Glock may very well be one of the most loved and simultaneously hated companies in the firearm industry. They make wonderfully reliable pistols that have been successfully deployed by militaries, law enforcement, and civilians around the world. Yet some people are set in their ways and simply will not adopt or play with a polymer pistol. Regardless, one thing is for sure… the Austrians are truly listening to their customers.
Over the past couple weeks Glock had begun to hint at the release of a new firearm, and with those clues the rumors began to fly! Was it going to be a carbine?! A single-stack 10mm pistol?! Or maybe a weird hybrid Glock-1911?! Nobody knew for sure, but that did not stop people from guessing and passionately arguing over the interwebs.
When the new firearm was announced on December 10th many of us were truly shocked to hear that the G44, or 44th model Glock, was in fact a .22 Long Rifle! Never in Glock’s long illustrious career of arms making had they produced a rimfire pistol before. There were always aftermarket companies who made caliber-exchange kits to convert your centerfire Glocks to rimfire, but they had poor reliability at best. Now anyone who wants to shoot rimfire on the cheap can emulate all of the real functioning, controls, and manipulations of their centerfire counterparts with the G44 .22 Long Rifle.
The beauty of the G44 from Glock is that it is the exact same dimensions as their staple G19 9mm pistol. The G19 is Glock’s perfect blend of a carry pistol and a range pistol all in one. So, it only makes sense to have their new rimfire pistol be a clone of that perfect size. Some key differences though can be found in the slide assembly of the G44. Unlike any other Glock that has come before it, the G44 has a polymer slide assembly with a steel insert surrounding all of the important internal components and areas that may come in contact with the lower receiver/frame assembly. You might be wondering, “Well, that’s odd… Why would they do that?”
The dilemma with rimfire pistols and the reasoning for this involves being able to get a slide for a semi-auto pistol to reliably reciprocate, cycle, and fire. With a normal steel slide (found on all of their centerfire pistols) it would simply be too heavy. It would not reciprocate and run as intended. So, instead of skeletonizing a metal slide to the point that it looks like swiss cheese, Glock opted for something they are really good at… making polymer products. They manufactured a polymer slide to curb the weight enough where a rimfire pistol would run reliably, but still reinforced the most important areas with a steel sleeve to protect its long-term functioning.
This little nugget of engineering alone could open a Pandora’s box of customization. People might begin to 3-D print G44 slides and drop them onto the necessary steel sleeve. You can now customize and stipple a Glock slide! The only question that is left unanswered is how will adding a miniature red dot affect the functioning of the slide?... Red dots for handguns are becoming more and more popular so would that throw off the weight distribution for the slide to run properly?... Only time will tell.
Right now though, since the G44 has the same frame as a G19, you can do a lot of upgrades for your Glock .22 Long Rifle pistol from your favorite aftermarket parts producer: Tyrant Designs. For one, you could add in a well-crafted magazine release extension to get yourself started. Like we mentioned, this new rimfire pistol from Glock could open the door for a lot of upgrades in the future. Need more ideas on how to upgrade your current Glocks check out think link! Let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below about the NEW Glock G44 .22 Long Rifle! We love it when you participate in our articles and keep the conversation going!
