Glock 19X

I have great respect for Glocks but it is difficult for me to get excited about them.  I have been of the opinion that everyone should own a Glock 19 due to their ruggedness, reliability and ease of parts replacement.  However, now I will Include the 19X to my list of components for a standard battery.  If you are unaware, the 19X (or 19X Crossover as Glock sometimes refers to it) the the slide and barrel of a Glock 19 mated to a Glock 17 frame.  Let's take a quick look at the specifications.

Glock 19X Crossover Generation 5 Specifications
Length	7.44 inches
Barrel Length	4.02 inches
Line of Sight	5.94 inches
Width	1.0 inches
Height	5.47 inches
Weight	24.83 ounces
Sights	Glock Night Sights
Finish	Coyote Colored nPVD
Magazines	One 17 round and two 19 round magazines
Our Price	$619.00

I must confess that, when these came out, I thought that Glock's manufacturing group  must have read the work order incorrectly and reversed the concept of the pistol.  I thought it made much more sense to put the longer barrel and slide of the model 17 on the more compact grip frame of the model 19 thereby producing a compact grip for easier concealment along with the longer line of sight and inherent increase in accuracy with the longer barrel.  Apparently though, input from tactical operators (Geez, I hate that phrase)  professed a desire for increased capacity and shorter barrel when maneuvering in tighter spaces.  Thus, the 19X Crossover was born.

Although the 19X is a Gen 5 model there are two differences between the 19X and the Gen 5s that Glock is making for the FBI.  There is no orange colored magazine follower and no flared magazine well.  Although I kind of like the slightly flared magazine well, neither of these omissions are deal breakers for me.

In addition to the specifications in the table above, the 19X includes the standard Gen 5 "Marksman" barrel with enhanced polygonal rifling and a reverse crown to increase accuracy.  Also, a slide stop is present on both the left and right side of the frame making this an ambidextrous handgun.

The finish on the 19X's slide is nPVD.  Standby while I attempt to explain what this is (I'm sure Doc Wesson will correct me if I get this wrong).  PVD stands for Physical Vapor Deposition. Basically this process vaporizes specific materials, such as titanium, chromium or zirconium.  The vaporized materials are then deposited into nitrogen gas to form a thin, but extremely durable, nitride coating.  The PVD coating increases wear resistance, reduces friction and improves the appearance.  I will say this, the slide has a metallic glint to it that definitely gives it a more lively look then the dull finish of most Cerakoted firearms.

One great addition to the 19X is that Glock does not equip it with their usual plastic, disposable sights.  These come with Glock's own night sights with are made from steel.  They are definitely easier to work with than Glock's normal and nominal sighting set-up.  

This Glock also comes with a lanyard loop as requested by most militaries of the world, several foreign police departments and should be a standard feature for dancing FBI agents (it you don't know what that refers to, Google is your friend).

Show How It Shoots!

For some reason all Glocks tend to shoot low and to the left for me.

I was fairly exasperated when the 19X rewarded me with this 10 shot group at 15 feet.  7 rounds low and to the left on the 3 inch bullseye and 3 rounds flying into the outer stratosphere. 

I was a little surprised when I rolled the target down to 21 feet and shot a much better 10 round group.  How could I possible shoot a better group at a further distance?  Maybe the pistol was sighted-in further out than 15 feet...that would make sense.

So then I pushed the target out to 30 feet and still shot a better group than what I shot at half the distance!  Perhaps I am getting more familiar with the pistol.

Here's the 60 foot target with 30 rounds.  These would all be very good torso hits.

So...just to satisfy my curiosity I rolled it back to 15 feet.

Yeah, I think after the first 10 rounds fired on target #1, the Glock 19X and I became better friends.

All in all, I think this is the best pistol Glock has produced in quite a while.  Better sights, great color and better than average metal coating, and a good trigger.  All this and one 17 round magazine and two 19 rounders! This could cause me to upgrade from my Gen 3 pistol.