Glock Celebrates 35 Years in US

[RJ]

https://glock35th.us/

Glock is celebrating 35 years of manufacturing in the USA Today. Didn’t shoot Glocks for the longest time, but now I’ve owned five different models. I’m signed up to see what the hoo hah is about.

[farscott]

My first exposure to Glock was in 1986. My roommate purchased the first Glock 17 I had ever seen for a whopping $500 with tax. At the time, it was revolutionary. Not only was the frame made of plastic, the metal in the pistol would not rust. The magazine was made from plastic. The pistol held seventeen rounds, compared to the fifteen rounds of the fifty-percent-more expensive S&W, thirteen rounds of the Hi-Power, and seven rounds of the 1911. It was lighter than all of them and had no safety levers on the slide and frame.

It looked like something from a sci-fi movie but it worked. Later on, the pistol got a reputation for reliability and durability second to none. I remember my father telling me the story of a Glock LE salesman taking a pistol in the early 1990s, submerging it in a box tied to a dock into Lake Erie in November, and pulling it out in May (how was this legal and what if it had been stolen? I have always doubted this story but heard it from multiple LEOs who claim to have been present when it was pulled from the still-icy waters) of the following year. No rust and the pistol worked once it was checked to be free of any bore obstructions. That pistol was thrown against walls and slid on floors, and it worked. Kicker: the department adopted the M9, the new service pistol of the DoD. That is how radical the Glock 17 was.

I bought my first Glock 17 in 1989 and bought the first Glock 22 I saw. At the time, I could not carry as Michigan issued almost no carry permits other than those issued for hunting season. So range guns only. And I spent a lot of time with the G17 and G22 on the range until I left Michigan in 1995.

[blues]

In 1988 one of the guys in my investigative group asked several of us if we wanted to make a bulk purchase of G19's from Glock under the banner of our agency letterhead to get LEO pricing.

They were ordered directly from Glock and picked up at Lou's Police Distributors in Hialeah, FL upon arrival. I want to say that the cost was somewhere in the $300 something to $400 something range at the time, but I don't have the receipt handy.

My G19 was freshly minted in 12/88 and has been a faithful companion ever since.

[TiroFijo]

In 1988 one of the guys in my investigative group asked several of us if we wanted to make a bulk purchase of G19's from Glock under the banner of our agency letterhead to get LEO pricing.

They were ordered directly from Glock and picked up at Lou's Police Distributors in Hialeah, FL upon arrival. I want to say that the cost was somewhere in the $300 something to $400 something range at the time, but I don't have the receipt handy.

My G19 was freshly minted in 12/88 and has been a faithful companion ever since.

First time a saw a G17 was in 1987 or so, veeery interesting but I was in love with the Sig P226, Beretta 92 and CZ75 at the time.

Then in 1988 I read and article in Guns&Blammo on the new G19, and thought: "this is an ideal size, weight and firepower combo". I still do.

[deputyG23]

We were the second LE agency in VA to adopt Glock pistols. (Fredericksburg PD beat us by just a little).
A few were acquired in '87 and all deputies working armed posts were transitioned in '89. They were bought for the jail staff in '94 which revoked any and all previously authorized duty weapons which were Colt, Dan Wesson, Ruger and S&W revolvers and SIG, Ruger, S&W, and Beretta 9mm pistols.
We have had very few issues with any of the three versions we have bought over the years, even though our current G3 G23s are pretty tired and hopefully will be replaced soon.
I recall helping with a Glock transition school early on and sharing a range facility one day with the state game officers who were just issued third gen S&W 9mms. They made fun of the "plastic guns" we had.
Guess what they are carrying now...

[blues]

First time a saw a G17 was in 1987 or so, veeery interesting but I was in love with the Sig P226, Beretta 92 and CZ75 at the time.

Then in 1988 I read and article in Guns&Blammo on the new G19, and thought: "this is an ideal size, weight and firepower combo". I still do.

We really had no idea back then that what we were purchasing would become a standard bearer as the years went by...but I think most of us were soon impressed by the G19 as an excellent firearm to satisfy the needs of LEOs in plain clothes...and obviously that perception has stood the test of time.

Our agency didn't transition to issuing Glocks until sometime in the mid 90's as I recall.

[Wondering Beard]

I got into shooting in the late 80s and the first guns I shot were a 1911 and a G17. Soon after (89, I think) I bought my first gun, a gen 2 G19. I still prefer the gen 2/3 size of grip and texture to the 'modular' gen 4/5.

While I prefer the 'full size' grips of service sized guns (G17, 1911, etc..), the G19 is truly a 'goldilocks' sized gun.

[Doc_Glock]

The Gen 2 G17 that my father bought in 1994 and left unfired until I shot it in 2014 was my gateway drug to the shooting sports. It still shoots great.

[Caballoflaco]

While I prefer the 'full size' grips of service sized guns (G17, 1911, etc..), the G19 is truly a 'goldilocks' sized gun.

I never understood why other gun companies didn’t figure this out until the twenty teens. It seemed like for the longest time every “glock killer” was either enough bigger or smaller than the 19 that they were either harder to conceal or more difficult to shoot. This is a large part of what kept me from looking at guns like the M&P when they came out.

[HeavyDuty]

Well, that was a nothingburger.