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Thread: MId-80's Pre-Glock Hotness?

  1. #1
    Tactical Nobody Guerrero's Avatar
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    MId-80's Pre-Glock Hotness?

    A non-gun buddy and I were talking the other day, and he asked me what was the hotness before Glock took over the scene. I was a little embarrassed that I couldn't name much, not really being aware of it then. I came up with

    Beretta 92
    Browning Hi-Power
    1911's

    What else? Teh Interwebs tells me that Austria actually adopted the Glock 17 in 1982, but I don't remember Glock hitting the US in a big way until the late 80's.
    "The victor is not victorious if the vanquished does not consider himself so."
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  2. #2
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    S&W autos

    SIG's

  3. #3
    CZ 75

    + Bren 10
    Last edited by Gater; 04-23-2020 at 11:54 AM.

  4. #4
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    It seemed as if there was a lot of turn over in a fairly short period of time.

    The 1911 had a good following for some time, and the Hi-Power to a lesser degree, but in the US, it really was revolvers until the early 1980's, when S&W, Beretta, SIG, Ruger TDA semi-auto's caught on. They were popular for about 15 years, and then Glock seemed to hit their stride in the mid-90's.

  5. #5
    Mid 80s I can remember the H&K P7 squeeze cocker being in some gunmag advertising as well as the P9.

    Customized 1911s (Wilson, King's Gunworks, Cylinder and Slide).....I can remember those ads too. I remember the .gov pistol trials and the top three being the 92F, P226, and the G17 if I am remembering correctly. It may have been the CZ75......not sure. I primarily read "American Handgunner" back then and I fondly remember turning to Ayoob's section first as soon as my mom would bring it back from the grocery store. I hope @Mas gets in this thread as he reviewed lots of guns back then.

    One of the others had "Cooper's Corner" on the back page. He referred to the new pistols coming up as Wondernines and Crunchentickers.

    Smith revolvers were big.....and I had a 686 no dash with the six inch barrel. Still have it.

    Bout the best I can recall right now. First Glock I ever saw in real life was in my little cow town I was in at the time. Local minimum wage cop had one, late 80's .....and I can remember scoffing at the thought of a "plastic" handgun.

    Own too many of them now. Never say never.

    Regards.
    Last edited by lwt16; 04-23-2020 at 12:14 PM.

  6. #6
    The 1911.

    Until I (partly)made the switch from 1911s to Glocks in the early 90s, I did not really (seriously) use another platform.

  7. #7
    Site Supporter Rex G's Avatar
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    HK P7

    HK P9s

    Browning BDA 9mm, .38 Super, .45 ACP, known outside the USA as the SIG P220.

    Detonics Combat Master.

    CZ 75, which, at the time, had to be creatively imported from Canada, as Czechoslovakia was behind the Iron Curtain.

    These are what quickly come to mind, in 1982 to 1984, when I started buying handguns.

    There were, of course, revolvers which were HOT.
    Last edited by Rex G; 04-23-2020 at 12:23 PM.
    Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.

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  8. #8
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    The “wonder 9s” that competed for the new Army pistol contract won by Beretta. Sig 226 and SW autos. Plus CZ75 and clones.

  9. #9
    Member Baldanders's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JTQ View Post
    S&W autos
    Gun rags inbthe late 80s had articles on the lastest S&W third generation sub-varation pretty much every month. If they numbered like Glock did, they probably would have something like a hundred models.

    Delta Elite had hype for a year or two.

    In Europe, blowback high-cap .380/9mm Mak/.32acp had a vogue for carry, some interest in the US-- Beretta Cheetah, CZ 82/83

    I feel like you used to see a lot more Tanfoglio/"Witness" CZ clones in a bunch of calibers, but that was probably more a 90s thing.


    Mid 80s was the last time manufacturers were fighting to put revolvers in LE holsters. I remember the "686/GP100" wars. The SP101 in .357 was a big deal at the time. ('89-90?)

    AMT /IAI guns were in every gun shop I went into in the late 80s--Backups, the various Automags, their 1911 knock-offs--- not that they were "hot" really
    Last edited by Baldanders; 04-23-2020 at 12:28 PM.
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  10. #10
    Member Zincwarrior's Avatar
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    44 Automag. Good enough for Dirty Harry, good enough for me.

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