Range Review: Glock G17L Gen 5

The Glock G17L, the Austrian company’s classic 6-inch-barrel. limited-release 9mm pistol, hit two milestones this year. The first is that these long-slide pistols have now become regular-production items, and on top of that, they’ve also received the fifth-generation treatment, along with other updated tweaks and redesigns.

Glock G17L History And Gen5 Makeover

Glock G17L pistols date back to1988 and although they were technically Glock’s first sporting pistols, they’ve always been somewhat of an anomaly and rare as they were never produced in regular quantities. Both first and second-generation Glock G17Ls are strictly collectors’ items. After the Glock G17L ascended to the third generation, those variants became easier to find. Even so, third-generation Glock G17Ls were only produced in small batches, oftentimes with several years in between each manufacturing run. The long slides and 6-inch barrels are likely inspired by old-school sporting pistols of the era; the original versions even had factory ported barrels along with a massive rectangular-shaped lightening cut on the upper portion  of their slides behind the front sight. Anyone familiar with third or fourth generation Glock G34s will also recognize the shape and style of the cut. 

Glock’s fifth-generation models have now been on the market for roughly seven years. The biggest changes seen in the fifth-generation models is the inclusion of fully ambidextrous safeties, the Glock Marksman barrels, a reprofiled grip and the slides cut for the Glock MOS optics system. The Glock Gen5 makeover by and large has been applied to nearly all of the company’s standard double-stack 9mm pistols including the Glock G17, G19, G34 and G26. From the classic models, the Glock G17L is the latest variant to receive the upgrade. Glock G17L Gen 5 pistols do not have the original slide cut behind the front sight. Rather, like the current Gen5 Glock G34, these new Glock G17L models are completely closed-off and use the area around the MOS factory optics cut for weight reduction. These new pistols are built on the standard full-size 17-round frame that’s also used in the Glock G17 or G34. In order to accommodate for the extra length slide (which nearly measures 8¾ inches itself), the Gen 5 Glock G17L uses a polymer dustcover to protect its recoil-spring assembly. The use of lighter polymer here not only keeps the pistol well-balanced, but it keeps the mass of the slide at a more reasonable weight in order to work properly with most 9mm ammo.

Life With a Longslide 

Even though it has a 6-inch barrel and extended-length slide, the new Glock G17L uses a standard length RSA (recoil spring assembly). Unlike most other 9mm Glock pistols, I’ve found that the Glock G17L is set-up from the factory to best handle standard and duty-pressure 9mm ammo. This doesn’t necessarily equate to “+P” loads, but those wouldn’t hurt either. Somewhat unusual is the fact that the pistol seems to need a very light break-in with standard or duty-pressure 9mm ammunition, which seems like it’s a trade-off required for the Glock action to work with a longer barrel and heavier slide. After trying both factory rounds (HOP Munitions 147 grain Poly) and light 115-grain handloads meant for competition shooting, these failed to generate enough force to fully cycle the slide and eject spent casings. Unless one is willing to change out RSAs, I wouldn’t recommend commercial ammo that’s loaded on the lighter side. It’s best to stick to standard pressure ammunition with this gun. Besides my “standard” pressure coated bullet handloads, this specimen has shot and cycled both Nosler ASP 115- and 124-grain JHP, Federal Syntech 115-grain and Staccato Range 124-grain FMJ factory ammo without a hitch.

Aside from very light loads with the factory RSA, the Gen5 Glock 17L has been 100-percent reliable. In spite of its long slide, the pistol handles neutrally and is fairly balanced, almost like a standard Glock 17 or even a Glock 34.