After not owning a Glock for over 30 years (had a 17 and sold it after shooting it twice because it just did not fit me (who knows why as that was a long time ago)…..

Two + years ago I went into my local gun store where they were having a Glock sale so I told myself I needed to give this pistol another try (Para’s Glock Thread - HaHa) The store had lots of models but my focus was going to be on the 17/19 models since my PCC rifles use Glock mags and it would be great if I could eventually shoot in two gun matches a rifle and pistol that used the same mags…After handling several models (A used Gen3, several New Gen4’s, and several New Gen5’s) I fell in like with the Model 17 Gen 4 for the way the grip felt in my hands. Over the past two + years I have shot this pistol and I really like it, and I shoot it well…..

Fast Forward to Today - This is where I need some help please. I really like my Gen4 17 and want to continue to shoot it for recreation (not home protection or competition) BUT after reading and seeing that Glock’s Gen5 Model 34 comes Optic Ready (but the Gen4 did not), I am not sure I can have what I want but thought I would ask.

1 - Can I purchase a Gen5 34 and use that upper assembly on my Gen4 17 complete lower?

2 - If the answer to number 1 above is no, my second question is - Can I put a Gen5 Model 34 complete upper on top of a Gen4 (Model 17 or 34) complete lower?

Yep - You see what I want - I would love to have a Optic Ready Model 34 upper on a Gen4 lower….

Thoughts/Comments/Recommendations are greatly appreciated as I know nothing about the interchangeability of Glock upper and lower units with each other.

Thanks - sigarmsp226

quote:

Originally posted by sigarmsp226:
1 - Can I purchase a Gen5 34 and use that upper assembly on my Gen4 17 complete lower?

No. Gen 5 slides are not compatible with Gen 4 frames.

quote:

2 - If the answer to number 1 above is no, my second question is - Can I put a Gen5 Model 34 complete upper on top of a Gen4 (Model 17 or 34) complete lower?

No. See above. Gen 5 slides are not compatible with Gen 4 frames.



However, you can buy a Gen 4 G34 MOS slide or Gen 4 G17 MOS slide and use it on your existing Gen 4 G17 frame.

Or you can buy an aftermarket Gen 4 compatible optic ready G34/G17 slide.

Or you can send your existing Gen 4 G17 slide off to be milled for a red dot mount.


But if presumably your goal of going with an "optic ready" G34 slide is to use a red dot, the benefit of the G34's longer iron sight radius is irrelevant with an optic, so there's little reason to go with the longer slide. (The added velocity from the extra 0.8" barrel length is the only other potential benefit, but that's only ~30-50 FPS difference...)

So I'd recommend you either buy a separate Gen 4 G17 optic cut slide (factory or otherwise) or have your existing G17 slide cut for an optic, and skip buying the G34 slide assembly.

Mapleleaf Firearms will machine your Glock 17 slide and refinish with black nitride to match the factory finish for $175. They're one of many such services available, but you do have to commit to an optic footprint.

Excellent advice thus far. Custom milling a slide commits it a specific optic footprint, but it also works better than Glock's MOS mounting system.

JagerWerks Engineering is another popular and highly-regarding milling service.

I have two Gen 5 17s (one is optic ready) and one Gen 5 34 that is currently hosting and RMR. I would like to believe that I shoot the 34 better or the impulse is different, but it is not reality. I shoot them all about the same. I like the 34 for HD as the mounted flashlight does not protrude beyond the slide.

Unless you’re hell bent on a Gen 4, I’d suggest the move to a Gen 5. I find the trigger is better out of the box and my preference is to not have the finger grooves. Realistically, you will most likely want an after market optic mounting plate for the optic as the MOS plates kind of suck. Milling a Gen 4 isn’t much more expensive than the plate and it will fit your optic perfectly but not necessarily give you the option of upgrading the optic at a later date.

Another option is to go aftermarket. Some people love particular Glock generations. If I had a Gen4, and wanted to stay with a Gen4, I’d solve your problem by purchasing an aftermarket slide such as the Zev Duty slide. They have got a great track record. You can get the stripped slide, throw in your internals and swap back to factory whenever you wish.

Or just have it cut for direct mount. ATEI has done all of my work in the past.

The cheapest and simplest solution is trade for Gen5s.

Guys - Thanks for your feedback, links, recommendations, and suggestions. I really want to keep my Gen4 17 and the reason I wanted to go to the Model 34 is because I shoot a P320x5 in our local IDPA matches and wanted to give a Glock of similar size a try. That is why I was so set on wanting to try the Model 34. Because of my eyes and age I shoot Carry Optics, not open sights or I would use my 17.
I think I am going to go back by Gary’s and wrap my hands around a Gen5 34 to see if I like it enough to buy one. If not, I might just send my 17 slide off for milling with the hopes that one of the aforementioned milling companies will provide an insert that can either hold the 17’s rear sight, or mill just in front of the 17’s current rear sight and purchase a plate if I ever decide to convert the 17 back to open sights.

Thanks again for taking time to confirm that my upper and lower pairing options were not viable solutions. More to come on this new adventure for me…..Thanks Again Guys - Mark

Maple Leaf milled one of my guns for an RMR. I then had them mill my duty gun for the RMR.
They have options on where the rear sight goes I believe. I left it alone.

This is my old duty gun. They did other slide stuff so I had the whole slide nitrided.




This is my personal Glock 45 where they did the optic cut and just put some tool black on the cut.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
Another option is to go aftermarket. Some people love particular Glock generations. If I had a Gen4, and wanted to stay with a Gen4, I’d solve your problem by purchasing an aftermarket slide such as the Zev Duty slide. They have got a great track record. You can get the stripped slide, throw in your internals and swap back to factory whenever you wish.

Or just have it cut for direct mount. ATEI has done all of my work in the past.

The cheapest and simplest solution is trade for Gen5s.

Pretty much my thoughts, although I prefer the Gen5 over the Gen 4 for the lack of the finger groove/protrusions and some of the other upgrades they made to the guns.