Glock’s New Model 37 .45 G.A.P.

Since the introduction of the Glock model 21 chambered for the legendary .45 ACP cartridge, it has been a steady seller, with those who shoot them developing an almost cult-like devotion to the big pistol. The only complaint that I have ever heard leveled against the model 21 is regarding the size of the pistol’s grip. It was designed to hold thirteen of the fat .45 ACP cartridges in a double column magazine, and the grip is necessarily large. This is fine if you have large hands, but is a bit awkward for shooters with small to medium hand sized hands. I wear a size large glove, but find the model 21 grip to be a bit too bulky for my hand. I can shoot it fine, but it just doesn’t have the comfortable feel of the model 17 size grip frame.

In an effort to accommodate those who do not possess large mitts, Glock has introduced a .45 that uses a shorter case and still delivers .45 ACP performance. When first introduced at the 2003 SHOT Show, the model 37 had a frame and slide that was very close in size to the medium frame models 17 and 22. The production model 37 received for testing has a frame that is indeed the size of the 17/22, but the slide dimensions are closer to those of the model 21. The thickness and height of the slides of the models 21 and 37 are the same, but the model 37 slide is a bit shorter, and is beveled at the front for easier holstering and improved smoothness compared to the model 21.

The grip frame dimensions are where the two guns differ, and the smaller size of the model 37 does indeed offer improved ergonomics for those who prefer the feel of the medium frame Glocks. A comparison of the critical dimensions are as follows:

Glock 21 .45 ACP Glock 37 .45 GAP Magazine Thickness 1.15 inch 0.904 inch Grip Circumference 7.75 inches 7.375 inches Grip Thickness 1.292 inches 1.182 inches Grip Front to Back 2.155 inches 2.08 inches Trigger Reach 2.938 inches 2.793 inches Barrel Length 4.605 inches 4.59 inches

As seen in the chart, the numerical differences are small, but they do make a significant difference in the feel of the weapon. The model 37 grip frame has three finger grooves, and has a small thumb rest on each side. The front of the frame has an accessory rail for attachment of a small flashlight or laser sight, if desired. While the weight of the two pistols is almost the same at roughly twenty-nine ounces, the new model 37 does feel smaller. With the slide dimensions the same, the model 37 fits a model 21 holster quite well. With the smaller grip size, the commercial model 37 magazine holds ten rounds of .45 GAP, with the magazines for law enforcement being of the same ten round capacity.

The case length of the .45 GAP is roughly three quarters of an inch. The fired cases measured between .750 and .756 inches. The shorter case allows the grip frame to be smaller and still hold ten rounds. The .45 GAP is loaded to the same velocities as the .45 ACP, with Speer and Winchester offering loaded ammunition at this time.

I had available for testing some Speer Lawman 200 grain TMJ flatpoint ammunition, along with some Speer Gold Dot ammo in both 185 and 200 grain hollow point configuration. I also loaded a few rounds using my .45 ACP dies, and plan to do a follow-up article on loading for the .45 GAP in the future. I fired the ammunition for velocity and accuracy. The 200 grain TMJ bullet crossed the screens of my PACT chronograph at an average speed of 969.8 feet per second ten feet in front of the muzzle. Interestingly, the Speer Lawman .45 GAP ammo functioned perfectly from a model 21, but clocked in a bit slower at 928 feet per second. It is not recommended to fire the GAP in the longer ACP chamber, but I did it just to see if it would work. The Gold Dot 185 and 200 grain ammunition chronographed at 1044 and 1002 feet per second, respectfully.

The accuracy of the .45 GAP was very good, with initial testing at fifteen yards producing tight one-hole clusters. Moving the target out to twenty-five yards opened the groups up to an average of two and one-half inches for five shots. The Lawman ammo shot to point of aim at fifteen yards, and was just an inch high at twenty-five. The 200 grain Gold Dot shot to the same point, with the 185 shooting just a bit lower. The model 37 functioned perfectly; feeding, firing, and ejecting every round without a problem. The magazines dropped free with a push of the release button.

The felt recoil of the 200 grain load was relatively mild, due in large part to the excellent ergonomics of the model 37. The trigger pull measured a smooth six pounds, five ounces.

With Glocks, there is usually no middle ground. Some people love them, and others do not (Ed. Note: see Jeff's early article, I Hate Glocks - Boge). The model 37 will most likely be received the same way. It should be welcomed by law enforcement agencies who desire a big-bore cartridge, but find that the model 21 grip is too large to fit the hands of some officers on their force. The .45 GAP offers a greater bullet frontal area compared to the .40 S&W, and I find the felt recoil to be less when loaded to the same velocities, offering faster follow-up shots. Whether you are a Glock fan or not, one thing is certain....they work, and they work well. I have found that a new shooter can learn to shoot well with a Glock very quickly. Glock is one of a very few handguns that I would trust to work in extreme conditions.

For those Glock fans who want to carry a .45 concealed, the model 37 offers a relatively lightweight pistol that still packs ten rounds into a reliable and accurate weapon. The model 37 comes shipped in a hard plastic case with two magazines, a magazine loading tool, cleaning rod, brush, instruction manual and cable lock.

For shooters who find that the .45 ACP model 21 fits their hand well, the model 37 offers no advantage. For those who want .45 power in a full-sized Glock with a nine-millimeter sized grip frame, the model 37 chambered for the new .45 GAP is your baby.

My Commander is a stainless version.

God, I love it.I bought it in the early 80's for the ridiculous prices of $390 US. All I've really added is a set of Hogues, a titanium firing pin, and an extended Wilson slide release.

The mags are also by Wilson. I've built up a really nice load for it over the years. The 230 grain Gold Dot over 4.9 grains of Bullseye. It goes 'bang' every time I pull the trigger.

You know, I've probably shot hundreds of pistols in my life and there are lots of them I'd love to own. Sigs, CZ's, Kimbers, and HKs all spring to mind. But, when I really think about it, I've already got one I love. So I just mostly spend my dough on the occasional rifle and reloading supplies.

Besides, I'm just old fashioned enough that I won't bet my life on any autoloading pistol not designed by John Moses Browning.

The pretty much narrows things down now don't it.

Merry Christmas Travis.

Regards,

Glocks do not have a "double action trigger."

The Glock's action is unique, and cannot be accurately described as 'single action' nor 'double action'. Actually, I think there should be at least two classifications added to the nomenclature:

Intermediate Action--Some of the mainspring or striker spring energy required to fire a round comes from cycling the weapon, but the mainspring does not have enough energy to fire the weapon until the trigger is pulled. Examples include the Kel-Tec P32, Smith & Wesson Sigma series, etc.
Glock Action--Similar to Intermediate Action for the first shot, but cycling the action while the trigger is pulled (as would happen when a shot is fired) will impart enough energy to the mainspring to fire the next shot; releasing the trigger about 1/8" and pulling it again will fire the next shot, but releasing the trigger fully will release most of the energy stored in the striker spring.

Although the trigger pull on the Glock isn't as hard as that of most double-action revolvers, it is considerably longer and harder than many single-action pistols. If someone pulls the trigger while holstering, the gun will fire, but reasonable trigger-finger discipline will prevent that. Actually, I believe the Glock is probably much safer in that regard than many SA/DA pistols. After all, if one shoots an SA/DA pistol dry (as one is apt to do on the range) it's not necessary to decock it to render it safe. But if one fires less than a full magazine and then reholsters it, it's necessary to either remember to decock it first or else have a very high likelihood of an unintended discharge. Most SA/DA pistols have single-action pulls that are much shorter and lighter than a Glock's.

"According to Jesse, Glocks don't have safeties. "

The usual lie from the REVEREND J. All Glocks have 3 safeties. They are not traditional safeties, in that there is no external lever, rather (an actual) safer method, in that they all are internal.

Glocks are used by something like 75% of the cops in America, and are actually about the most tested weapon there is...since they were so innovative, and folks didn't trust the design at first; the gun was tested over and over.

The only way a Glock can fire, is if someone pulls the trigger--and one of the safeties is actually a little lever built into the trigger. You can drop it on concrete, drive a buldozer over it, freeze it in a block of ice, or beat it with a slege hammer--and the thing ain't gonna fire...(and all these things have been tried repeatedly). There have been reports of cops firing multiple shots when they should have only fired once or twice--but such it typical with any semi-auto gun (and shows lack of training) and also such has been lessened by increasing the trigger pull weight. Also, proper training on a Glock (as it is I believe with any semi-auto) never has your finger in the guard on the trigger, unless you are ready to shoot.

Ol' Jessy was indulging in just another bit of "hyperbola" (lies) just to get the folks there riled up. Typical, and sad--as it sounds like what happened at Goose Creek in reality was bad enough, without playing on people's imaginary fears.

I might as well wade into the fray.

I don't expect myself to buy a Glock. I know there are a lot of fans out there but I have the pretty guns I want and like. I don't see a reason to buy an ugly a$$ gun that uses the same caliber.

That said, I don't think the .45 GAP is truly a replacement for the .45 Auto. Since Glock is a International company, it may be trying to replace the .45 Auto Short. Never heard of it? In countries such as Italy, Mexico and France[It figures], ordinary citizens can't buy firearms chambered for Military weapons. Hence the .45 Short which is a silly little Millimeter shorter.

" Did they ever put a better safety on the new models?"

Didn't your instructor ever tell you this truth? Okay. I'm an Instructor and here is the absolute truth when it comes to firearms: "ALL mechanical safety mechanisms can fail. Therefore in all situations, YOU are the final safety."

Sorry if I sound "Preachy" don't mean to sound condescending. But do you own any ummmm revolvers?

I got a Model 21 right after I borrowed one to shoot an IPSC match many years ago. I put a Heinie night sight on it and had a custom holster made by SAM ANDREWS CUSTOM LEATHER.com (check that place out--one word no spaces dot com) Sam is an old friend of mine. I found the M21 to be too bulky to easily conceal even with my ever present photographer's vest....and I'm a pretty big (bulky?) guy. So when the Glock Model 30 came out I snapped it up, and it accepted the five Hi-Cap M21 mags I'd kept when I sold the M21. Now, those were a hundred bucks apiece! Whoa.

I found the M30 fit in my custom holster, but the barrel didn't quite go all the way to the bottom, so I got a Blade Tech IWB and it's so comfortable I can easily falll asleep in my big old "DAD'S CHAIR "Lazy Boy" while watching TV!

But the grip on the M30 was just as fat as the M21. The answer for me, was to send the gun out to ROBAR in Arizona where they filled in the famous "Glock GAP" in the backstrap and shaved it down then applying their own pebbled finish. Worked perfectly.

Now, I'm selling the Glock 30 to my nephew (all my guns go to him in my WILL anyway) so I can buy a smaller 45 for concealed carry here in Miami, FL. I find that either my ParaOrdnance P10 OR the Glock M30 is just too bulky to be comfortable unless I use the photographer's vest and sometimes that's not appropriate also, that garment is plain wearing out. So I'm going to a ParaOrdnance single stack C6. The ParaCarry. If I really like it, I may go to an upsized TAC-4.

By the way, can somebody do me two favors? Tell me again how to make a link "active" (what do I type) and will somebody make the Sam Andrews link active on this thread? Thanks. I had written instructions from a freeper before but my wife tossed them in a cleanup. I'm html challenged.

"Pierce +1 grip extension to be a valuable addition"

I recently had a terrifying experience with these. Terrifying because like you, I find the M27 to be an ideal carry weapon and I have all four of my spare mags with the +1 extension. I was shooting an IDPA match (practice with what you carry, right?) and for no reason, suddenly the base plate of the mag, the finger grip suddenly shot across the range and all my rounds dumped out!

OHMIGOD what if that happened in a combat situation? Would I and my family get killed over a defective mag? I can't risk it. So I stopped carrying the M27. Yes, I could just go back to the smaller baseplates, but it's not as "sure" a grip for me. I'll keep the M27 with the standard baseplates for use in an ankle holster. I do love the gun itself. But for strong-side hip carry in "Indian Country" (that means anyplace outside the sleepy suburb I live in, Coral Gables) I'm going back to the 1911 style 45. The C6 for in town and the TAC-4 for long trips with the family. Like out to Texas to get our new member of the family, Newfoundland pup #2.

Andrews Custom Leather.

To make the link, type

< A href="http://www.andrewsleather.com">Andrews Custom Leather< /A>

only don't leave a space between the < and the A, and the last < and the /.

I have a G30 Glock and am very satisfied with its handling, even though I'm not a large person. With a shoulder rig I can carry under a jacket very well. I agree with other posters who believe what we don't need is another novelty caliber when you can't improve on good old .45 ACP.

Glock uses a "trigger safety".. It is incorporated into the trigger, and thusly, while the weapon will not go off if dropped, etc., an "itchy" trigger finger WILL fire the gun.

If you are using proper gun handling, your finger isn't on the trigger until you are pointed in a safe direction. And it takes more than an "itchy" finger to fire a Glock, even when one has lightened the pull. The standard .45 cal has a "thumb" safety that has to be manually operated before the gun will fire.
Additionally, the standard .45 cal has a "grip" safety that requires a full, firm hand grip on the pistol in order to fire it.

That is correct, and there isn't anything wrong with that. I have an Officer's model that incorporates those features. I like it just as I do my Glocks. I personally consider all Glocks as UNSAFE.
I do not recommend them to my freinds or relatives.
A child CAN fire a Glock.
The standard .45 has the proper safety features required in a handgun in my opinion, and the Glock does not.

Well, I have to disagree. Once again, proper gun-handling techniques are what makes a gun safe - not different designs. While I'm sure that there's a narrow range of ages where a child might be able to manipulate the Glock trigger but not the thumb safety of a .45, it might be wiser to keep the weapon away from unqualified users in the first place. Hyper-redundant overlapping safety features can't substitute for common-sense handling of a weapon.

I have two Glocks. I shoot them regularly. I've never had an AD. I've never fired in an unintended direction.

You can't compare a revolver with a long 11+ pound DA trigger pull to a Glock's 5-6 pound shorter trigger pull.

This is true, but both take a deliberate pull on the trigger to fire.

A Glock is almost like carrying a 1911 with the safety off, all the time, IMHO.

I think that's a bit of a stretch. The trigger on my 1911 is way lighter than that of the Glock (and my 27 is only about 4 pounds). Perhaps one could put it somewhere between a DA revolver and the SA 1911, but I wouldn't classify that as inherently unsafe. The only caveat that I might have is that I won't carry "Mexican" style with one in the pipe with my Glock. But in any reasonably stiff holster, there's no fear of trigger snagging (and there's plenty of Glock owners that will carry Mex without incident - I'm just not one of them).

Yikes!! I hadn't heard of that happening, but I'm glad it happened in practice.

You've given me a good reason to give my mags a good inspection. IIRC, the Pierce extensions install in nearly the exact same manner as the standard base plate. I'm going to make darn sure that mine are all seated properly. I put them on myself so I'd probably better check them twice.

I think I'll do a little research on Glocktalk.com as well. I hope that your situation was an abberation, but if its common, the pierce extenders come off all 4 mags and the G-27 may take up similar duty to yours. I have other options, but the 27 does pack a good punch in a small package.

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