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
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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 |
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(G)Locking System
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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. |
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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. |
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The Glock slide and barrel. Note how the square shape of the chamber area of the barrel fit snugly within the slide. |
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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!!!!!
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. |
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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. |
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The whole upper assembly may then be pulled off of the
front of the frame. |
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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. |
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The barrel may then me lifted out, by pushing slightly
forward, and then pulling straight up. |
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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. |
