I get what you are saying, might as well carry a 19. But if you need more to grab a hold of, and you carry a 26 or 27, then an extension would fill the bill. I’ll do that before I spend the money on another frame, or like you said, carry a 19.
My very first pistol was my Glock 19 (Gen 2). But I never carried it. My first carry piece was a Colt Pony Pocketlite carried in a pocket holster. Then I moved up to the Glock 27 (Gen 3). Carried that for many years. Then a couple years ago, I decided I wanted to carry a G19 size pistol but I wanted an optic on it. So, I build the P80 PFC9, and I've been carrying that ever since.
You have to consider the timing. The G26/G27 was a subcompact back in the day. It wouldn't make the cut by current subcompact standards. Too fat, too heavy, low capacity (but G17/22 mags were compatible). Glock made that stubby model to serve as a backup for a full size Glock. A lot of cops carried one on their ankle. Nobody would do that today.
A cow gave its life for that slab of leather. One cow per holster.
A cow gave its life for that slab of leather. One cow per holster.
Broadly speaking, if you are going G26 with an extension just do a G19. I'm still breaking in my P80 G19 carry in the sense that I need some bigger shirts to help conceal it, but as @Racer88 has said the issue with the G19 isn't the barrel it is the grip. Not saying the difference in barrel is zeo, but that's not the part that's sticking out and noticed. Heck, there's a notable grip difference from the Taurus G2C to the Glock G26 which is one reason why I want to move to the G26 to be my "small" EDC (the other being I am very comfortable with the Glock Gen 3 platform).
