Glock 48 vs Glock 19: A Detailed Review
Oh Glock, at one point everyone proclaimed the Glock 19 was the perfect concealed carry gun. Now perfect is relative as its a rather large gun compared to a pocket pistol like the Ruger LCR. However, it was an excellent size compromise. It was a compact gun that offered 15 rounds on tap in an easy to control package. The Glock 19 is by far the most popular Glock pistol, and the Glock 19X sold a 100k units in a year, so that says something. What other differences are between the Glock 48 vs Glock 19?
The Glock 19 is a massively popular gun from a massively popular company. It can’t get better, can it?
Glock could have rested on the Glock 19 as the end-all compact gun, but instead, this year they introduced the Glock 48. The newest Glock is very 19 like, but is much thinner and is a single stack gun. The Glock 48 premiered at SHOT Show 2019 and was at range day and on the floor.
The gun grabbed an immediate cult following of people who saw the benefits of the design. The Glock 48 is almost like an evolution of the Glock 19 but at the same different enough to gain its own number.
Can the Glock 48 upset the natural order of things and replace the Glock 19 as Glock’s perfect compromise for concealed carry? We’ll let’s take a peek at the two and find out.
Glock 48 vs Glock 19: Fit and Finish
Glock’s are often described as Spartan, and that’s a great way to look at them. They aren’t designed to be sexy or stylish, and they are designed to work and work they do. This isn’t to say the guns are sloppy or aren’t professional. The Glock 19 comes with a standard nitride finish and is available in a stainless steel model.
The finish is evenly applied without odd portions receiving more or less coating. The blackened finish you find on most is well suited for both concealed carry and duty use. The finish is very hard and resistant to wear and tear.
It will resist holster wear as well as contact with sweat and moisture in general.
The traditional Glock finish is well proven and well made. The new Glock 48 is outfitted with a new finish called nPVD. This gives the gun a stainless steel appearance.
It certainly stands out and looks good. Is it tough? It’s not like we’ve seen Glock guns outfitted with the nPVD finish often. The nPVD finish has been used for years on different guns and is quite rugged and tough. The new finish is very nice and speaks to my love of stainless guns.
Each gun has a black polymer frame that’s rather plain and simple. The polymer is cleanly cut without lines or mold marks. The Glock frame is outfitted with simple stippling, and clean cuts to accommodate the gun’s controls. Both guns are clean-cut and well made.
The Glock 48 does have an nPVD finish that gives it the stainless appearance, and admittedly you can hunt down stainless Glock 19s. Both guns look good, are a tad bit boring, but the function is more important than form. In terms of form both the fit and finish are well done.
Glock 48 vs Glock 19: Specs
Here is where we see a major difference between the two guns. The specs are nearly completely different. All that said, there are a number of specs the guns are similar in. The height of both guns are identical and are each 5.04 inches tall.
They share the same length grip. The guns feature similar trigger distances: the 48’s is slightly short than the Glock 19s, but not considerably.
The Glock 48 is predictably slimmer. The slide is .80 inches thick, and the grip width is 1.10 inches. The 19 has a .13 inch wider slide and a .16 inch thicker grip. It doesn’t seem like a major difference, but when it’s pressed against your body, you feel it.
The biggest difference in these guns is the capacity. The Glock 48 comes with single stack 9mm magazines that hold ten rounds. The Glock 19 comes stock with 15 round magazines but can accommodate magazines up to 33 rounds.
The weight of the guns is considerably different. The Glock 48 weighs 25.12 ounces with a full magazine. The Glock 19 weighs a hefty 30.16 ounces when fully loaded.
The Glock 48 has a shorter overall length at 7.28 inches but has a longer barrel at 4.17 inches. The Glock 19 has a 4.02-inch barrel but an overall length of 7.36 inches.
Each gun represents its chosen role well, and the gun’s specs are on point from what they are and what they do.
Glock 48 vs Glock 19: Ergonomics
Since the guns both feature very similar ergonomics, it may be hard to declare one or another as better or more ergonomic than the other. Both guns have grips that are perfectly long enough to fill your hand just right. You won’t find a hanging pinky on these guns.
The G48 is basically in its first generation. The Glock 19 is in its 5th generation so it can be tough to compare ergonomics without consideration for the correct generation. Since the G48 came out in 2019, I think it’s fair to compare the ergonomics to the Generation 5 Glock 19s.
Both guns have smooth, groove-less grips which to me are superior to the previous Gen 3 and Gen 4 grips in my opinion. The G48’s thinner grip is likely more comfortable for smaller hands overall. The trigger distance is shorter which makes it much easier for shorter fingers to reach the trigger.
The Glock 19 Gen 5 model incorporates an ambidextrous magazine release, and the Glock 48 does not. The Glock 19 also has a flared mag well for quicker and easier reloads. The Glock 48 does feature a full-sized slide lock that’s common in every other Glock handgun.
The Glock 48 does have forward slide serrations, a feature missing on standard Glock 19 (though not the Glock 19 MOS Gen 5 as seen in the photographs). The front serrations make it easy to rack the gun from the front or to do a press check.
Both guns do feature a magazine release that is reversible for both left and right-handed shooters.
Glock 48 vs Glock 19: Features
We could talk all day about the features of these two guns. The Glock 48 is a very small and ergonomic little gun that is honestly for comfortable and packed with features. This includes the Generation 5 marksman’s barrel. This barrel is match grade and enhances the accuracy of the gun.
The Generation 5 Glock, of course, has this same barrel. Magazine wise both guns also feature witness holes for every round and a bright orange follower that makes it easy to track the round count in your weapon.
Lastly, both guns use the Glock safe action system that provides three total safeties to prevent accidental discharge unless the trigger is pulled. These are all passive safeties, and the guns both lack manual safeties.
The Glock 19 does have an accessory rail that allows you to attach lights and lasers to your gun easily. The rail is a much easier system than the custom made options for railless guns. You can attach lights from any company that uses Picatinny rails, which is all of them.
The Glock 48 is rail-less, but this makes sense since the gun is designed for concealed carry and not for duty use. The Glock 19 works in both roles well.
Both guns are available with a variety of different sight options. This includes the stock Glock sights that are kind of junk in general. Additionally, you can buy high visibility Ameriglo sights and Glock OEM night sights.
The Glock 19 even have a model known as the MOS. MOS stands for Modular Optics System, and this allows you to attach micro red dot sights to your gun.
The Glock 48 also has an MOS version. An in-depth Glock 48 MOS review is available on our blog. Both weapons are easy to use and packed with all the modern features any modern pistol should have.
Glock 48 vs Glock 19: Shooting Characteristics
The Glock 19 is one of the easiest-to-shoot stock guns on the market. The big full-sized grip, long sight radius, and good trigger make it easy to hit what you aim at. The Glock 19 has been popular for long because it’s such an easy to handle the gun.
Ultimately the Glock 19’s features are the reason why the Glock 48 will be so popular.
The Glock 48 incorporates a lot of the same features of the Glock 19. The grip is the same, as is the sight radius and trigger pull. The gun is just as accurate and easy to shoot as the standard Glock 19.
When it comes time to put lead downrange both guns handle very well. With proper fundamentals, you will easily hit small targets quite rapidly. From a combat perspective after an hour of instruction, I can have a new shooter hitting a man-sized target at 25 yards.
When it comes time to reload the Glock 19 is slightly easier for a number of reasons. The magazines are thicker and easier to grab. Shoving a fresh one in the wider magazine well is also a little more intuitive. This applies to the Glock 26 as well. If you want to find out how the Glock 19 vs Glock 26 comparison shakes out, it’s available to read on our blog.
The Glock 48 is plenty easy to reload, and in a very short period of time, I can likely get just as fast as with the 48 as I am with the 19.
In terms of control, guns are simple and easy to control. This includes rapid-fire. The muzzle flip and rearward recoil are limited, and the guns are perfect for defensive shooting. Both guns are remarkably reliable, almost to a fault. It doesn’t matter how filthy they are, or how cheap the ammo is these guns will work.
Glock 48 vs Glock 19: Ease of Concealment
Without a doubt, the Glock 48 is the easier gun to conceal. It’s slightly shorter, thinner, lighter, and perfect for smaller people. The Glock 19 itself has long been the gold standard for concealed carry, and it still fits that role.
However, the G48 was what happens when you really no longer have to compromise between ease of handling and size. The G48 is a Glock 19 shrunk down as far as you possibly can.
The Glock 48 is perfect for IWB carry (in the right Glock 48 holsters) and adds a new layer into comfortable and concealed carry. The Glock 19, in my opinion, is better suited for OWB carry, but the right Glock 19 holsters make it an excellent IWB candidate too.
The Glock 19 is a great option if you want a concealed carry gun that’s outfitted with a weapon light and red dot optic.
The Glock 19 offers you those options if you want to go with a slightly bigger gun with more features. I carry a duty worth handgun is your goal then the Glock19 is the way to go.
If your goal is to minimize the footprint of the gun you carry without a performance sacrifice, the Glock 48 is the way to go. This thin, lightweight gun opened up new frontiers in the new concealed carry market.
Conclusion
Choosing between the Glock 19 and Glock 48 would be difficult. I tend to glide more towards bigger guns, but my frame allows it. The Glock 19 does offer me the ability to rock both a light and an optic.
However, the Glock 48 will ultimately be lighter and easier to carry and doesn’t sacrifice a lot of the strengths of a Glock 19.
Glock’s new slimline pistols are truly amazing. If you’d like to read a Glock 48 vs Glock 43X comparison, that’s on our blog too.
Best of all the Glock 48 is perfect for states that ban magazine capacities of more than ten rounds. You get a gun that maximizes the ammo you can carry as well as a more efficient platform when you consider weight and width.
Either gun is bound to serve you well. They feature Glock’s amazing record of reliability, as well as their dead-simple controls, and massive aftermarket.
It’s tough to beat a Glock, but let us know what you think below between your Glock 19 vs Glock 48 decision.
I was looking for an EDC, and tried both the G19 and the 48. My hand is not small, but I found myself having difficulty gripping the 19. On the other hand, the 48 was just perfect. Having read up extensively on both I felt confident enough in the G48 and ordered one.
A company called shield arms is making high quality all metal magazines that fir flush to the bottom of the grip that holds 15 rounds for the 48 and 43X which make the 48 much more desirable over carrying the wider heavier 19
The Glock 48 has after market mags made by shield arms that hold 15+1 the same as the 19 for concealment it’s a no brainer g48 all day I carry one every day and love it and it also shoots very well I upgraded sights and it’s perfect every day gun I highly recommend g48
I prefer the G48 to my G19, so I pulled the trigger on one we had come into the store with the Glock Night Sights… I just ordered an S15 magazine package (mag catch, 3 15-rd S15 magazines and 2 +5-rd. base pads/extensions) from Shield Arms and will install their magazine catch. Makes for an interesting conundrum for a fan of the P365XL/P365 (which are my current EDC primary and BUG combo)… Pistol works great with the stock magazines and sights are dead on in my initial 50 rounds w/W-W White Box 115-gr. ball.
My husband has a 19, I hate shooting it, always have. I have an LCR 38 but am not fond of shooting it because the recoil bruises my hand. I tried shooting the 48 & the 43x, both. I was surprised at how much more I preferred the 48. It fits in my CC purse, but I still cannot carry on body. Which was another issue with the LCR. I’m 5’3” & on the slender size, I just can’t seem to find a not uncomfortable way to carry on body. But I do like my 48, I really enjoy shooting it.
I have a g48,g45mos, and tomorrow getting ag19mos because the price is right( it is used but only 50 rounds shot. I know this I’m the range master for PD. I love the 48 and 45. The 19 is related to both of them
At GT dist. today just prowling around with my son in-law, he was looking for another Glock. He already has 3, go fig. I also have 2 19’s and a 43. The 19’s trigger is a little too far forward for my stubby trigger finger. I carry my 43, it’s a great pistol, but I’ve never felt quite comfortable with it. So while in the store he handed me a 48. Fit my hand perfectly and the trigger was much better than any Glock I’ve ever had. I didn’t hand it back to my son in-law, I told him it was mine. Took it to the range shot better than any of my other pistols. I’am not saying I,am a great shot but my targets really made me feel good about myself.
I have had the 48 60 days and 60 rounds. It replaces my 5 shot revolver. ease of carry and great sights day or night. not as easy to shoot as my 25yr. old 19 with a connector from Vienna, but I can still qualify expert. Great for those of us with small hands. The off duty companion to the incomparable 17 or 19 duty gun. And yes great for travel to the Peoples Republics on both coasts.
I’m in Canada, land of no concealed OR open carry and 10 rd. Max capacity, along with minimum barrel length of 4.02 in.
I own a 19X and as of today, a 48…after a near 4 month wait. 43X are prohibs up here, so this is the smallest pistol that can be legally sold here. The 19 is available, but only with a Canada specific barrel that hangs out the end by 5/8in. And looks stupid.
I bought the 19x 8 months ago and love it, however after one trip to the range and less than a day of ownership, the 48 will bump it from first place, for me, and for many other shooters up here. My guess is that if Glock made a determined effort to ship as many 48’s as possible to Canada for a month, they’d outsell everything else combined on the market.
The ONLY thing I would like to see…sort of…is a rail. And I can live without it. It’s smaller, lighter and shoots every bit as well as the 19X. This is the Glock I’ve been waiting for up here, for years.
I have read more than one article reviewing these two pistols and everyone of them says the same thing, that the 19 is longer than the 48.
I see that everyone has a large grip extender with the extended beaver tail on them.
I own both of these pistols. And with no extended beaver tail. These guns are the same size in length and height.
Ergonomics are a wash. Yes, the 48 is gen 1 and the 19 gen 5.
But they were designed and manufactured in the same period with all the same considerations taken.
And seriously. The lack of a rail on the pistol is the only real difference.
One holds less than the other, thicker, heavier etc.
By function and design, the lack of the rail on the dust cover is it.
Lack of rail does not make sense. And does. It depends on the purpose it was purchased for. Someone may have bought it as a duty gun as a armed guard. In commifornia. Or bought it as a house gun, people put lights and lasers on house guns.
In the end they are both good guns. Would be nice if the 19 could be as lite and thin as the 48 loaded. But there is a trade off for every gun.
One great set up is a Glock 48, with a 43x and 43 slide which I own. There is also a 15 round, flush magazine that will be offered this summer by Shield Arms. So you end up with a Glock 48, 43x, 43 convertible, with 15 rounds! The Glock slides are a little pricey now. But as people trick out their G48 and G43x they will become cheaper.
17,19, 26, 34, 43, 43X or 48 is a simple matter of personal choice. All are Glocks and all are good guns. Need and personal choice is an individual thing. However, the new models do give new shooters and those new to concealed carry more choices and that is a good thing.
I carry a G19 and a 19x. I love them both. I have shot the G48 and even though I like the basic ideal of the lighter carry platform it is just to small for my hand. I feel the platform will do well but lack of ammo capacity is a issue for me as I do security work.
In NY where we are limited to 10 rounds anyway, a slimmer Glock makes sense.
I have both and alternate depending on what I’m wearing and where I’m going. I didn’t get the G48 to replace the G19 but rather to enhance my options.
Owning a Gen4 G19, I thought I had the perfect conceal carry 9mm. The G19 is simple and versatile. Its understandable the 19X was Glock’s bid for the military’s new service pistol. After putting a G48 in my hands at my local gun shop, I am now itching to buy one for my EDC and making my G19 my nightstand gun. For now I’m going to watch if there’ll be a Gen2 G48 in the works.
I’ve got and enjoy shooting them both. Admittedly, the 19 is a tad thick to carry for me, so the 48 is my EDC – yes, in a clinger holster! I actually wanted the 43x due to the shorter slide, but it wasn’t available then and I couldn’t wait. I did sell my 43 so I can get the 48. I might get the 43x eventually. I carried the Glock 22 in the PD until I retired. I was the firearms instructor and glock Armorer. I like Glocks – easy to maintain and shoot very well. Oh, both guns have been flawless at the range!
Been carrying a G19 EDC for more than a decade. Great size for the capacity. I bought the 43X when it came out. Would have gone with the G48 instead had Glock opted to make the frame fit the slide. The 43X isn’t quite as easy to shoot as the G19, but one can definitely defend themselves with it…it’s just not as fast in terms of splits as it definitely has more recoil. I’d be very surprised if the G48 shoots identically to the G19 as the author implies. I would think the 43X will cut into the G26 sales….but maybe not. Wish Glock would redesign the G30 into a G30Xish type setup with a full 3 finger grip and lose the extra tall base plates. It would only be 1/4″ longer than the current G30…I’d get back into .45 ACP if they’d do that.
Ten round mags are available for the G19 as well. I guess it comes down to which is more comfortable, controllable and you can shoot better/faster. The G48 for me is not a compelling configuration. I also don’t get the light colored slide. Isn’t the point to reduce glare when shooting in sunlight?
I doubt Glock made the G48 without doing any market research. Sales will be the ultimate validation.
The article is about what I thought. I really like the picture of the two together. This makes the 19 look fat like a Sumo wrestler.
I don’t think I would do a 48, but the 43x looks interesting. I do tend to lean a bit the way hikock does. I really like my 43. I know it is only 6+1, but a maggutz can make it 7+1 with no increase in the size. You still have a pocket pistol. Or you can do a +1, +2, +3, or a +4 magazine extension. Either in carry mode, or like I do as a backup.
I know, what’s the point. I personally like the 43 with the pearce extension for a 7+1 and no noticeable printing issue. Only $6 for this option.
The 43x and 48 have the same grip length as the 19, so no option. I’m sure someone will make an extension, maybe a metal magazine that can be flush and hold 13 to 15, now we are talking.
Both the 43x and the 48 use the same frame so that would work for both. This might be worth the price of admission if they do this.
Interesting to see where this goes.
The Glock 48 is what I asked Glock to do years ago. I was mad as hell when the Glock 42 and later the G43 was released. 6 rounds? What a joke. I don’t want to carry a huge g19. I just don’t. The Glock 48 though? Yes Please!!! I’ll take the lighter weight. I’ll take the slimmer profile. And I’ll definitely be happy with 10+1 rounds of 9mm.
The Glock 19 has been in my concealed carry holster for over a decade now. I might check out the Glock 48. Might. The Glock 19 hasn’t done anything wrong to warrant me changing it up. You can’t argue with a decade of flawless service.
The Glock 48 doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. I could see if you wanted the Glock 43X. But if why would I want a gun that’s 80% the size of the Glock 19 without going all the way to the Glock 19 and get 50% more bullets?