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The Glorious Glocks 


     These are likely the most thoroughly thought out and best performing combat handguns in the world. They are the brainchild of Gaston Glock, an industrial engineer who had never even fired a gun. He had no prejudices and little knowledge about firearms, but his training and experience as an industrial engineer gave him an eye for function and efficiency. His initial design used the 9mm cartridge because of it's popularity and almost universal use by the police and armies of Europe. The chunky squared off gun was not considered handsome when it was first marketed. It's polymer frame was looked upon with suspicion by traditionalists, as was it's lack of an external hammer, and lack of manual safety. The gun has become quite popular, and is much imitated because it works. It is a product of contemporary military thinking, much as the great guns of the past were a product of the military thinking of their time.
    At the turn of the last century, when much of today's weaponry was developed, Armies tended to be smaller and more professional. They also tended to depend much more on the efforts, and skills of the individual soldiers; war was much more small scale. Precise tools were required for this type of army. Tools which demanded a certain amount of care, and also a certain amount of skill and training for their deployment. Firearms were a very important part of this equipment in a day when battles and wars could be won by the soldier and his personal weapon. On top of this, firearms skills were more commonplace than they are today, so that the average citizen needed little in the way of an introduction to the art of gun handling. The average citizen today is much less familiar with firearms. We no longer hunt for food, nor are we encouraged by our various governments to take responsibility for our own safety or defense. Current thinking has relegated the common soldier and his weapon into a supporting role, where aircraft and artillery are the primary weapons. For this type of role, with this type of citizenry, the emphasis has been placed on light weight, firepower, and simplicity, as opposed to the old goals of long range and precision.
    The Glock fulfills the goals of this type of thinking admirably. It is also, in addition, dependable and rugged. I have read of the pistols being run over by army trucks in an attempt to damage them. Famed gun writer, Chuck Taylor has done a 250,000 round (and rising) test of the Glock, subjecting it to infrequent cleaning, and every type of abuse, and has reported that it still functions flawlessly. There is no manual safety on the Glock, although the gun does have several internal safeties. The safeties are taken off by a small lever located in the middle of the trigger. The trigger itself has a weird two stage pull, with a very long, light initial arc which gets heavy right before the break. The hammerless design uses a striker, which is a kind of spring wound firing pin, to ignite the primer. The black finish on the gun is something that Glock calls tennifer, and is more rust resistant than stainless steel, while being harder than tempered tool steel. The finish is applied under high temperature in some sort of nitrate bath. The grip angle is perfect for point shooting, being about the same as that of the old German Luger.
    The strengths of the gun have produced an enthusiastic, almost cult like following, although not for the reasons that certain fools in the press would have had you believe a few years ago. When the gun was first introduced as the model 17, anti gunners went cheerfully hysterical. Here was a gun that was everything they thought evil. It had a large capacity magazine, fired a military cartridge, and, said they, it's plastic construction would allow terrorists to blithely pass through airport security. This last was immediately proven untrue, but is still ranted about by those who value their own opinion over the truth. In reality, only the frame is plastic (Glock prefers the term polymer), and even it, has metal stiffeners and slide rails. The barrel and CNC milled slide are of all metal construction, and in themselves have more metal than most small frame automatics. Now that many police departments carry the Glock, their experiences have shown beyond a doubt the foolishness of the anti Glock hysteria. Thanks to yet another round of government follies, for many years Glocks were being sold with a blocked off ten round magazine. Apparently this was for our own safety, as no criminal would ever consider robbing or assaulting anyone with a gun that holds a mere ten rounds. Fortunately, this particular ban, as well as the loathsome perjurer, and sexual deviant who helped to get it passed are gone.
    As an all around pistol that requires little attention and will always be there for you no matter what, the Glock is nearly ideal. I have but a few complaints about the gun, and they fall into the realm of personal preference. First, I hate the trigger. I vastly prefer a crisp, clean breaking single action trigger pull. I also miss a hammer. I consider a pistol with the hammer down over a loaded chamber to be the ideal carry condition. The only other problem with the gun affects some shooters and has come to be known as "Glock wrist". If the shooter does not hold the gun stiffly, it will not cycle completely, causing a stovepipe (failure to completely eject a round). The remedy to this is to stiffen up the wrist. Minor complaints aside, I like the gun enough to own three of them, a Glock-21, a Glock-17, and a Glock-19. The gun is available in the original 9mm, as well as 10mm, .357, 380, .45 A.C. P., and .40 S&W. There are also several compact models, and some ultra compact 10 shot models. They are also available in the newly developed compact 45 GAP.
     That the Glock is the wave of the future, has been adequately proven by the many imitations. It seems that, as with decades ago when every company attempted to produce it's own wonder nine, everyone is coming out with new plastic pistols. S&W has it's Sigma line, and H&K offers the USP. There are also versions from Walther, and Taurus. So if this is the future of handguns, what does this say about the future soldier, and handgun user? Well, in many ways, the Glock, as well as it's many imitators, are throw away pistols. Though the slides are CNC milled, most of the internal parts are stamped, or molded. The mechanics of the guns do not lend themselves to hand fitting or tuning, and the triggers do not encourage precision shooting. These are great guns, for conscript armies, or police officers,  of relatively low skills, with low weapons familiarity. They point well, are simple to use, and will not choke if they are not properly maintained. Though the guns are priced competitively with other full size, quality handguns, they are quite cheap to make, and could be selling for quite a bit less, as did the original version of the S&W Sigma series. Still, I am not knocking these guns. I own three of them, and will probably buy at least two more. They are nearly ideal as knock around guns, and field guns, and require little attention, and only the most basic firearms skills, from their owners.

Glock Features


The Glock trigger is smooth plastic, and has the safety release as a sort of second trigger within a trigger. It has an odd, long pull, rather like a two stage rifle trigger pull. I have, personally, never cared for the Glock trigger pull.

Left:
The sights on the Glock are of the white outline type, with a dot front sight. These sights are made of plastic, and will become rounded during long term use. This example shown is a fixed sight. Adjustable sights are available.

Below:
Note that the top of the chamber area of the barrel sits flush with the top of the slide. Also note the interlocking notch and tab of the slide and barrel. This, along with the squared off chunkiness of the slide, are due to the lugless design of the locking system, covered in more detail in the next section.


These are all of the controls on a Glock. The trigger (with safety), slide release, magazine release, and take down lever are all visible in this photo. The Glock is a very simple pistol to operate.

New Glocks come in a lockable plastic case with a spare magazine, loading tool, cleaning rod, and brush.
What I love about the Glock
What I hate about the Glock
  • Indestructible
  • Quick to bear
  • Rust proof (even the metal parts)
  • Safe
  • Simple to operate
  • The trigger stinks
  • There is no hammer ( I like to carry cocked and locked)
  • The plastic sights wear down after a while
  • I can not use metal aftermarket magazines (they destroy the latch)
  • The gun will jam without a firm grip (Glock Wrist)

(G)Locking System

Though the Glock, and derivative designs, appear to use the same basic mechanism as the classic Browning/Colt pistol, being locked action blowback semi autos with tilting barrels and retracting slides, there are some significant differences in the locking system. The Glock, and similar systems, trace their roots back to the Sig Sauer P220 series. These pistols use a tab at the rear of the barrel, which mates with a notch behind the ejection port of the slide, to lock the action. At the front of the chamber is a notch, which mates with a locking notch at the front of the ejection port of the slide. They thus need no barrel bushing.
  A side by side comparison, of the Glock and Browning style barrels. The notch at the front of the chamber of the Glock, and the tab at the rear, lock it to the slide, to delay cycling of the gun.  The barrel of the classic Browning design, locks through a series of cut outs on top of the barrel.
  The Glock slide and barrel. Note how the square shape of the chamber area of the barrel fit snugly within the slide. 
  The classic Browning style barrel and slide. Note the matching cut outs on the barrel, and the inside of the slide, used to lock the two components together. 

WARNING!!!!!

Danger: A very serious and potentially life threatening situation has recently come to our attention. An aftermarket trigger distributed by GunAccessories.com defeats the firing pin safety in GLOCK pistols when it is installed. The vertical extension on a GLOCK trigger bar is in constant contact with the firing pin safety once this trigger is installed. If a loaded pistol is dropped, it will discharge without the trigger being pulled.

If you have installed this aftermarket part, immediately remove it from your pistol. If you know anyone else who has installed this trigger, please notify them immediately.


If this part is installed in your gun, it can discharge if the gun is dropped or jarred. Obviously this will lead to an unintentional discharge and may cause serious bodily injury to yourself or another.
Model
Caliber
Capacity
BBL
LOA
Height
Weight
17
9mm
17
4.49
7.32
5.43
24.8
17L
9mm
17
6.02
8.85
5.43
26.38
18
9mm
17
4.49
7.32
6.12
24.8
19
9mm
15
4.02
6.85
5.00
23.45
20
10mm
15
4.6
7.59
5.47
30.32
21
45 A.C.P.
13
4.6
7.59
5.47
29.29
22
40
15
4.49
7.32
5.43
25.67
23
40
13
4.02
6.85
5.00
23.62
24
40
15
6.02
8.85
5.43
29.45
25
380
15
6.02
6.85
5.00
22.51
26
9mm
10
3.46
6.29
4.17
21.75
27
40
9
3.46
6.29
4.17
21.87
28
380
10
3.46
6.29
4.27
20.64
29
10mm
10
3.78
6.77
4.76
27.09
30
45 A.C.P.
9
3.78
6.77
4.76
26.49
31
357
15
4.49
7.32
5.43
26.03
32
357
13
4.02
6.85
5.00
23.98
33
357
9
3.46
6.29
4.17
21.87
34
9mm
17
5.32
8.15
5.43
25.67
35
40
15
5.32
8.15
5.43
27.27
36
45 A.C.P.
6
3.78
6.77
4.76
22.51
37
45 G.A.P.






Disassembly and Cleaning

Compare to most other models, cleaning the Glock is childishly simple. To begin disassembly, after magazine has been removed, and chamber has been cleared, push slide back slightly, and depress takedown lever, while allowing the slide to move forward.

The whole upper assembly may then be pulled off of the front of the frame.

Turning the upper unit upside down, permits access to the internals of the slide. Depressing slightly on the recoil spring will release it from the barrel, and allow it to be removed by lifting it up and out of the slide assembly.

The barrel may then me lifted out, by pushing slightly forward, and then pulling straight up.

The glock (in this case a Glock 21) field stripped for cleaning.
Unlike many other firearms, the Glock may be reassembled by simply performing the above steps in reverse order. There are no additional complications to reassembly.