Why Glock aren't that great but are still popular?

[Joe L]

From the viewpoint of a relatively new pistol shooter (8 years?) who doesn't really know too history of pistol design development....

I love the Glock conceptually, although I have never owned one due to the grip angle.  The Glock is the Camaro of the pistol world.  You want a reliable daily driver at a good price, get a Camaro.  You want to build a drag race car, get after it.  Road race or gymkhana, no problem.  Show car, sure.  Most people that buy a Camaro don't want to know the details, they just want it to work.  But, for the enthusiast, plenty of support due to the large customer base. 

Here is another reason to like the Glock concept.  It got all of the other manufacturers to think outside the all steel box from both a materials standpoint as well as a manufacturing standpoint.  The fact that it is possible -- now -- to make a polymer frame gun that is as accurate as an all steel hand fit match gun is a real accomplishment, especially for the price point.  So my CZ P-09 and P-10F are analogous to a SVT Cobra Mustang compared to the Camaro.  The 4-valve engine is much more sophisticated from and engineering standpoint, but the aftermarket is weaker due to the limited customer base. 

My turbo nitrous 4 valve Mustang would not have existed without the Camaro, and my P-10S and P-10F would not have been developed without the Glock to "break the mold", so to speak.  As an engineer, I appreciate the Glock.  As a shooter, I love my CZs. 

Joe 

[matty76]

Price tag and pop culture. You see glocks mentioned in movies and rap songs all the time. My first time at the range, I rented a glock and thought it was fine. That is until I fired my friend’s CZ. After that I knew a CZ was what I wanted. Love my SP-01!


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[Ruber]

I know a lot of people that just want to go to the range and shoot.  They are thrilled to get 10” groups at 15 feet and would rather spend time and money on shooting than guns and gear.  A $400 glock becomes very appealing to them. 

I have known people who have never cleaned a gun, but religiously take their G17 to the range for happy hour once a month.  There is something to be said for that.

[MadDuner]

I know a lot of people that just want to go to the range and shoot.  They are thrilled to get 10” groups at 15 feet and would rather spend time and money on shooting than guns and gear.  A $400 glock becomes very appealing to them. 

I have known people who have never cleaned a gun, but religiously take their G17 to the range for happy hour once a month.  There is something to be said for that.

IF I could be happy with that - it would sure save me a bunch of money!

I’m just happy that the number of legal gun owners grows every single day....even if they are simply casual once a month shooters.

[M1A4ME]

Anything mechanical (or electrical) fails eventually.  Anything neglected/abused is more likely to fail sooner.

I keep mine (guns) cleaned/lubed/loaded.  I read (on the internet, of course) where people complain their Glocks rusted.  I don't have rusty blued guns, let alone something made of the materials Glocks are made of or with the surface treatments Glocks have.

Bragging about neglecting your equipment is like bragging you cheat on your wife.  Doing it isn't very smart, bragging about doing it is even worse.

[crosstimbers]

Price tag and pop culture. You see glocks mentioned in movies and rap songs all the time.



!

[v35]

Price tag and pop culture. You see glocks mentioned in movies and rap songs all the time.

Like the Glock 7? It's a porcelain gun made in Germany that doesn't show up on airport x-ray machines. Bet you didn't know that!

[Walt Sherrill]

Price tag and pop culture. You see glocks mentioned in movies and rap songs all the time.

Like the Glock 7? It's a porcelain gun made in Germany that doesn't show up on airport x-ray machines. Bet you didn't know that!

I suspect you're joking... But for those not in on the joke: the Glock 7 existed only in a Die Hard movie, not in the real world.  It wasn't made in Germany... it was made in Hollywood!! 

Even if the frame had ceramic components, the barrel and slide would still have to be metal (to withstand the pressures generated by firing rounds), and I've never seen a ceramic recoil spring or magazine spring.   That would mean you've got a one-shot gun of unknown accuracy (one-shot because without springs it couldn't cycle, and the barrel, if it was ceramic, might self-destruct before the bullet exited)! 

And then there's the problem of AMMO.  It was only this past year or two -- long after the Die Hard series of movies died their own death -- that a couple of firms came up with non-magnetic bullets.   I don't know if there are non-metallic cases possible, but even if there are,  I haven't seen any ammo with both case and bullet made of non-metallic materials. 

Given all of that, I suspect a ceramic guns would be a world-class KABOOM the first time it was fired!!

And it's important to understand that just because something is non-metallic doesn't mean it will NOT show up on X-rays.  (Hint: bones and other dense materials show up, too.) 

A Glock 7, if it actually existed, would still show up in X-rays.

[v35]

And then there's the problem of AMMO.

Not a problem! I'll bet you also didn't know there's a super-secret company operating an undisclosed location in Idaho that produced a polymer bullet that traveled over a mile to assassinate a foreign head of state, passing right through his skull and lodge in the steel wheel well of a police car completely undamaged!

Obviously lethal, that magic bullet is also so light that it seems to result in just about zero recoil in the Saber-Forstt SVL-A2 MOD-1 Modular Rifle!

 

That's a reference to the USA series ("Shooter"), a rather poor TV adaptation of Stephen Hunter's "Point of Impact". I'm halfway through the first season. Despite expecting the typically ludicrous firearms-related stuff, I don't know if I can take much more of it.

I think the idea is whatever you see in the movies, its polar opposite is likely to be more accurate.

[DOC 1500]

I want saw Wylie Coyote shoot a cannon ball with a chain attached to it and also attached to his ankle it took them darn near all the way across the canyon.😳

[M1A4ME]

All separate developments over the years.

Remington used to market a bolt action target rifle that used electricity (small battery in the stock??) that heated up the firing pin to set the primer off without having any chance of moving the rifle with the trigger broke, releasing the firing pin in the bolt.  Not sure how many they made/sold but I remember seeing the write ups in gun magazines many, many years ago.

The US Army has experimented (made by defense contractor firms, not the US Army) "caseless ammo.  The powder is formed into a block with the bullet stuck to it (glue?? or made into the hardened/formed powder???  It was also fired by electrically heated "firing pin".  Tested, but never accepted/adopted.

Lots of non magnetic bullets around, not many non-metallic though.

I've seen solid plastic shotgun empties.  Nothing metallic in it but the primer.  Then again...maybe there was some reinforcing metal structure in/around the base but covered by the plastic.  I remember dad and I talking about them and wondering how many reloads you could get out of the cases.

[david s]

H&K made some experimental rifles for there caseless ammo also. This was about the same time they were experimenting with polymer for pistol frames. What a silly idea like that would ever catch on. You occasionally see the Remington Etronic (?) primers for sale at a super premium. I cant remember who made the solid plastic shot gun hulls but they were fairly popular with trap shooters in the 1980's. I have a few plastic 38 special cases, these used a heel type bullet like a 22 LR. And were used as a cheap form of training ammo. And I regularly cast and shoot 1000's of non-magnetic bullets.

[Walt Sherrill]

That's a reference to the USA series ("Shooter"), a rather poor TV adaptation of Stephen Hunter's "Point of Impact". I'm halfway through the first season. Despite expecting the typically ludicrous firearms-related stuff, I don't know if I can take much more of it.

Don't know about the TV series - for some reason I've not bothered.  But Hunter's books are great.  He's a good writer, seems to know his firearms stuff, and has written a number of interesting books.   I pick the books up whenever I see one.  Not as often as I'd like.  (I need to check Edward L. McKay here in town, as they have almost everything!)

[v35]

Point of Impact was good. The Third Bullet was better.

Firearm purists (and I'm not one of them) will find plenty of technical faults with both, but as fiction goes you can do a lot worse than Stephen Hunter. He's one of my favorites.

Vince Flynn is another... wish he hadn't died 

[DWARREN]

Pistol, rifles and shotguns are like cars, everybody has their favorite.
 Go with what you like and have a nice day!