Why Glock?

Status
Not open for further replies.
tcoz said:
First, I want to make it clear that I’m neither a Glock lover nor a Glock hater. Like many, they’re a manufacturer of fine firearms, all of which have their place.

My question is why all of a sudden for the past year or so are we seeing Glock everywhere? Blog articles, forum threads, videos, magazine articles, television gun shows, and an avalanche of aftermarket parts and accessories etc. I suspect that Glock must have opened their platform and maybe released some patents or had them expire which would explain the parts and accessories but that doesn’t (to me) explain the super high visibility of their guns everywhere, even on television drama shows. Is it money or something else that I don’t know about?
Who can shed some light on this for me?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

To answer your final question, not me apparently. My knee jerk response was to say popular music. I asked my friend Google about gun brands mentioned in popular music and was surprised to find that a list of the top dozen songs mentioning brands didn't even list Glock. In Ranker's top gun makes list Glock wasn't in the top 10. (Came in at 12). First time I remember hearing about Glock in some form of media was in Die Hard 2, the infamous Glock 7.
Truly can't figure it, there are deadlier looking, fancier, sleeker, etc. guns out there for the films and tv shows to use, but maybe Glock is paying them for product placement?
 
bannockburn said:
jonb32248



In the case of Oldsmobile and Pontiac it really didn't have anything to do with advertising. GM was just looking for a way to pare down some of the overlapping models that they offered in all their divisions. It was more cost effective and profitable for them to eliminate Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Saturn, which had declining sales, than it was to keep building cars for them.

I'm convinced Glock on the other hand would still be a force to be reckoned with in the marketplace, even without any advertising.
Click to expand...

Of course they would along with so many other guns. And take away all the Military contracts, civilian contracts and what have you got left? Just another nice firearm in the market. But do not ever underestimate the Power of Marketing. That would be a major mistake.
 
Glock, the gun that people love...to hate. :rofl:

Kidding aside.
Years ago I was a dyed in the wool 1911 guy. I had shot many other auto loaders but loved the 1911 style guns. I am also a revolver guy. I was pretty happy in my little world. I also hated Glocks.

I hated Glocks because all my friends hated Glocks. I had not actually shot one but hated them anyway...because they were plastic!
Evil, evil plastic. It was unnatural. It was an abomination!

Then I got invited to shoot an IDPA match and my new friend insisted I try his Glock 17. I did and I was hooked. I bought a Glock 34 that week. I bought a Glock 19 later. I ended up selling them both (I still kick myself for selling the G34). I now own a Glock 19X and it’s dark twin the Glock 45. I plan to buy another G34 one of these days soon.

I no longer have 1911s, I have a Remington R51 (talk about a disappointment), I have a Remington RM380 and I have my 2 Glocks and, of course, my revolvers. I will never give up on Glocks. They are reliable. That is what matters.

I do not buy guns to impress people. I buy them to impress me. If you don’t like my choices, I do not care. I no longer let others influence my gun likes or dislikes without doing some homework.
 
AK103K said:
The gun is uncocked, albeit, partially cocked, until you "cock" it (sorta) when you pull the trigger.

Putting some of the hammer fired guns into that condition can be scarier than a Glock just sitting there.
Click to expand...
Generally scarier since you can see the hammer. With the Glock it is "out of sight out of mind" since you can't see how far the striker is back you don't think about it.

While the Glock is only partially cocked, there is still enough energy in the striker to fire a round from the partially cocked status.

I think folks view the partially cocked Glock as if it were the SIG traditional P-Series guns where you've used the decocker lever to decock the gun. The hammer is lowered, but not all the way down where it would be if you had pulled the trigger. The hammer is not all the way decocked, but there isn't enough energy to fire a round.

The Glock striker not exactly like, but it is closer to the CZ75B in single action than a decocked SIG P-Series. The CZ hammer is back, just not all the way (just like the Glock striker), and it will cam back when you pull the trigger. However, the hammer in single action position has enough energy stored to fire a round without having to go back farther. Just like the Glock.

However, the stock Glock has a very robust firing pin safety, and it is unlikely to fail (without modification), so the gun still won't fire unless you (or some other object) pull the trigger.

The point is - the safety advantage of a partially cocked striker, at least in the case of the Glock, is really just marketing, since just like the fully cocked strikers, there is enough energy present to fire a round. The thing that keeps all these guns from firing is the quality of their firing pin safeties.
 

Attachments

  • image.png
    image.png
    83 bytes · Views: 3
What does it say about a brand when its competitors brag about their guns accepting that brand's magazine? How many other brands tout that they take Glock magazines? They're not doing so out of the goodness of their hearts. lol

Glocks work, and obviously their components, such as magazines, work too. Is it because it's cheaper to use Glock mags rather than design their own? Is it because Glock mags are relatively cheap? Is it because almost everyone has a Glock, and thus their mags? Or maybe it's just all of the above?

How many other brand's rifles and pistols take Glock mags?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: vba
Speedo66 said:
What does it say about a brand when its competitors brag about their guns accepting that brand's magazine? How many other brands tout that they take Glock magazines? They're not doing so out of the goodness of their hearts. lol
Glocks work, and obviously their components, such as magazines, work too. Is it because it's cheaper to use Glock mags rather than design their own? Is it because Glock mags are relatively cheap? Is it because almost everyone has a Glock, and thus their mags? Or maybe it's just all of the above?
Click to expand...

Ages ago, when I was first deciding on which MP3 player to buy I bought an Ipod. Not because I am an Apple fan, I am much much not so. I really hated that it wasn't transparent, that I had to use their proprietary software to load music on it, but doggone it, everyone made accessories for it. Chargers, docking stations, etc.

I liked the look, price and pointability, if there is such a word, of the Hi Point Carbine, but no one made mags for it, extended or otherwise. Plus, if you had a 9mm HP pistol and a 9mm HP carbine you had to invest in two different magazines for them, the mags weren't interchangeable. Stupid planning if you ask me, buy hey, I'm just another dumb guy. What do I know.

One of the selling points to me of the Extar that was lost in that tragic blimp accident was that it used Glock magazines. I don't like Glocks, particularly, and don't desire to part with my dollars to own one, but it's a matter of personal choice and preference, not a knock on the brand. As I say, that's why they make vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.
 
Glock has a ton of money, but unlike the days of early 90s and large quantity sales to police departments and federal agencies with their full size pistols and variations there of, they've got new pistols they've come out with the past 5 years aimed squarely at the conceal carry market and the only way to get those sold is thru advertising and word of mouth. Glock is a well known name even in non gun owner households and those are the types Glock wants to reach so if/when they intend to buy a gun one of the top choices they'll have will be Glock.

That said do I think the Glock 42, 43, 43x, 48 are worth $450-500? Nope, I think all Glocks are $75 overpriced and the only Glocks worth buying are used ones in 9mm and 40. I'm looking at getting a .45, I could get a used Glock but I want a threaded barrel and I look at other options in S&W, Walther, maybe even Hi Point may make a .45 threaded barrel in the future (hey, they're coming out with a 9mm that has one and will use 17 rd mags) so I don't see the point in a .45 Glock.

The only new Glock's worth getting are the 10mm's, especially the 40 MOS as those are not easy to find for a fair price used.
 
TTv2 said:
Glock has a ton of money, but unlike the days of early 90s and large quantity sales to police departments and federal agencies with their full size pistols and variations there of, they've got new pistols they've come out with the past 5 years aimed squarely at the conceal carry market and the only way to get those sold is thru advertising and word of mouth. Glock is a well known name even in non gun owner households and those are the types Glock wants to reach so if/when they intend to buy a gun one of the top choices they'll have will be Glock.

That said do I think the Glock 42, 43, 43x, 48 are worth $450-500? Nope, I think all Glocks are $75 overpriced and the only Glocks worth buying are used ones in 9mm and 40. I'm looking at getting a .45, I could get a used Glock but I want a threaded barrel and I look at other options in S&W, Walther, maybe even Hi Point may make a .45 threaded barrel in the future (hey, they're coming out with a 9mm that has one and will use 17 rd mags) so I don't see the point in a .45 Glock.

The only new Glock's worth getting are the 10mm's, especially the 40 MOS as those are not easy to find for a fair price used.
Click to expand...
AIM Surplus seems to have a great number of Glock, and other brand, PD trade ins in many flavors.
 
The only time I think Id worry about it, would be loading the gun without the trigger set. That bypasses the firing pin safety, making it so its not drop safe.

But then again, the gun is no longer at "half cock" either, and the firing pin can only move a short bit, and the only energy there, would be its weight.

I suppose if you threw it down hard enough on its muzzle, you might get it to go off.

As long as that firing pin safety is working properly, and the gun was loaded properly, I dont see that the firing pin having half a load on it is really any issue.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vba
Speedo66 said:
What does it say about a brand when its competitors brag about their guns accepting that brand's magazine? How many other brands tout that they take Glock magazines? They're not doing so out of the goodness of their hearts. lol

Glocks work, and obviously their components, such as magazines, work too. Is it because it's cheaper to use Glock mags rather than design their own? Is it because Glock mags are relatively cheap? Is it because almost everyone has a Glock, and thus their mags? Or maybe it's just all of the above?

How many other brand's rifles and pistols take Glock mags?
Click to expand...

I would say with all the military and civilian contracts over the years, that Glock magazines are made in bulk. I would think with so many that you would be able to buy them for a few bucks. And if Glocks are so massed produced and so simple, with few parts, then why the high cost?
 
Hmm... who said they were simple? How many Glock mags have you heard of not working out of the box? Seeing how there are so many aftermarket brands that don't work well, we know it takes good engineering and good quality control to make a mag that does work, every time. And that probably costs money.

And they are less expensive than so many other brands. I see some brands mags in the $40+ range,

And last I heard, Glock wasn't a charity, nobody makes mags "for a few bucks".
 
  • Like
Reactions: vba
I can only speak for myself but here's the list:

34 parts

One tool

3 internal safeties

0 external safeties

Low pre-cock load in striker

Light weight

Durable

Platform commonality

Aftermarket/spare parts galore

Accurate ( but bo more than any other good defensive pistol)

Overall durable finishes

Cheap magazines

Reliable (but no more than any other good pistol)

------------------------------------

That outweighs the cons of the glock for most applications for me which are:

Less than great trigger
Ridiculous plastic factory sights
Polymer frame degradation in future
2 of mine shoot left. Not all, just 2.
Lack of innovation
No rail on subcompacts (26/27/29)
Past case support issues of 40
 
VoodooMountain said:
2 of mine shoot left. Not all, just 2.
Click to expand...
ALL of mine do/did.

They are the only guns I own, that have the rear sights offset to the right. Dont know why, just the way it is.

All of them hit where I point if I dont use the sights too.
 
Labguy47 said:
They saturated the market for years, practically taking over the LEO market. Then they got beat by Sig-Sauer for the military contract.
Now everyone who went Glock is going Sig. Now no matter where ya look new or used you see tons of Glocks. The old gold standard. I won’t own one after a G32 hand grenaded on me due to bad metallurgy.
Click to expand...

Please, could you elaborate your experience a little further, I'm just curious since I ordered one.

CZhen.
 
Speedo66 said:
Hmm... who said they were simple? How many Glock mags have you heard of not working out of the box? Seeing how there are so many aftermarket brands that don't work well, we know it takes good engineering and good quality control to make a mag that does work, every time. And that probably costs money.

And they are less expensive than so many other brands. I see some brands mags in the $40+ range,

And last I heard, Glock wasn't a charity, nobody makes mags "for a few bucks".
Click to expand...

You really missed the point. Their would seem to be a surplus of mags, And yes, some really nice quality Mags out there from other manufacturers. I get the impression that most Glock owners shoot about 5k rounds a month. How many mags and parts do you need to keep replacing?
Yes, I have some very high quality mags, all stainless steel, metal followers, metal base plates etc. And can just buy springs for replacement. Will last for decades. I am not going to buy a firearm just because they sell cheap mags. Not enough there for me to worry about something like that. Get over the mag thing. Like I said, Glock guns are great, but let's not get carried away.
 
czhen said:
Please, could you elaborate your experience a little further, I'm just curious since I ordered one.
CZhen.
Click to expand...

Starting in the early 80s Glock gen 1 became the primary sidearm of a lot of police services. In ‘88 gen 2 came out characterized by front and back checkering. In ‘98 gen 3 with an accessory rail came out. 2010 gen 4 came out with even more frame upgrades. 2017 gen 5, new ergos and non interchangeable parts. It was the gen 4 that competed for military contracts, but lost to Sig.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Hokkmike
  • Locked
Why do some people ridicule Glock owners?
2 3 4
Replies
76
Views
5K
9mmepiphany
9mmepiphany
G
  • Locked
Why KAHR handguns are 'better' than a Glock in many ways
2 3
Replies
65
Views
7K
glockarmourer40517
G
T
  • Locked
What could become ubiquitous?
Replies
4
Views
414
TX1911fan
T
K
  • Locked
Kabooming Glocks (and not 23s either)
2 3 4 5
Replies
109
Views
4K
kentucky_smith
K
Miami_JBT
  • Locked
Oh boy, another GLOCK vs XD thread... with a twist!
Replies
17
Views
589
HPJeep
HPJeep
Back
Top