Definitive Guide to Glock 19 Gen. 3

As soon as you pick up the Umarex Glock 19 you will be blown away by the evident quality of the gun, and it's top-notch fit and finish. We expect Umarex replicas to be very good, and with the Glock 19 they have excelled even themselves! It is built to the specs of the original and at first sight it is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing—it is only when you look very closely that you notice the 4.5 mm (.177) tucked under the rail by the serial number plate, the "Officially Licensed Product of Glock" on the side, and the presence of non-functional features such as a slide release. The BB version of the gun doesn't have blowback, but the pellet version will and the slide release will work on that model. Something that we dislike on other replicas is the white fine print on the side, so we were extremely pleased to find that on the Glock there are no white letters on the slide to detract from the verisimilitude and the sleek, clean look of the gun. Like the original, the frame is primarily made of high-grade polymer (not porcelain!) that feels very durable and very good in the hand. Like the original, the slide is metal, as is the magazine, CO2 housing, and the barrel. Glock quickly replaced Smith and Wesson and other revolvers among law-enforcement officers and one of the reasons was the much lighter trigger that broke at about 5 lbs. In this detail, as in so many others, the Umarex Glock 19 is spot on with an average trigger pull weight of 5 lbs 3 oz. It is a single stage trigger that gives the feel of the second stage and it does have a fairly long pull, however, the break is predictable and consistent. Like the original, the Umarex Glock 19 lacks any external safety or decocking mechanism and relies solely on the trigger safety, so it is always ready to go. Just like with the real thing, proper gun safety habits need to be practiced to avoid accidentally firing the pistol at an unintended target. "Glock leg" won't be as serious with the BB gun, but still be careful. The notch and post sights with a single white dot on the front post are not adjustable, but are spot on, at least on our test gun. At typical BB range, 5-7 yards, they are set up for a six o'clock, or pumpkin on a post, hold. The 16 rd drop-down magazine is similar to what Umarex has used on other guns and it is robust and easy to load. Just pull the follower down, lock it into place, and drop 16 BBs into the funnel shaped hole and then release the follower. To load the CO2, first drop the magazine and remove the backstrap. Put a drop of Pellgunoil on the tip of the CO2 cartridge (standard practice for all CO2 guns), and drop it into the CO2 well. You may need to back the piercing screw out a little for it to go in, and you can use the allen wrench that is built into the backstrap. What an absolutely brilliant little feature! Once the CO2 is in, tighten it up with the wrench until you hear it pierce, go another half turn or so and you are ready to go. There isn't any need to overtighten the CO2, and, as with most CO2 guns, remove the cartridge when you are done for the day. Umarex claims this is a 3 joule gun, which with a 5.1gr BB means it is shooting around 430fps and our test model reached this with a top velocity of 428 fps shooting standard BBs. This was on our air conditioned range—on a warm summer day it will shoot even hotter. Not only did it shoot nice and fast but we got well over 100 shots out of one CO2 cartridge—in fact we refilled the magazine 11 times, which comes out to 176 shots! That is remarkable! Granted, the last mag or two shot noticeable slower, but still, that is an incredible shot count. A big part of the reason why it gets so many shots is the lack of blowback, so expect considerably fewer shots with blowback versions. We tested a number of BBs including H&N Smart Shot BBs, and the new Air Venturi Dust Devil frangible BBs, and they all shot fine without any loading or jamming problems. The most accurate BBs were the standard Daisy Premium Grade BBs and the Hornady Black Diamond BBs. We highly recommend the Black Diamond BBs because you have to shoot black BBs in a Glock! We're not a great shot with a pistol, but we were pretty pleased with groups we got. We shot a full magazine of 16 BBs at 20 feet and the Daisy's grouped just under two inches, with most of them under an inch and a half. The Hornady Black Diamonds measured just over two and a half inches, but half of them were in a cluster well under an inch in diameter. A better finger on the trigger or more practice would shrink those groups down more, but in any case the Glock 19 has accuracy in spades for training and plinking. (Remember that unless you are using the Smart Shot or Dust Devils, BBs ricochet like crazy, so always use eye protection.) In addition to your airgun, the two main things you are going to need are BBs and CO2. The BBs we recommend are the Hornady Black Diamonds because they are black and accurate also, but mainly because they're black. Any twelve gram CO2 cartridge will work, but the Crosman forty packs are a great value. Don't forget a pair of safety glasses, and you may want to consider this holster that comes in black, gray, green, or tan and will fit the Glock very nicely. The Umarex Glock 19 has been a long time coming but it has been worth the wait! The quality of the gun has to be seen to be believed. If you already have a Glock then you are going to love this, and if you are considering buying a Glock but aren't sure if you are going to like it or not, this is an affordable way to give one a spin. If you then decide to buy the real thing you will have a trainer that you can shoot for pennies in the basement or backyard. Or maybe you just want an accurate and high quality CO2 pistol for those feral soda pop cans in the backyard. Whatever your reason for buying it, once you've put some rounds through it leave a review or drop some comments below!