Glock 22 Generation 4 Impressions

Late last year my department issued Glock 22 Generation 4 pistols. Let me first state that I am not new to Glock pistols. I bought my first Glock 17 in 1999. I now own several in 40 and 45ACP. I am also a Glock Armorer and worked for a Glock Stocking Dealer for several years. As a Law Enforcement Officer, I have carried Glock pistols as my duty gun, off duty gun and back up gun for over 10 years.

First, a few thoughts on the Glock in general; they are what they are. They aren’t the prettiest or most accurate pistol in the world, but, in my opinion, you can’t find a better or more capable combat handgun. With magazine interchangeability among common calibers, ease of maintenance, and general durability, they are tops. For Law Enforcement, I don’t understand why a Law Enforcement Officer would even consider another pistol.

Glock Generation 4 Changes



The first thing you notice when laying eyes on a Glock Generation 4 pistol is the frame. It now wears the more aggressive RTF 2 style texture. This is an advantage in my opinion, as someone who has Glock Generation 3 pistols whose grips are wrapped in skateboard tape. The grip is not aggressive enough to really tear into the skin, but you instantly notice a more positive grip on the gun.

Another feature of the new frame is the interchangeable back strap system. Each Generation 4 gun comes with 2 back strap panels, a medium and large. The frame without a panel is slightly smaller than a Generation 3 frame. I noticed this immediately upon gripping the gun. The straps are easily changed on the fly with an included plastic punch type tool.

The final major change one the frame is the reversible magazine catch. It features a larger button that I found easier to index without breaking my grip. As for the reversibility, I’m right handed, so I wasn’t that impressed. Neither were the two left handed officers in our group, who initially had me switch their catches to left hand, but after the first relay featuring reloads, promptly returned to the right hand configuration they had been shooting for several years with Generation 3 frames.

The frame retained the accessory rail originally pioneered by Glock, as well as the hollow back strap well, lanyard loop, and finger groves, much to the disappointment of Generation 1 and 2 frame fans. The frame did lose the cut out on the bottom of the front strap magazine well, also.

Some other changes to the Generation 4 Glock include a dual spring captured recoil rod assembly. This improvement features a metal recoil rod with two springs, one full length internal to the rod and one approximately two thirds the length of the rod on the exterior of the full length spring. This is a similar design to the recoil rod assembly featured in the sub compact or “baby” Glock pistols. Initially you do notice it takes more force to charge the pistol, and it takes a little getting use to when performing a press check, but the design is suppose to mitigate some recoil. We will address that later on in the review.



My duty issued Glock 22 Generation 4 wears Trijicon night sights. The only modification I have made to it was the installation of a Glock factory extended slide stop. I find the extended slide stop provides for more positive engagement, especially in a remedial action situation or when your hands are wet.

Shooting Impressions

When we were first issued our Generation 4 Glock 22s, we were issued a case of Winchester white box 180 grain FMJ ammunition with it. We spent 6 hours on the range that day, firing a minimum of 450 round each. IT was a long, but fruitful day of training.

We started with a few close range drills intended for us to adjust to the feel of the new guns. Most of us had already been carrying Glocks in some form or fashion. I had been carrying a Glock 21 Generation 3 with Surefire X200A and DG11 pressure pad. This had been my duty rig for the last 4 or 5 years. My new rig crossed over to the Generation 4 Glock 22 with the X200 and DG pressure pad.

After the “fam fire” we shot a Louisiana POST Qualification course. As usual I qualified with 115+ out of 120 score. We then moved to some tactical based drills, shoot/no-shoot drills and finally some stress position drills featuring multiple targets.

At the end of a long day we shot one last Louisiana POST Qualification Course. I missed a perfect score by 1 point and felt at that point I was as comfortable and adjusted to the new gun as I could be in one day. Confident in my new rig and ready to hit the street, I packed my trash and headed to the house to do some cleaning.



Overall I was very satisfied with the gun. I had 450+ rounds down range with no cleaning and only the initial lubrication I did before loading the first round with no malfunctions of any kind. It did initially take me a few rounds to adjust to the smaller grip size of the Glock 22 verse the Glock 21. I will say the Large back strap DID NOT make the 22 grip feel closer to the 21 grip, in my opinion.

I found the gun to be adequately accurate out to 25 yards. It is definitely capable of achieving Minute of Bad Guy at 25 yards. I found it easy to deliver multiple head shots at 15 yards in rapid sequence, call it “hammered pairs” in USMC lingo.

Importantly, I did find the recoil to be, not necessarily less, but different, than a Generation 3 Glock 22. I found the muzzle flip was reduced and the gun recoiled similarly to my Glock 21, coming more straight back with less muzzle rise than I remembered. This opinion varied between the 8 shooters in my group. Some said they felt less recoil, others said it felt the same.

The important factor was reliability. Across the board we had no malfunctions out of 8 pistols firing 400+ round each. That speaks for itself.

All in all I am pleased with the improvements of the Glock 22 Generation 4, so much so that I also bought a Glock 23 Generation 4 to carry off duty and in plain clothes. I am also looking into upgrading my Glock 35 Generation 3 to a Generation 4. Who knows, maybe I’ll Upgrade all my Glock Generation 3 guns to Generation 4s, we’ll have to see.

As always, Thanks for checking us out. We have more to come, including a review of Ed Santos’ book RULE THE NIGHT, WIN THE FIGHT, a FNHUSA SCAR 16S review, and more training tips and ideas.

Practice does not make perfect!

Practice does not make perfect!

I work full time as a local Police Officer and we are in the middle of annual firearms training and qualification, and this brings a few things to mind in regards to range habits, practice, and general shooting shenanigans.

I'm not a rich man, so I don't have an unlimited budget to buy ammo to practice. My department, like every other state and local entity, is also facing budgetary restraints. We don't have ammo to waist. I have even less time to waist. Between full time work, starting a small business, 3 kids, 2 dogs, 1 wife, details and everything else I have barely any free time. Why the hell would I want to waist time and ammo bump-firing my AR for a U-Tube video!?!

Before you answer, think of this:

As a Sheepdog, be it LEO, Military, or CCW, I am a gunfighter. This is a commitment I have made to myself, my family, and my community at a minimum. For some the commitment extends to the public at large as a government agent/representative. With that commitment comes several responsibilities and liabilities. Most of us don't train enough. Me included. Why do I want to spend time and ammo building bad habits and possibly negatively effecting my credibility as a responsible gun owner? So I can get a few hits in the web?

Everything you do on the range is training. If you carry a gun for a living or as a lifestyle you can't afford to eff off on the range. With every pull of the trigger you are building habits. Are you building good ones that will save you or someone else in a violent encounter or are you collecting cool points?

And what about civil and criminal liabilities? I'm not saying you can go to jail for bump-firing (even though....). I am saying that that video on U-Tube is not going to help you on the witness stand. What is the (anti-gun?) jury going to see?

Plaintiff's Attorney: Mr. Doe, would you call yourself a “responsible gun owner”?

Roll U-Tube bump-fire video

Believe it or not, you don't have to bump-fire and run around the range like Rambo on a meth binge to have a good time on the range. In fact, if you can do crazy shit like that on the range you should also be able to work on some basic skills that all Sheepdogs should practice. Here are a few examples:

1.Drawing from your CCW/Duty rig and delivering rounds on target as quickly and accurately as possible.
2.Transition from long gun to pistol.
3.Malfunction drills.
4.Shooting on the move.
5.Shooting from/around cover (Stress Positions).
6.Support side/one hand drills.

The reality of the whole thing is this:

Most gun owners ARE NOT Sheepdogs, they are well armed sheep. Most cops and military people are not “gun guys”. I have been a cop for going on 10 years and can count the number of “gun guy” cops I know on one hand. I spent 7 years selling firearms in a retail store to sheep that wanted guns. They wanted to “feel safe” so they bought a Smith and Wesson 442 and got a CCW permit. Most have probably never shot anything more than the prescribed course of fire to get the CCW permit. Others have played Sheepdog because they had money and a mid-life crisis. They went to Thunder Ranch or took a few Magpul Dynamics classes. They only tote Ed Brown 1911's and JP Rifles. They sport all the latest and greatest gear and even talk the talk. But when the shit gets real the Sheepdogs are changing mags and these guys are shitting their Underarmor.

As a Leader of Marines, Law Enforcement Trainer, and Sheepdog I pick up and carry a firearm with one purpose. That is to potentially take a life in defense of myself or others. PERIOD. If you don't want to or don't think you can, don't leave the house with it. I get dressed for duty every day with the same little ritual. I go in the back room, which just happens to be the “gun room”, and get dressed. In silence, with my only company usually my little buddy Wicket the Pomeranian, I visually inspect my uniform. I reflect on the sacrifices I have made to have the honor to wear that uniform and those that have paid the price of blood while wearing ones like it. Next I strap on my vest and back up gun. Its my Po-Po American Express- I don't got 10-8 without it. I finish getting dressed and grab my gun belt. As I strap it on I remind myself that this could be the day I have to fight for my life. I may have to take a life to save a Brother in Blue or a total stranger. I may get injured, I may bleed. As I finish up and get ready to leave the house I draw from the holster a few times, just to make sure everything is good to go. I walk out of the door ready and willing to pull the trigger if I have to. I have the training, confidence, and gear that make me a Sheepdog. Although I have not trained enough, I have built muscle memory and good habits through the training I have had. But that is not all I have. Most importantly I have accepted my roll as a protector of the flock. A creature more similar in nature to the wolf than the sheep, with one major and vital difference; Love of the sheep. I am a wolf that preys upon wolves.

So go back to the question.......

Why the hell would I want to waist time and ammo bump-firing my AR for a U-Tube video!?!

I don't and won't. I have to much on the line. I have a commitment to uphold.

Practice does not make perfect. Perfect Practice does makes perfect.

And you can never get enough training. There is always room for improvement. Never stop learning.

Amateurs train until they get it right. Professionals train until they get it wrong.

The Sheepdog

This is from an email a good friend of mine sent me. It explains it's self so Im not going to provide much more, other than to say thank you to Mac and all my fellow Sheepdogs out there that do what they do, SEMPER FI!

What is a Sheepdog?


Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle,
productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident. We may
well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still
remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people
who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under
extreme provocation. They are sheep.

Then there are the wolves and the wolves feed on the sheep without
mercy. Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the
flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this
world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or
pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

Then there are sheepdogs and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the
flock and confront the wolf. If you have no capacity for violence then
you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity
for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have
defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a
capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What
do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the
uncharted path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into
the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.

We know that the sheep live in denial; that is what makes them sheep.
They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can
accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire
extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout
their kids schools. But many of them are outraged at the idea of
putting an armed police officer in their kid school. Our children are
thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by
school violence than fire, but the sheep only response to the
possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill
or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of
denial.


The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the
wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference,
though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm
the sheep. Any sheep dog that intentionally harms the lowliest little
lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way,
at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.
Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that
there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell
them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in
our airports, in camouflage fatigues, holding an M-16. The sheep would
much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself
white, and go, Baa. Until the wolf shows up; then the entire flock
tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high
school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have
had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they
just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack,
however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the
officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of
them.

This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is
at the door. Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the
wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever
before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and
military personnel? Understand that there is nothing morally superior
about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also
understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing
around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that
go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the
young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a
little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when
needed, right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep
pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day.
After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is,
most citizens in America said, Thank God I wasn't on one of those
planes. The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, Dear God, I wish I could
have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference.
You want to be able to make a difference. There is nothing morally
superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real
advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive
in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.

There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted
of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory
crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement
officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted
victims by body language: slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of
awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when
they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.
Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically
primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can
choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and
more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was
honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall,
was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone
to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When
they learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as
weapons, Todd and the other passengers confronted the terrorist
hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers,
athletes, business people and parents from sheep to sheepdogs and
together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of
lives on the ground.

There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil
of evil men. Edmund Burke.

Only the dead have seen the end of war. Plato






Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of
police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep,
real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are
wolves. They didn't have a choice.

But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you
want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision. If you want to be a
sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand
the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are
going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you
want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt
you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if
you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warriors path, then you must make
a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare
yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes
knocking at the door.

This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy.
It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of
degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep
and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist
completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in
between.

Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum,
away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and
appreciating their warriors and the warriors started taking their job
more seriously. It's OK to be a sheep, but do not kick the sheep dog.
Indeed, the sheep dog may just run a little harder, strive to protect a
little better and be fully prepared to pay an ultimate price in battle
and spirit with the sheep moving from baa to thanks.

We do not call for gifts or freedoms beyond our lot. We just need a
small pat on the head, a smile and a thank you to fill the emotional
tank which is drained protecting the sheep. And when our number is
called by The Almighty, and day retreats into night, a small prayer
before the heavens just may be in order to say thanks for letting you
continue to be a sheep. And be grateful for the thousands, millions of
American sheepdogs who permit you the freedom to express even bad ideas.