Can you believe that Glock was introduced to the US in 1984? I still remember the cries of the news media that the plastic pistol was unable to be detected in airports. Oh the ignorance.

Who would have figured that this Glock would turn out to be one of the top selling handguns? I didn’t… but I was 16 at the time. Turns out that the Glock 19 is one of the best “do it all” handguns, and frequently recommended for both beginners and experienced shooters. I admit that I resisted carrying the Glock for years. I didn’t like the trigger feel. It took me a while to grow to the point that I didn’t need a clean trigger to hit the target. At that point I reconsidered the Glock.

The Glock 19 is a great handling pistol. For me, it’s small enough to carry every day without problem (turns out I can carry a G34 every day without a problem too, so maybe this isn’t a tough criteria), it has a consistent trigger pull from shot to shot (no, not perfectly crisp, but definitely workable), has a proven safety record, is reliable, and looks cool in a brick-sort of way.

The Gen5 Glock 19 provides an updated slide profile (slightly narrower toward the muzzle), a new barrel, no finger grooves (my fingers don’t fit in the Gen3/4), and though many people may not notice this, it has a slightly different rail which can prohibit the Gen5 from fitting in holsters fit for the Gen3/4.

In all, I don’t think I can go wrong carrying the Glock 19 Gen5.

This particular pistol is paired with a Streamlight TLR-8. It has 500 lumens, a bright red laser, ambidextrous controls with constant on plus a momentary switch, and a reputation for being rugged. 500 lumens puts it toward the higher end of light output for a compact weapon mounted light. The activation switches can be used with either hand on either side. To use a momentary activation, just press on the switch for longer than a fraction of a second, and when you let off the light/laser will turn off. If you hit the button for less than a second, the light/laser will turn on and stay on until you hit the button again. It can be switched between “light”, “laser”, and “both” modes by pressing both switches at the same time.

One of the best things about the TLR-8 is that it fits quite well on a Glock. It fits flush with the G19 muzzle, and only hangs slightly lower than the trigger guard on the G19. This means that the operator can carry this light & laser quite easily on many pistols.

Our Werkz M6 holster is a great place to park this formidable combination. It has all the normal M6 features. Claw for better concealment (can be removed if you wish, but I’m leaving it on). A single clip that can be used in a number of positions. Modularity for other attachments. RMR and suppressor height sight support. Adjustable retention. This particular holster is ambidextrous, which means that you can switch the clip and claw (left handed claws are available separately) to the other side for left handed carry. Or you can just switch the clip to the other side and carry the holster OWB. This works well for those range days where you want to put the holster on the outside of your pants, but in the same overall position. I’m carrying this pistol straight drop, standard carry height, on my hip about 3:30. This carry position seems to work well for most. I typically prefer carrying in the appendix position, but I find this position both comfortable and concealable. The pistol just sits tight to my body. The full grip is exposed and it’s easy to get a proper grip before drawing. Retention is sufficient for an inside the waistband holster, and I didn’t need to adjust any tighter or looser for my tastes.

This is what I’m carrying today: The Gen5 G19, the Streamlight TLR-8, and the Werkz M6 holster. Allows me to do everything I would normally do during the day, carrying comfortably.

Perhaps you already have a Sig Sauer P320 and are looking to get a weapon mounted light. While there are lots of good options on the market, the Inforce APLc is a popular one because of a few reasons.

The light itself is small, and has a mostly snag-free design. This is an important carry consideration as designs with big levers or arms can snag on clothing and necessitate a larger holster to carry.  The light has 200 lumens, which is adequate for most situations (I would advocate carrying a handheld light as well for situations where you don’t want to point your pistol at something you wouldn’t want to shoot — but that’s a whole different topic), and the runtime is adequate at 1.5 hours.  Finally, the switches are available on both sides, allowing you to manipulate with strong hand or reaction hand.  This all adds up to a very popular package for users.

But there are 2 different versions of the APLc.  There is an “APLc” and “APLc for Glock“.  The difference between the 2 is not immediately obvious, but if you look close, you’ll see that the APLc for Glock places the screw (which goes through the rail slots) further forward than the regular APLc.

This might make you think that you must purchase the APLc for your Sig Sauer P320. However, that is not the case.

As you can see from the above pictures, the screw may be positioned differently, but the light appears to be mounted in the same position.  Why is this?  It’s because the APLc for Glock and the APLc simply have their screw travel through different rail slots; the rail slot spacing is the same as the spacing difference between the different versions of the APLc.

Why is this important?  Say you have a number of different pistols you may choose to use your weapon mounted light with?  Perhaps you’re not sure if you’re going to run your APLc on your Sig or your Glock?  You can purchase the APLc for Glock, and use it on either pistol.  Similarly, perhaps you’re wanting to switch your light between the P320 and the HK VP9sk (the APLc for Glock won’t fit this HK), then get the regular APLc and you’re covered.

While this article is in relation to the popular Sig Sauer P320, it likely applies to a number of different pistol models.  If you choose carefully, you can maximize the interchange of your APLc on various pistols.

Here is a video showing what is discussed above.

Recently, I tried our Gen5 G19 with an Inforce APLc in a Werkz Minimalist 2.0 holster designed on the previous generation Glocks.  It didn’t fit properly.  Here is what I found out.

First, a bit of background.  Most holsters fit tightly around the pistol and (if attached) light or laser, especially when fully holstered.  This prevents the pistol from moving around a lot and gives proper retention and feel.  For a Kydex holster, key areas of retention are around the sides, where the Kydex has “give”.  This allows the Kydex to flex in for retention and flex out on draw.  Near the top of the slide or around the bottom of the holster, there is less give because this is where the holster comes together.  Further, the Kydex is quite strong around those areas.  For a holster to fit properly, the distance from the top of the slide to the bottom of the light is critical.  And that is where the problem is for the Gen5 Glock 19 we tried.

I tested the holster with the Gen4 G19, and it fit properly.  I also tested the holster with the Gen5, and it fit too tightly.  So tightly in fact that I would have had a difficult time drawing cleanly.  This wasn’t an item I could resolve by adjusting the retention screw, and it wasn’t because the holster didn’t have clearance for the ambi slide release.  So, I measured my pistol in a number of places, and here is what I found.