When the Glock 19X got here out, I used to be perplexed. What was the purpose? Okay, it was a part of the MHS handgun contest, and Glock was simply releasing it to the market. Okay, no matter. Then they launched the Glock 45, and once more I used to be perplexed. What was the purpose of a gun with a full-length grip and a compact slide? I’d favor the reverse! Any such firearm usually bought “X” as a moniker.
A protracted grip makes it much less concealable, and a brief barrel doesn’t appear to supply many advantages. Glock wasn’t the one one doing this. The P320 had the Carry mannequin, and the P365X existed. Arex Delta has an analogous mannequin.
Digging In to the X Sequence
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The HK P30 collection was mainly a brief slide on an extended grip without end. Hell, the Walther PPK/S might need been the primary to mate a compact slide with a full-sized grip module. They did it to battle gun management and foolish import legal guidelines, however they did it. I largely ignored this phenomenon, by no means setting out to determine the “why.”
Then I shot the Staccato HD P4. The P4 mixes a full-length grip with a barely shorter slide and barrel. One thing about it made me shoot sooner; I might observe the sights higher, make extra hits, and I chalked it as much as the truth that this was a $2,500 2011.
Then I lastly shot a Glock 45 Gen 6, and it felt comparable. Lastly, I just lately completed up a assessment on a firearm that’s but to be introduced that used the identical configuration.
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These X collection weapons, or crossovers, or no matter you name them, have some magic mud that makes them work properly for me.
Sight Radius In The Age Of Purple Dots
Sight radius was usually a purpose to take care of an extended slide. It may well actually show you how to shoot straighter, however within the age of optics, your irons are a secondary, and sight radius doesn’t matter with an optic. This takes away a few of the good thing about that longer slide.
Recoil and Slide Mass
I shot an X Sequence kind design facet by facet with a full-size mannequin. I used to be making an attempt to determine why this dimension was working oh-so-well for me. What I observed is that whereas the gun with the bigger slide had a softer recoil impulse, the smaller slide appeared to trace flatter.
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I’m an fool with a keyboard, but it surely appears to me that the slide returns sooner, which is smart because it’s shorter, but it surely additionally appears to have much less wobble. The slide weighs much less; subsequently, there may be much less reciprocating mass. Much less slide slamming rearward and ahead.

Combine that with the management a full-sized grip offers you, and you’ve got a slide that appears to maneuver sooner with much less back-and-forth motion. It’s snappier in your hand, however there may be much less wobble. The crimson dot snaps proper again to the purpose of goal.
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This was the magic mud that appears to make it simpler for me to shoot these X Sequence-style weapons. I can shoot them sooner with sight affirmation. They appear to reset so rapidly and certainly that I can’t assist however shoot sooner with better total confidence in the place my photographs are going to land.
Past Taking pictures
I might see an elite-level shooter discovering these weapons sooner to attract. They depart the holster and will be turned upward theoretically sooner. I’m not a adequate shooter to note that slight distinction, however I can see the argument.
The longer grip supplies a number of additional rounds of ammo with no hole between the tip of the journal and the underside of the grip. That’s a minimal distinction in ammo capability, but it surely ought to be famous.
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I additionally discover my pinky is usually in the best way once I reload a Glock 19. That’s not the case with an X Sequence or crossover gun. Once more, minimal and never relevant to all shooters.

The shorter slide in all probability makes carrying the gun a bit simpler for cops, army, and safety forces. With the ability to sit with out the holster poking into the seat would really feel good.
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If you happen to needed so as to add a muzzle system, specifically a comp, you could possibly nonetheless get the full-size grip with a gun no bigger than a Glock 17. I can see some worth in protecting the gun considerably inside dimension constraints with out giving up grip area.
Properly Balanced
The X fashion of firearm tends to be well-balanced. A loaded journal with a flashlight up entrance on a compact slide creates a gun that simply feels proper. Really feel isn’t all the time essential in relation to efficiency, however , it feels good.
Whereas I didn’t get the concept initially, after taking pictures a number of designs that incorporate a brief slide with an extended grip, I get it. It tracks extraordinarily properly and appears to shoot flatter. I’ll take that, particularly within the age of crimson dots.
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