Glock Beavertail Grip
[ Andrew is a former US Navy Hospital Corpsman who was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq with the 5th Marine Regiment. Today, when not at the range or a Larry Vickers tactical training course, he blogs at the excellent Vuurwapen Blog ]
At SHOT 2011, Glock displayed a new product: an add-on backstrap for the Gen 4 models that also featured a beavertail grip. This should interest those who have a problem with “slide bite” when shooting Glocks.
It was displayed on a G17 Gen 4.
The beavertail backstraps will be available in sizes/thicknesses that correspond to the “Medium” and “Large” backstraps that are already available for the Gen 4 Glocks.
does anybody know when they are going to start selling the beavertail backstrap? i know i would buy one.
I have shot over 50 different pistols over the past 20 years including many Glocks (G20 owner) and have never ever been bitten by one. I have never meet anyone that has been bitten by one and the closets thing i can think of is about 10 years ago when a marine of mine got bit by his beretta because we ran through a couple hundred rounds and he started to limp wrist it. Yes i believe competition in the gun market is wonderful but i think something list this is just a move to get people that may feel like they need one to protect their delicate hands.
to USMC & LEO, I completely disagree with everything you’ve posted
If you want to see some Glock slide bite I could send you a picture of my hand right now. Today I put two clips down range of my brothers new G26g4 and it got me.
I’m a big guy with big hands and Glocks always bite me, normally if I shoot a standard Glock at the range I will usually wear gloves or wrap a piece of tape around my hand to tuck in the fleshy part. Getting bit does hurt a bit but the other big issue is that the extra friction can cause the last shot lock-back to fail. When I wear gloves there is enough friction to occasionally cause a failure to feed. (not good)
I have one of those funky GripForce things for my G17 (first gun I ever bought) and I don’t have slide bite or other issues with that gun. (but it’s bulky and ugly) Because of the lack of a beaver-tail I really don’t shoot Glocks anymore, I’ve moved on to other things. However as soon as a well designed beaver-tail option is available I’ll probably pick up a new G26 or 27. (I like the firepower & accuracy to the size & weight equation for CC)
Note: Glocks are the only pistols that I’ve shot that consistently bite me and I shoot a good bit.
I get a nice set of bloody railroad tracks each time I shoot, the longer I shoot the deeper they go. At the end of a day I have bits of skin, blood and God only knows what on my shirt, glasses and face. At 6’6″ I have larger than average sized hands, I grip high on the backstrap as well. I’ve been teaching and competing for over 12 years. I think if you have large hands it can happen. For most shooters, it’s a marketing gimick. I’ve only seen a couple of other guys who had the problems, they all had large, thick hands. I’d buy one, as long as I could still shoot and control the gun well. If it changed my shooting, I’d go back to getting tracked up, at this point it only hurts when we pour peroxide on it or I get sweat in it, the tracks themselves don’t even hurt anymore.
Some Guy,
Beavertail Grip is design to protect your hand webbing. Sometime the webbing is caught in the slide.
Here are normal Glocks, notice the difference between those pictures and the first pictures on this thread? The end has been extended to protect the hand webbing.
http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&biw=1012&bih=577&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=glock&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=
I love it that people hate on Glocks… that makes me love them even more. If you get bit by the slide, it may be because you are a little or a lot overweight… just sayin
If you don’t mind me asking…
What is a beaver tail grip?! O_o
I missed this at SHOT. Thanks for the post, I’ll have to grab one for my G23.
I’ve got half a dozen Glocks I regularly shoot, have put 1,000s of rounds through all of them; never once been bitten – and I have meat hook hands. Actually, I’ve never been slide bit; ever – even with my PPK, and that’s notorious for it. While I can understand the mechanics of why it would happen, I don’t really get it – and I maintain a pretty high grip.
Even when drawing from holster and capping off a failure drill in under 2 seconds, it’s never happened to me. That would be a situation where grip acquisition is least deliberate. Still, if Glock is offering this, there must be enough call for it. Anyway, beaver tails do seem to help enforce a more rapidly deployed high grip for many people, so fine.
Over the winter, my hands have gotten fatter, and mine bit me the other day.
Just a tad, but a good reminder to get outside more.
I’m glad to see the folks at Glock have finally wised up and decided to address this problem. And with all due respect to those of you who maintain that Glock bite is a shooter induced problem, you’re wrong. I’m an experienced competition shooter and a firearms instructor and I can assure you that the problem is real. I have a Glock 34 that I would love to shoot more, but unfortunately my 34 has a taste for the web of my hand. I’ve talked to other IDPA guys over the years who have had similar problems. If you’re doing what you are supposed to do — i.e. gripping the pistol as high as possible to maximize recoil control — the tiny nub that passes for a tang on most Glocks will do little to protect you from the slide. I was planning on purchasing an M&P Pro next month, but now I have a reason to give the Gen 4s another look!
@huey
Yeah, I’m left handed and switched the mag catch over. Hence the dilemma. I also have a 4 glock 22 mags that I got for my keltec sub2k (which I bought when I was still planning on getting a glock 22) that do not work in my 23 now. However, I love the 23 and love the left-hand adaptation. You can’t have everything I guess.
@Heath: If I had the smarts and necessary stuff, I totally would! Again, though, I’ve never been bitten by a Glock, so it’s not really a concern for me. Besides, I like the tail-less look of the Glock. Beavertails are for metal weapons … like my CZ 75!
Looks to me they are copying the XDM features left and right, geess.
Sold my Glock 22 and bought a Sig P239. Never looked back. To each their own… As for a non-metal gun, I’d choose the FNx (any caliber).or the FNp in. 45
I must say how glad I am that glock continues to make the Gen3. I dislike interchangable backstraps and other modern nonsense.
ugh.
still won’t convince me Glocks are worth the money…they just took an ugly slab of plastic and made it uglier.
Interesting. I can’t say i’ve ever had slide bite from any handgun i’ve fired… but if this helps some folks out, nice. Options are always good!
I like Glocks the way they are stock, but this is good that they are adding versatility.
james,
It’s not even close to an issue of limp wristing. It’s the fact that with the web of a large hand jammed as high as possible, the correct way to do it for recoil control, the slide will cut you.
Doshii, make one and market it.
If a Glock is biting you then you’re doing something wrong… probably limp wristing it. Seems like Glock is trying pretty hard to kill the S&W M&P. I have both a g17 and an m&p9 and if s&w could make their trigger reset like a glock then I think a lot of people would switch. I’ve learned the (modified) trigger on my m&p and can shoot it as well if not better than my glock, but for most people I think the solid, quick, loud reset of a glock is the number one reason it’s so popular among sport shooters. The undeniable reputation for just working no matter what is why LEO and military people love glocks too. If s&w will just work on that trigger and stick with the m&p line long enough for it to prove itself, they might be able shake the SIGMA stigma… but s&w have been on a downward slide for a long time, so they’ll probably figure out a way to screw everything up again.
I like it! Speaking of the Gen 4, any idea when they 4th Gen Glock 20 will be available?
Glock market size has increased due to the expense of Sig and other manufactures.
S&W market size has increased due to the M&P but keep in mind for the last 40 years or so they were squeezed out of the law and military contacts. The M&P bought them back but their market size in those areas are small compare to Glock.
I’ve yet to be bitten by a Glock, but I admit this is a bit upsetting. Glock finally wised up and made a Glock that I could wrap my girly little hands around (the “Small” size), but they won’t give me a beavertail? Bah.
I still want a 19 Gen4.
Ugly!!!!!!!!!
If you cant get a good grip on a Glock quit shooting! LOL.
@the other john c…ditto, never bitten one either, but as backstrap I can’t imagine these things being expensive, may have to buy one and see how it works on a G17.
@simba ..unless you have your magazine release ported over from the standard right hand install you can just use regular mags for the Gen 3 models.
I’m pretty sure you need to use the largest backstrap size to have the beavertail. At least that what the Glock rep in nutinfancy’s vid seemed to imply.
I wonder if this will fit in my hand any better than those lego brick guns glock is famous for…
This is evidence that competition is good, period.
Anybody have any word on when extra gen 4 mags will be available for purchase for my G23?
I wish there was a crazy thin one for people that like the grip bare.
Gen 3 is still the gold standard and very much in production. I have two M&P’s (45C and 9FS) but the “dead trigger” has put me off them, for now. You can’t really consider FNP in the same class as striker-fired DAO guns. Certainly, they don’t compare in terms if price.
This is cool, but I have never been bitten by a Glock. I just wish they would get rid of the crappy plastic sights and transition to only metal ones.
I find it funny Glock is just NOW conceding that perhaps their weapons are not “Perfection” as their market-share is being notably reduced by high quality market competition which provides greater options & customizability, with comparable accuracy & reliability…
Suddenly they feel the need to produce ‘Improvements’ to the grossly over-rated “Perfection” that is Glock.
I’ll be buying an M&P 45 and FNP-45 Tactical this year. After-market support is growing swiftly in support of the Glock Alternatives.
I love free market competition.
I’m just fallen in love with this
Now we need a ambi-thumb safety and you’ll win some of the 1911 fanboys over.
This would be the only way I could conceivably buy a Glock. Every one I’ve fired up until now has bitten me.
I want one!:) Yes! Now!:)