Why are Glocks so reliable?

I realize it's a 23+ year old thread, but a lot has changed in 23 years. Glock is now on their 5th gen and there are a lot more Glock models to choose from.

First of all, reliability and durability aren't the same thing. There are a lot of guns that are reliable as long as they are clean. At least for a few rounds. Glocks have proven to work long term even when neglected and abused. There are a couple out there with 300,000+ rounds through them with minimal small parts replacement.

If you are dropping your firearm and don’t want to clean it you should probably not own a gun and consider something else.
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There are a lot of situations where a gun has to be picked up after abuse and work. In the real world this is something to consider. I can't find the original article but google "Glock 21 torture test". Some guys spend several months trying to destroy a Glock. The original article was lengthy and all I can find now are little segments and Youtube videos of each test. Not everything in one link or I'd post it.
 
There are a lot of situations where a gun has to be picked up after abuse and work.
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Not in my life. :rolleyes:

Some situations, yes, I can see that. Military combat and police, yes, for the rest of us, I wouldn't say there is a lot of that likely to happen.

I got out of the military before the Glock existed, and have never been and will ever be any kind of cop, so for me, and, I suspect a lot of people, its just simply not an issue. If it is for you, then by all means get what you think will take the abuse and continue to function.

People laud Glocks for running well, but I think that, considering the design team had over 70 years worth of semi auto pistol use, in all conditions, to study before they even began design work, they ought to run well.
 
I question the notion that Glocks are more reliable than other comparable pistols and such has not been my experience. I've owned and/or shot semi-automatic handguns made by Colt, CZ, Kel-Tec, Taurus, Walther, S&W, Ruger, Beretta, Springfield Armory, Sig, Star, Izhevsk, Astra, Norinco and probably a few others that I can't remember and Glocks are, in my experience, no more or less reliable than anything else. I've shot four Glock pistols that I can recall which were, in order, a G23, G36, G34, and G22 and of those four, the G23 and G36 both malfunctioned either in my hands or the hands of their owner while I was present with new factory FMJ ammo of reputable brand (Fiocchi and Winchester IIRC). I am of the opinion that, if you buy a new pistol from a reputable maker, feed it normal factory ammo of good quality, and perform basic maintenance on it, you're much more likely to have a reliable pistol than an unreliable one.
 
I actually believe that Glock had the market cornered on affordability and reliability when this thread begun 24 years ago. I believe other manufacturers have come up to Glock standards overmthat time, and now most any quality semi-auto pistol is quite reliable and accurate. I don't think I've had any failures in my CZ P01 that weren't attributed to my reloads (definitely should plunk test before you load 1k rounds... but that's my fault). I've got 5k plus rounds through it now. Might be edging more toward the 10k direction, but I know I'm not there yet.
 
Godspeed said:
I am looking to buy an auto to take backpacking (ie gets dropped in the mud). It needs to be reliable in the face of abuse, (without cleaning) and must be lightweight. First I looked at Glocks, but they are quite heavy.

Why are Glocks so reliable?

Does this reliability extend to other polomyer framed guns? eg taurus 145?


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Best Regards,
Godspeed
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They are so reliable because they are so simple. They are also a "loose" fitting weapon.
 
Godspeed said:
I am looking to buy an auto to take backpacking (ie gets dropped in the mud). It needs to be reliable in the face of abuse, (without cleaning) and must be lightweight. First I looked at Glocks, but they are quite heavy.

Why are Glocks so reliable?

Does this reliability extend to other polomyer framed guns? eg taurus 145?


------------------
Best Regards,
Godspeed[/
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Reliability has mostly to do with design, very little to do with the materials used. What polymer gets you is light weight, completely corrosion proof and often some flex that can help or hurt reliability depending on the design and the circumstances.
 
Just think. When this was originally posted, Clinton was in office. There may be board members here born after this thread was created.
 
PzGren - that's amazing.

Glocks are simple firearms and sometimes the simpler the better. Glock's timing was good too. HK had polymer framed handguns in the '70s before Glock. It didn't catch on. The design of the Glock is very much like the older 25 ACP pistols in that they were striker fired. Not that striker fire is anything new. Rifles of the late 19th Century used it as did the P-08 Parabellum.
 
Prior to sales

Prior to moving to sales a good many years ago, I did a lot of engineering. I came to realize there is a LOT more recompense in the sales game. However my passion is engineering.
There is not one reason the Glock products are reliable, there are several. In my opinion I would rate the reasons for their reliability thus.
1. Simplicity. Fewer parts means fewer part failures.
2. Design. Reliable, because of the simplicity.
3. Materials. Appropriate for purpose and of high quality.
I contend that if the above three items happen, the rest takes care of itself. I am a fan of Glock, others come and go from my accumulation, my Gen3 19 was purchased when Gen 3 was new.
 
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