Glock 19 BB gun.
Shooting the Glock 19 clone
Part 1
This report covers:
- Safety
- The test
- Daisy BBs
- Dust Devils
- Loading
- Trigger pull
- H&N Smart Shot
- Shot count
- Summary
Today we look at the power of the Glock 19 BB pistol from Umarex.
Safety
After loading a CO2 cartridge into the gun I tried to fire one shot and there was nothing. It seems the safety was on. This pistol has a crossbolt safety built into the trigger and you push it to the right to make the gun ready to fire.
The Glock BB pistol safety is a crossbolt safety (arrow). The normal Glock central trigger blade does prevent the trigger from coming back far enough to fire the pistol, but the safety button is the real safety.
Initially I was undecided whether I like this safety or not. Yes, it does make the pistol safer in all hands and that’s why it’s there, but it’s something different than a Glock firearm would have. I guess since safety is always the first priority it’s a better design. The pistol does function like a Glock when the safety is taken off, so it’s okay.
The test
I will shoot three different types of BBs in this test. Daisy Premium Grade BBs will represent the standard steel BB. I’ll also shoot Air Venturi Dust Devils and I’ll finish with Smart Shot lead BBs from H&N.
Daisy BBs
First up were Daisy Premium Grade BBs. Ten averaged 442 f.p.s., so the claim of 410 f.p.s. is very conservative.
The low was 435 and the high was 448, for a difference of 13 f.p.s. The report was 103 dB which is about what these pistols always deliver.
Dust Devils
Next to be tried were Air Venturi Dust Devils. Ten of them averaged 446 f.p.s. with a low of 438 and a high of 454 f.p.s. That’s a difference of 16 f.p.s.
Loading
The Glock magazine is quite easy to load. The spring-loaded follower is held down securely and the mag is slanted so the BBs roll in and out of the way.
The magazine is easy to load. I’m holding it to show a BB because if it was on a level surface the BB would roll forward.
The mag does hold 16 BBs as stated in the description.
Trigger pull
The trigger does feel like a Glock firearm trigger only it’s smoother. The pistol fires with 6 pounds 7 ounces of effort. That’s reasonable for a defense pistol.
H&N Smart Shot
The last BB I tested was the lead H&N Smart Shot. Several of them would not go into the magazine until pressed in lightly. Some did go in on their own.
About half of the H&N Smart Shot BBs would not go into the magazine until pressed in lightly.
With the Smart Shot BBs loaded the pistol refused to fire. All pulling the trigger did was get one click and then nothing. I unloaded the mag and one Smart Shot BB remained in the breech. It went out at 266 f.p.s. I don’t recommend trying Smart Shot in this pistol.
Shot count
This one will be different. After testing the other BBs I returned to Daisys and got to 51 total shots before the velocity dropped below 400 f.p.s. Shot 52 went out at 391 f.p.s. Then shots 53 through 62 were all 400 f.p.s. or faster.
Normally when the velocity drops off I would end the test but since this pistol started so high I continued to shoot. There were 81 shots above 300 f.p.s. At that point the sound of the shot told you the power was way down, but if you are shooting cans I’d say you have at least 80 shots because the very first shot I fired was a blank to ensure the CO2 cartridge was pierced.
Summary
So far this Glock BB pistol is holding up well. We now know to shoot steel BBs and Dust Devils and not lead BBs. I sure hope this pistol is accurate!
Happy Memorial Day everybody!
-Yogi
Ditto that; thanks, Yogi! 🙂
BB
If I, and most people here, didn’t know better, Smart Shot BBs could be thought of as being defective after reading this. Might want to inform new shooters why they don’t function in this particular pistol with a word or two. They can be perfect for other airguns.
Bob,
I thought I did tell them. I didn’t actually say they are too large but I thought that would be obvious. No?
BB
Bob, can you please contact me directly?
45bravoairguns@gmail.com.
Ian.
I just read BB’s 6-part series on the Smart Shot BBs. I would say that the inconsistent shape (some are not perfect spheres) has a lot to do with the issue. I wonder if sorting some of the more imperfect ones out with a BB/pellet gauge might have a positive effect.
Elmer,
I’m sure it would. In my mind, that BB is kind of a Frankenstein, being made of two different materials.
Designed to avoid ricochets and hit harder being heavier. I think it may work well in somewhat powerful airguns with rifling that shoots both BBs and pellets as well. Like the Crosman Legacy 1000 Mult pump.
I have not reviewed the blog on it again, but my rememberer thinks it is a bit larger in diameter and is a good option for over bored barrels to improve accuracy.
Bob, this is from part one of BB’s series on Smart Shot BBs:
“A BB, or more correctly, an air rifle shot, has a diameter of 0.171 to 0.173-inches these days. They were larger in the past, and if you want to learn more about them read this report.
The Smart Shot BB measures 0.170 to 0.172-inches in diameter. Most of them that I measured were 0.171-inches, which is 4.34 mm. That size and tolerance range falls into line with the other premium steel BBs on today’s market.”
I don’t know if the lead core of the Smart Shot BBs is made with pure lead or an alloy. But if it is pure lead and the shape is deforming after the manufacturing process is finished, then perhaps a harder alloy like Crosman uses would be less prone to deformations. I think that it might even be possible to eliminate the cppper plating. Just an idea off the top of my head.
I myself would consider this non blowback pistol to be better because of the high shot count, but hey, I am not into the replicas anywho.
Please do remember the purpose of Memorial Day as we enjoy this holiday.
P.S.
Summary
We no (now) know to shoot steel BBs and Dust Devils and not lead BBs.
RR,
Fixed. Thanks,
BB
Good reminder, RR. It is a day to remember those who have given all for God, country and their fellow citizens.
https://aleteia.org/2025/02/25/fr-emil-kapaun-is-now-known-as-venerable
FawltyManuel,
I knew of him for some time i hope he makes it to Sainthood…he already is a posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor.
Pope Leo has a Personal Trainer!
Linked is an interesting read about our responsibility to take care of our bodies: https://aleteia.org/2018/06/22/catholic-fitness-training-brings-theology-of-the-body-to-your-workout-routine
shootski
https://aleteia.org/2018/06/22/catholic-fitness-training-brings-theology-of-the-body-to-your-workout-routine
FM has become very conscious of that responsibility over time, shootski; he keeps working at it. After all, it’s “one body to a customer” down here.
The longer we stay healthy and mobile, the longer we can enjoy life activities such as air-gunnery – and lots of other ones as well.
Hello there. Nice to see a review for an underrated nbb bb pistol. One thing I would like to point out: I live in Greece and the Umarex Glock 19 Gen 3 as well as Gen 4 we got here have no crossbolt safety on the trigger. There is no other safety on the gun whatsoever. I guess this is a European vs American legal thing?
Anyways, thanks for the good work on the blog.
GunnerNick,
Thanks for telling us that. That’s the way a Glock pistol should be, but I guessed the factory made the change. Nice to know it was just the lawyers in this country.
BB
Γειά σου, GunnerNick. You and reader “Bill” are both in Greece. I’m Greek-American. Nice to “meet you.”
I had suspected as such by some of his posts that I came across. Your username made me wonder too, but I was uncertain of any deeper meaning to it. Anyways, it is my pleasure to meet you too.
Welcome aboard Nick.
Thank you. A pleasure to meet you.
Hi I just want to ask when the series on PCP’s will continue. I’m new to the site and am excited to see more on the avenge x and notos. I’m not sure of how this blog works but the pcp information did not seem finished unless I am mistaken
Darryld,
There will be more on both rifles soon. But I had done so many reports on them that I wanted to give the readers a break.
BB
Thank you , I look forward to it
Darryld,
Welcome to the Blog from an ORIGINAL member of the modern Dark Side cult.
If your interest in PCPs is more than just about the Notos and the Avenge X then i suggest you simply enter PCP in the SEARCH BOX up in the right corner of the Blog. Be ready to spend hours and hours learning about PCPs starting from about 2005.
Some of the active participants on Tom’s blog have been active in Pre Charged Pnuematics since the 1980s. Most of them will be happy to share their FACTUAL knowledge; something you will NOT find in many other spots on the Internet.
I own and shoot PCP calibers that range from .177 all the way to .58 in both rifles and pistols. With FPE from the 3 FPE (4 joules) to 500+ FPE (680 joules) and will answer questions you may have or direct you to sources to get what you need.
shootski
Hi, Thank you for your response, it is the dark side. I have spent many hours looking at the PCP articles and they have been amazingly informative but I cannot afford most of those hence my interest in the Notos and Avenger series I do remember seeing someone mention the Umarex Kompete so that has my attention as well .
Cheers
Darryld,
The Umarex Komplete is a GAS gun and yes it looks interesting but the name Komplete is somewhat of a misnomer since you will be anything near complete with paying for the total cost of operating the system; keep that in mind if you plan to shoot more than a few pellets (<80) in a session and NOT too often.
Remember Pneumatics include gas guns, single pumps, multi-pumps, as well as PCPs and all of them conceptually drive the pellet/projectile down the bore in the same way. I started with Multi-Pumps and learned the value of their more gentle shot cycle, power potential as well as the increased ease of achieving precision results on target.
Keep reading and making pro and con lists for each gun that catches your attention.
Do remember that a manual pump will pay for itself in short order (especially in todays economy) when compared to the gas gun of any type charge source price over the life of the airgun.
The Dark Side is POWERFUL in its draw!
shootski
Darryld,
shookski makes good points here, you mention the Komplete and that looks nice, If you do not know about Hard Air look here as they are a good source of information and reviews of many airguns. A packet of the Komplete is here; https://hardairmagazine.com/?s=komplete also B.B. said he will be doing a revue of this rifle soon.
Mike
Hi I like the idea of the Komplete because I wouldn’t have to buy a compressor as well as a gun. Up here in Canada an avenger plus a cheap compressor is around a thousand dollars and the Komplete is 299.00 plus it is just for hunting prairie dogs not for lots of shooting. The reviews that I have seen look good for the most part.
cheers
Darryle
There is good advice to you by others here. I would only suggest you ask yourself why you think you need a PCP. There are no wrong answers. Is it for target shooting accuracy? Hunting? Plinking? Is low initial expense more important than long term cost?
If you intend to use it hunting a Gamo Urban or Komplete have handling advantages.
Deck
Hi, I have shot my cheap break barrel for years and am looking for something more accurate and powerful to get rid of prairie dogs on my property
Darryl
You may need .25 caliber or more for humane hunting. I’ve seen lots of em while western stream fishing but no experience hunting them. Other folks here can steer you right. My Avenger is .25 but I don’t think Komplete or Urban come in higher calibers.
Deck
Hi Deck, My Prairie dogs are smaller than I see on a lot of hunting videos plus I try and do head shots only
Darryld,
How close do your P’dogs let you get currently?
How far will that distance grow to once you start exerting pressure on them?
If you can get/find a new/used Marauder in .22 you could use a hand pump since it would give you plenty of powerful shots on the dogs with just a 2500 to 2700 PSI initial fill using pellets or bullets (slugs) at even longer ranges. That fill pressure isn’t hard on the hand pump and with good technique it will be very easy on you.
Since you are in Canada you won’t be able to put more hush technology on it to keep the dogs up and out of their town…but it might be quiet enough on its own.
shootski
Hi, I can usually get to within 20-30 yards to the dumb ones. I have read good things about the MROD but due to health issues I cannot hand pump and I don’t have to worry about the noise issue as I live on 20 acres.
Thank You for your suggestions!
Darryld,
Twenty to thirty yards! You have some pretty dumb dogs ;^)
The suppressor is not for your neighbor’s benefit but to keep the dogs up and out of their holes. It is amazing to watch animals and how they react (or not react at all) when the one next to them goes down as a result of a subsonic projectile launched from a well sound moderated airgun.
With a suppressor It is typically a night and day different situation compared to an unmoderated airgun where the sound (pressure wave) arrives before the projectile causing them to often jump resulting in a clean miss or unfortunately a potential runner and/or slow death.
Bummer on the health issues and hand pumping.
shootski
Darryld
I have both .177 and .22 Komplete rifles. My .22 delivers 27 fpe with 18.89 Hades pellets and nitrogen. It is surprisingly quiet. It is light, accurate and easy handling even with scope of your choosing. There is no physical exertion involved.
Happy hunting.
Deck
FawltyManuel,
I knew of him for some time i hope he makes it to Sainthood…he already is a posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor.
Pope Leo has a Personal Trainer!
Linked is an interesting read about our responsibility to take care of our bodies: https://aleteia.org/2018/06/22/catholic-fitness-training-brings-theology-of-the-body-to-your-workout-routine
shootski
https://aleteia.org/2018/06/22/catholic-fitness-training-brings-theology-of-the-body-to-your-workout-routine
B.B. and Readership,
Happy Memorial Day!
The flags are in at Arlington Cemetery.
Bravo Zulu to the Old Guard.
They are remembered forever and with honor.
shootski