For many shooters, the phrase most expensive Glock doesn’t make any sense. After all, the Glock pistol is known for incredible reliability and low prices. In this article I’m going to cover the most expensive factory Glock pistols, as well as some amazing custom Glocks. I will also provide some cool accessories you can use to customize your own pistol. Keep reading for more.
One of the best things about Glocks is the wide variety of model numbers and configurations you can choose from. You can get anything from a small size, single stack pocket pistol in .380 ACP, all the way to a long barreled 10 mm Glock. These different models are all fairly cheap, while providing a high quality pistol.
Readers of this website won’t be surprised to hear that I’ve written quite a lot about Glock pistols. I’m also a Glock owner. They’re great concealed carry weapons, as well as good options for home defense. The OG readers will remember that I built a custom Glock a few years ago, and I’m proud to say that it’s still running strong after more than 10,000 rounds. Here’s a quick overview of the most expensive Glock pistols we’re reviewing.
5 Most Expensive Glock Pistols (Custom and Factory)
- Glock 34 Gen 5 MOS in 9mm ($709)
- Glock 19x MOS in Flat Dark Earth ($730)
- Glock 45 with Aimpoint ACRO P2 9mm ($1092)
- Taran Tactical Glock TTI Copperhead XR ($4300)
- Custom DC9R Competition Pistol ($5,000)
As you can see, there is quite a lot of price variability for these pistols. It’s important to point out that even though this article covers the most expensive Glock pistols, I’m still listing the cheapest prices I can find for the examples above.
For those of you who are smart enough not to spend all your money on custom pistols, it does take some time to purchase one of them. Most of the time you contact the company selling the gun and tell them exactly what you’re looking for in terms of barrel length, finishes, and more. Depending on their sales volume, you might be waiting many months before you actually see your pistol.
In the next section I’m going to discuss each of these Glock pistols in more detail. After that, I’ll review some high quality modifications that you might want to make to your own Glock. Why pay someone to do work that most mechanically minded people can do by themselves?
Most Expensive Glock Pistols
I want to point out that I haven’t included Glocks with purely decorative modifications. You can find any number of custom cerakote jobs, but I don’t think those should make the list. I’ve only included guns that come from the factory as listed, or have modifications that meaningfully increase shooting performance.
For the custom pistols, you’ll commonly see modified triggers, as well as porting or compensators added to the pistol. Some also have grip enhancements like stippling. Now, let’s get to the first Glock firearm. Before we do that, don’t forget to join the email list so you can get the latest articles sent directly to you.
Glock 34 Gen 5 9mm (Factory)
The Glock 34 Gen 5 MOS in 9mm is one of the most popular Glocks for competitive pistol shooters. As a USPSA shooter myself, I’ve seen my fair share of Glock 34 pistols. This particular Glock has a longer barrel, compared to a standard Glock 17. It comes in at 5.31inches compared to 4.49 inches for the 17.
Glock has retained their polymer frame, but changed the barrel to the marksman barrel, which independent testing shows increases accuracy roughly 25%. This greater accuracy does come with some loss in muzzle velocity. The new barrel combines the lands and grooves of the previous generations barrel, with polygonal style rifling. Check out this video for a great overview of the Glock 34 Gen 5.
You can see in the video that there are certain enhancements that make the 34 easier to shoot. It has a longer sight radius, which can make it a bit more accurate, if you’re shooting iron sights. Most shooters will probably opt to mount a red dot sight, using a Modular Optics System (MOS) plate.
Having handled quite a few Gen 5 Glocks, I think they did a good job with the overall ergonomics, and that’s especially true for the 34. The longer slide has a relief cut in the top to help it cycle faster. It also includes an excellent magwell, built into the grip. The Gen 5 Glock 34 ships with an extended slide release, which makes reloads faster, improving ease of use.
For competition shooters you might consider adding some grip tape, and as well as picking from several aftermarket triggers, to round out a great shooting platform. Realistically, that’s all the modification you need to win a national championship.
As of this writing you can purchase the Gen 5 Glock 34 for $709. I should note that this ties for most expensive bare pistol with other full size Glocks like the 17L or the 10mm options, with the same frame size. I chose to link to this one because I think the 34 is a great pistol for those who want a reliable and accurate full sized pistol. Next, we’ll talk about a smaller option from Glock.
Glock 19x FDE MOS 9mm (Factory)
The Glock 19x MOS in Flat Dark Earth (FDE) is a hybrid pistol. It has the longer grip size of a Glock 17, with a barrel and slide length of a Glock 19. This particular version ships with very nice flat dark earth coloring. Originally this pistol was designed to compete for the US Military’s pistol contract. Ultimately it lost to Sig, but we are left with a great pistol. Check out the video review below for more info.
Like the Glock 34, it ships with the marksman barrel. The 19x also features a threaded barrel, which allows you to fit a compensator or a suppressor if you’re Jason Bourne. The threaded barrel is nice because you can mount most aftermarket compensators. Neatly enough this brings the 19x to the same overall length as a Glock 17.
This means you have hundreds of holsters you can choose from, since the Glock 17 is probably the most popular handgun in the world. Score one for Gaston Glock!
The 19x has ambidextrous slide releases, and is coated in nPVD. This is a much more durable coating than cerakote, that prevents rust. It’s much better than cerakote. Like all Gen 5 Glocks, it’s lost the previous generations finger grooves.
As of this writing, you can pick up the 19x in flat dark earth, for $730. If you add in a compensator, like this one from Parker Mountain Machine it would bring the total pistol build to $830. This is the best Glock model to flex on everyone at the Tier Three Tactical subreddit. Just saying. Next we’ll cover a great factory-ish option, on this list of most expensive Glock pistols.
Glock 45 9mm with Aimpoint ACRO P2 (Factory-ish)
The Glock 45 with Aimpoint ACRO P2 9mm is what I’d call factory-ish. This is because you won’t find it on the Glock website, but I happen to know that Glock is providing these pistols to police officers with the Aimpoint P2 optics directly from them. Obviously, there is some business deal there, as they cut the slide for the Glock 45 to directly fit the P2 optic.
If you’re not familiar with the Glock 45, you should think of it as a kissing cousin to the 19x, with minor differences. It has a 4.02 inch barrel, and a full sized grip. While it’s the same size as the 19x, the 45 has a few extras like front slide serrations, which are a must with an optic. Check out this video for more.
It’s clear this gun is heavily marketed towards Police and security forces, but I think it makes a great out of the box option for anyone who wants a reliable red dot pistol. One of the nicer features is the suppressor height sights out of the box. In my opinion iron sights aren’t really needed with a dot, but many shooters like to have them as backups.
It’s important to point out that the Aimpoint ACRO P2 has had some reliability issues for very high round count competition shooters. These red dot sights can fog up internally, or crack on the sacrificial lenses. Some people have reported those issues with the first batches of P2’s. It’s possible Aimpoint has made corrections to keep these suitable for duty use.
This is the best Glock pistol for someone who wants a complete package out of the box, with no shopping for accessories. As of this writing you can purchase the Glock 45 with Aimpoint ACRO P2 for $1092 which is a decent price. Next we’ll talk about our first custom Glock.
Taran Tactical Glock TTI Copperhead XR (Custom)
The Taran Tactical Glock TTI Copperhead XR is a very cool custom Glock. It’s based off of the Glock 45 and then goes crazy from there. The Copperhead XR comes with custom finishing, and slide cuts from Taran Tactical. They include a Radian Ramjet barrel and compensator, finished in the same Coyote Color, and highly polished. Take a look at the gun below.
This package includes the Trijicon RMR red dot sight, and Streamlight TLR8 AG light, laser device. You will also notice the custom stippling, carry magwell, and the excellent Timney Alpha competition trigger.
This gun has just about everything you can do to a stock Glock. Now for the bad news. To purchase this complete package you have to pony up $4300. Hey, if John Wick shoots it, then you don’t expect it to be cheap right! Next we’ll cover the ideal choice to drain your bank account, with the most expensive Glock on the list.
DC9R Competition Pistol (Full Custom)
The Custom DC9R Competition Pistol isn’t technicaly a Glock. It’s built off of a Glock action, but that’s about the only thing it has in common with the other Glock handguns here. First and foremost, this is an all metal gun. The grip module is custom machined out of aluminum, while the frame rails and slide are all steel.
You will also notice this gun features a ported sight block. This provides several benefits. First, if you’re shooting the iron sights, the front sight doesn’t move, making it easier to track with your eye during recoil. The block itself adds weight to the front end, reducing muzzle flip. Lastly, the compensator forces gasses vertically to limit muzzle flip as well. Take a look at this video, and you’ll notice just how flat it shoots.
This pistol has a completely revamped barrel lock up, which increases accuracy. They advertise that this gun will shoot 1.5 inch groups at 25 yards.
The DC9R is so expensive because almost all of it is hand made by one gunsmith. As you can imagine, this requires very precise fitting, a lot of skill, and time. This is the reason it costs $5,000.
Now that we’ve covered all of the most expensive Glock models, let’s cover a few modifications you can do to your Glock to create your own custom pistol, at an affordable price.
Building Your Own Custom Glock
Long time readers of this website will remember that a few years ago I built my own custom Glock. It started life as a Glock 17 Gen 4, and took off from there. I had it custom cerakoted, added in a TTI Trigger Kit, and had the slide customized for my red dot sight. You can read about the full build here. I’ve included the build list and prices below.
After building this Glock I’ve learned a few things, including which modifications I thought were the best. By far the biggest bang for the buck was the Taran Tactical Grand Master Trigger Kit. This lowered the trigger pull weight by about half. It also cost less than $50.
I would also keep the tungsten guide rod. Instead of adding in a brass Thug plug I would probably add a custom designed tungsten grip weight, like this one. With those two parts, you’re adding in 7 ounces of weight. This will certainly help to mitigate felt recoil.
While I like a nice stippled gun, I tend to prefer doing a DIY silicon carbide job. I’ve done it to both of my competition pistols, and and my duty gun. It provides much more friction, at the expensive of chewing up your hands for very high round count shooting. It also costs about $40 to do.
Those are the things I would do for a basic upgrade to a Glock Pistol. They can be had for about $350 over a stock gun, which means you have about $800-$900 into the gun minus optic. I thinks these modifications would improve the shooting feel the most without affecting reliability. In the next section, I’ll review some more extreme modifications.
Open Glock Build
The only other Glock modifications I would do if I wanted to further modify the pistol would be to have my slide lightened, or purchase an aftermarket one that’s already cut down. I’d go with something like this from Zev.
Lastly, I’d add a compensator like the one I linked to above in the G19x section. Those certainly make a difference when shooting, but they can make the gun less reliable with some types of ammo. This leads me to my last point.
I don’t recommend modifying your Glock if you plan on using it for self defense or personal protection. It can make the gun less reliable. That is something you don’t want.
However, I can tell you that the modifications I did to my custom Glock, did not affect reliability in the least. I maintained reliability by keep the safe action trigger system, which is the right choice in opinion.
If you feel the need to modify a carry gun, then you need to test it thoroughly with training, and self defense ammo. At a minimum, it should feed 500 rounds without a malfunction. If you just want something fun for plinking, then go crazy. Now let’s finish this article.
Final Thoughts
These guns are cool, and I think there’s something alluring about customizing a pistol. However, we need to be honest with ourselves. Most of these modifications might change how the gun feels, but it probably won’t give you a big increase in performance.
Take a look at shooting Champion Brantley Merriam. He shoots a Glock 17 with a trigger and an SRO optic. He is a nationally competitive shooter, and he has a fairly basic gun. You can believe that if there was a big benefit from some modification he would certainly do it, within the Carry Optics USPSA rules.
As always, your time building skill in shooting will be more valuable than any super expensive Glock. If you like this article feel free to share it, and don’t forget to join the email list below, for more cool articles.
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