Overview
The so-called Glock 19L, using the compact G19 grip with a full-sized G17-length slide and barrel, has been a thing for years, with folks typically hacking a Glock 17 grip to make it a 15-shot capacity pistol that accepts G19 mags. Others used a standard G19 frame with an aftermarket G17-length slide that was compatible with the shorter frame.
The benefit was that, for many, the G19 is considered easier to conceal with its shorter grip/height than the G17, while the longer barrel and slide give the user a longer sight radius.
The G49 delivers on this concept.
For full disclosure, Glock supplied Guns.com with this pistol for T&E purposes on request. All testing was done on this one gun.
The Specs
- Overall length: 7.95 inches
- Barrel length: 4.49 inches
- Overall width: 1.30 inches at widest point (1 inch over slide)
- Overall height including mag: 5.04 inches
- Magazine capacity: 15+1 flush, 10+1 rounders available for restricted states
- Weight, with empty magazine: 22.4 ounces
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Weight, loaded: 31 ounces (with 15+1 rounds of 147-grain 9mm Federal JHP)
Features
Much like the "convertible" G47 that debuted on the consumer market last year, the G49 is designed to run a shorter Glock 19 recoil system inside a Glock 17-sized slide and barrel with a correspondingly slightly shorter dustcover on the frame. The slide and barrel are the same length as those seen on the G17 and G47 (7.32 inches and 4.49 inches, respectively, for a 7.95-inch overall length), matched with a shortened dust cover and rail on the compact G19-sized frame. Thus, the user gets a gun that isn't as tall (the G49 is about a half inch shorter due to the more abbreviated grip) as a G17 or G47, with the result being something of a long-nosed G19. Clear as mud?
Could Glock have just called this gun the G19L, in line with the long-slide G17L? Probably, but instead, they gave us the G49, one of the late great Gaston Glock's final parting gifts.
One big takeaway is that the G49 comes a long way toward giving Glock a fully swappable 9mm line of handguns, at least among its fifth generation double-stack pistols. That's because if you have a Gen 5 G45 (or G19X) or G47, you can quickly swap the frame and slides with the G49. In fact, for someone who just has a G45 and G49, a presto-change-o top half swap between the two leaves the user with a de facto G17 and G19!
It could be argued that Glock is currently in what could be termed a Gen 5.5 transitional period, and the new G49 falls into that timeline. Going past the standard Gen 5s introduced in early 2017, the G49 has forward slide serrations and the grip has been tweaked a little bit to come closer to flush on the longer baseplates of the Gen 5 series mags. The original Gen 5 Glocks had a cutout at the bottom of the grip to allow the user to strip out a stuck mag. The G49 does away with that cutout and meets the mag baseplate flusher all the way around.
Whereas Glock pistol models in standard MOS configuration previously came with four numbered DLC-coated steel adapter plates and hardware in a blister pack, newly announced MOS series guns will only come with the No.02 plate that will fit Trijicon, Amerigo, and Holosun (except 509) pattern red dots. The others will be available from Glock for about $10 each.
With lots of arguments about weapon-mounted lights these days for some reason, it should be pointed out that the G49 has an abbreviated Glock-pattern accessory rail. We found the Streamlight TLR-7A and Surefire X300T Turbo to fit fine.
Trigger
The trigger on the G49 is Glock's standard fifth-generation pack. Probably millions of words have been spilled by gun writers on either side of the Glock trigger argument over the past four decades so it’s beyond the scope of this argument to take a stand either way. With that, we will just cover the facts on this trigger. We found it to have a minimal take-up to the wall, breaking at 5.4 pounds on average out of the box. It has a short (about 0.26-inch) reset, and it felt like the same trigger pull every time. We tested it again after 500 rounds and it ran 5.2 pounds on average, which tracks.
Below is a video of the average trigger pull, seen in a strong-hand-only grip.
Reliability
Self-defense loads included 135-grain Federal Hydra-Shok Deep and Speer Gold Dot 124-grain GDHP. This was conducted right out of the box, with no extra lube than what was sent on the pistol from the factory.
How did it run? Well, like a Glock. We went 499 out of 500 with a single stoppage recorded: a failure to feed on the 14th round of the first 15-round factory magazine we put through the gun.
Other than the above stoppage on the first mag, the only issue we had to report was that the slide failed to remain open on an empty mag a few times.
Accuracy
When it comes to shooting the G49, the compact recoil system of the G19 in a G17-length slide gives it a felt recoil impulse that, to me, feels a little less than a G19. It is comfortable and points well.
The typical recoil of a G49, when using a two-handed grip and running 147-grain Action Match loads:
The G49 has a slightly longer sight radius than the G19, which helps with accuracy. That, with the Glock Marksman Barrel and better Gen 5 series trigger than what the company put out for years, means you can chew up a target with ease. At the 7 and 10-yard marks, we found about every group to run about 2 inches and hit the point of aim, with the occasional flier that was surely the fault of the user and not the gun or ammo.
Pushing back to the 15 and 25, the groups got larger but were still largely center mass.
Carry
The G49 is a bit more concealable than a G45, G17, or G47 since it is shorter in terms of magazine-base-pad-to-rear-sight height. It is also pushing into the same size envelope of some of the larger 15+1 round "micro 9s" on the market. For instance, the G49 is 5.04 inches tall in this respect, compared to the Springfield Hellcat Pro and SIG Sauer P365XL, which tape out at 4.8 inches – a difference of just under a quarter inch.
We also found that it fits several open-bottomed G19 holsters we had on hand as the frame dimensions are identical to that gun, while the top half is only a tad longer. In this respect, it can be argued the G49 conceals as well as a G19.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Delivers on a factory "G19L" experience
- Ships optics-ready and WML-ready
- Common and widely available support and magazines
- Uses common holster types already on the market
- Reliable
- Accurate
Cons:
- Sights and trigger could be better
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Others have already offered the G19L in all but name
Conclusion
In the end, there is no denying that the G49 works and can be used in a myriad of roles, including in practical/tactical shooting, as an LE sidearm, a daily carry piece for personal protection, or a home defense gun. It is easily supportable in terms of aftermarket parts, triggers, sights, holsters, and accessories. With an MSRP in the $600s, it falls into the "still affordable" zone populated by guns with similar sizes and magazine capacities such as the Hellcat Pro and P365XL. Further, it could be argued the G49, along with the similar crossover G19X and G45, could be used by Glock to replace the G17, G19, and G47 in the company's catalog, a move which, albeit unlikely, would be logical.
But how much magic does it have to it?
The G49 is a factory Glock that delivers on a "long-slide G19" concept, of which almost everyone but Glock long ago realized the magical promise. Zev (the Z19 longslide) and even Brownells have for years offered all that was needed to pull off said magic trick, gunsmith free, in about five minutes. Now, Glock has pulled the rabbit out of the hat to the scattered slow claps from the crowd that, rather than being amazed at the trick, has already seen it done before. Granted, they have not seen Glock do it, so some of that old razzle dazzle still may ring through.
