Which Glock 17 should I [almost] buy?

[RostokMcSpoons]

I've got this weird fascination with Glocks - weird because I always thought they were the crappiest looking mainstream gun in existence.
But then I got to shoot one, just a few plinking rounds fired, and I "got it".

I've been to the clinic, they couldn't clear it up.

So although I really, really, really don't need another GBB pistol as my TM Hi Capa DOR is absolutely peachy, thank-you very much, I still keep looking in the classifieds and YT review videos.
I tell myself "no" but "no really means yes", in this particular instance, I suspect.

Now obviously the Gold Standard of shoot-ability is probably going to be the new gen4 Tokyo Marui.   For mil-spec realism, probably the VFC / Umarex metal slide gen5?  
They're both knocking on at around the £160 mark.
Should I hold out for one of those, or are the boneyard / bargain bins likely to yield something vaguely worthwhile?    There are WEs and AAs that show up around the £60 mark, but if they're not going to shoot on a cold day, there's not all that much point. 

I've got some other fish frying / irons in fires, such as wanting a GBBR of some sort, or a Specna G36, which will probably drain my budget before I get around to this.  But damnit, I might as well know what I'm going to do.

Any thoughts and experience from The Hive Mind?

 

 

[Davet]

If you want mil-spec realism, the British Army currently uses the Gen 4.

 

There you go, gold standard justified for you…

[Guest]

The most realistic is the Umarex/GHK, the best to use is the TM G17

[C-Diddy]

I've had the Umarex Gen 4 for a few years now. Tbh, like a lot of pistols, it's more for show, especially as I don't play CQB.

 

 

 

I've done very little to it apart from clean it, and not even bothered fine tuning the hop to make sure BBs go straight. I do like it though. Mags are pretty expensive however.

 

 

 

Time over again, I'd be more tempted by the TM Gen 4 as, for the price, you're paying more for the official licence with the Umarex. TMs just work.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by C-Diddy

[Enid_Puceflange]

I started off with a WE G17 as my first pistol, it worked ok, and to be honest , it Never let me down.

That left my ownership after I got bored of it, I tried the AEG (We) M17 -Sig P320

That was a real disappointment of bad designed hop unit making it unable to shoot straight, then a mildly bling Hi Cappa , just because

I also now have a TM G17 , works in almost freezing conditions on 144a

To the extent that I use it for sneaky test shots when marshalling

 

Sorry to sound a fanboy, but TM all the way

[RostokMcSpoons]

"Buy once, buy TM" seems to the regular take-away message

 

[Rogerborg]

16 hours ago, RostokMcSpoons said:

There are WEs and AAs that show up around the £60 mark, but if they're not going to shoot on a cold day, there's not all that much point

 

I have the metal slide Army Armament R17 and yes, it doesn't run well (or at all) on "green" pressure gas in the cold.  I use it so rarely that I haven't even splurged on higher pressure gas, so I don't know if that's solvable.  Other than that, mine works fine for such a cheap (in airsoft terms) toy, and there's a plastic slide version of it kicking around for way less than a TM which might be cold-weather friendly.

 

The TM does have a much nicer trigger, but I personally don't find it £80-£100 nicer - I'm more concerned with whether BBs go downrange 9 times out of 10 than optimising ergonomics.

[RostokMcSpoons]

Thanks Roger, that's £70 new by the looks of it.
https://wolfarmaments.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1179

Given the amount of skirmish use it'll actually get, it would be a logical choice.    Especially as I'm sure I could punt it on for [not much less] if I still wanted the TM after I tried it.

 

 

I've bought some tickets at the Airsoft Competitions site, so maybe I'll be winning a TM FNX or Glock soon anyway, because I'm always soooooo lucky in raffles and lotteries (NOT)

Edit: Also bought tickets for the Cybergun Scar-PDW (which looks very nice, but is expensive)
Ball 89 came out... which no-one had bought.  Re-draw... Ball 88 came out.  No-one had that either...  I had ticket 87.   Re-draw... someone else won.    Bah humbug.

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by RostokMcSpoons
Edited to reveal the full horror of my lack of luck

[Rogerborg]

Ah, good spot, I'd only been able to find the plastic slide in orange-horror spec at BBgunz4U sites.  To be fair, I got my metal slide OD one for £65 delivered from 4less using a discount code, so I can't really grumble.

[RostokMcSpoons]

23 minutes ago, Rogerborg said:

Ah, good spot, I'd only been able to find the plastic slide in orange-horror spec at BBgunz4U sites.  To be fair, I got my metal slide OD one for £65 delivered from 4less using a discount code, so I can't really grumble.

 

No you can't    Do you think the plastic slide will improve the winter weather performance much?

Had another google to see if there were any cheaper prices than the £70 at Wolf.   Hah, darned things used to be £57 at some retailers.  That is proper 'impulse purchase' territory.
Looking at SFA's unboxing video, I can see it does look pretty cheap, but also looks quite snappy...   Special Ops usually have a selection of AA pistols for sale, I'll see if they've got one I can take a close look at.

The TM... well it's still the best long-term option isn't it.

Edited January 24, 2023 by RostokMcSpoons

[cart3rlfc]

I have a kjw works g19 with plastic slide I'd be willing to part with for cheap? If it interests you, pm me? Just a thought 😊

[Rogerborg]

2 hours ago, RostokMcSpoons said:

Do you think the plastic slide will improve the winter weather performance much?

 

A birrion Toyko Marui owners can't be wrong.

 

(I mean, except about 0.7J being better than 1.1J)

 

Oh, I'd stress that realistically speaking I've only put a few thousand BBs through mine, even using it as a CQB primary occasionally. This isn't a lifetime commitment recommendation, it's more of a "Hey, it actually works!" pleasant surprise.

[THE FNG]

You could go for a TM G17 for now and then if you want to, upgrade the slide to an aftermarket "metal" slide.

 

I asked @rocketdogbert to build one for me from a tm base and it is by far the best looking and most satisfying out of my pistols by far. Full trades, metal slide, great performance.

[RostokMcSpoons]

2 hours ago, THE FNG said:

You could go for a TM G17 for now and then if you want to, upgrade the slide to an aftermarket "metal" slide.

 

I asked @rocketdogbert to build one for me from a tm base and it is by far the best looking and most satisfying out of my pistols by far. Full trades, metal slide, great performance.

 

If I do go ahead with a TM, it'll be because of the cold weather performance from the plastic slide, so although the metal upgrade would be nice, it's not so vital.  I'm sure it'd be great in the summer though, and maybe I'll be trying to spend money I don't have at that point!

I am unsure about the AA R17 with the plastic slide (and the cheaper-looking plastics) because it might still be a bit of a poor performer in the cold, and therefore £70 not brilliantly spent    But, as I said, I'm sure I could recover most of my outlay if I don't like or use it.   

Also, rather annoyingly, I bought a specific Hi-Capa retention holster for my TM, rather than the AmoMax universal that I could have tweaked to hold this as well, so there's a bit of a shortfall in my kit that might be enough to stop me buying anything!

Edit: Seems patrolbase have a lot of the retention holsters on sale for discounted prices, so I could get a universal, or even a specific Glock holster and swap over...
https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/swiss-arms-adaptx-level-2-adaptable-holster?pv=16886

 

 

Edit2 : Bought @cart3rlfc's G19 so I'll have a Glock to try out... if it floats my boat then I'm sure the TM will happen in the future

Thanks all!

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by RostokMcSpoons
Bought a gnu

[Impulse]

I would go with the TM G17 because I'm a massive TM shill when it comes to anything gas blowback. All of my TM pistols are great, my MWS is great and my AKM is great. I will be doing a G17 build myself at some point that is going to cost me a bunch, so it's low on the priority list but my friend has a TM G17 and he sings its praises.

[Rogerborg]

You're very rarely going to regret a TM purchase, are you?

[Impulse]

3 minutes ago, Rogerborg said:

You're very rarely going to regret a TM purchase, are you?

 

I don't know, I think their AEGs are not worth the money, I just love their gas guns  

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

TM.  I like boring reliability in sports goods.  You wouldn't play snooker with a cue that bent, or squash with a racquet that had rotten strings.   Why use a pistol that 'sort of' works for airsoft?  

 

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

7 hours ago, Tactical Pith Helmet said:

TM.  I like boring reliability in sports goods.  You wouldn't play snooker with a cue that bent, or squash with a racquet that had rotten strings.   Why use a pistol that 'sort of' works for airsoft?  

 

 

Yeah, can't argue with that.  I went with the cheap option (KJ Works G19) because there's realistically every chance that two pistols are one too many in my loadout.  I'll get to try out the Glock to see if that weird itch was short-lived or not, and I can move the gun on for what I bought it for, and upgrade to the TM 'as and when'. 

 

Edit:  For anyone following this thread interested in a TM G17, there's one in the Classifieds    (It's a gen 3 not the gen 4, so the smaller BBU, but it'll still be pretty damned good, I'm sure)

 

In the meantime (and blowing my budget to bits), there's another Gas Blow Back gun about to join my collection... 

Edited January 25, 2023 by RostokMcSpoons

[theSwede]

The only downside with the TM G17 gen3 as I see it are the specs.

Although running a G22 holster solves that problem.

 

Wonderful pistol if you’re into upgrading and rebuilding.

There’s a ton of aftermarket parts available.

[Impulse]

On 25/01/2023 at 08:35, RostokMcSpoons said:

there's realistically every chance that two pistols are one too many in my loadout.

 

I run a GBB and my mk23 at the same time in my loadout. One on each leg. It's surprisingly doable and useful (mk23 for silent pews, but GBB for most sidearm shooting / moving about)

[RostokMcSpoons]

One thing to bear in mind, which I picked up from at least two different sources, is that the Gen 4 17 has the big mag release catch, and apparently it's rather too easy to bump that and pop the mag out.

I also got warned by  @1967PF44  who's owned plenty of pistols is that the TM G17 Gen 4 was the only that had broken on him.  Twice for the slide, and once for the hammer.   Maybe he's very unlucky, but it's something to bear in mind.

 

Anyway, I'm happy with my cheapo G19 for the moment, I need to spend all my 'spare' cash on G36 and HK416 mags ;]

 

1 hour ago, Impulse said:

 

I run a GBB and my mk23 at the same time in my loadout. One on each leg. It's surprisingly doable and useful (mk23 for silent pews, but GBB for most sidearm shooting / moving about)

 

I don't have room on my battlebelt for two holsters!   

[Impulse]

19 minutes ago, RostokMcSpoons said:

One thing to bear in mind, which I picked up from at least two different sources, is that the Gen 4 17 has the big mag release catch, and apparently it's rather too easy to bump that and pop the mag out.

I also got warned by  @1967PF44  who's owned plenty of pistols is that the TM G17 Gen 4 was the only that had broken on him.  Twice for the slide, and once for the hammer.   Maybe he's very unlucky, but it's something to bear in mind.

 

Anyway, I'm happy with my cheapo G19 for the moment, I need to spend all my 'spare' cash on G36 and HK416 mags ;]

 

 

I don't have room on my battlebelt for two holsters!   

 

Yeah, it's a running joke at my local site that Glock mags go missing because of that. 1911 mags are also a prime contender because if you don't get an appropriate holster they wiggle about and end up hitting the mag catch because they're smaller than most pistols.

 

And I hate pistols on my belt because I need to be able to sit in a shooting position, and suppressed pistols just immediately dig into the ground as soon as I do. I'm fairly tall though, so I use drop legs mounted very high on my leg which allows me to sit or kneel without sending the suppressor straight into the mud. Also one of my GBBs is an SMG and I don't think there are any belt-mounted holsters for SMGs (could be wrong, but I love my leg one anyway)