Not much has changed on the Glock 34, and it is still the most popular choice for Practical Shooting competitors, including Dave Sevigny, the most prolific winner in the history of the USPSA Production division.
The G34 featured a 5.3-inch barrel on a full-size frame that housed a 17-round magazine. The G34 has a large cutout in the top of its slide. It might just be the easiest way to produce a slide of the proper weight so that reciprocation remains smooth and reliable.
The G34 configuration (shared by the 40-caliber G35) is the only Glock sold with adjustable sights as standard equipment. It was also the first Glock sold with competition-bred options such as an extended magazine release, enhanced slide-release lever, and a 3.5-pound connector that reduced the weight of the trigger pull. The fact that Glock has a head start when it comes to innovations from the world of Practical Shooting should not be underestimated.
In our assessment of the XDM we mentioned that the XD’s trigger required take-up to a definitive point of resistance. The Glock on the other hand offers a feeling of continuous compression. Indeed, that is exactly what is happening. The spring that powers the striker of the XD is almost completely loaded by movement of the slide. The trigger of the Glock does much more of the actual compression. Over the course of this compression we think the Glock shooter is dialed into the process. Results from our accuracy tests showed an average size group of about 2.5 inches across firing full-metal-jacket rounds. This was about the same performance as our Springfield Armory pistol. But when firing the 124-grain Speer Gold Dot ammunition, the G34 was a close second to the CZ.
The first target of our action test showed a 7-inch-wide group almost perfectly centered on the target. The central target furthest from the shooter did not look much different than the left-side target which was engaged first. The group did not show any hits on the 3-inch bulseye, instead forming a circle around it. The target to the right was engaged last.
The remarkable aspect of the hits on this target was that it displayed four pairs of snake-eyed hits with the holes less than 1 inch apart. We read this as showing where the shooter stopped on the target to fire his two shots. Consistency from shot to shot was perhaps the greatest attribute of the Glock 34.
