Glock is an Austrian defense contractor (named after the founder Gaston Glock) founded in 1963 in Deutsch-Wagram, near Vienna, Austria.

Overview

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Mainly known for being the manufacturer of polymer-framed pistols, Glock also produces equipment such as field knives and entrenching tools (shovels). The company started life manufacturing curtain rods. They later supplied the Austrian Army with machine gun belts, practice hand grenades, plastic clips, field knives and entrenching tools.

While Glock marketing materials spell the company name as if it were an acronym—GLOCK—this document forgoes that in the interest of readability, as do newspapers in Austria, Germany and the U.S.

Its first pistol model was the Glock 17 (so named because it was the 17th patent of the company), a 9 mm Luger Parabellum handgun with a 17 round capacity (unusually large at the time), introduced in the early 1980s as a response to the Austrian army asking for a new sidearm. Glock pistols are popular with law enforcement agencies, Military, Security, Armored Vehicle Guards, and defense-minded private citizens. Glock was the first manufacturer to offer models chambered in the cartridge 40 S&W (Glock 22 & Glock 23 - 1990), beating Smith & Wesson to the marketplace with their own cartridge. The Glock 22 is currently (as of mid-2005) the single most popular police sidearm in use in the United States, second only to its predecesor the Glock 17; because of their ease of use, reliability, and low price, Glock pistols in general are in use by over 60% of the police officers in the US. Glock also offers pistols chambered in 357 SIG, .380 ACP, 10 mm Auto, .45 ACP, and the new .45 GAP (Glock Automatic Pistol). A very rare run of 9x21mm Glock 17 pistols were made ^*. Glock .380 pistols are not currently available in the USA due to the BATFE's point system.

The company remains rather secretive about its structure and does not make public any figures concerning its revenue.

Popularity

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Glock claims sales of over 2.5 million handguns in over 100 countries.

Glock sidearms are very common handguns among law enforcement agencies around the world. Glocks are standard issue sidearms for the Austrian, Belgian, Dutch, and Norwegian Army, the Austrian, Canadian and London police, various special units such as the German GSG 9 counter-terrorism unit of the German Federal Police, as well as the new Iraq security forces.

Many estimates place Glock's market share among U.S. police departments at over 60% (based on total number of guns sold, not percentage of departments). Glock's website states their pistols are "...in use in 65% of law enforcement agencies." The U.S. FBI issues all agents graduating from the FBI Academy a Glock 22 or Glock 23 as per the agent's preference. The Glock 22 is issued to all new agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The gun is also used in all police services in Australia except in Victoria Police and South Australia Police. The New Zealand Police carry the Glock 17 in situations where weapons are issued.

Glock pistols are renowned for their reliability. They are able to function under extreme conditions and to fire a wide range of ammunition types due to their rugged construction and simplicity of design. They contain a relatively small number of components, making in-the-field maintenance and repair simpler.

Most of the steel components in a Glock pistol are treated with a nitriding process called "Tenifer", which greatly increases the surface hardness and makes the weapon highly resistant to corrosion.

Glock pistols have a great deal of popularity among police, government agencies, and private citizens specifically due to the simplicity of the gun (a greatly reduced number of parts — nearly half as many as the typical handgun), the low cost of replacement parts, and the ability to disassemble the gun in the field without the requirement of any specialized tools.

Glock pistols have a significantly lower weight than typical steel or aluminum frame handguns, which has been a point of popularity for officers and private citizens who carry a concealed handgun. Another feature of Glocks which is preferred by many users is a lack of external controls such as levers, decockers, or manual safeties. This adds to the simplicity of use and removes a potential source of errors when using the handgun under stress.

Glock pistols generally are priced lower than comparable high-end service pistols from manufacturers such as SIGARMS and Heckler and Koch.

Glock pistols have gained in popularity due to the fact that the realtively low height of the bore above the grip results in less torque when shooting and lower perceived recoil, which many owners feel makes the gun more comfortable to fire. Glock also claims that its "Safe Action" safety system results in smoother trigger pull.

The Glock name has been misused as a generic slang term for any expensive black handgun. Ironically, Glocks are among the most affordable service pistols on the market.

Plastic pistol myths

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Contrary to early reports, Glock pistols do set off metal detectors and can indeed be detected by X-ray machines, due to their metal barrels and slides. The claim that they could not was first made in an article published in the Washington Post on January 13, 1985, entitled, "Quaddafi Buying Austrian Plastic Pistol." In this article, vocal gun control advocate Jack Anderson made the allegations, which were then reported without fact-checking by the Associated Press and further reported by many United States television news stations and newspapers. It has since become an urban legend that to this day continues to appear in news reports and movies, and has even been a topic of debate in the United States Congress.

In fact, 83.7% (by weight) of the Glock pistol is normal gun steel and the "plastic" parts are in fact a dense polymer known as 'Polymer 2' which is radio-opaque and thus also shows up under X-ray security equipment. In addition, virtually all of these "plastic" parts contain embedded steel to make them functional and shoot better, not to make them "detectable". Contrary to popular movies like Die Harder and In the Line of Fire, neither Glock nor any other gun maker has ever produced a "ceramic" or "plastic" firearm which is undetectable by ordinary security screening devices.

In Die Hard 2, the character John McClane portrayed by Bruce Willis specifically refers to a non-existent GLOCK 7 with many fictitious characteristics:

That punk pulled a Glock 7 on me! You know what that is? It's a porcelain gun made in Germany. It doesn't show up on your airport X-ray machines, and it costs more than you make here in a month!

Mike Papac, an armorer at Cinema Weaponry, which supplied the Glock pistols used in Die Hard 2, has stated, "I remember when we did that scene, I tried to talk them out of it. There's no such thing as a gun invisible to metal detectors, and there shouldn't be, but they wouldn't budge. They had it written into the script and that was that.".Fasano, John, and Jesse D'Angelo. "Lights!...Cameras!...GLOCKS!" GLOCK Autopistols 2005, Vol.11 No.1, Harris Publications, 2005. 36.

While some Glock fans have boasted that the Glock pistol design was the first pistol to incorporate a plastic frame, it was not. Heckler & Koch was the first company to use polymer for their VP70 pistol frame. HK's innovation of polymer frames and polygonal rifling seem to have been quite influential in the Glock design. Still earlier, Remington introduced their polymer framed Nylon 66 Rifle in 1959. This was so revolutionary at the time that Remington dyed the plastic brown to resemble wood and fitted a cosmetic sheet-metal cover on the receiver to make it appear to be made from steel. Further, the most extensive use of polymers in a pistol was in the Ram-Line Exactor pistol with a barrel made from steel-lined plastic.

Safety mechanism

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Glock pistols use an internal safety mechanism with three components, with no external thumb activated safety switch as might be found on traditional-design pistols. Glock calls this the "Safe Action" system. All 3 safeties are disabled one after the other when the trigger is depressed. They are:

• Trigger Safety: an external lever mechanism contained within the trigger that prevents the trigger from moving unless the lever is depressed.
• Striker Safety: a spring-loaded pin attached by an extension bar to the trigger assembly blocks the striker from striking the primer (Percussion cap) of the cartridge until the trigger is pulled.
• Drop Safety: the far end of the same extension bar locks the striker into place from the rear until the trigger is pulled.

Similar systems for internal safeties have since become standard for many major brand makers of semi-automatic pistols. With Glock pistols, like any firearm, accidental injury can still be caused by manipulating the trigger when it is not your intention to shoot. Normal wear to the striker safety may cause the striker safety to fail if the safety is excessively worn. When combined with other major component failures, such as a broken slide rail, Glock pistols may fire unexpectedly. As a part of regular field stripping and cleaning, the striker safety can and should be "function checked" to ensure that it is operational. In the event of failure, the weapon should be immediately taken out of service until repaired by a qualified Glock armorer.

In 2003, Glock announced the Internal Locking System (ILS). The ILS is a manually activated lock that is located in the back of the pistol's grip. It is cylindrical in design and, according to Glock, each key is absolutely unique. Group key hierarchic solutions are available for law enforcement agencies. When activated, the lock causes a tab to protrude from the rear of the grip. This is done to give both a visual and tactile indication as to whether the lock is engaged or not. When activated, the ILS renders the Glock unfireable as well as making it impossible to disassemble. When disengaged, the ILS adds no further safety mechanisms to the Glock pistol.

The ILS is available as an option on all Glock pistols except for the G36, however not all ILS-equipped Glock pistols are carried by distributors nor imported with the option. The most commonly available Glock pistols with the ILS are the G17, G19, G22, G23, G26, and the G27.

Weapon functionality misconceptions

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Glock handguns have seen much fictional exposure in action movies and TV shows that often continue to spread misconceptions about the Glock pistol. One common aspect of popular media portrayals of the Glock pistol is when someone pulls out or points a Glock pistol, the foley artists insert the sound effect of the Glock being "cocked" like a revolver. The Glock pistol does not have an external hammer and thus cannot be "cocked" or "uncocked" in the conventional manner and does not make the sort of sounds that are commonly heard in TV and movies. Similarly, after a Glock has fired the final round in its magazine, the slide will lock in the open position. The trigger cannot be pulled at this point and there will be no audible click of the firing pin hitting an empty chamber. Since the gun locks open after the final round, a shooter will never be surprised to find that he or she is out of ammo. This is the case with most semi-automatic handguns, though Hollywood frequently gets it wrong. Also, in the online video game Counter Strike, when a player equips the Glock pistol, the visible hands cock the weapon, and when the magazine is empty, the slide locks in the open position as it should, however if you try to fire it, you will hear a click, which wouldn't actually happen.

ka-BOOM! or kB! Controversy

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Coined by firearms reporter Dean Speir, a kB! (or kaBoom!) is the term used to describe the explosive malfunction of a firearm, with usually very costly, if not deadly, results. Glock pistol kB's usually damage the firearm, with minor injury to the shooter.

Controversy arose over Glock's safety standards when multiple cases of explosive malfunction occurred in Glock pistols sold to police departments in the United States. Upon pulling the trigger, the cartridge case would rupture and cause an explosion that would tear apart the gun and often send shrapnel into the shooter's face.

The cause of this malfunction was traced to issues with a purposely oversized (loose), and partially unsupported chamber in Glock's pistols chambered in .40 S&W, .45 ACP, 357 SIG, and 10mm. The chamber lacks full support in the rear by the feed ramp in order to facilitate feed reliability. The lack of support in the chamber, usually combined with lead bullets, or reloaded ammunition, would cause the case to fail. The subsequent rapid expansion of gas into the chamber caused the pistols to fail, usually damaging the polymer frame and/or magazine.

Glock, in its own defense, says that in every manual that comes with their pistols there are instructions informing the shooter of the dangers of using non-factory rated ammunition, and that if the shooter uses factory loaded, jacketed ammunition and makes sure to properly clean and care for their firearm, the firearm will function safely. Supporters also point out that kB!s occur in other firearms as well, particularly M1911 frame pistols. However, there continues to be controversy over the presence of an unsupported chamber, critics arguing that it is not necessary and is a liability for the company.

It has been purported that because of the specific design of the polygonal rifling in the Glock, owners should not shoot non-jacketed lead ammunition in a Glock, since lead residue can quickly build up and cause a decreased bore diameter and therefore a dangerous over pressurization in the barrel and potentially create a structural failure or warping in the chamber of the barrel. You can notice a 'Bulge' in the fired case ejected from the Glock (even with Target loads)to see the result of the unsupported chamber.

Despite the controversy, Glock pistols still continue to be used by military and law enforcement agencies worldwide.

Disassembly and Parts Diagram

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Most handguns cannot be entirely disassembled without tools. Glock pistols are however, an exception, and are considered some of the easiest pistols to field-strip. In an emergency, the Glock pistol can be 100% disassembled with only a small diameter metal pin, paper clip, or stiff twig.

The simplicity of the Glock design and its relatively low parts count has been a point of popularity both among the Police as well as the general public capable of purchasing them for sport and or self-defense.

Table of Glock pistols

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Model number	Round	Total length		Barrel length		Capacity (rounds)	Weight without magazine
		(mm)	(in)	(mm)	(in)		(g)
17	9 mm Luger	186	7.32	114	4.49	10, 17, 19, 31, 33	703
17C	9 mm Luger	186	7.32	114	4.49	10, 17, 19, 31, 33	698
17L	9 mm Luger	225	8.86	153	6.02	10, 17, 19, 31, 33	748
18	9 mm Luger	185	7.28	114	4.49	10, 17, 19, 31, 33	702
18C	9 mm Luger	185	7.28	114	4.49	10, 17, 19, 31, 33	667
19	9 mm Luger	174	6.85	102	4.01	10, 15, 17, 19, 31, 33	665
19C	9 mm Luger	174	6.85	102	4.01	10, 15, 17, 19, 31, 33	656
20	10 mm	193	7.60	117	4.61	10, 15	860
20C	10 mm	193	7.60	117	4.61	10, 15	850
21	.45 ACP	193	7.60	117	4.61	10, 13	833
21C	.45 ACP	193	7.60	117	4.61	10, 13	823
22	.40 S&W	186	7.32	114	4.49	10, 15	728
22C	.40 S&W	186	7.32	114	4.49	10, 15	717
23	.40 S&W	174	6.85	102	4.01	10, 13	670
23C	.40 S&W	174	6.85	102	4.01	10, 13	663
24	.40 S&W	225	8.86	153	6.02	10, 15	835
24C	.40 S&W	225	8.86	153	6.02	10, 15	835
25	.380 ACP	174	6.85	102	4.01	15	638
26	9 mm Luger	160	6.30	88	3.46	10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 31, 33	616
27	.40 S&W	160	6.30	88	3.46	9	620
28	.380 ACP	160	6.30	88	3.46	10	585
29	10 mm	172	6.77	96	3.78	10, 15	768
30	.45 ACP	172	6.77	96	3.78	10, 13	751
31	357 SIG	186	7.32	114	4.49	15	738
31C	357 SIG	186	7.32	114	4.49	15	733
32	357 SIG	174	6.85	102	4.01	13	680
32C	357 SIG	174	6.85	102	4.01	13	675
33	357 SIG	160	6.30	88	3.46	10	620
34	9 mm Luger	207	8.15	135	5.31	10, 17, 19, 31, 33	728
35	.40 S&W	207	8.15	135	5.31	10, 15	773
36	.45 ACP	172	6.77	96	3.78	6	638
37	.45 GAP	189	7.44	116	4.56	10	740
38	.45 GAP	174	6.85	102	4.01	8	685
39	.45 GAP	160	6.30	88	3.46	6	548

Occasional references are made to a "Glock 40". No such variant of the Glock exists at this time. Rather, it is a slang term some people use to refer to Glocks chambered in .40 S&W.

Glock 18/18C pistols are select fire automatic/semi-auto machine pistols and not available to the general public in most countries.

Glock 25 or 28 pistols are not available to the general public in the United States, as they do not meet the standards required for the importation of pistols under the Gun Control Act of 1968. This failure is not due to any inherent defect in the model, but due to the fact that a small pistol chambered for the .380 ACP cartridge does not meet the "sporting purposes" criteria by which imported pistols are judged. However, the Glock 25 and 28 pistols are relatively popular in nations where handguns in "military" calibers (.45 ACP, 9mm Parabellum) may not be purchased by the general public.

Knives

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Glock also manufactures their own line of knives, which are popular due to their affordability and the Glock brand. They are available in olive, tan, and black.

See also

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• List of modern armament manufacturers

Notes

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