If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery .....

[wm]

then Gaston Glock must be blushing like no one else.

I see all sorts of 'Glock esque' pistol making their debut at Shot Show. Palmetto State Arms, Patriot Ordnance Factory, Culpepper Arms, Chiappa, and a bunch of 80% kit offerings.

Wm

[wecsoger]

Polymer frame, striker fired handguns are like weeds in the garden now, they are *everywhere*

Gaston brought together a good idea and made it work. Not pretty, but functional

Carried onw for for a number of years in an official capacity. I won't say a Glock is totally cop or idiot proof (sometimes terms used interchangeably) but it's darn near it.

What amazes me right now is the number of Glocks, especially .40's that are showing up as police trade-ins. I got a 22 and a 23 for $300 and $320 respectively.

It's the city's, or county's budget, but the life span of those Glocks would probably be to the end of this century. Yet they're dumping them for something new and shiny.

p.s. Glock round counts have been documented in the hundreds of thousands. Assuming a guy/gal shot 500 rounds a month (ha! most don't shoot that a year) that would be 100,000 rounds to almost 17 years

p.p.s I didn't even want or need another Glock, or even something in .40. two I got from Aim Surplus were practically un-issued, the 22 still had the bronze grease in it.

[piller]

I think Glock guns are ugly and they feel funny. They shoot good. I guess ugly is as ugly does, because it is difficult to get the same reliability at any price point.

[OldWin]

There are a lot of good choices now in "Glock like" pistols. That being said, none have the support that Glocks do. Some are, I think, better than Glock. But, sometimes there is more involved.
I have 2 Glocks, a 21SF and a 19. They work and shoot well, but are soulless tools. They do have their uses, however. As I type this, my 19 is out in the parking lot at work in my truck. For that, a much better choice than my Colt 1911.

[elmo123]

When I started as a police officer in the mid 80's I was issued a S&W 686 and carried it until 91 when we were issued Glock 19's. They were not as accurate compared to the 686 and the original magazines were not drop free which meant that if you wanted to perform a tactical reload with a partially full magazine you had to pull it out of the pistol. Another feature that didn't survive very long was the recoil spring wasn't caged so when you field stripped the pistol it would fly out. I always wondered how many eye injuries this resulted in. They soon realized this was dangerous and exchanged the free springs for caged ones. Another problem was the plastic sights, night sights weren't available yet, when drawing from a level 2 retention holster the front sight would drag against the holster and sometimes come off.

Since I was a member of the pistol team and a firearms instructor I went to about 6 or 7 transitional training schools where you spent most of the week shooting. The farthest range we fired at was 15 yards. I asked why we did not shoot any farther and was told that Gaston Glock designed the pistol for the Austrian Army and it was meant to be a last ditch weapon for when the enemy was overrunning your position. This explains the original magazines and sights weren't necessary at close range. Speaking of those wonderful sights I was told the import laws at the time prohibited Glock pistols from being imported without adjustable sights so they were shipped with the plastic adjustable sights and those were removed and fixed ones installed. The adjustable sights were then shipped back for installation on the next shipment. Some time later Glock was allowed to include the sights in the shipping container with the pistols so an exchange wasn't necessary when they arrived in the USA to abide by the laws at the time.

When the 40 became available the 19's were traded in for Glock 22's. They also increased our ammo budget from 4K a year to 18K because of the increase in cost. No for a department of 50 officers that only qualified twice a year this was a huge amount of ammunition. We also had our own indoor 25 yard range so shooting was encouraged.

I put close to 40k through my first 40 caliber pistol which was equipped with night sights and when it was traded in a few years later the only original part was the barrel all of the others had failed/broken even the striker which shed it's tip one day when I pulled the trigger to field strip the pistol prior to cleaning. The serial number is RXG895US which will only be found on the barrel the frame had different ones when it was returned from Glock. I am sure they destroyed it.

I retired years ago but the PD I worked for switched back to the 9mm Glock because of the cost of ammunition and probably recoil had something to do with it. Most of the cops these days never handled a firearm until they went through the academy and a .40 caliber pistol has a bit more recoil than the 9mm. Most of the ones I shot with did better with the 9mm than the .40.

I am not saying that the Glock is a bad pistol it does what is was designed to do. I don't own one but I do own a few striker fired pistols that I like better because they are more accurate in my opinion, the M&P 40 and Taurus Millennium in 9mm and 40. For the price the Taurus is a good buy and it has the ability to fired double action meaning if you have a misfire you can pull the trigger again and re-strike the cartridge.

I still carry a revolver most of the time.

Mike

[marlinman93]

If a Glock is almost idiot proof, then somebody explain why there have been so many documented accidental discharges among police officers? As my buddy said (who sells guns to law enforcement agencies) "A Glock is the safest gun you'll ever accidentally shoot yourself with."

[jeepnik]

My two Glocks are protest guns. The 30 was bought in a neighboring city when L A banned small revolvers for sale to citizens. I went three blocks away and bought a small, black, plastic, high capacity semi auto.

The 42 was bought because the state told me I couldn’t have it.

[elmo123]

In my experience the accidental discharge comes from having to pull the trigger to remove the slide and not checking the chamber first. I saw two commanders, Capt & Lt., try to remove the slide to clean the pistol and neither could figure out how to do it until one of them remembered to pull the trigger first, BANG. Even though they forgot to check the chamber first they did remember to keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

Another officer killed his bed at home when he removed the magazine and pulled the trigger, he also forgot about the round still in the chamber.

Most if not all of the negligent discharges come from not being familiar with the tool itself not the tool.

[Grizz]

the only glock i ever had was a .40 that would not run through a magazine without hanging up somehow. i ditched it.

you are right that glocks have lots of flatterers. even springfield is making xd's without the grip safety .., relying on the trigger thingy alone . . . a pox on their designers.

as to recoil, my 9mm xd is the subcompact model, and my son's .40 is also subcompact. i fired both of them alternately at a paper target and honestly did not think the recoil was very different between the two . . . the barrel tips up, i lower the front sight to the paper and fire again. I don't shoot against a clock so it is possible that it took a millisecond longer for the 40 to arrive at the target, I don't know . . . I doubt I could tell in a blind test which gun I was shooting . . .

I think people that are recoil sensitive should shoot a 22 auto, then a 44 mag revolver, and Then the duty gun. I bet recoil would be less of an issue . . . I know the 22 thing works because shooters can keep their eyes open and see the sight picture when the gun goes off. then it becomes easier to shoot the 9 because they actually know what to look for . . .

[piller]

As far as accuracy, my Walther & Wesson model 99 compact in .40 is as good as anything I have ever used. It is striker fired. My Glock is good, but that hybrid sold by Smith & Wesson with Walther made parts has to be used to be believed. It is not an imitation of a Glock. I have fired revolvers that are renowned for their accuracy. The Smith & Wesson model 19 was known for being accurate, and it was and is. However, that model 99 is simply beyond anything else I have ever seen.

[wm]

I believe the Canick TP series is a licensed copy of the Walther & Walther/S&W model 99. The likewise have a reputation as being a cut above the rest in terms of accuracy.

Wm.