The new Glock 41 Gen4 is an excellent option for officers who want maximum power and performance. In the upcoming July 2014 issue of GUNS & WEAPONS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT, author Massad Ayoob goes behind the scenes to test one alongside fellow officers.

Ayoob writes, “Since its introduction circa 1990, the Glock 21 has had a relatively wide slide. Some of us find this an aid in fast shooting at close range, where we’re looking over the top of the gun. With the Glock 21 and the Glock 30, a 10+1 capacity baby brother designed for plainclothes wear, shooting this way seemed to remind me of the old Browning Broadway over/under shotgun, with its super-wide ventilated rib. In short, for shooting, it wasn’t a bad thing. However, some officers wished for a version with a narrower slide.

“In January of 2013, Glock debuted its Glock 30S, a G30 with the narrow slide of Glock’s slim-but-lower-capacity G36. Originally put together for the LAPD’s high-risk felony squad, the Special Investigations Section (SIS), it proved to be a huge hit. This year, Glock followed by extending the barrel in the opposite direction. A slide assembly almost identical in configuration to its Tactical/Practical series, the G34 9mm and G35 .40 with 5.3-inch barrels, was assembled in .45 ACP and mated to the G21 Gen4 frame. Voila, the Glock 41 Gen4.

“The G41 Gen4 weighs only 27 ounces unloaded, and its length is roughly comparable to a 5-inch-barreled 1911, long a favorite of plainclothes and off-duty officers as well as uniformed personnel. Receiving a pre-announcement G41 in late 2013, we were able to test it in the hands of police instructors with experience from coast to coast.”

To learn more, check out the July 2014 issue of GUNS & WEAPONS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT, available on newsstands and digitally April 8, 2014. To subscribe, go to /guns-weapons-for-law-enforcement