My Joker of a G22, all gilled up and aggressively textured.
In 2009, Glock came out with an updated version of their gun that featured better ergonomics named the “Rough Texture Finish, Version 2," or commonly just called RTF2, the topic of which has been a long and well talked about source of debate here among the forum.
Besides the texture, along the slide, a set of scalloped cutouts replaced the strait up and down slide serrations that had been a facet of the Glock since its introduction in the 1980s. These cutouts were shaped like thumbnails and were instantly but dubbed ‘fish gills’ by those who encountered them.
Besides the slide, the entire lower frame grip surface area was stippled in fine lines. These lines worked like non-skid and gave the gun an almost instant tackiness when picked up, eliminating complaints from those who contended the Glock sometimes got slippery when wet.
While some complained that the new grip was too abrasive to their sensitive hands, many shooters took immediately to the RTF2. The Gen 3 pistols were the pinnacle of the designs to that point, incorporating lessons learned from twenty years of making the polymer guns. That, coupled with the radical new grip offered by the RTF2 seemed a winning combination and the texture was soon seen on the 17, 19, 21SF, 22, 23, 31 and 32. (If others have been spotted in the wild, please drop them below-- with pics if you have them!)
Nevertheless, that wasn't the case as the RTF3 and finally much more subtle RTF4 series of less aggressive truncated pyramids became standard on the Gen 4 Glocks when they were introduced.
Getting some sun. Glocks need occasional Vitamin E too, you know.
It’s my personal favorite (hey, at least I'm honest). I have a G22 of this variety that has a documented 11,700 rounds through it with no issues other than a cracked magazine baseplate (that was my fault) and, while I have a set of replacement springs on hand, the gun still functions fine with the factory originals.
Others also fell in love with the design. In 2012, Colion Noir declared the G19 RTF2 his "IDPA gun of choice" writing a short article about it the next year after still loving it and doing a video of his gun, calling the gun "aggressive" and cautioning that its not for everyone.
(Note he also did a NSFW mashup on the discontinuation of the texture featuring an irate Hitler)
Then there was trouble in paradise.
In late 2010, Glock stated though dealers they would only sell RTF 2 Gen 3s (though without the gills) through law enforcement channels in the future as they weren't selling well to the non-law enforcement market, but were still viable in the cop market.
However, that's not entirely true. An agency whose range I use often in South Mississippi switched from the RTF2 G22 to a Gen 4/G22 after complaints the gun's texture worked pills up on their poly uniform shirts and scarred the inside of their enforcer's consoles.
Want to see a picture?
Yup, the same thing on the console of my ole Jeep, from my personal RTF grizzly bear. Meh. It’s a Jeep. It adds character.
Last November Larry Vickers and Lipseys announced that they would release a limited run of 5000 new RTF2 Gen 3s in FDE (is that enough abbreviations for you, or do you want more?) split between G17 and G19 models which shows at least that these guns were still in some form of production even after being "replaced" five years ago.
Word is Glock will still do special RTF2 runs such as the Vickers combo if you request them in quantity large enough for them to be worth their while.
I have an email into Smyrna to see just how big of a run that is, or if the rumor is even true.
Watch this space for updates and if you have a RTF2 with slide serrations please add it to our serial number database.
Or at least for a reasonable fee. I can't find freaking 3M grip tape anywhere for some reason and even if I do, I'd rather not have to ghetto up my pistol. I've seen some very well-done 3MGT jobs, granted, but I'm not sure I'd do as well myself...
