What is the appeal of Glock handguns?

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liv4spd

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I'm new to the gun world. It seems like Glock is one of the most popular handgun brands. I can understand it is a very reliable brand. Other than that, what is the appeal of Glock handguns.

I tired a Glock 19 once, and find it to be extremely boring. On the other hand, I'm fascinated with guns made by other brands like Sig Sauer, Walther, Ruger, CZ, etc.
 
There are a lot of solid options out there. You should get a gun you like, and you should be able to do that and still make a really good choice given the huge variety available these days.

Speaking for myself, I bought my first Glock because I wanted a 10mm handgun, and at the time there were LITERALLY only two choices. I don't mean there were only two good choices, there were only two handguns on the market chambered in 10mm at the time. One was getting bad reviews for durability issues so I went with the Glock. I was impressed with its simplicity and functionality so I bought another one.

Then there was a lot of misinformation about them so I spent a good deal of time learning everything I could about them just to find out what the situation really was. I continued to be impressed with them, the more I learned.

I don't call Glock my favorite brand and I don't consider any of my Glocks to be a favorite handgun. I have other handguns I like more, that I find more interesting and/or exciting and I also own other handguns that I trust and will rely on like I rely on Glocks.

For example, I have 3 guns that I carry based on what I can get away with in terms of concealment. One of them is a Glock. The other two are different brands.

Glocks are nice because:

1. They tend to be reliable. They work and they almost always work right out of the box without any break-in issues.
2. They are reasonably accurate.
3. They are durable.
4. Most people can learn to work on them without a lot of training. Parts replacement is pretty simple.
5. Accessories are cheap and plentiful.
6. Aftermarket parts are everywhere and generally reasonably priced.

If you don't care about 4, 5 & 6, then there are lots of other guns out there that check the same boxes. If you care a lot about 4, 5 & 6, then there are still a few guns out there that can compete to at least some extent.
 
Glock

My first Glock was also 10mm. I went to buy a Colt Delta, it had sold, but the guy had a G20 and 4 hicap mags, this when the mag ban was in effect and the true hicaps were selling for $40-50 if you could find them at all.

Ross Seyfried wrote an article on the G17 a couple of years after they were introduced that got my attention. Ross had always been a traditional steel and walnut guy. An endorsement of a poly pistol by someone that old school got my attention. The big 10mm was not a G17, but it has been every bit as tough and durable as it;s famous little brother. I did not start a log on the G20, but it's likely been shot 2500 rounds or so....bamaboy shot it for a year as a teen in our local IDPA league, loaded down to .40 S&W energies, and he did just fine, and it never bobbled, in fact, with the factory barrel, I don't recall it has ever failed. Glocks tolerate neglect, even abuse quite well. You're a fool if you don't keep a defensive or hunting gun in good order, but stuff happens. Dunk a Glock, with a stumble in the creek, forget to clean after a rainy day hunt, and the Glock usually just shrugs it off.

Common knowledge for the most part. One point not discussed is price, ie affordability. Just this Thursday I visited a big local gun store. New Glocks seemed fairly priced v. others products, and there were a goodly number of used Glocks as well that were good buys and not overly abused. Several really rough G22's were under $400 bucks. I bet they would clean up and run just fine.

Three criticism's of the Glock:
-Factory literature says no cast bullets.
-I don't care for the factory sights
-Having learned handgun shooting with good revolvers and single action 1911's, I always lament about Glock triggers. They are what they are, and can be learned, but it's what they aren't I miss.
 
People use a Glock like a hammer. It doesn't matter what brand hammer they have as long as it drives a nail. Now those who want a handgun to be built like a tank, drive nails at long distances and appreciate a finely built handgun buy CZs and other well made all steel guns. But most of the makers have copied Glock because most people as I said just want a cheap hammer to drive nails.
 
JohnKSa said:
There are a lot of solid options out there. You should get a gun you like, and you should be able to do that and still make a really good choice given the huge variety available these days.

Speaking for myself, I bought my first Glock because I wanted a 10mm handgun, and at the time there were LITERALLY only two choices. I don't mean there were only two good choices, there were only two handguns on the market chambered in 10mm at the time. One was getting bad reviews for durability issues so I went with the Glock. I was impressed with its simplicity and functionality so I bought another one.

Then there was a lot of misinformation about them so I spent a good deal of time learning everything I could about them just to find out what the situation really was. I continued to be impressed with them, the more I learned.

I don't call Glock my favorite brand and I don't consider any of my Glocks to be a favorite handgun. I have other handguns I like more, that I find more interesting and/or exciting and I also own other handguns that I trust and will rely on like I rely on Glocks.

For example, I have 3 guns that I carry based on what I can get away with in terms of concealment. One of them is a Glock. The other two are different brands.

Glocks are nice because:

1. They tend to be reliable. They work and they almost always work right out of the box without any break-in issues.
2. They are reasonably accurate.
3. They are durable.
4. Most people can learn to work on them without a lot of training. Parts replacement is pretty simple.
5. Accessories are cheap and plentiful.
6. Aftermarket parts are everywhere and generally reasonably priced.

If you don't care about 4, 5 & 6, then there are lots of other guns out there that check the same boxes. If you care a lot about 4, 5 & 6, then there are still a few guns out there that can compete to at least some extent.
Click to expand...
Many thanks for all the excellent points. Sounds like its reliability and availability of aftermarket parts are some major reasons behind it.
 
You are correct. They're not fascinating. It's several decades too late for that.

They were fascinating for a brief period of time that ended in 1990.

They continued on as merely "interesting" for another 20 years, and officially entered "boring" status in 2010.

They still work just fine for saving your bacon in a dark alley, of course. But, they introduced a race to the bottom for guns with exactly zero appeal beyond their raw bacon-saving utility.

For fascinating, I recommend one of these:
Pistols_Closeup_Cartridge_(firearms)_1907_Roth_540367_600x400.jpg
 
I guess few people take their hobby more serious than I do. I have been fascinated by firearms since a young age and have been a member of gun clubs and a shooting coach for decades. I have many fascinating higher end guns that are amazing, quality and also accuracy wise.

I always had a special love for double action revolvers but when I lived in a very dangerous Third World country with the highest Do-Not-Travel warning it did not take me long to switch over to carrying a Glock exclusively.

It isn't exactly boring to survive because your defensive weapon works under all circumstances, even have acceptable accuracy with the locking block broken, which happened after only a little over 60,000 rounds, or an extractor chipped.

 
Copying is flattery. Shadow Systems, the PSA Dagger, and the Bul Armory Axe are just a few to prove that. I had a Shadow System, added a comp and a Timney trigger and the gun was shooting not just more accurately than 90% of shooters can make use of but also could be very well controlled in double taps or the Bill Drill, both expensive ammo-eaters.

My youngest son fell in love with the MR920 Elite and it became his birthday present.

 
For years and years I have generally accepted and respected Glock as a common-sense duty pistol to outfit men and women who carry a firearm for a living. They are reliable (though I think this is an oversell today, other pistols I have are equally reliable), easy to use and train on, and maintenance is simple. I have always held out that there are equal options, even for a duty handgun. I like DA/SA firearms. I have always had a little apprehension that Glock "safe-action" triggers are on the light side for duty carry.

These days I would have a hard time recommending anything over Glock for a duty pistol. And I personally find them inelegant and clunky. I'm still not a great fan of the trigger (I like an actual "break" in my trigger thank you). BUT... they just work. I can take a marginal shooter and have them shooting well in short order with a Glock. When under time, draw and fire will usually be faster. Follow-up shots will be comparable with even great DA/SA pistols unless you are prepared to train extensively. Especially for those who don't train often, there is no loss anywhere to a Glock. The manual of arms is as simple as it gets.

I am still a DA/SA fan for duty firearms. I like a longer, heavier, more deliberate first trigger pull. But there is a lot of training involved. AND... DA/SA's have their own safety realities. Training to decock once a threat no longer exists, and definitely before re-holstering, is paramount. It's just hard for me to not recommend a Glock these days.
 
I’m pretty much a 1911 snob & passed on Glocks. The early ones with the grip finger grooves put me off several more years as they didn’t feel good in my hand. Decided to add a gen5 19 with Ameriglo sights to the collection & see what these plastic wonder 9’s were all about. I’ve yet to have any malfunctions & this pistol wearing a Valkyrie O-lite is my nightstand pistol of choice, it just works without any fuss.
 
I don't particularly care for Glocks because I have an aversion to "plastic" guns. Glocks just don't feel right in my hand.

But I have two. A buddy let me try his 34 longslide in 9mm and I was impressed by how it shoots. A few weeks later, I stumbled across one in a local store and bought it. I shoot it occasionally.

A few months later, I found a 41 (I think) which is a long slide in 45 ACP. Also a good shooter. Allegedly, the 35 (I think) is a 40 S&W long slide so if I run into one, I'll probably pick it up too.

I have at least two guns, both Taurus that I like a lot less than the Glocks. Both inherited that I keep for sentimental reasons only.

Nothing really wrong with Glock, just not my cup o' tea.

--Wag--
 
Gaston Glock was a marketing genius, convincing people that a gun costing $200 to make, retailing for $500, could do the job of all-metal guns priced at $700 or more.
That's where the Glock magic ends, in my experience.
 
To understand Glock, you have to understand history, the creation of the Glock-fan-boi and the evolution that.

Basically, in the 70’s, police carried S&W or Colt revolvers. Everyone was happy.

Then there were drugs, drugs soon evolved to cocaine. Cocaine was expensive, so there were cocaine off shoots like crack, etc. These and other things created kind of a “capacitor” effect where you can be killed and your power supply cut, but you still had the energy to fight and kill for a while longer.

The there was the Miami shootout where drug crazed villains were shot by the FBI with a snub nose revolver. They didn’t die, and remained in the fight. So folks thought they needed more rounds……and the FBI worked on tests and finally what round. (40s&w)

In the interim was the release of the high capacity Glock 17 on the US market. It held(ignore that it is 9mm) 17 rds, came with a durable finish and would not fire when dropped. There was the obvious concern for accidental trigger pull with the new lighter trigger with no safety. To handle this concern, it was marketed with the USA Universal Safe Action, it was marketed as dishwasher safe, it was marketed to the professional. Basically, look here, not there. Also, we will sell them to you for about 1/2 price per unit than our competitors.

Back in the 80’s, there was no expectation of human failure in professionals. If you were trained to keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire that was what you did. If there was an unintended firing, you blamed the gun, the ammo, the holster, you were trying to clean it, the perp grabbed at it…..it was never an error on the part of the professional. I think now we know professionals have a lower error rate than untrained and occasional shooters, but not without error. This still does not cause Glock, the original inventor of the safetyless pistol, to take action. Now available with new lighter triggers.

The worked with NYC on a super heavy trigger concept, but it never caught on. What did catch on was the invent of the Glock-fan-boi.

The Glock-fan-boi is essentially the compilation of the Glock marketing embodied as a human. Basically, they help Glock by helping blame every AD or ND on the shooter. When a Glock-fan-boi shoots themself, they immediately lose membership in the club. I think they get banned from Glocktalk too! This is said tongue in cheek, but you get my point. It is always blame the user.

As Glock-fan-boi’s elevate in status, they unlock smoother/shorter pull triggers, holsters with less stability/trigger coverage, holsters that point at their genitals, holsters that point at their femoral artery, holsters that point at people behind them, ….at the highest levels you get springs that are pre-pulling the trigger all except the last lb or so.

Glock has somehow been able to generate lots of great distractions. Drop in mud and sand tests, 100k rounds without cleaning, 20k rounds without a broken part. Super low pricing for agencies. Low pricing for first responders. High enough pricing for Glock-fan-boi’s not to shame it for being reasonably priced.

In a nutshell, Glock has produce a very simple design, and sold it for a premium. It is a great tool. It was the first gun with a high durability black finish. Glock has forced reliability on the rest of the gunmakers. Glocks were the most reliable gun in the 80’s and 90’s by far. Now, many are similar, but Glock owns the title. Years later, Glock-fan-boi’s would argue all the failures are from aftermarket parts. I think they are basically right on that point. The only negatives are really lack of manual safety and a blocky odd angle grip.

I have owned like 3 and shot 10 more. My only issue is I will never ever carry a gun without a manual safety or a 7lb+ long trigger I like. So they have all been replaced by S&W, Dan Wesson, or Kahr.
 
I have shot a lot of different guns, Glock included, and can't say I found any of them "boring." If you do, maybe you should shoot farther, faster, or in competition to challenge your abilities.
 
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