Why the Glock Became America’s Handgun

[CC Italian]

I think what made the Glock "America's Handgun" if you want to call it that is that they are so simple to replace parts if needed and the fact that a moron could break it down in .5 seconds flat! I remember getting my first 1911 and third gen smith and saying wow "it takes a little practice the first few times to get the hang of it". I had my friend break down my old Springfield and then break down my Glocks. He was sold on a Glock after that! Granted he is not like most of us who are gun enthusiasts. He is like most gun owners. Shoot it twice a year, clean it and put it away. Many are like this and don't want something complicated.

As for law enforcement, 10 years ago almost all officers I saw had Glocks but now it is a different story. Many are carrying sigs, xd and of course the one that is very popular is the M&P. Some still carry 1911s but I have to admit that if I was an officer I would want 17 rounds of 9mm +P vs 8 of 45 in a 1911 regardless what brand the gun is.

Glock is just the big birth of polymer based pistols. Remember in the 80s every cop in a movie had a Beretta 92 and it had the magical 9mm round or the 70s (a little before my time but those who lived it will remember) the .44 mag craze.

Edit: Plus someone mentioned it "cost". Many people have a number in mind for a handgun and I think most don't want to pay more then 500 at the most for a dependable handgun. We all know how expensive those 1911s can get once you start to get all the bells and whistles. Same goes for one of my favorite polymer guns HK. I have shot a few but when ever I see the price I say I will just buy a 1911. That's just me but there are limits to what I am going to spend on a polymer gun, 1911 and revolver within their category.

[there is no cake]

When does "cost" become a factor?

When you bid for a government contract.

The 1911 fans can argue all they want but the 1911 had more than 50 years to make inroads into police work before Glock came along and made semiautomatic handguns the standard for police carry, instead of restricted to special units.

[glbedd53]

If you're a Glock lover you don't even have to settle for 17 rounds of 9mm or 8 rounds of .45. You can have 14 rounds of .45.

[A-R]

If you're a Glock lover with big gorilla hands you don't even have to settle for 17 rounds of 9mm or 8 rounds of .45. You can have 14 rounds of .45 in a grip frame the width of a brick .

There I fixed it for ya

[WildBill]

Granted he is not like most of us who are gun enthusiasts. He is like most gun owners. Shoot it twice a year, clean it and put it away. Many are like this and don't want something complicated.

I think that is one of the primary reasons for the popularity of the Glock.

[C-dub]

If you're a Glock lover with big gorilla hands you don't even have to settle for 17 rounds of 9mm or 8 rounds of .45. You can have 14 rounds of .45 in a grip frame the width of a brick .

There I fixed it for ya

Not with my G21SF. It feels only a tiny bit larger in circumference than the G22 I sold. I did not measure before I sold it, but feels close. If this would have been available when I bought my G22 back in 2001 I would have gone with the .45 instead of the .40.

[CC Italian]

Or you could just get a Glock 20 and have 15+1. I know, I know I am not starting a caliber measuring contest and I know the 10mm is not a cost effective round. It's just hard to beat 15+1 of 180grain Gold Dot moving around 1300+fps! My friend has a 21 and we actually fired 230 Gold Dots from his and 180 gold dots from mine and the 10mm opens up a little bit bigger then the .45acp. We even tried the lighter grain loads in Gold dot and the results were still less expansion but very very close. I think the .45 was averaging around .85 of a inch and the 10mm was .95 and some over 1inch of expansion on some shots. Both where hot DT loads. I know apples to oranges. In hind sight though there is no reason to really buy a 20 when you can put a 10mm barrel in the 21 but not a 45 barrel in the 20.

[OldCannon]

Or you could just get a Glock 20 and have 15+1. I know, I know I am not starting a caliber measuring contest and I know the 10mm is not a cost effective round.

If you want to start a REAL caliber war, go on GlockTalk.com and say, "I don't know why Glock still promotes 45GAP, it's a pointless round compared to <pick any other caliber in a Glock>" Trolling GlockTalk is like shooting fish in a barrel

[Heartland Patriot]

There are two reasons why I never bought a Glock. One is that the grip angle, for MY HANDS, is lousy. I pick one up, point it, and its pointing at the floor. I carry a Ruger SR9c...I point that, it points "on-target". So do just about any other pistols I pick up, excepting Glocks. The other reason I never bought one is that I am a contrary person. When things are "trendy", I have a tendency to pass them by. Everyone else bought Glock, I bought Ruger. It feeds and works great. I have confidence in it. And it fits me well.

[The Annoyed Man]

Granted he is not like most of us who are gun enthusiasts. He is like most gun owners. Shoot it twice a year, clean it and put it away. Many are like this and don't want something complicated.

I think that is one of the primary reasons for the popularity of the Glock.

I agree. Again, I'm not knocking Glocks. The one we have is a good gun. But for the average gun owner who is not an enthusiast and who just wants a pistol for home defense, the Glock is "revolver-simple" with a much higher capacity. That said, I don't personally find the takedown procedure for any of my pistols to be that complicated. In fact, the Kahrs are arguably even simpler to take down than a Glock.

As far as the smaller capacity of 1911s goes, there isn't really a good argument in favor of it, except that being single-stack guns of sufficient caliber, they are very easy to conceal. Ditto the Kahrs (and the Glock 36 BTW). While it is true that nobody ever got into a firefight wishing that he had less ammo than the other guy, my personal decision is to balance capacity against concealability and factor power into the equation. That's one of the reasons I like single stack .45 pistols. It's the reason I picked a lower capacity (10 rounds) M&P45 for a double stack polymer pistol over a Glock 21 (13 rounds). And, it's the reason that I am comfortable carrying a 6+1 round single stack PM9 or a 5 round .357 snubbie. I rarely carry more than one spare magazine/speedloader. That said, when I carry the G19 with one spare mag, I never feel particularly "over-armed" just because I have 31 rounds onboard. But that's just me, and I don't fault other people for their own choices which are different that mine.