Gaston Glock has died

[Joe in PNG]

Sorry, but I have to disagree. As an HK employee was once quick to point out to me, the VP70 was a polymer framed, striker fired pistol, that HK introduced in 1970. More than a decade before Gaston Glock gave us the Glock 17.

The VP-70 was plastic, but it was also basically a Hipoint (unlocked blowback) with an absolutely horrible trigger, as the striker was uncocked. Pull one of those triggers, and you can see why it never took off in a huge way.

Glock was able to get out a plastic gun with a proper Browning style locking system and a way lighter, partially cocked striker that was technically 'Double-Action'.

[medmo]

Never forget the story of the XXL sized assassin that jumped him with a mallet and the elderly G beat said assassin unconscious who collapsed on G pinning him in place for a spell.

Rubber mallet assassin. That’s right, an assassin with choice of weapon being a rubber mallet. That is one strange ass story indeed involving alleged swindling by a professional investor who hired an assassin that armed himself with a rubber mallet.

Hate him, love him, but can’t ignore him, the guy was bold, clever and ingenious.

[Bucky]

He definitely changed the game. It took years for a viable polymer competitor to hit the market. And even today, some may arguably be “better”, no one has yet to match the simplicity v performance.

[Tokarev]

Good quick read.

https://www.americanrifleman.org/con...-gaston-glock/

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

[ccmdfd]

partially cocked striker that was technically 'Double-Action'.

Yeah, I think he got a lot of mileage out of the double action classification.

[fatdog]

The VP-70 was plastic, but it was also basically a Hipoint (unlocked blowback) with an absolutely horrible trigger, as the striker was uncocked. Pull one of those triggers, and you can see why it never took off in a huge way.

Ha! Spot on.

I have gotten a chuckle the last couple of days of people incorrectly citing the HK VP70 as the first of the kind. What VP70 was (and I have owned one) was an ungainly, ergonomically horrid completely unshootable piece of shit. It died the death it deserved, and not nearly quickly enough. Volkspistole indeed...only fit to give to someone you hope will die in a fight because they actually think they have a gun.

Nobody should make apologies to HK for actually inventing "it" first with that piece of firearms engineering malpractice that deserved to fail.

[Horseman]

Ha! Spot on.

I have gotten a chuckle the last couple of days of people incorrectly citing the HK VP70 as the first of the kind. What VP70 was (and I have owned one) was an ungainly, ergonomically horrid completely unshootable piece of shit. It died the death it deserved, and not nearly quickly enough. Volkspistole indeed...only fit to give to someone you hope will die in a fight because they actually think they have a gun.

Nobody should make apologies to HK for actually inventing "it" first with that piece of firearms engineering malpractice that deserved to fail.

No kidding. Anyone citing the VP-70 as a true "first" of any kind has never owned or shot one.

For that matter, the P-9S had a sort-of-polymer-and-steel frame but no one really liked those, either.

(This message has been brought to you by a recovering HK fanboy who had one, and sometimes more than one of each of their pre-USP pistols)...

[parishioner]

The VP-70 was plastic, but it was also basically a Hipoint (unlocked blowback) with an absolutely horrible trigger, as the striker was uncocked. Pull one of those triggers, and you can see why it never took off in a huge way.

I had the pleasure of the VPZ0z being one of the first centerfire handguns I ever shot next to a ruger p89 when I was young.

I beleive my periodic, recurring nightmare of being unable to squeeze the trigger on a handgun in a life or death situation is due to that experience lol.

[Borderland]

Clearly, Gaston Glock was an insightful and revolutionary thinker. Dare I say that he may have been even more influential than John Moses Browning was.

To have influenced the industry so significantly that for the next 40+ years countless other arms manufacturers would strive to replicate what he achieved with the timeless design of the Glock 17 is no mean feat.

With his passing, I hope that Glock revisits the formula for its success and maybe returns to some of its past, very successful, practices even if it means an increase in price.

Dare I say that he may have been even more influential than John Moses Browning was.

Save your hats boys, it too late for your boots. The shits getting deep.

...even if it means an increase in price

That would be an HK. Tough decision there.

[Trooper224]

The VP70 was the first polymer framed pistol, regardless of quality. Glock wasn't first in anything, except combining elements of existing technology into a highly successful product. By all accounts, Gaston Glock was a trash human being, but he did change the firearms industry in a way that's undeniable. (Mainly by hiring the right engineers) give the man the credit he's due, but don't lionize the piece of shit.