Glocks are undeniably great firearms. As much as it pains me to admit that the world’s most boring semi-auto handgun is good, I must. Glocks might be plain, but I don’t believe a more proven or successful series of firearms exists. I don’t “like” Glocks in an aesthetic sense, but I readily admit they are a fantastic choice for duty, concealed carry, and competition. I’ve always had a problem with Gen 4 Glocks, and that problem might finally be solved by something called The Beave.
The Great Lakes Custom Beave
The Beave comes from Great Lakes Custom, a small firearms accessory company. It’s a beavertail that attaches to Glock Gen 4 and Gen 5 guns. You might instantly jump to the nonexistent comment section and tell me that Gen 4 Glocks already come with interchangeable backstraps, including a beavertail one!
Yes, they do, and frankly, they’re subpar. They are huge, bulky, and annoying to use. I’ve tried them, and I instantly ditched them. Glocks aren’t svelte firearms with thin grips to begin with. The Glock-brand beavertail merely adds more bulk to an already substantial grip.
You might be asking why I need a beavertail on my Glock. It’s because I have large hands—hands that consistently get a hefty slide bite from my Gen 4 Glocks. It’s annoying and becomes painful during training sessions. A beavertail allows me to maintain a high grip on the gun without bleeding after a few hundred rounds.
Enter The Beave
The Beave aims to provide a beavertail without the excessive bulk that Glock adds to its own beavertail adapter. Its super-small design is very thin and adds minimal bulk to the grip. Installation requires little effort. All I had to do was remove a pin from the Glock’s grip using a punch.
Simply slide The Beave into place and then slide in the OEM extended pin to secure it to your Glock. There’s not much more to it than that. The Beave is quite small, which initially made me curious about its durability. Prior to installation, I twisted, bent, and even dropped The Beave to see if it would crack or break.
The Beave is made from a very flexible material. This flexibility means that a bit of give prevents it from cracking and breaking. It’s a smart design choice. The more rigid something is, the thicker and bulkier it typically needs to be. If the goal is thin and bulk-free, flexibility makes a lot of sense. It helps keep The Beave problem-free without adding unnecessary mass.
Shooting With The Beave
Please excuse the lack of optics on my Glock 17 MOS. I’m currently in the midst of “handgun Barbie” and swapping accessories around. My iron sights were more than sufficient to test The Beave, so don’t fret. With The Beave installed, I did some basic shooting, and guess what? No more slide bite! I could grip high and tight—a grip principle that significantly helps increase control.
Basic shooting isn’t enough, so I holstered the Glock 17 equipped with The Beave and practiced drawing and shooting. The Beave stays completely out of the way and doesn’t impede my draw in any manner. I can instinctively grab the gun as high as I want, draw, and shoot without a second thought.
The Glock 17’s lack of slide bite and my ability to achieve that desirable high grip make it easier to shoot and control. Slide bite becomes a much bigger issue when it comes time to train at higher round counts, but that’s no longer an issue for me thanks to The Beave.
Getting One
You can check out The Beave at Great Lakes Custom’s website. This small beavertail does an excellent job of providing a thin, bulk-free beavertail option. The Beave is currently made for medium-frame Glocks—you know, the double-stack 9mms, .40 S&Ws, .357 SIGs, etc. Specifically, it fits Gen 4 and Gen 5 models.
Great Lakes Custom plans to release a model for the Glock 43X and Glock 48, and I’m really hoping they do a run of large-frame Glock Beaves. I love my Glock 20, and a Beave would be a fantastic addition to that gun.
The Beave is a simple solution, and it’s genuinely surprising that Glock couldn’t come up with something this straightforward. Luckily, the free market often provides.
