During conversations with Glock representatives at SHOT Show, I asked about the beavertail backstrap that had been shown at SHOT the previous year. I had a particular interest in the product, as I had acquired one in March of 2011 while at the IWA trade show. A video with some shooting impressions can be found here.
I was told that there had been several minor changes made to the design since I had last seen it displayed by Glock. Most notably, a tiny protrusion now sticks out of the Glock frame, on top of the current "beavertail" area. A corresponding dimple has been added to the inside of the beavertail backstraps, allowing them to snap into place. They're still held in place by the longer pin supplied with every Gen 4 Glock that is intended for use with the current non-beavertail backstraps, but this is intended as an added measure of security.
The other change to the system is that the beavertails are now being made in both medium and large sizes, as opposed to the previous large-only beavertail backstrap. For those who don't recall the Gen 4 frame sizing system, a backstrap-less Gen 4 is 2mm shorter front to back than a Gen 3; the medium backstrap adds those 2mm back for a standard Gen 3 size, and the large backstrap adds another 2mm for those with larger hands or who prefer larger (longer) frames. In other words, the medium beavertail backstrap will give you a Gen 3 size frame, but with a nice beavertail.
The new backstraps will be available sometime in the middle of this year. They'll be included with Gen 4s sold from that time as well as being sold separately for what I'm told will be a very reasonable price. The minor physical changes will not prevent them from being attached to older Gen 4 frames.
In the eleven months that I have been using Gen 4 Glocks with beavertail backstraps, I have found that the beavertail offers slightly greater control over recoil when compared to the frame without the beavertail. I still hold the opinion that the beavertail will be of most use to those who have fat hands and/or problems with Glock slide bite. However, I also feel that the beavertail is something that any Glock shooter should consider testing out, especially since it will soon be available for minimal cost.
