Glock 17 vs 19 vs 45: Which Size to Buy

A Glock 45 is a Glock 19 slide on a Glock 17 grip. Once you see the three pistols that way, the choice between them comes down to two measurements: how long the grip is, and how long the slide is.

Grip length decides whether the gun prints under your shirt. Slide length decides how it shoots and, if you carry appendix, how it feels when you sit down. Everything else is shared: the same 9mm, the same width, the same controls, and the same magazines in the direction that matters.

We drew all three to scale, checked which magazines, holsters and parts cross between them, and pulled what our own builders pick. In the first two weeks of our Glock builder, 30 of the 45 complete 17s, 19s and 45s people added were 19s.

The product cards show live prices from the stores we track. A price we quote in the text is the median at the moment a builder picked that gun, so the two won't always match.

How much bigger is a Glock 17 than a 19?

Less than an inch in any direction. The 17's slide is 0.47 inches longer and its grip sits 0.43 inches lower. The width doesn't change at all.

Tap a pistol to lay it over the 19. The 45 matches the 19 at the muzzle and the 17 at the bottom of the grip, and the cards under the drawing spell out every difference. Glock lists the 45 at 7.44 inches overall against the 19's 7.28, though the two share a 6.85 inch slide. The extra sixth of an inch is frame, not slide.

The grip has the same shape and thickness on all three. Only its length changes, and your hand notices that one way: whether your pinky has a home.

Which one should you buy?

Answer four questions and the pick updates as you go. It runs on the two rules this guide rests on. Grip length is a concealment decision. Slide length is a shooting decision.

Here's the logic behind it, so you can argue with it.

Grip first. The butt of the grip pushes out against your shirt, so the shorter grip hides better. That's the 19's whole advantage over the other two. On a duty belt, in a nightstand or in a range bag, the advantage buys you nothing, and the full grip on the 17 and 45 gives your pinky somewhere to go.

Slide second. A longer slide gives you a longer sight radius and puts a little more weight out front. Both help the muzzle settle between shots. The effect is real and it's small.

Appendix carry is where slide length shows up in daily life. The 17's longer slide pushes into your thigh when you sit. The 19 and 45 share the shorter slide, so they sit the same.

What does our build data say?

Our Glock builder relaunched on September 13, 2026, so we have two weeks of picks. We'd rather show you a small honest sample than round it up.

Builders added 70 complete Glocks to builds between September 13 and 26. Of those, 45 were a 17, 19 or 45, and the 19 took 30.

The parts point the same way. Of the stripped frames builders picked for a 17, 19 or 45 sized build, 49 of 56 were 19 frames. Of the slides, 17 of 20 were 19 length.

Two caveats. Two weeks is a short window, and these counts will move as the builder grows. And a frame count tells you the grip size a builder wanted, not why.

The median complete 19 went into a build at $539, and the median 17 at $573. We left the 45 out of that comparison. Several of its picks were packages with an optic already mounted, so its median would mislead you.

Glock 19: the one most people should buy

Short grip, short slide. Glock brought it out in 1988, and it's the most issued of the three in the record below: the FBI, the Coast Guard, MARSOC and Special Operations Command all carry 19s.

If you'll carry concealed, start here. It hides better than the other two, it takes a 17 round magazine as a spare, and it's the size holster and parts makers support first.

You do give up some grip. Big hands leave a pinky hanging off the bottom. A 17 round magazine fixes that at the range and gives the concealment back to the holster.

Glock

Glock 19 Gen 6 MOS

In stock

$597.60 at MidwayUSACompare 9 stores+ Add to build

Glock

Glock 19 V 4.02" 9mm FS (3)15rd Pistol, Black - PV1950203

In stock

$539.00 at Sportsmans Outdoor SuperstoreCompare 8 stores+ Add to build

Glock 45: the 19's slide on the 17's grip

Glock built this layout for the Army's handgun trial, which SIG won in January 2017, and sold it anyway as the coyote brown 19X in January 2018. Police wanted it in black, and the 45 arrived that September with front slide serrations.

You get the full grip, where length helps you shoot, and the 19's shorter slide. Glock lists the same barrel and recoil spring for the 19 and the 45, and the 19 Gen5 slide fits the 45 frame. What you don't get is concealment. The grip is exactly as long as a 17's, so it prints like one.

The 45's real job is a duty, home or range gun for a hand that wants the full grip and a shooter who prefers the shorter slide. Some appendix carriers run one too and manage the grip with the holster.

Glock

GLOCK G45 GEN6 9mm 4.02" 17rd - Black

In stock

$620.00 at BrownellsCompare 8 stores+ Add to build

Glock

Glock 45V, Semi-Automatic Pistol, 9mm, Standard Sights, (3) 17 Rd Magazines, W / Front Serrations, Ambidextrous Slide Release, V Series - PV4550203

In stock

$539.00 at MidwayUSACompare 8 stores+ Add to build

Glock 17: the full size

Full grip, full slide, 17 rounds flush. It's the original Glock, picked by the Austrian Army in 1982, and it's the pistol British forces carry today as the L131A1.

The longer slide gives you the longest sight radius of the three and a touch more weight up front. You'll shoot it a little more precisely than a 19. You won't shoot it twice as well.

If the gun lives on a duty belt, in a safe or in a range bag, the 17 gives up nothing.

Glock

Glock 17 Gen 6 MOS

In stock

$620.00 at BrownellsCompare 9 stores+ Add to build

Glock

Glock 17V, Semi Automatic 9mm Pistol, w/ Front Serrations, (3) 17rd Magazines, Flared Magwell, Ambidextrous Slide Release, V Series - PV1750203

In stock

$539.00 at BrownellsCompare 9 stores+ Add to build

What fits which?

This part saves you money. The three pistols share a lot, but the parts that don't cross over are the expensive ones: slides, barrels and holsters.

The magazine rule has one firm half. A longer magazine works in a shorter grip and sticks out the bottom, and Glock lists 17 rounders for the 19. The other direction is shakier. A 19 magazine often locks into a 17 or 45 but sits up inside the grip, and Glock doesn't list it. Test yours before you trust it.

Gen6 doesn't change the magazine rule, and your magazines carry over. Safariland lists the Gen6 17 and 45 on the same holster fits as Gen5, though the new thumb rest can bind in a tight kydex holster. Barrels and slides don't carry over, because Gen6 changed the barrel. Our Gen6 guide has the full list.

If you stock one size of spare magazine, make it 17 rounds. It fits all three.

Glock

Glock 17 GEN5 OEM Magazine, 9mm, 17 Rounds

In stock

$19.80 at BattleHawk ArmoryCompare 5 stores+ Add to build

Magpul

Magpul PMAG Glock G17, G19, G26, G34, G45 Magazine 9mm 17 Rd.

In stock

$10.99 at KY Gun CompanyCompare 10 stores+ Add to build

What do reviewers recommend?

The standing advice barely changes from one reviewer to the next. Pew Pew Tactical and three holster makers, Harry's Holsters, Vedder and Wright Leather Works, all land on the same split: the 19 for concealed carry, the 17 for duty, open carry and competition, and the 45 if you want the bigger grip. The Firearm Blog told first time buyers this February to choose between the 19 and 45 by how each one fits the hand.

Two voices push back on the simple version. PHLster, who make appendix holsters, say grip height is what limits concealment, and that the complaint they hear most is the muzzle digging in when you sit. A higher ride height fixes most of it. ConcealedCarry.com goes further. It argues most people can carry a bigger gun than they think, because a longer slide can lever the grip in against your body.

Pew Pew's own printing test lands on the conventional side. They measured the 17's grip at about 4 inches against the 19's 3.5, and the 17 printed clearly.

The reviews also argue about velocity. Pew Pew clocked their 17 about 75 feet per second faster than their 19 with the same 115 grain load. Ballistics by the Inch measured 16 to 58 fps across a full inch of barrel with common 9mm loads, which works out to under 30 fps for the 19's half inch. Neither number should pick your gun.

What do police and the military carry?

The issued record leans hard toward the 19.

The FBI awarded Glock its service pistol contract in June 2016, and field agents carry the 19M. The Marines authorized MARSOC to carry the Glock 19 in 2015, and Special Operations Command describes its Mk27 pistol as a Glock 19. The Coast Guard made the 19 Gen5 MOS its standard pistol in 2020, and Customs and Border Protection ordered 19s, 26s and 47s in 2019.

Full size grips show up in two places. British forces bought more than 25,000 Glock 17 Gen4s in 2013 as the L131A1, replacing the Browning Hi-Power. And the Royal Canadian Mounted Police picked the 45 this April.

The 45 itself came out of a military trial. Glock entered a compact slide on a full size grip in the Army's Modular Handgun System competition and lost to SIG in January 2017. GAO's protest decision puts Glock's evaluated price at $272.2 million against SIG's $169.5 million.

Where our data and the reviewers disagree

Read enough reviews and the 45 starts to sound like the obvious answer. The Firearm Blog put it as having your cake and eating it too. Our builders don't act like it. They picked it 8 times out of 45, behind the 19 by nearly four to one.

We think both are right. The 45 is the better range and duty gun for a lot of hands. Most people buying a Glock want something to carry, though, and for carry the grip settles the argument.

Gen5, Gen6 or V?

Glock changed its lineup twice in the last year, so the model number is only half your decision.

In October 2025 Glock confirmed its V series. Most Gen5 models stopped shipping at the end of November, and V models replaced them in December at Gen5 prices. A V is the Gen5 design with internal changes meant to make illegal full auto conversion harder. Glock lists it at Gen5 dimensions, so every measurement on this page applies to it.

Gen6 reached dealers on January 20, 2026, and the 17, 19 and 45 were the first three models to get it. It adds a palm swell, an extended thumb rest, a bigger beavertail, a flat faced trigger and a new optic system with plates that screw straight to the slide. Glock lists the same lengths and heights, about an ounce lighter. Gen6 barrels don't swap with Gen5, and your existing magazines still work.

On September 26 the cheapest in stock V listings we track sat around $510 to $540, and Gen6 MOS listings around $600 to $620. If you'll run a red dot, the Gen6 optic system is the reason to pay the difference. Retailers report the V also changed internal parts like the trigger housing and slide cover plate, so check that any trigger or cover plate you buy lists V models.

If the 19 is still too big

The 48 is the surprise. Glock lists it at the 19's exact length, slide length and height, so its outline sits right on top of the 19's. The only difference is width: 1.10 inches against 1.34.

The 43X keeps that height on a shorter 6.06 inch slide. The 26 shortens everything, grip included, and stays almost as wide at 1.30 inches.

The slimline guns take their own magazines, which fit nothing else on this page. Glock made 15 rounders standard on the 43X and 48 in May 2026, up from 10. Our 43X and 48 upgrades guide covers both.

Where this leaves you

• Buy the 19 if you'll carry it, or if you aren't sure. That covers most people.
• Buy the 45 if your pinky hangs off a 19 and the gun will live on a belt, in a nightstand or at the range.
• Buy the 17 if you want the full size gun and you'll never try to hide it.

What to read next

• Glock 19 upgrades: what to change first on the gun most of you will buy
• What fits a Gen6 Glock: the parts that carry over and the ones that don't
• Glock 43X and 48 upgrades: the slimline alternative
• Best Glock holsters
• Best Glock magazines
• Best Glock triggers