GLOCK 17: The Gun Of The 20th Century

Guns Magazine, Dec, 1999 by Charles E. Petty

No other firearm has made such an impact on the design, use or perception of guns in our generation.

There's much to be considered when choosing one specific firearm as the "Gun Of The 20th Century," but in the few remaining days of 1999, let's do just that. The chosen gun should be one which, in some way, revolutionized firearms design. Also, it should be a gun which is popular with shooters. And, of course, it must be successful both in concept and function.

Needless to say, there are many possibilities. The 1911 is still going strong after 89 years. The M1 Garand won a world war. The Model 70 Winchester is the standard by which others are measured. The Ruger Blackhawk combines modern design with nostalgic appeal. Or does the Remington 870 win by sheer virtue of popularity and versatility?

More than any of those, however, the gun which will be remembered as the "Gun Of The 20th Century" is surely the Glock pistol. Revolutionary? Glock didn't exactly pioneer the use of plastic in gun design, but they sure brought it to the forefront of world attention. Popular? Most police departments in the country either issue the Glock or approve it as a duty gun, and nearly 1.5 million Glock pistols have been imported into the United States in this decade alone, according to BATF statistics.

When the 9mm Glock 17 burst upon the American scene in 1986 I was one of the first reviewers. I remember the wailing of the anti-gun factions who claimed the Glock was a "terrorist pistol" that could not be seen on airport X-rays. Well, the first thing I did was make an X-ray of the gun and guess what? It looked exactly like a gun. So much for the hysteria.

Gradually the furor subsided and Glock proceeded to sell lots and lots of guns. Then came the compact Glock 19, also in 9mm, and then a whole host of other models in .40 S&W, 10mm, .45 ACP and, most recently, .357 SIG. In the greatest irony I've seen in a long time, Glock actually delivered pistols in .40 S&W before the company that originated the cartridge.

The Glock 17 was a true breakthrough design. At the time, polymer (never say plastic) was virtually unknown for firearms. Oh sure, there had been some small parts made of plastic and injection molding was common in other aspects of the industry, but the technology involved in the Glock's frame was practically unknown.

As you'd expect, prophets of doom and gloom were everywhere, but their dire predictions proved unfounded. The gun simply did not self-destruct as predicted. And no, it didn't melt if left in a hot car in the summertime.

Using Plastic Properly

Actually, the Glock 17 wasn't the first handgun with a polymer frame. That distinction goes to the 1973 offering from Heckler & Koch of their VP-70Z. The H&K was far ahead of its time; it was a striker fired DAO pistol with a huge magazine capacity. It was also huge overall and didn't fare too well in the American marketplace.

The Glock was the first polymer-framed pistol to achieve widespread circulation. It was an overnight success, but there was also some realistic concern.

One item that popped up quickly was the pistol's trigger mechanism. Glock called it "Safe Action," but the mechanics were really different from anything previously seen.

The pistol is striker fired, which means that it does not have a hammer. Instead, the striker/firing pin is pulled back and released by the trigger movement. It is never truly cocked. In a way you could call it double-action only. You could also call it single-action and I would be hard put to argue with you.

The striker is within the slide and a part called the connector serves to draw it back as you pull the trigger. You're pulling against a striker spring that is partially compressed all the time. The original trigger pull was about 5 lbs. That's a fine weight, but the trigger only has to move about 1/8" to fire the pistol.

The Glock quickly became popular with law enforcement and, early on, reports of unintentional discharges were blamed on the gun. Investigations revealed that it was almost always a case of somebody pulling the trigger and the gun simply doing what it was supposed to.

A Good Gun Gets Better

The response was called the New York trigger, which required 12 lbs. to fire, but didn't change the amount of trigger movement. Then there was the NY Plus and NY Plus-Plus which went up to about 15 lbs. Of course that didn't really correct anything because the problem was in the training -- not the trigger -- in the first place. The rule has been with us a long time: Keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot.

My view of this has always been that the amount of movement, rather than the weight, was the tactile clue which told you the gun was fixin' to go bang. A normal double action -- either pistol or revolver -- had a significant amount of movement, up to half an inch or more, before the gun discharged. In an adrenaline surge condition the trigger pull could be 50 lbs. and it wouldn't be a problem. To their credit Glock began to preach about keeping your finger off the trigger.