Featured Gun: The Glock Pistol

 I have been a fan of the Glock pistols ever since I bought my first one in 1989.

The first gun I ever bought was a Glock 19 Gen 2, the year was 1989. At the time I was working on my degree in Criminal Justice (Administration of Justice) and was already planning on buying a Glock, mostly due to the raving reviews coming from my fellow students.

One of my fellow students ran a kitchen table FFL, so I ordered up a Glock 19. I still have the pistol, the 5-digit serial number memorized.

Like many of my Featured Gun posts, the subject has been written about ad nauseum, so as always, I will attempt to bring something more to the story.

We will start with the man whose name is emblazoned on the pistol, Gaston Glock.

Gaston was born on July 19, 1929, in Vienna Austria. In 1958 he married his girlfriend, Helga. In 1963 the two started a business to make among other things curtain rods and rings. They made them from a high strength polymer. Later Glock was awarded a contract to make field/combat knives for the Austrian Military. It was this contract that led to him entering the firearms business.

A short while later (circa 1980) Glock was talking with some officers of the Austrian military, the men complained about the standard issue sidearm, which was the German Walther P38.

It might seem strange that the Austrian Military was still using a pistol from 1938.....keep in mind, at that time, the United States was still using the M1911 pistol which was adopted in 1911.

When Glock told them men he could build them a better pistol, they laughed in his face. About a year later Glock was applying for a patent for his Glock pistol. Sixteen more patents were applied for and granted before he released his first pistol, the Glock 17.

After the pistol exceeded all tests at a military trial, the Glock 17 was adopted by the Austrian Military as the pistole 80. Before long the gun was being tested and adopted by military and government agencies around the globe....who is laughing now? I wonder if those Austrian officers remember the time they laughed at Gaston Glock (who is now a multi-billionaire)?

Gaston has had a lot of bumps along his road, including a partner that embezzled millions and even hired someone to kill him to cover it up. A contested divorce, estranged children and a marriage to a woman nearly 1/4 his age. 

Hollywood, are you paying attention?

At the end of all this, the business partner and hired assassin are in jail, Helga's lawsuit was dismissed, and Glock continues to run the company he started.

In late 1985 Glock began importing his guns to the largest civilian marketplace: The United States. The 1st batch of pistols were rejected for not having adjustable sights (another example of B.S. gun laws). Glock redesigned the sight over a weekend and by January of 1986 his pistols were being distributed across the U.S.

Back to the pistol. In order to be considered for service in the U.S. Military the pistol would need to be 100% US made. Although the Glock did not qualify on the first test, Glock opened a factory in Smyrna Georgia.

Glock is now on their 5th generation, the new ones coming with interchangeable back straps to change the grip size/angle.

As of this writing, Glock has produced 24 distinct models many with sub models (long slide or competition), in 8 calibers ranging from .22 LR to .45 ACP in 6 different frame sizes. 

I won't delve into all the Glock models produced since the early 80's, Glock has more models than Nancy Pelosi has wrinkles......

I also won't cover the controversies that have circled Glock over the years. The Glock pistol has proven itself way beyond any attacks leveled by haters.

https://www.armedforcesmuseum.com/austrias-semi-automatic-glock-pistol/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glock