Hubbry Logo
search
logo
Glock
Glock
current hub
1391540

Glock

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
Glock

Glock (German: [ˈglɔk]; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer-framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock GmbH.

The firearm entered Austrian military and police service in 1982 after performing well in reliability and safety tests.

Glock pistols have become the company's most profitable line of products, and have been supplied to national armed forces, security agencies, and police forces in at least 48 countries. Glocks are also popular among civilians for recreational shooting, competition shooting, and self-defense.

The company's founder and head engineer, Gaston Glock (1929–2023), had no experience with firearms design or manufacture at the time his first pistol, the Glock 17, was being prototyped. Glock had extensive experience in advanced synthetic polymers, which was instrumental in the company's design of the first commercially successful line of pistols with a polymer frame. Glock introduced ferritic nitrocarburizing into the firearms industry as an anticorrosion surface treatment for metal gun parts.

In 1980, the Austrian Armed Forces announced that it would seek tenders for a new, modern duty pistol to replace their World War II–era Walther P38 handguns. The Federal Ministry of Defence of Austria formulated a list of 17 criteria for the new generation service pistol, including requirements that it would be self loading; fire the NATO-standard 9×19mm Parabellum round; the magazines would not require any means of assistance for loading; not be subject to accidental discharge from shock, strike, and drop from a height of 2 m (6 ft 7 in) onto a steel plate. After firing 15,000 rounds of standard ammunition, the pistol was to be inspected for wear. The pistol was to then be used to fire an overpressure test cartridge generating 5,000 bar (500 MPa; 73,000 psi).[dubiousdiscuss] The normal maximum operating pressure (Pmax) for the 9 mm NATO is 2,520 bar (252 MPa; 36,500 psi).

Glock became aware of the Austrian Army's planned procurement, and in 1982, assembled a team of Europe's leading handgun experts from military, police, and civilian sport-shooting circles to define the most desirable characteristics in a combat pistol. Within three months, Glock had developed a working prototype that combined proven mechanisms and traits from previous pistol designs. In addition, the plan was to make extensive use of synthetic materials and modern manufacturing technologies, which led to the Glock 17 becoming a cost-effective candidate.

Several samples of the Glock 17 (so named corresponding to its magazine capacity or because it was the 17th patent procured by the company) were submitted for assessment trials in early 1982, and after passing all of the exhaustive endurance and abuse tests, the Glock emerged as the winner. According to Friedrich Dechant, former head of the Austrian Armaments and Defence Technology Agency, the Glock P80 was clearly superior to other handguns in terms of performance, handling, charging capacity and price.

The handgun was adopted into service with the Austrian military and law enforcement in 1982 as the Pistole 80 (P80), with an initial order for 25,000 guns. The Glock 17 outperformed eight different pistols from five other established manufacturers (Heckler & Koch of Germany offered their P7M8, P7M13, and P9S, SIG Sauer of Switzerland bid with their P220 and P226 models, Beretta of Italy submitted their model 92SB-F, FN Herstal of Belgium proposed an updated variant of the Browning Hi-Power, and the Austrian Steyr Mannlicher entered the competition with the GB).

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.