SAR 18#6

early upgrades to pre-EH### pistols
that required an enhanced trigger bar
that would increase the sear/striker
engagement. These improved early
trigger bars had a “+” stamped on the
top rear portion near the area of striker
engagement. While this upgraded
trigger bar had a distinct shape, this
author has seen at least one example
of an earlier shaped part that has a
bronze/gold color.
Shortly after the change from
two-letter to three-letter serial numbers,
a second line was added to the lower
cartouche on the grip with two additional
patent numbers. The next internal
upgrade in this approximate chronology
was angled cuts made to the interior
of the frame to relieve the back two
corners where the locking piece sits.
Without this modification, those two
corners were prone to the initiation of
vertical cracks in the polymer due to
the repeated impact of the corners of
the metal locking piece to the frame.
The relief cuts seemed to prevent the
occurrence and could also be added to
older models after the cracks had begun
(essentially removing the cracks
in the process of making the cuts
at their location).
As with other internal upgrades,
because these were often done by the
factory after production, their presence
tells less about the age of the pistol
than their absence. Hypothetically,
were the people at Glock, Inc. to discover
an old batch of early generation
2 serialized frames; they would surely
complete these upgrades before assembling
them into pistols to be sold as
new. Likewise, pistols returned to the
factory as trade-in towards new models
might also have similar upgrades.
The list of generation 2 changes
above can be described sequentially
Glock
Top: Midway through the 2nd generation,
relief cuts were added to the rear cutout
area for the locking block. Earlier models
tended to develop tiny cracks in the polymer
of that area due to the impact of the
locking block corners during recoil. For a
time, Glock would retrofit earlier guns if
requested, although, there’s little indication
these small cracks were more than a
cosmetic issue.
Right: During the 1994-2004 ban period,
some magazines for the subcompact
Glock 26 and 27 pistols were delivered
with “RESTRICTED. . .” markings and extended
floor plates because their capacity
exceeded the 10-round limit.
www.smallarmsreview.com 55 SAR Vol. 18, No. 6