Tag Archives: P80

GLOCK (General/Rumor/Unicorns)

This is where I keep general facts about GLOCKs until I understand enough to put them where they belong. Some of them I fully understand, I just do not have any better location for the information yet.

      1. While the actual number fluctuates, about 65% of the law enforcement agencies in the United States use GLOCK pistols as their Department service weapon.1
      2. When US Army soldiers captured him in December 2003, an empty GLOCK G18C (standard frame, 9×19mm Parabellum, compensated, select fire machine pistol) was found in Saddam Hussein’s spider hole. On 4 March 2004, four soldiers from the US Army’s fabled Combat Applications Group presented the gun to President George W. Bush in the Oval Office.2
      3. The .45 GLOCK Action Pistol (G.A.P) cartridge was developed in 2003 as a response to comments that the large frame .45 Automatic GLOCK was too big. The .45 G.A.P. cartridge was developed from the .45 Automatic cartridge, and its shorter overall length allows it to fit in a standard frame GLOCK pistol. Thus, the .45 G.A.P cartridge provides performance that close to the .45 Automatic cartridge in a standard frame GLOCK pistol.3
      4. The GLOCK G19 (standard frame, compact size, 9x19mm Parabellum) is the most carried legal concealed carry gun across the United States.4
      5. The GLOCK Gen4 Simunition pistols have a polymer slide that has an aluminum insert. This makes the Gen4 practice models quite a bit lighter than the previous versions.5
      6. GLOCK models are numbered for Gaston Glock’s patent sequences. The GLOCK G17 was Mr. Glock’s first pistol, but it was his seventeenth patent. He designed the G18 next.6
      7. The GLOCK G18 was initially designed for airport security in Austria.7
      8. GLOCK barrels are hammer forged. The rifling and chamber are formed at the same time.8
      9. The GLOCK G18 is not a modified G17. For importation into the United States, it has a different slide, a different frame, and different parts.9
      10. The GLOCK G18’s rate of fire in full-auto is 1,200 rounds per minute. This means that it will shoot 33 rounds in just under 1.4 seconds.10
      11. GLOCK barrels have hexagonal/octagonal rifling (depending on caliber). This provides better bullet to barrel fit, better gas seal, higher and more uniform projectile velocity, and increased accuracy over conventional rifling.11
      12. All GLOCK G18’s were/are imported after May 1986. Thus, there is no legal provision that I am aware of that would allow for a privately owned, legally transferable G18. They are all law enforcement only (or dealer demo).12
      13. GLOCK Ges.m.b.H, to date, is a privately owned company under the leadership of its founder Gaston Glock.13
      14. In 2016, GLOCK launched a year-long 30th Anniversary celebration in the US market. GLOCK commissioned thirty hand-engraved G17 Gen4 pistols. Each of the pistols was uniquely engraved by one of five Firearms Engravers Guild of America (FEGA) Master Engravers and have a limited production serial number and certificate of authenticity signed by Gaston Glock. The pistols will be presented throughout 2016.14
      15. The 100,000th member of the GSSF was Mr. Gaston Glock, Sr. Since the honor of the 100,000th membership was kept in-house, a new member was picked at random, Daniel Thompson of Wellington, Kansas, and awarded a free GLOCK pistol certificate.15

This is where I publish things I have been told/heard/read that I have not been able to attribute to what I consider a verifiable source.

      1. While I have not had the opportunity to try it myself, I have been told that GLOCK .40 S&W double stack magazines will work in GLOCK .357 SIG double stack guns.16
      2. I have been told and have overheard conversations about, privately held GLOCK G18 pistols. It is unclear if they were said to be legally held or not. My understanding of the applicable laws allows no provision for this to have happened legally.17
      3. US Navy Special Warfare (SEAL Teams) selected the GLOCK G19 as their primary operational pistol. Although there has been speculation about the Gen3 having been selected, there does not seem to be any consensus on which generation has been chosen. Also, there does not seem to be any guidance on the future role of the current pistols being used operationally.18

There are some GLOCKs that seem to have achieved unicorn status in the United States. Those that I know about are:

      • Original GLOCK
        P80 … 19
      • Russian GLOCK
        There are GLOCK frames that have a ‘ASSEMBLED IN RUSSIA …’ cartouche in the place of the more common ‘MADE IN AUSTRIA …’ or ‘MADE IN USA …’markings.20
      • Bureaucratic GLOCK
        The first words out of most anti-gunners, and ignorant government bureaucrats when referencing GLOCK pistols is, ‘Why don’t they have a safety?’ If you are reading this, then you probably know that GLOCK pistols do have safeties – three of them to be exact. However, there is a GLOCK that is specially made for these naysayers … the external safety GLOCK prototypes. I believe that there are four of these to date. They are:

            • I have seen a picture of a G17 made for the original Austrian Army contract in 1982.21
            • I have heard about a similar one submitted to the Tasmanian Police.22
            • There is a rumor of one with a cross bolt safety made for the British Ministry of Defense in the late 2000s.23
            • There is the G21 that everyone assumes would have been submitted to the US SOCOM if the trials had not been canceled.24
      • Blessed GLOCK
        The Pontifical Swiss Guard have some GLOCK G19s (standard frame, compact-size, 9×19mm Parabellum) for those situations where a more concealable firearm is preferred. They are marked with the Pontifical Seal. To date the Swiss Guard has never sold any weapons at surplus; here is to hoping that they run out room eventually.25
      • Green ‘GLOCK’ (Non-factory)
        Russian black market GLOCK knockoff that has a frame pressed out of sawdust and a hammer vs a striker.26
      • Iron ‘GLOCK’ (Non-factory)
        Boris: Son of Kalashnikov over on the NorthEastShooters.com ⇒ forum made the Iron GLOCKs. The series of forum posts clearly detail the process he went through to create all metal replicas.27
      • See-thru ‘GLOCK’ (Non-factory)
        Anibal Salinas of @Weapons_Armament_Research ⇒ (Instagram) has cut slots into his GLOCK frame grip and filled the holes with see through windows. When coupled with a Elite Tactical Systems (ETS) ⇒ transparent GLOCK magazine, the number of remaining rounds can be viewed at a glance.28