G45 Crossover Pistol

Glock 45 9mm Luger

The Glock 45 is fast from concealed carry. The action allows a trained shooter to make fast hits, and the piece is reliable. We especially like the bright front-dot sight.

The Glock G45 9mm was introduced less than a week prior to our obtaining the pistol. The Glock 45 is basically a variant of the Glock 19 but with significant differences related to the sights, slide, and features. This pistol is a Generation 5 with the recoil rod and spring changes, dual slide lock, and other Gen5 improvements. Older trigger parts will not fit the Gen5, and neither will existing aftermarket triggers. (God help anyone with an aftermarket trigger or 3.5-pound disconnect in a service or personal defense handgun.) The Glock presently holds over 75% of the American police market. Glock developed the Glock 19X for military sales, but it did not win the contract. American law enforcement has expressed an interest in the short-slide long-grip pistol but wanted a black gun, not a coyote brown one.

 

Glock 45 slide serrations

The Glock 45 features the same grip as the Glock 17, but it has the Glock 19 slide. We liked the forward cocking serrations.

 

The Glock 45 features the Gen5 grip with aggressive checkering and no finger grooves. The Glock 45 features the new Marksman barrel, a modified polygonal rifled tube. The fit of the new barrel seems tighter compared to several Gen4 Glock pistols on hand. The pistol features forward cocking serrations. They worked as well as the Beretta APX’s, although the Beretta had greater breadth to catch when the hand is moving and sweating. The cocking serrations are superior to the SIG P320-M17, in our view. The pistol is supplied with the same type of grip inserts as other Gen5 Glock pistols. The Glock 19X is supplied with three magazines, including two with grip extensions, making the pistol a 19-shooter. The Glock 45 is supplied with three 17-round magazines. We are not shooting against the Glock 19X, but the differences should be understood.

 

Glock 45 sights

The Glock’s front post sight is visible. We liked the combination of front and rear tritium sights.

 

The Glock 19X also featured a grip cut-out that made for easy clearing of a stuck magazine. The 19X arrangement was found to pinch fingers when speed loads were executed, at least for some shooters. The Gun Testscrew did not experience this problem when testing the 19X or with the similarly configured SIG P320-M17. The Glock 45 is configured to meet the consumer’s need. The magazine well is flared. This works well in practice, and the Glock 45 was at least equal to the SIG P320-M17 9mm in speed loads.

 

Glock g45 9mm Luger

Some of the raters used an inexpensive new holster from Uncle Mike’s. This ITW style worked well enough.

 

The Glock sights are excellent, at least as good as the SIG in slow fire and superior in dim light. These sights feature two green dots in the rear and a bright-orange dot around a tritium roundel in the front. The rear sight is configured to make racking the slide possible by butting the rear sight into the belt or boot heel. A combination of a good sight picture for daylight shooting and excellent visibility in dim-light shooting earned the highest rating for sights.

The Glock trigger in the Gen5 is upgraded from previous Glock pistols, and the parts do not interchange. The trigger spring now compresses rather than stretches, and there are differences in the ambidextrous slide stop. The trigger feels different than original Glock triggers up to the Gen4. The new trigger is tighter and is crisper than the Gen4. How much real difference this makes is debatable, but there is a discernible difference to shooters who have used the Glock.

 

Glock 45 9mm Luger

The raters tested the pistol in a Werkz IWB during the combat drills. It allowed for a clean draw and presentation.

 

In common with the Glock 19X, the Glock 45’s long Glock 17-size handle and short slide makes for fast work. The Glock short slide clears leather quickly and smoothly. Combat-firing tests confirmed our initial impressions. The pistol is fast on target and proved capable on the firing range. All polymer-frame pistols are slide heavy to an extent, but the Glock 45 pistol gave good results. The SIG P320-M17 was more neutral, the Beretta APX similar to the Glock.

 

Glock 45 9mm Luger

Take down is straightforward and standard Glock. The new Marksman barrel proved accurate.

 

The Glock pistol gave the best combat results by a margin. The Beretta 92 was superior once we got past the long double-action first shot, but for speed to a first shot hit and overall combat ability, the Glock 45 won the test. The Beretta APX was very close. The SIG, we felt, did well but was limited by the 6.5-pound trigger action. Fired from the bench, the Glock 45 performed well, but its five-shot groups were overall less accurate than the Beretta and generally equal to the SIG.

Our Team Said: We liked the Glock 45. There is really nothing to change and no drawbacks. This is a combat pistol well worth its price.

 

 

guntests

Originally Published in January 2019


2 comments

  • I have been using my G45 at Steel Challenges and Steel Knock-downs for the past 6 months. I have used Winchester White Box 115, Federal Syntech 124 and 150, as well as Montana Gold IFP 121 @ 1050 fps.
    I have had NO failure at all after breaking in with 200 rounds of white box. The pistol handles extremely well out of my Safari Holster.
    Accuracy is better than any out of the box Gen 2 or 3 I have owned. Great Job Glock

    Frederick Michel
  • With military discount, whats the price? On the glock 45 gen 5

    Tony Cameron

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