Meet the Glock 47: Fellow Glock fans, rejoice: Yours Truly is about to review yet another model from your favorite handgun brand.
As for the Glock haters out there, you might actually be able to stomach this writeup. I’ll be discussing a Glock product that left me slightly underwhelmed compared to other Glock pistol models.
The pistol in question this time is the 9mm Glock 47.
Glock 47 History and Specifications
Announced in 2019, the Glock 47 debuted in January at the 2023 SHOT (“Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade”) Show in Las Vegas. As per the manufacturer’s official info page:
“The G47 MOS was developed for the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in 2019 and is now available to the commercial market. The G47 MOS offers the same reliability and performance as the G17 Gen5 MOS, with a shortened dust cover and maintains parts compatibility with the G17 Gen5 MOS, G19 Gen5 MOS, and G45 MOS.”
Specifications include a barrel length of 4.49 inches, an overall length of 7.95 inches, a width of 1.34 inches, an empty weight of 23.21 ounces, and a fully loaded weight of 34.29 ounces. Standard magazine capacity is 17+1 rounds, but it will accommodate 33-round mags.
Personal Shooting Impression
Once more, it was out to the excellent Cindy’s Hot Shots indoor shooting facility — this time their Severn, Maryland location — to try out their rental G47.
This rental specimen had a Holosun optic, specifically the SCS MOS-GR. (The SCS stands for “Solar Charging Sight,” the GR for “Green.”) My only previous experience with Holosun products was their HS510C red dot sight, which a friend tacked onto his Smith & Wesson M&P FPC 9mm that we test-fired this past July.
For the accuracy tests, I used the CCI Blazer Brass 115-grain full metal jacket “hardball,” the ICE-QT paper target, and the Classic Weaver firing stance. I divided the session into 25 rounds of head shots at 7 yards and 25 rounds of center-torso shots at 25 yards.
Ergonomics felt good, the trigger was fairly crisp, and the magazine release was easy to operate thanks to the flat rectangular design. Interestingly, the slide stop lever was more in line with the Gen1 and Gen2 Glocks — practically flush with the frame, as opposed to the slightly extended slide stop seen on some other recent models. However, the G47’s slide stop does have the added bonus of being ambidextrous, and I was able to trip it with my right hand trigger finger.
I used the optic for all of my head shots and my first 10 torso shots at 25 yards. I reverted to iron sights for the remaining 15 rounds.
At 7 yards, the green dot gave me no better a group than my iron-sighted guns. One of my shots still strayed high into the target’s hairline, which is scored as a mere 2 points, as opposed to the 5 perfect points you get from striking the center of the paper bad guy’s face.
At 25 yards, the dot wasn’t well zeroed at all. My shots went way high-left, including an unintended second hairline hit and bunch in the paper suspect’s shoulder and extended forearm. So, I went iron sights and Kentucky windage the rest of the way and scored more desirable results: Twelve rounds in the 5-zone of the torso, with two taking the tiebreaking 5x-zone.
Meanwhile, one of my shooting buddies, in response to seeing my range results on Facebook, gave me this useful pointer for future reference: “Are you focusing on the dot? That [is] the problem. Focus on the target, overlay the dot. The opposite of what we’ve been doing with iron sights, which is why RDOs [red dot optics] on pistols require so much devotion, and is why so many people just don’t think they are worth it.”
Reliability was flawless, as is typical of Glock.
In short, I’d rate the G47 lower than either the G17 or the G26 in the same caliber, or my beloved G21SF in .45 ACP, but higher than, say, the torturesome G27 in .40 S&W.
Want Your Own?
True Gun Value states that “A GLOCK 47 pistol is currently worth an average price of $611.02 new and $494.46 used. The 12 month average price is $611.02 new and $494.46 used.” GritrSports.com currently has one listed at $620.00.
Glock 44. Image Credit: 19FortyFive Original Image.
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor for 19FortyFive. He has 34 years of shooting experience, starting at the tender age of 14. His marksmanship accomplishments include: the Air Force Small Arms Ribbon w/one device (for M16A2 rifle and M9 pistol); Pistol Expert Ratings from U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP); multiple medals and trophies via the Glock Sport Shooting Foundation (GSSF) and the Nevada Police & Fires Games (NPAF). Chris has been an NRA Certified Basic Pistol Instructor since 2011.
