported.

I may simply prefer the ergonomics or shooting characteristics of another platform.

And that's okay.

A firearm doesn't have to become my favorite for me to recognize that the manufacturer made meaningful improvements.

If Glock has legitimately addressed many of the things enthusiasts have spent years modifying, that deserves credit whether or not the Gen 6 replaces anything in my personal lineup.

Maybe Gen 6 Is Glock Catching Up to Glock Owners

That's ultimately why I'm excited about this generation.

The Glock 19 Gen 6 doesn't appear revolutionary because Glock invented a bunch of things nobody has ever seen before.

It's almost the opposite.

Glock finally incorporated many of the things its most enthusiastic customers have already proven they want.

Better grip geometry.

More texture.

An undercut.

A better beavertail.

Support-hand contact areas.

A flat trigger.

A more modern optic mounting system.

Better slide manipulation surfaces.

Those are the kinds of things we've been paying custom shops to add to Gen 3, Gen 4, and Gen 5 guns for years.

And coming from someone who owned multiple Glock 19s, eventually kept only one heavily customized Gen 3, and really hasn't been excited about a new generation since...

That's enough to make me want to shoot a Glock 19 again.

Whether it makes me a Glock guy again?

We'll see.

And that's exactly why I'm looking forward to the review.