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Contrasts & Comparisons:
Let’s put the Shadow Systems MR920 up against the Glock 19 Gen4 and see how they stack up next to each other.
While the SS MR920 is the alter ego of the Glock 19 Gen4, the ‘MR’ designation in its name stands for ‘Multi Role’
Which is exactly what a G19 is and does. Big enough for a service duty pistol, big enough for home defense, but yet, still small enough to conceal carry. A do everything well kinda pistol.
While SS designed the MR920 after the Gen4, it stepped out of the box and did a few things differently which incorporated the best of Gen3 technology into the Gen4 design.
For starters, Gen3’s had a darker, harder and smoother finish than the Gen4 has. My Gen4 9mm shows all kinds of thinning on the slides finish from holster wear and use. But I carried my Gen3 23 in .40 a lot longer with more training hours, rounds down range, and actual real life working on duty on a day to day basis and it’s finish is almost still in immaculate condition.
Another Gen3 idea SS incorporated was instead of the smaller and shorter dual captive recoil rod and spring of the Gen4 they have designed it to use the full length guide rod and recoil spring of the Gen3. But instead of Glock’s Gen3 polymer guide rod, SS uses a carbon steel guide rod.
While the shorter Gen4 shorter captive rod & spring works fine, the full length guide rod and spring tends to stabilize muzzle rise a bit better than the shorter captive rod and spring. This is why Gen4’s seem to have a more pronounced muzzle flip than Gen3’s of the same models.
So the SS MR920 with it’s 1911 grip angle and Full length guide rod, muzzle control and accuracy during rapid fire should prove pretty interesting and comparable to a 1911 doing the same thing.
I’m very interested to see what the Shadow Systems is capable of.
If you look at the above photo, you can see some of the other finer upgrade details of the Shadow Systems other than the excellent finish. The rear and front cocking serration are set inside seperate pockets that creates a small ledge around the serrations. This design really helps in getting a good grip when charging the chamber or doing a loaded chamber press check. You can also see the excellent stippling or grip texture on the grip, including the small texture for the forward support thumb which is also set in a pocket with a ledge this ledge allows the support thumb to really lock down on the frame for great support during firing and recoil.
In the picture, you can get a good view of the extended beaver tail which along with the great undercut on the trigger guard allows the shooter to get a good high grip on the frame and protect meaty hands from slide bite.
Here is a few pics of a top view of the tapered slide and edges which help holstering the pistol and gives it a sleeker look.
Here is a pic of the bottom side of the slide. Notice the full length carbon steel guide rod, notice where the firing pin safety plunger is moved just ever so slightly forward compared to the Gen4. This allows the mounting screws for the red dot optic to be much longer than Glocks OEM screws are. These longer screws go in almost the full width of the sides of the slide for a stronger and better secured optic mount. That optic ain’t going anywhere.
If you look closely at the two frames, notice how the slide rails, block and cruciform, looks a bit larger and beefier than the Glock OEM parts in its frame. Even the trigger bar looks thicker.
When Shadow Systems first designed the MR920 a few years ago, they designed the trigger guard a bit differently than the Glock Gen4’s trigger guard, so those first SS MR 920 owners, couldn’t use any of their Glock 19 holsters. Now SS has recently redesigned the trigger guard so that their pistols are now compatible with all Glock 19 holsters.. Which is great that I don’t have to go purchase anything new as long as the optic can sit above the holster.
I have some doctors visits and medical procedures to be preformed over the next couple of weeks, so it will be a couple to few weeks before I can get to the range. But once I can, I’m not only going to put it thru it’s paces shooting it against the G19 Gen4, but I’m also going to push a thousand rounds thru it right from the get go. Shadow Systems owners manual, suggests a 200 round break in period because of their tighter tolerances. They said to not freak out over a FTF or stoppage within that break in period. But after that initial 200 rounds I’ll do a quick field strip and quick cleaning at the range and then it’s off to the races in round count.
Let’s put the Shadow Systems MR920 up against the Glock 19 Gen4 and see how they stack up next to each other.
While the SS MR920 is the alter ego of the Glock 19 Gen4, the ‘MR’ designation in its name stands for ‘Multi Role’
Which is exactly what a G19 is and does. Big enough for a service duty pistol, big enough for home defense, but yet, still small enough to conceal carry. A do everything well kinda pistol.
While SS designed the MR920 after the Gen4, it stepped out of the box and did a few things differently which incorporated the best of Gen3 technology into the Gen4 design.
For starters, Gen3’s had a darker, harder and smoother finish than the Gen4 has. My Gen4 9mm shows all kinds of thinning on the slides finish from holster wear and use. But I carried my Gen3 23 in .40 a lot longer with more training hours, rounds down range, and actual real life working on duty on a day to day basis and it’s finish is almost still in immaculate condition.
Another Gen3 idea SS incorporated was instead of the smaller and shorter dual captive recoil rod and spring of the Gen4 they have designed it to use the full length guide rod and recoil spring of the Gen3. But instead of Glock’s Gen3 polymer guide rod, SS uses a carbon steel guide rod.
While the shorter Gen4 shorter captive rod & spring works fine, the full length guide rod and spring tends to stabilize muzzle rise a bit better than the shorter captive rod and spring. This is why Gen4’s seem to have a more pronounced muzzle flip than Gen3’s of the same models.
So the SS MR920 with it’s 1911 grip angle and Full length guide rod, muzzle control and accuracy during rapid fire should prove pretty interesting and comparable to a 1911 doing the same thing.
I’m very interested to see what the Shadow Systems is capable of.
If you look at the above photo, you can see some of the other finer upgrade details of the Shadow Systems other than the excellent finish. The rear and front cocking serration are set inside seperate pockets that creates a small ledge around the serrations. This design really helps in getting a good grip when charging the chamber or doing a loaded chamber press check. You can also see the excellent stippling or grip texture on the grip, including the small texture for the forward support thumb which is also set in a pocket with a ledge this ledge allows the support thumb to really lock down on the frame for great support during firing and recoil.
In the picture, you can get a good view of the extended beaver tail which along with the great undercut on the trigger guard allows the shooter to get a good high grip on the frame and protect meaty hands from slide bite.
Here is a few pics of a top view of the tapered slide and edges which help holstering the pistol and gives it a sleeker look.
Here is a pic of the bottom side of the slide. Notice the full length carbon steel guide rod, notice where the firing pin safety plunger is moved just ever so slightly forward compared to the Gen4. This allows the mounting screws for the red dot optic to be much longer than Glocks OEM screws are. These longer screws go in almost the full width of the sides of the slide for a stronger and better secured optic mount. That optic ain’t going anywhere.
If you look closely at the two frames, notice how the slide rails, block and cruciform, looks a bit larger and beefier than the Glock OEM parts in its frame. Even the trigger bar looks thicker.
When Shadow Systems first designed the MR920 a few years ago, they designed the trigger guard a bit differently than the Glock Gen4’s trigger guard, so those first SS MR 920 owners, couldn’t use any of their Glock 19 holsters. Now SS has recently redesigned the trigger guard so that their pistols are now compatible with all Glock 19 holsters.
. Which is great that I don’t have to go purchase anything new as long as the optic can sit above the holster.I have some doctors visits and medical procedures to be preformed over the next couple of weeks, so it will be a couple to few weeks before I can get to the range. But once I can, I’m not only going to put it thru it’s paces shooting it against the G19 Gen4, but I’m also going to push a thousand rounds thru it right from the get go. Shadow Systems owners manual, suggests a 200 round break in period because of their tighter tolerances. They said to not freak out over a FTF or stoppage within that break in period. But after that initial 200 rounds I’ll do a quick field strip and quick cleaning at the range and then it’s off to the races in round count.
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