Any time the topic of 9mm carry weapons comes up on-line, it’s a matter of time till somebody mentions the Glock 19. In lots of instances, it appears to have develop into the default reply — however we shouldn’t need to inform you {that a} G19 isn’t at all times the “good” reply. Customers with bigger arms might discover its compact body too small for consolation, particularly with out set off guard undercuts and different body mods. In these instances, the 9mm Glock 45 is a extra wise choice, providing elevated grip actual property and 17+1 capability whereas retaining the compact G19-length slide.
As with most Glocks, the G45 can faucet into the near-infinite provide of aftermarket elements, however this comes with a problem: restraint. We’ve all seen builds that appear to be the gun equal of a ’93 Honda Civic with an outsized muffler and glued-on chrome accents from Pep Boys. So, after we determined to hot-rod this Glock 45, our aim was an finish outcome that was clearly customized however remained tasteful.
Our Glock 45 9mm Mission
The construct started at Southwest Precision Arms in Goodyear, Arizona. SWP machined the manufacturing facility slide utilizing a Battle X2 sample — a prototype on the time, however now a normal providing — that features knurled areas on the entrance and rear, chamfered edges, and aspect pockets. Quite a lot of further choices can be found; we went with a direct-mount Holosun 509T slide minimize (no adapter plate required) and a window on the high of the slide. That window leads us to our favourite characteristic, SWP’s Shoot Flat porting.
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A sequence of 10 small ports have been drilled into the manufacturing facility barrel; in contrast to compensators or giant single ports, these enable gases to bleed off progressively because the spherical travels down the barrel. The result’s a recoil impulse that feels astonishingly clean and predictable. With the advisable addition of a 15-pound recoil spring, our G45 has continued to run flawlessly with a wide range of vary and defensive ammo.
Above: As a result of Holosun 509T’s distinctive footprint, many customers set up it with an RMR footprint adapter, however that will increase peak over bore. It wasn’t mandatory for this construct, since SWP milled a 509T dovetail mount straight into the manufacturing facility slide.
Though SWP affords refinishing providers, we opted to have the uncooked slide and barrel despatched to P4 Coatings in Tucson, Arizona, since there have been many modifications forward. P4 Coatings carried out customized framework based mostly on our requests, together with grip stippling with recessed borders, stippled index areas above the set off guard, and a double undercut. P4 additionally put in a flat-face Overwatch Precision TAC set off, which was meticulously polished together with the connector and security plunger. Mixed with Wolff plunger and striker springs, this produced a crisp sub-3-pound set off pull and brief, constructive reset.
With the body and set off work full, our Glock was prepared for a brand new end. Reasonably than merely use an off-the-shelf colour, P4 Coatings blended up a customized shade of grey KG Gunkote, topping it off with exactly masked black accents. Ending touches embody a set of plain black, optic-height Ameriglo GL-429 iron sights from Brownells, in addition to a low-profile Have Blue magwell and serrated aluminum slide plate from Overwatch Precision. The ultimate element was a Streamlight TLR-7A, which sits flush with the muzzle for snug on a regular basis carry. We additionally picked up some 17-round Magpul PMAGs from GunMag Warehouse.
Rounds Downrange
In the long run, we’re very pleased with the understated two-tone look of this construct and even happier with its performance. The fine-tuned set off makes it straightforward to place rounds on course in fast succession, and the Shoot Flat porting tames the recoil to the purpose that bystanders at matches and programs have (considerably jokingly) referred to as it dishonest. There’ll at all times be those that declare that porting is impractical for a protracted checklist of doubtful causes — a subject we plan to handle extra conclusively in a future article — however we’ve got but to fulfill one one that wasn’t impressed by its effectiveness after making an attempt this specific construct. Living proof, we took it out to a Fieldcraft Survival intermediate handgun course to interrupt it in and ended up high shooter of the category. Not unhealthy for a maiden voyage.
Glock 45 Construct Sources
Brownells
brownells.com
Gun Magazine Warehouse
gunmagwarehouse.com
Holosun
holosun.com
Overwatch Precision
overwatchprecision.com
P4 Coatings
p4coatings.com
Southwest Precision Arms
swprecisionarms.com
Streamlight
streamlight.com
Editor’s Observe: This text initially appeared in Situation 25 of Concealment journal.
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Written by Patrick McCarthy 
