Umarex Glock 19X Part 2

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Umarex Glock 19X Part 2

Two to one – the making of a G19X

By Dennis Adler

The first Umarex Glock CO2 model (far left) was a G19 Third Gen as a non-blowback design. This was followed by a Glock 17 Third Gen design using a short, short-recoil blowback action, a Gen4 Glock 17 with full blowback action and field strippable design, and now a Gen5 “design” Glock 19X in coyote tan.

The requirements of the U.S. Army’s MHS program were for a duty gun that could serve multiple military needs as a standard issue sidearm as well as a handgun for special operations units. Glock did not have a design that would allow for the total modularity that was required, but to meet the size and capacity requirements, they could combine two existing guns to make a new model capable of consideration. Thus the Glock 19X was made of parts from the latest Glock 19 and Glock 17. What Glock created was a gun that provided a shorter barrel and slide length for ease of carry with a frame that allowed the 17+1 standard capacity of a full-sized Glock 9×19 pistol.

The Umarex Glock models have been consistent in one thing, no matter what the price point or features, they all come in a blister pack designed for retail sales rack display, but not for long tern storage. Average discounted price for the G19X is $99.99.

Sizing up the G19X as a totally new gun, it had a shortened Gen5 Glock 17 polymer frame combined with a new design Glock 19-sized slide and barrel. This made a gun that would measure 7.44 inches in overall length vs. 7.95 inches for a Glock 17 Gen5, while retaining the same 5.47 inch height from the base of the magazine to the top of the slide as a Glock 17. The 19X barrel and slide lengths were comparable to the existing Glock 19 at 4.02 inches and 6.85 inches, respectively, compared to a G17 at 4.49 inches and 7.32 inches (the overall length is greater than slide length because of the grip angle). With centerfire guns, that was all possible through new manufacturing and combining existing parts. As a CO2 model, it should be the same.

Glock math and CO2 math are the same but to a different end. The 19X is a combination of the Glock 19 and Glock 17 to create a pistol with a shorter slide and barrel but high 17+1 capacity. To do this in CO2, Umarex built a shorter slide and barrel, paired with an upgraded Gen5-styled Third Gen G17 frame. They did not use the components from the Glock 17 Gen4.

CO2 math

With centerfire Glock models, the latest version G19 + G17 Gen5 = G19X Gen5. The math for the CO2 version is a little different. G19 + G17 = G19X. What’s missing from the equation is the G17 Gen5 or even a Gen4. The new Umarex Glock G19X looks like a Gen5 from the outside, but inside it is a hybrid of the Third Gen G17 design. This means the G19X is using the Third Gen CO2 model’s short, short-recoil blowback action. This also means it is using the same 18-round self-contained CO2 BB magazine as the Third Gen, but with a coyote tan base pad.

What you end up with is a new version of the Third Gen CO2 design with a Gen5 exterior. The slide on the G19X still only locks back part way like the Third Gen G17. The gun has new backstrap checkering and G19X white dot rear and larger white dot front sights.

What the G19X CO2 gives and takes away 

If you want the military design Glock 19X model, that is exactly what you get from the outside with all of the improved features, flat checkered frontstrap, re-contoured slide with beveled edges for easier re-holstering, larger Gen4/Gen5 magazine release, and a G19X white dot rear, sight as opposed to the traditional white outline Glock rear sight.

As we know, the short, short-recoil blowback action design developed for the Third Gen CO2 model allows the gun to achieve significantly higher velocities than the short-recoil blowback action design used for the Gen4 CO2 model. Everything thus far goes into the plus column.

The G19X has new contours to the slide with more rounded edges and a beveled front for easier re-holstering. The G19X centerfire design also has an ambidextrous slide release. The CO2 model has the release as well but it does not function. It is a correct but inert feature, disappointing to left-handed shooters.
The G19X uses the same design self-contained CO2 BB magazines as the Third Gen Glock 17, except for the coyote tan base pad. This is one of the easiest CO2 magazines to load with a locking follower and loading directly through the firing port. The G17 mags also fit the G19X, so if you already have this one with spare mags that’s good news.

What the G19X compromises is the ability to fieldstrip the gun, the very thing that helped cost the Glock 17 Third Gen CO2 model last year’s Replica Airgun of the Year title. The negative column also gets two new strikes that didn’t apply to the Third Gen model; the centerfire G19X has ambidextrous slide releases (one of the MHS design requirements). So does the CO2 model, only the right side release is non-functional. It is there but it doesn’t release the slide, so the ambidextrous feature is lost. Last, the G19X is a Gen5 design and should have interchangeable backstraps, but the CO2 model is using a modified Third Gen polymer frame, so there are no interchangeable backstraps for this CO2 model like there are for the Glock 17 Gen4. Three strikes and the new Umarex Glock 19X should be out, but field stripping shouldn’t make or break this new model, because like the Third Gen Glock 17, it sells for only $99.99 which is about $30 less than the Gen4.

The G19X firing system is the same as the Third Gen CO2 model, which means the magazine locks inline with the air nozzle. This helps the G19X achieve high velocities than the design used for the Gen4 model, top, (which is the same used in the majority of blowback action CO2 pistols), and limits velocity to around 300 to 320 fps. The bad part is that the system used for the Third Gen and G19X does not allow the gun to be field stripped, nor does it allow the slide to lock back fully to the rear, as shown on the Gen4 model.

It offers a correctly designed blowback action model for training use, it has a velocity capable of accurate shooting out to 10 yards (actually a little better than that), it fits all existing holsters for the G19, and the magazines fit the G19/G17 magazine pouches. So, if you have the original non-blowback Umarex Glock 19 with a holster, it will fit the G19X. If you already have magazine pouches for the Third Gen G17, the G19X mags will fit, and aside from the color of the base pad, all your Third Gen G17 mags will work in the G19X. Three strikes aren’t enough to knock this new model out.

In Part 3 we will see just what this new CO2 hybrid can deliver in velocity, accuracy and handling.

A word about safety

Blowback action airguns provide the look, feel and operation of their cartridge-firing counterparts and this is one reason why they have become so popular. Airguns in general all look like guns, blowback action models more so, and it is important to remember that the vast majority of people can’t tell an airgun from a cartridge gun. Never brandish an airgun in public. Always, and I can never stress this enough, always treat an airgun as you would a cartridge gun. The same manual of operation and safety should always apply.

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