Glock 19 Gen4 - Glock Knuckle Injury

Update 1/16/2013  (My Fix for Glock Knuckle came rather easily.  The back strap that came with the Gen 4 was the smallest one and that set my knuckle up for punishment when fired.  I added the medium grip strap over the small one and it works fine now.  I suggest you try that before you take a Dremel tool or sandpaper to your frame and void your warranty.)


I like Glocks and have used them since they became available.  I recently picked up the Gen4 Model 19 in the hopes of getting the newest and best improvements on what has become an outstanding self defense system.  After 50 rounds I noticed a pain on my right middle finger at the second knuckle where the trigger guard contacts this part of the hand.  I had the beginning of a blister and it actually became painful to continue firing.  This was something totally new for me after using every generation of Glock 9mm pistols to come out since the beginning.  I compared it with the a Gen-3 and noticed that the edges on the Gen-4 are sharper around the trigger guard.  I now have to come up with a way to cope with this unexpected and ridiculous new problem that came with this new gun.  As it stands now, I'd recommend to anyone thinking of a Glock Model 19 to stick with Gen-3 simply based on this issue alone.

A number of other users on pistol-forums report this same problem to the point it is called Glock Knuckle.  Some have used sand paper to solve the problem.  I notice one comment at the end of this thread that matches my observation that the edges of the trigger guard need to be rounded.  I'm likely to try this approach myself to fix the problem or attempt to fix it.  

Here is a thread on thehighroad that suggests changing to back strap size to move your knuckle away from the offending trigger guard.  I'll probably try that first and then proceed to go the sandpaper route.  I'm hesitant to go with sandpaper in the event it has an effect on the warranty as a modification.

Other than this problem I found the weapon fired the same as the others and with the distraction of the sharp edge trigger guard I was unable to clearly see a change in the trigger reset distance or pull.

I found a good review of the Gen-4 here at a pistol training site.

If you are looking for grip modifications here is a page describing the efforts another Glock user has performed.