The Glock 34

Guns Magazine, Sept, 1999 by Massad Ayoob

ALTHOUGH THIS PISTOL MAY SUFFER FROM SLIGHT MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER, THE GLOCK 34 IS REMARKABLY WELL ADJUSTED.

It's a target pistol. It's a tactical entry gun. It's a duty weapon. It's a home defense handgun. A tool that does that many jobs is usually sold by Ronco. The one under discussion now, though, is sold by Glock. It's called the "Tactical/Practical" and its numerical designation is the 9mm Model 34. (The same size gun in .40 S&W is the Model 35.)

The pistol is midway in size between the 4.5"-barrel G17 and G22, and the 6"-barrel target guns, the G17L and the G24. Barrel length on the Practical/Tactical guns is 5.3", with an overall length of 8.15". Weight is a feathery 23 ounces. Sight radius is 7.32".

The extended barrel and slide certainly don't size this gun out of the "tactical" realm. What we have to remember to maintain perspective is that the so-called "full size" Glock 17 and 22 aren't all that big to start with. Let's compare the Model 34 with some other popular fighting handguns that are routinely carried concealed.

Hide-Out Fighter

Note that the Model 34 is actually shorter than the standard size 1911 pistol, the Beretta 92 and a 4" service revolver. It's not only portable, it's actually concealable.

I carried my Model 34 for a week in a polymer Glock beltslide holster. Part of the time it was on my right hip, and part of the time the same rig was under my left armpit, attached to the top left strap of my Second Chance body armor. It was comfortable and quick to draw in both locations. Yes, it was also concealable in both locations.

While Glock pistols are amply accurate for service gun needs, few are truly "match accurate" save for the .45 caliber versions. This is because the .45 barrels are made by a different process than what Glock uses for its 9mm and .40 S&W models.

I've found that my little Glock 30 .45 compact will outshoot any 9mm or .40 pistol in their catalog, including the 6" barrel longslide guns intended for target shooting. The G34, however, proved to be the most accurate 9mm Glock I have handled.

Brian Toal, a New Jersey cop and firearms instructor, was able to print a 2" five-shot group with this gun at 25 yards, using Federal's exquisitely accurate 115 gr. hollowpoint from their Classic series, the 9BP. A Glock spokesman told me we could expect 2.5" groups at this distance, and clearly, he told me no lie.

Maybe you don't need 21? accuracy at 25 yards in a duty gun, but you know what? It's a confidence builder to have it there. The bad guy might know how to take cover too, or he might be endangering human lives from longer than usual range.

Early reports from the Columbine High School incident indicate that the first engagement of the cowardly killers with the deputy assigned to the school took place across the parking lot at a distance of some 70 yards. In the Norco bank robbery incident in California, a murdered deputy was killed at 54 yards, and another exchange in that long-running gunfight took place at some 60 yards.

Similar distances separated the Los Angeles cops from the machinegun-armed bandits in the North Hollywood shootout. The shot that ended the infamous FBI/Miami shootout was fired from an agent's 9mm at 42 yards.

Accuracy of 2" at 25 paces extrapolates to 4" at 50 yards and 6" at 75. That will do most of what needs to be done in long-range confrontations like the ones mentioned above.

Trustworthy Reliability

We put about 1,000 rounds of Federal 9mm ammo (9BP hollowpoints and American Eagle ball) through the Model 34 without a single malfunction. Glock representative and head of training Chris Edwards told me that my pistol had digested 4,000 rounds of assorted 9mm ammo before it got to me, also without any malfunctions. You can't ask for better than that

Interesting thing about the 9mm cartridge: when you go to shorter than standard barrels, it doesn't lose much velocity, but when you go to longer barrels, it gains speed significantly. Glock says the Model 34 brings the velocity of 124 gr. Cor-Bon P up from a nominal 1,250 fps in a standard-size gun to 1,298 fps, and accelerates Remington's standard 115 gr. JHP from 1,155 fps to 1,272. This is done without concomitant increase in chamber pressure.

The reason is twofold. Part of it, of course, is the longer barrel that allows more pressure to build in the bore and drive the bullet faster. Part of it is also Glock's trademark polygonal rifling, which allows less gas to escape past the projectile as it's travelling down the bore.

There's Good N

The finger-grooved frame adopted throughout the Glock line was incorporated in the Model 34 guns from the beginning. I like the way it feels, as do most who've tried it.

The Model 34 was among the first Glocks to get the attachment rail molded into the dust cover (the frame in front of the trigger guard) for attachment of accessories like flashlights. Because affixing weighty accessories to a polymer frame can change a semiautomatic pistol's operational dynamics more than on a rigid metal frame, not every laser sighting module, white light unit or infrared device can be hooked up to the Clock without impairing reliability.