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Glock 34 9mm

Courtesy, Gun Tests

This is Glock's action target pistol. Consistent shot-to-shot performance was its strong suit.

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.

Courtesy, Gun Tests

The adjustable rear sight on our G34 featured a white outline that was bolder than on previous models. It is the only Glock pistol with adjustable sights as standard equipment.

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.

Reader Comments

Both the 34 and 35(40 S&W) are great comptetion guns, my wife and I have tens of thousands of rounds through them without malfunctions. A bonus of the 35 is the ability to drop in a 357 sig barrel, which gives fine accuracy and over 1450 fps from the long barrel. Two things to consider; very light 9mm loads (around 125 power factor)invite limp-wristing from the oddball single-handed positions you find in IDPA. Also, the plastic front site can be knocked off when shooting under/through tables and barrels: I Loctite a steel fiber optic sight using a special nutdriver, the sight is still there even if the fiber optic rod gets broken.

Comment by: WILLIAM B | October 15, 2009

I have a Glock 34, had Irv Stone at Barsto Barrels drop in one of his barrels for even more accuracy, it is one very accurate handgun with great firepower, extended slide and mag release, great light trigger, and long sight radius. It shoots as accurate as my Mauser Luger, Walther P88, HKP7M8 and Sig P210 for a lot less money.

Comment by: Pointman | October 15, 2009

I've put 10's of thousands of rounds through my G34 and never have had a malfunction of any kind. It was my first pistol and still my favorite. I did go with Trijicon sights though, I prefer the three dot to the stock. I can remove the "10" area at 20 feet with 2 mags of Win FMJ target rounds. (I've got the targets hanging on my wall)

Comment by: Dinglejak | October 15, 2009

Can you trust a company that will not contact you on a recall? A recall were the slide could come off the frame. This makes your firearm potentially more dangerous to the user, than the bad guy!

Comment by: Silver Dollar | October 15, 2009

Hey SILVER DOLLAR; Are you saying there is a recall on this Glock? I am considering buying this model. My wife & I want to shoot in local comps and this looked like a good gun to me. I have a model 19 & 17 that I am happy with, the adjustable sights are a plus on this G34.....THANKS.

Comment by: www.gusplaceresort.com | October 15, 2009

Yes there was and is a recall on the Glock passive safety system and also its extractor. It is called an "update" as if we were to stupid to know its a recall.

One other note on the 40 S&W caliber. Several years ago Combat Handguns Magazine reported that several modern made handguns a Glock, a Browning High Power and a Ruger, all blew up in the 40 S&W caliber using factory ammo. There have been quite a few internet posts showing horrific blow ups with other 40 S&W Glock pistols. Conjecture is that the generous throating of the Glock coupled with its ability to fire out of batter coupled with the 40 S&W cartridges tendency to blow up when it suffers bullet set back makes his a caliber to stay away from period. Never ever stand next to a person firing this caliber when on the target range.

Comment by: wild romanian | October 19, 2009

I have fired and seen others fire over 50,000 rounds of 40 S&W from various Glock models, and Sig and H&K as well (vast majority were Glocks). All with full load duty ammo and have NEVER seen a Kaboom as they like to call them, nor have I seen a slide and barrel leave the frame when correctly assembled, (never seen it period but if mis-assembled I will give it a remote chance if it functioned at all)

Comment by: DAVID E | October 22, 2009

I hate to burst wild romanian's anti-40 bubble, but there are hundreds of Law Enforcement Agencies using 40 S&W as their standard issue weapons. They don't seem to be suffering significant "kabooms".

Comment by: digitalexplr | November 26, 2009