By Bob Campbell | Contributing Editor
The first Glock introduced was the now classic Glock 17, a polymer frame striker-fired 9mm which won immediate acceptance in law enforcement fields and eventually became a popular handgun among civilian shooters.
The pistol’s simple manual of arms and reliability won professional shooters over, some more quickly than others.
Glock eventually introduced one of the finest concealed carry handguns ever manufactured, the Glock 19.
Other Glock models followed. In IPSC competition, despite being limited by major and minor power rules, folks were shooting the 9mm Glock and occasionally winning matches. Shooters learned to master the Glock trigger action. Press to the rear, allow the trigger to reset during recoil, and repeat. Both concentration and coordination are required.
The Glock is a very good shooter for those willing to train. When the 17L was introduced in 1988 it was a different type of long slide pistol. The slide features a lightening cut to reduce the pistol’s weight allowing the use of the same recoil assembly as the Glock 17. The advantages of a long slide radius and balance were important in the days before carry optics. The heavier weight made for more comfortable recoil.
The 17L was adopted by special teams and proved an effective handgun. In one particularly effective takedown a hostage taker who was holding children at gunpoint was hit in the brain case multiple times before he could fall.
All was well but even in wide open unlimited competition there comes a time for rules in all fairness. IPSC rules dictated that a handgun must fit into a certain size box about the size of a Government Model 1911. The 17L did not make the cut.
The Glock 34 was the answer and it arrived in 1998. The pistol was scarce for a time but eventually became widely distributed. The trigger action, magazine and controls are the same as the Glock 17.
My first pistol, and every Glock 34 since, have been fitted with XS night sights. The slide is cut to lighten the weight as slide velocity is important in function.
While the pistol is a long slide version of the Glock it isn’t all that long, measuring 5.31 inches. This means the pistol will pick up as much velocity as possible from the 9mm cartridge.
The 9mm is a hot cartridge with plenty of pressure that burns most of its powder in a four inch barrel. In the Glock 34, the gain in velocity varies from load to load sometimes as little as 5 fps compared to a Glock 17 with a maximum of 50 fps gained.
The primary advantage is in sight radius and balance, but another advantage is that some runs of the Glock 34 in the 5th generation feature 3.5 pound trigger actions. That is a plus in competition. A friend disagreed that Glock made such a gun- but my out-of-the-box Glock 34 MOS broke cleanly at 3.8 pounds before settling into 3.5 pounds after firing a few hundred cartridges and cleaning the action free of grease. The pistol has been a match winner and a special team gun and carried by a few concealed carry handgunners.
The Glock Generation 5 M34 gives us MOS plates for optics providing a much more versatile handgun. The pistol features a good balance of adhesion and abrasion in the handle providing excellent traction in firing drills. There are ambidextrous slide stops and a magazine catch reversible for left hand shooters.
The availability of carry optics changes things a great deal. For those who practice and train the new standard offers real speed and accuracy. With a red dot sight the advantages of a long slide are perhaps canceled out to an extent while the balance of the pistol remains an advantage. Shooting with both eyes open left and right hand eye dominance no longer is a concern. For this evaluation I mounted a Steiner MPS red dot.
In my opinion, the MPS is among the best one or two service grade optics in the world. The housing is a kind of armored carapace. A sloped hood protects the front lens. As an enclosed emitter design the MPS is more resistant to damage and the elements. Yet, the MPS weighs only 2.05 ounces. Red dot brightness is easily adjusted by push buttons on the side of the MPS body. The dot itself is 3.3 MOA a unique and effective red dot.
I have fired the pistol extensively with a wide range of 9mm ammunition. The Glock 34 is a fast handling pistol that tracks targets well and is controllable in rapid fire, and it is a fine competition pistol, especially as an entry level handgun and has proven as reliable as any Glock and that is very reliable indeed. As a carry gun the pistol is lighter than the 1911s I carried for many years.
Carrying the Glock 34
I turned to Wright Leather Works for two versatile and useful carry holsters. The Predator is a strong side modified pancake type holster. I like this holster very much. The balance of speed and retention is ideal. A reinforced holstering welt is a good choice for practice- executing the presentation firing a double tap and then doing a reverse presentation. The Predator balances the pistol well riding high on the hip. (wrightleatherworks.com) The Regulator is a crossdraw holster. Crossdraw types are terribly difficult for a maker to get right. The draw angle must be just right or the holster does not ride close to the body and presents a difficult draw. The Regulator is ideal for carry when driving or when hiking.
Absolute accuracy
The Glock 34 is an accurate and reliable handgun. In bench rest accuracy firing for maximum accuracy over a sand bag I fired several 5-shot groups. This pistol is more accurate than the average Glock 17 and a great handgun for the gun crank or concealed carry shooter.
Load 5 shot groups 25 yards
Federal 124 grain HST 1.9 inches
Federal 147 grain HST 2.25 inches
Speer 124 grain Gold Dot +P 2.3 inches
Speer 124 grain Gold Dot 1.75 in.
Remington 147 grain FMJ 2.5 inches
Glock 34 Specs
Barrel Length: 5.31 inches
Weight: 23 ounces
Overall Length: 8.75 inches
