sometimes a gun is just as stubborn and tough as its creator

this is a glock pistol

they come in a ton of flavors

theyre pretty reasonably priced

and everybody and their brother is using one

it pretty much invented the modern handgun

how did it come about

perfectly smooth segue

so back in the 60s there was this austrian dude named gaston glock

he made curtain rods

like for real

but one day his inner manbeast came out and he decided to make weapons instead

first he started making knives

the sheath and handle are a durable polymer

he bought the equipment and set it up in his garage

fuck needing a factory

the he hired a bunch of camera makers because he knew jack shit about using polymer except that it was cheap and durable

he also made an entrenching tool

and then in 1980 the austrian military put out a request for a new pistol to replace their old wwii stuff

among other things they wanted it in 9mm

drop safe

and it had to pass a hardcore durability test

15000rds and then a proof charge at double the pressure

glock didnt have any experience with guns

but he wasnt gonna let that shit stop him

i mean this guy fought off a french mercenary sent to kill him with a hammer

glock punched him out

and this happened when he was in in his friggin 80s

you think hes gonna be stopped by some bs excuse like

oh you have literally no idea what youre doing

fuck off with that noise

so glock gathered up all the good gun designers he could find and they all brainstormed up the best traits of various pistols

from the double action revolver they took the long trigger pull with no manual safety for instant readiness

they made it striker fired so it couldnt be discharged unless the trigger was pulled

tilting barrel lockup like the 1911

and they added their own innovations

the slide is treated with a black nitriding process

they were the first to bring this to firearms

its super fuckin hard and rust resistant

the trigger itself is part of the safety

that skinny middle part has to be pulled by your finger or it blocks the safety from going rearward

helps prevent a glancing tug on the side from firing the gun

like if youre holstering or something

and the most noticeable innovation is all that fuckin polymer

like we talked about how glock started making the knives out of polymer

well he breathed so many polymer fumes he got addicted and the gun is full of the stuff

as a result its durable and light

plus cheap to build

glock wasnt the absolute first to try this on a gun

but his design was a million times more successful than anything that tried it before

so he basically made the striker fired polymer frame autoloader into the de facto modern combat handgun

name any handgun from the past 20 years

yup i told you thats a polymer frame striker fired gun

the design was so good in the trials it blew away a bunch of the major established companies and the multiple designs they all submitted

like guys im talking some of the best

heckler und koch

sig sauer

fabrique nationale

steyr

nah fuck that

glock beat them all with what they christened the glock 17

so named because it was glocks seventeenth patent

but it coincidentally holds 17 rounds of 9x19mm

17 fuckin rounds guys

thats way more than anything before

this was such a big deal it was called the wondernine

so after that everybody started taking a serious look at this thing

glock got subsequent contracts with other militaries

and they made a huge push to get police departments to buy them

as a result a huge number of departments since the 90s have all used glocks

its probably the single most popular police gun out there

now lets talk more about the specifics

i said it was striker fired

so that mans the thing doesnt have a hammer

it has a very long heavy firing pin that has a hook at the back end

and a spring pushing it forward

as the slide goes back the hook gets caught and is held like halfway back

then the trigger pushes it back the rest of the way before letting it go

that way the firing pin wont set off a round if it slips because it doesnt have enough energy

the flip side of this is the trigger isnt super great

long and kinda mushy and not smooth

you gotta fight the striker spring on the way back

supposedly the newest versions are a little better

but i wouldnt know

another different thing is the barrel

it has polygonal rifling

the barrel doesnt get channels cut into it like normal rifling

instead it gets hammered into a hexagon or octagon

the cutting action can leave the rifled areas weaker

meanwhile hammering into a hexagon is a little stronger

and it gives a slightly better seal around the bullet and makes the barrel a bit easier to clean which is kinda nice

another pro about glocks is theyre very reliable

and like i said they come in lots of sizes and a bunch of calibers

the guns names go from 17 on up into the 40s

and they have everything from .380 to 10mm

the internal mechanism is almost identical among all models tho

and theyre easy to field strip

first

remove the magazine and empty the chamber

for real tho

because then you pull the trigger

then pull back on the slide just barely and pull down this tab

the barrel slide and recoil spring all come off the front as a unit and are easily separated

super simple

the glock was so successful that the designers of any combat auto from the past 30 years have taken a very hard look at it

many things are inspired by it

ranging from trying out polymer

to our trigger design is so close we lost a lawsuit to glock

seriously guys

thats their trigger they will fucking sue you

if you want a glock

just go to literally anywhere that sells guns

i havent bought a glock lately but i assume its around 550 bucks

keep in mind too that there are a ton of used police guns for cheap

customization is both excellent and mediocre

on the one hand there is a huge market for parts in any shape and material you want

probably the glock and 1911 have more options than anything by a huge margin

on the other hand the frame is a huge limitation

the glock is shaped like a 2x4

and if that doesnt fit you dont have many options

some people dremel the polymer

i did that to mine

and some even go so far as to fill the back grip with epoxy and do major surgery

plus you can get a soldering iron and stipple the hell out of it

so yeah

customization is a mixed bag

real hard to do some stuff

but much easier to do others

overall tho it sets the bar for what a serious handgun needs to do and everything else is either competing directly with it

or trying to set itself apart by being cheaper or much fancier

because honestly if all you need is a gun that will always go bang and dont have a ton of money

you can just get a glock and call it a day

just dont try taking it through any metal detectors

lol

pew pew

#click here for previous articles