The 9mm Glock 45 sets the standard for police pistols. It’s highly modular to fit any shooter and comes with special touches like a polygonal barrel for better accuracy.

   Glock pistols have long been the sidearm of choice for the American police forces for a number of reasons. Glocks are easy to operate and maintain, but even more importantly, they are reliable enough to count on when lives are on the line. It doesn’t hurt that Glocks are relatively inexpensive compared to metal-framed pistols and durable, making them a popular choice for police departments with constrained budgets.

   Depending on which stats you believe, about 65 percent of U.S. police officers have a Glock on their hip. During my 22-year law enforcement (LE) career, I’ve never carried any other pistol on duty. When I became a gun writer, anything that wasn’t a Glock felt foreign to me.

   I like Glocks for their point-and-shoot simplicity. There’s no external safety or decocker to contend with. This may not seem like a big deal, but under duress, these seemingly mundane tasks can be surprisingly difficult. In my view, the simpler your gun is to operate, the better, especially given the limited firearms training many officers receive.

   As a rookie in 1997, I was issued a 9mm Glock 17. Since then, I’ve carried a Glock 22 in .40 S&W and a Glock 21, a .45 ACP version of Gaston Glock’s oft-imitated design. My latest-issue sidearm is again a 9mm, but this time it’s not the Glock 17.

A New Partner

   After about 15 years of service, my department’s Gen3 Glocks were deserving of a retirement. Of course, when a cop retires, their spot is filled with a new recruit. In this case, the recruit was to be a Gen5 Glock.

   First, we conducted testing and evaluation of the Glock 17 and 19. The G17 is a full-sized pistol with a 4.5-inch barrel and a magazine capacity of 17 rounds. The G19 is a compact pistol with a 4-inch barrel and a 15-round magazine. Just as my agency was about to purchase these pistols for our officers, Glock introduced the G45, which is essentially a hybrid of the G17 and G19.

   The Glock 45 incorporates the G17’s full-length grip, making it an 18-round pistol with the chamber loaded, and takes the G19-length barrel, making it a hair faster out of the holster. The combination of longer grip and shorter barrel/slide assembly makes for a well-balanced pistol Ultimately, after shooting the G45 side by side with the G17 and G19, about 95 percent of our officers chose the newcomer. Although many couldn’t articulate why, I thought it just felt better than the other two 9mm Glocks and the larger Glock 21 that we were transitioning from. But, the G45 isn’t a perfect fit for all LE applications.

   The Glock 45’s full-size grip makes concealment more of a challenge than with the compact G19 grip. For plain-clothes detectives, officers working in an undercover capacity, or for off-duty carry, the G19 is the more sensible choice. Small-handed officers also preferred the G19’s shorter grip.

   The few officers in my department who chose the G19 over the G45 did so based on these criteria. One officer with rather large hands went with the G17 because he preferred the longer barrel.

GEN5’s Modus Operandi

   The Glock 45 has all the features of Gen5 Glock pistols, including a Glock Marksman barrel, which is based on the polygonal barrel design for enhanced accuracy. The pistol’s slide sports front slide serrations for better purchase during loading and unloading, malfunction clearing, or press checking to ensure there is a round in the chamber.

For a “standard” duty gun, the G45 is highly modular to fit any shooter and comes with special touches like a polygonal barrel for better accuracy, improved tippling, forward serrations on the slide, and an undercut trigger guard for a higher grip.

   The G45 features a loaded-chamber indicator, allowing the operator to confirm whether a round is chambered by observing and feeling the extractor protrude from the slide. This tactile confirmation that the pistol is loaded may come in handy in a darkened environment. The barrel and slide assembly are finished with Glock’s proprietary nDLC finish for better durability, reliability, and corrosion resistance.

   The polymer frame is equipped with an ambidextrous slide-stop lever, which is a welcomed feature for left-handed shooters or perhaps even more so, shooters relegated to shooting one-handed due to injury. The magazine catch is reversible. The flared mag well facilitates smooth and efficient reloads without adding bulk, which could hinder concealment. It comes with standard backstraps in two sizes, as well as two beavertail backstraps, allowing for a highly customizable grip. A mounting rail allows for the addition of a light, which is critically important for duty pistols.

   Of course, like all Glock pistols, the Glock 45 features the Safe Action System (SAS) that’s comprised of trigger safety, firing pin safety, and drop safety. The SAS provides a measure of safety without requiring the operator to deactivate a thumb or grip safety. All three safeties disengage as the trigger is pulled and re-engage when the trigger is reset.

   Our officers are thrilled with their new G45 pistols. Both qualification scores and officer confidence have skyrocketed. Our agency purchased the model with Ameriglo Bold night sights, which were a hit. On a duty pistol, night sights are a must, and the Ameriglo sights are easy to see in daylight thanks to the bright orange front-sight dot. In low light, tritium inserts in the front and rear glow for fast sight acquisition and accurate aiming.

While the sights are standard Glock, they can easily be swapped out.