Back when the Colt 1911 was first adopted, John Browning designed a beavertail grip to help control the recoil on his stout handcannon, while at the same time keep fellas with big mitts from getting their hands bitten by the slide. Well now, Gaston Glock, after years of teasing, has entered the beavertail concept onto his Gen 4 model pistols-- direct for the factory. New Backstraps shipping While aftermarket companies have long been selling beavertail grip add-ons for Glock pistols, these new ones are coming standard with new Glocks right off the assembly line. Military Times reports that the new Gen 4s are shipping with beavertail grip kits as standard once old stocks of the regular backstraps are exhausted. "The updated Glock backstrap kit includes new 2mm and 4mm beavertail backstraps, the familiar 2mm and 4mm standard backstraps, a trigger housing pin and a new multifunction clip that has a built-in polymer pin punch suited to backstrap changes." How to get yours If you want your own, go to Glocks' website and download the Parts Order Form for eitherCertified Armorers or Non-Certified Armorers. Part numbers are 30818, 30819, or 30820, depending on which model you have (the form will have the description). However, you need to check for a tiny protrusion that extends from the frame of your Gen 4 to see if you are going to be able to use these backstraps without a little wiggle to them. To find out just what the heck we are talking about when we say 'protrusion', check out this video: German speaking Glock enthusiast MrEk78 points out the differences in the grips on factory beavertail Gen 4 Glocks in a few close- in shots with an extensive video including disassembly. Adding the beavertail backstrap seems to be much the same procedure as exchanging your standard backstraps-- provided you have one of the new style (Gen 4.5?) grips. When used on existing Gen 4's without the new designed 'nose' it seems that the OE beavertails have some play in them. It's nice to see such modern firearms recycling great old ideas from a hundred years ago-- but in polymer perfection.