Trigger Talk Tuesday – 18 NOV 2025: A Heartfelt Thank You, Suppressor Rush Before the Stamp Dies, and First Shots with the New Glock Gen V (Roman Numeral Chaos)

On the November 18, 2025 episode of Trigger Talk Tuesday on the Panhandle News Network, host Clint Gage opened the show with a deeply personal and emotional announcement: three weeks earlier, his 26-year-old daughter had passed away suddenly from a cardiac event, despite having achieved two months of sobriety after years of battling depression and addiction. Gage expressed profound gratitude for the overwhelming support from family, friends, coworkers, listeners, and especially the compassionate professionalism of Jefferson County first responders, whose gentleness amid a difficult scene became an early source of healing for his family. He noted that her ashes had been scattered the previous weekend and, while the road ahead remains long, the outpouring of love has made each step a little easier.

Shifting to lighter topics, the guests from Green Monster Firearms discussed the ongoing surge in suppressor sales driven by the impending January 1, 2026 elimination of the $200 NFA tax stamp. Although the tax is disappearing, all other requirements (Form 4, fingerprints, photos, eForms) remain, and dealers nationwide are bracing for a massive backlog as thousands of suppressors held until the new year flood the ATF’s NFA branch. Green Monster is countering the expected delay by paying the $200 stamp themselves on roughly 75% of in-stock suppressors (and $100 on another 10–15%), allowing customers to file immediately and receive approvals in as little as four days, rather than waiting months. The shop currently has a wide selection from SilencerCo, Dead Air, Rugged, Griffin, and others ready for immediate transfer.

The team briefly highlighted upcoming Shadowhawk Defense classes (November 22: Shooting from a Vehicle; November 30: Concealed Carry; December 6: Red Dot Sight) and teased strong Black Friday deals to be revealed via email and social media, with doors opening at 10 a.m. (plenty of time, they joked, for shoppers to hit the big-box early-bird sales and still arrive for Green Monster’s offers).

The main gear discussion centered on the brand-new Glock “Gen V” (marked with a Roman numeral V), the company’s updated Gen 5 design intended to defeat illegal “Glock switches” (full-auto conversion devices). Visible changes include a reinforced “cruciform” area at the rear of the frame and slight excess material inside the slide. After putting roughly 500 rounds through a new Glock 17 Gen V alongside a standard Gen 5 17, multiple shooters found both guns 100% reliable with 115-, 124-, and 147-grain ammunition. However, every tester strongly disliked the new trigger, describing it as “squishy” with no discernible wall before the break, making deliberate, precise shots more difficult despite identical pull weight and a crisp reset. The guests expressed disappointment that Glock appeared to compromise the trigger feel in order to comply with certain state regulations and to block switches, rather than simply emphasizing that criminals, not the manufacturer, should bear responsibility for illegal modifications.

The episode closed on a lighter note with Black Friday anticipation, reminders to join the Green Monster email list at greenmonstafirearms.com, and gratitude all around for the chance to share both the heavy and the hopeful moments that make the firearms community feel like family.