What's so special about the Glock?

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I sometimes feel that I might be missing out on something good (after all, I didn't understand the appeal of the 1911 until just a couple of years ago), so I ask this question in all seriousness (with no intention of starting any flame war): What is so special about the Glock?

I sometimes go shooting with my wife's cousin's husband and he has a 10mm (not a .40S&W but a 10mm) Glock (I'm not sure of the model number but it's full size). We frequently swap pistols at the range and I don't see anything special about it. It's reliable & accurate but so are my Browning and S&W pistols, and it feels a little strange in the hand and the trigger seems a little odd.

Can anyone enlighten me to what is the special appeal of the Glocks?

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Share what you know, learn what you don't -- FUD.
 
The Glockmeisters can answer better than me as I'm not a Glock fan, but here goes. They are usually cheaper (as in price) than other guns, they have good accuracy, reliable, lightweight, only 34 parts (less to go wrong), easy to clean and maintain, no safety switches/one operational control (the trigger; 2 if you count the slide lock), extremely durable, and higher-mag capacity than the others(I think this is a big point to their popularity). When it originally appeared, it made some people paranoid because it was plastic and could evade airport securty (yeah, right). Although it wasn't the first pistol to use polymer (HK beat them to it with the P9S and VP70Z) it was the first to become really popular. I don't care for them simply because of their ergonomics and some of their KB problems (the latter of which is usually operator error). So, it's part good design, part personal preference, and part jumping on the bandwagon. There are a lot of good guns out there, you just have to find and use the ones you like.
 
As for price, it's not "cheap" by any means. It is, however, cheap'er' that anything capable of the same kind of reliability and accuracy (Sig, high-end 1911's, etc). They go pretty much for ever without needing repair or part replacement. In testing, they have been burned, frozen, droped in mud, sand, and subjected to all manner of torture, even being fired underwater, and still come out fighting. They incorporate three seperate saftey systems, without adding any complexity in operation (only one of the safteys is actually operated by the shooter, and that's the trigger saftey, whose operation comes naturally). Countless Glock owners (myself included) have fired hundereds or thousands of rounds without so much as a single jam or misfeed. As a carry gun, it doesn't count on the operator to flip any levers, just draw, aim, and fire. Levers become incredibly hard to operate under great stress (although training can overcome that). The older style grip was great to some, and an ergonomic nightmare to others, but the new "finger-groove" style feels perfect to most. There are only two drawbacks that I know of. 1. No shooting lead bullets 2. Old-school die-hard 1911 shooters will sneer at you at the range.
-John
 
They're maybe not AS special as their popularity suggests, due to coat-tailing on LE agency popularity, but they're good.

Main pros, roughly in order of my perception of the deserved reasons for their popularity:

1. Very high capacity (this factor negated for now due to Clinton's crime against citizens);
2. Very, very corrosion resistant
3. Very stong/durable
4. Simplicity (no external safeties)
5. Light weight (but now many others are too)
6. First (I think) to have the lighter-than-DA, yet consistent with every shot trigger pull.
7. Reliable - arguably more so than others, esp. 9mm.
8. Accuracy is as good as any quality pistol
9. Price is medium-ranged, not as high as HKs or Sigs or 1911s.
10. Maintenance is simple.
11. Many models and calibers available, including the 10mm Auto - Glocks were 10mm when 10mm wasn't cool.
12. LEO popularity makes for many accessories, sights, and such - snowball effect there.
13. Slim, snag-free profile

Overall, makes for quite a good package, but nothing super-extraordinary IMO.

Main cons are
1. Grip angle too steep - results in high point, not natural for most people
2. No external safety (if you like them or need them for whatever reason)
3. Some people suffer from polyphobia and buttuglinessaphobia.
4. Plastic sights and guide rods.
5. Hi-cap grips makes for much wasted space with Clintonista mags
6. Fat grip in .45 and 10mm
7. Due to lighter weight, more prone to FTFs if the shooter does not use a firm hold.

[This message has been edited by Futo Inu (edited March 01, 2000).]
 
In addition to what Kog said I think the one point that endeared Glocks above all was their acceptance by the law enforcement community. Partly a result of sheer luck, who could've guessed that the transition from revolver to pistol was imminent, and part the result of aggressive marketing Glock came to dominate the LE market. This in turn made theme extremely popular with those that look to LE for guidance in their choice of defense tool.

When all things are equal Glock usually gets a contract because they undercut competitors with major price reductions and offers to trade used guns for new guns without any money changing hands (Glock later sells the used pistols). Other manufacturers cannot compete with Glock's lower production costs and deep discounts.

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So many pistols, so little money.
 
Glocks are a purpose built, tough as nails tool. Part of their appeal for many people is the no frills get the job done aspect of their design. You can beat em around, drop em, shoot the hell out of em, run over em... and they will usually still function. The analogy to this for me is my guitars. I have my handmade $4k classical that is a beautiful work of art - a concert guitar (the custom 1911 if you will). Then I have my slut-tar (a Glock if you will) a great sounding cheap guitar that I bought from my dad 25 years ago - its the one I throw in the car when I go to a picnic or party. Guess which one has been around the block the most ;)
 
Special appeal? I'm not aware of any, sorry. Well, if you mean just an appeal, then perhaps it's their initial price which, BTW, skyrocketed lately, and relatively low maintainance. Currently, only the latter survives.

When I almost bought a 23, I didn't know of any "appeals" of this gun. I just liked the way it shot from my hand, that's all.

SIG Sauer pistols, H&K, 1911, and the Browning High Power indeed have a strong special appeal each -- that I do know.
 
The high capacity capability and light weight really appeal to me. And that I can take a Glock into the field for a few days, rain or snow, and not have to worry about them rusting away in the holster. I like their reliability and accuracy, and mostly I like their simplicity and safety. You can field strip a Glock in 5 seconds (no kidding), clean it in a couple minutes, and reassemble in another 5 seconds. It can be detail stripped very quickly and trigger springs and components can be changed for your need easily. With it's internal safeties you can toss a loaded Glock off a building onto concrete and the firing pin will never contact the primer. I like the trigger, no crunch-tick syndrome to deal with and yet no safties to play with under stress.
-Glock, the original point and click interface.
 
Like a Timex. Always goes bang and hits the bullseye out to 25 yards if you do your job.

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The Seattle SharpShooter
 
the above posts have covered the pros and cons of the Glock pretty well, but, I'll add my .02¢ anyway,

simple to operate
NO BS DA/SA trigger
enough accuracy
rust proof, almost
lightweight

and my #1 reason for liking the Glock is...
reliability! - I've owned ~9 different G pistols, put many thousands of rds thru them and never experienced one failure of any type.

continue on :D


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BKs Pistol Pages

[This message has been edited by bk40 (edited February 25, 2000).]
 
The Glock was designed by a man who, like John Browning, made the mistake of assuming that a pistol should work, out of the box, and keep working, like any other good piece of machinery.

Many modern makers, catering to the hobbyists, assume that no pistol should work until the customer has returned it to the factory seventeen times, tried 200 different magazines and has "broken it in" for long enough for the warranty to expire.

I am no Glock fan (although I own some), but they are darned good guns and VERY reliable.

Jim
 
Another factor that's fed the cult of Glockdom is the range of models available. Glocks come in five different calibers and five sizes (subcompact, compact, standard, "practical/tactical", and long slide). A dedicated Glockster can have everything from a G26 hideout pistol to a G20 hunting pistol (with the optional 6" barrel) to a G18 machine pistol.

The Glock's simplicity and ease of parts swapping give it a quality of "user friendliness" that can be endearing. I've installed a 3.5 pound connector in a few minutes with no fitting, no fiddling with tiny pins or screws and no tools other than a couple of punches. Try that with a Beretta!
 
You want a real treat, put the 3 1/2 pound trigger in a full size Glock 21, and load those 13 rounders up with your favoriate .45 ACP ammo. Yowza! You cannot get much better than that.

Pulling the gun out of recoil back down to target acquisition is the only challenge. But once you get that down pat, you've got yourself pure sweetness.
 
They're super simple and they work. When other pistols have stoppages the Glock is still shooting. I have witnessed this hundreds and hundreds of times. The Glock is as accurate as most combat pistols out there. The 1911 can outshoot it, but I guarantee the Glock will surpass the 1911 in reliability. A well tuned 1911 can make reliability claims equal to an out of the box Glock but the reason is due to the talent of the pistolsmith and not the manufacturer as is the case with the Glock.
 
You can leave them in your car without worrying (or caring) if they'll rust.

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"All my ammo is factory ammo"
 
i'll go with what ak9 said: they shoot every time you pull the trigger! they will work in any condition from under water to a dry desert. not too many guns can compete with a glock in this. even a 1911 won't work where a glock will. you can drop them out of a helecopter at a couple 100 feet and pick it up and fire it. you can drive it over with a truck and pick it up and fire it. you can put it in a solid block of ice, carve it out and fire it. ect, ect.

also they have other good features such as:
natural grip angle for ease of point shooting
same trigger pull on every round
great corrosion resistant finish
large mag capability
good accuracy
and sooo much more that i can't think of now. if there was nothing "so special" about glocks do you think over 60% of all police in the US would carry them, many federal agencies would carry them, and they would be so popular in civilian sales? neither do i.
 
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